Weeks of April 6 to 22, 2008

Dear friends,
If I don't get caught up with this soon, it will take all day! SO much has happened in the past two weeks, it's AMAZING!!!! April 6 began the racing season at the go-cart track. We went out there after church to "hang out" a bit and visit. They were SO BUSY that I offered to help. They gladly put me to work! Before I left, I offered to be there most race days, so my Sunday afternoons should be fairly busy for the summer. Terry, of course was there also. He'll help some as his healing and strength allows, but even spending the whole day in his w/c is an aid to endurance. He did very well that day!
A couple of men from "Bikers for Christ" came to visit. They want to have a benefit ride for Terry!! With all of the on-going expenses and the fact that we can't really work much, yet, it will be a blessing! The ride is to be June 14, beginning at New Life Christian Fellowship (our church) at 8:30 A.M. I have never really seen anything like this, so I don't know what to expect. I look forward to see what God has in store!
We've sold the concession business. It all went so quickly, we certainly feel that God has blessed the timing. Now we just have to do the work of straightening out ALL of the areas we had stored various equipment. I'm sure we'll have LOTS of warm days to work on that!
April 9 was a RED-LETTER DAY!!!! Terry walked 5 feet AT HOME!!!! He had been doing a lot of walking at therapy, and at our family's Easter gathering, he had walked 20' (since we had several strong men there for safety)! James (therapist) had said we should try to walk at home, but we were BOTH afraid. We FINALLY trusted that God would be with us, and Terry did it! That was the first of many "walks" at home. Some days he walks easily, and some days it's
HARD. He's building strength and confidence all of the time, though. The next place I wanted him to walk was church. He balked a bit at that. He wanted to be sure that the glory went to God, NOT Terry Adams. We arranged it with Mark (our pastor), and April 20 he walked about 25 feet in each service. Everyone was so THRILLED to see the work GOD has done!!!
Water therapy is going well, too. They're trying to work at BALANCE. Over the months of rehab, Terry has learned to rely on his arms for most of the work. He uses his legs SOME, but doesn't really trust them, yet. In water therapy,they want him to try to stand without holding onto anything. The first 2 weeks, he couldn't stand for more than 4 seconds before falling. We kept praying for a breakthrough. His body seems to "remember" what to do, but in his effort, he "over-thinks" many things, and can't seem to get it easily. Then he gets frustrated, and that just adds to the problem. Finally, on Friday April 18, he stood for 14 seconds!! And on Monday April 21, he stood for 21 seconds!!!! I PRAISE GOD for the breakthrough!! God's working on me, too. Through much prayer and patience, I've FINALLY realized that I'm allergic to the pool. I've always loved to swim, and never had any problem before, so it took a LONG time for me to realize what God had been trying to tell me. I kept praying for insight to my allergy problems, and through a series of events, He showed me the answer! I've not been in therapy with Terry for a WEEK, and the improvement is GREAT!!! God is SO FAITHFUL!! Why does it take SO LONG for us to TRUST HIM??!!!!
The weekend of April19 was challenging. Esteina didn't feel "right" all day and was pretty dizzy and having chest pains. We watched the boys all day Saturday so she could be checked. They didn't find anything really wrong, but she was to be "watched" and not be alone for awhile. We kept the boys overnight, too, so she and Mike could rest and recuperate. Mike brought her to our house on Sunday morning to spend the day until he was done at work, so it was a weekend
of family time. We asked for prayer and guidance so that the answer would be found. I'll update that more in the next blog.
April 22 was CHRISTMAS!!!! I have looked forward to the day that Terry would join me in OUR BED! He's been in the hospital bed since he came home. It is SO easy to handle EVERYTHING from there (since we've had so much practice). That bed is a HAVEN, as well. We've both been praying for courage and wisdom to know when to try our bed. I tried to think of everything to make it easier, as well as asking SEVERAL people to be in prayer for us. It went GREAT!!!!
Terry was able to sleep there all night with few problems, and LITTLE pain!! THANK YOU LORD!!! That was a HUGE step!!! Terry won't plan on sleeping there EVERY night, yet, but it will be soon, I'm sure.
As I said at the start, it's been a VERY full two weeks! God has BLESSED us in SO MANY ways!! Our grandson Eric will be coming home (to the US) any day, and our nephew Josh is already here! They are both Marines, and have been in Iraq. God has kept them safe for us, and we look forward to seeing them again! I'll write again when things start "piling-up". Maybe I'll have to go back to once a week! It's been so EXCITING to see the many things God has accomplished in just the past few weeks! THANK YOU for all of your prayers and support! I THANK GOD for all of YOU!!!

Weeks of March 17 to April 6, 2008

Things have been moving along very well since the last time I wrote. Terry's average distance while walking went from 10 feet on March 14 to about 25 feet by March 28. He is SO determined!! I PRAISE GOD for the strength of character I see in Terry EVERY DAY!!! He had set a goal of being able to walk 140 feet by the end of March , and he met that goal a WEEK early! Then, since Terry was doing so well, the therapist (James) started working on other things. We started learning "stand & pivot" transfers to and from his chair or bed. For the first few times, we only practiced that at therapy. Then Terry and I got brave and started trying at home. It works VERY well, at least MOST of the time. Just for some excitement last week, we had one attempt that didn't work. He was trying to sit on the bed, and was too close to the edge. He kind of did a slow slide to his prosthetic knee. Not knowing what else to do, we laid him
down on the floor (first time he's been there in over a year!), then called 911 (help! He's fallen and he can't get up!! HA-HA-HA!!!). They of course came right away and it was all taken care of VERY WELL, with no problem. They were glad to get an update on the "accident victim", since they had also been on that run (February 14, 2007). Several people called to make sure all was okay. It's so WONDERFUL that so many people watch out for us! We have decided to sell the business. We think we're headed in a different direction at this point, and we weren't sure we could really do the business justice anyway. There's still a LOT of therapy and practice needed, and that all takes time. Spring is here --sort of-- so that means Esteina needs to work more. We get to baby-sit on Saturday's!! YEAH!!! We've missed those kids. Terry is SO much better then he was last year! We think we can handle the energy of the kids a LOT better. Back to PROGRESS news - up until March 20 Terry was walking with a lot of help from the therapist. Then, on that VERY SPECIAL day, James "locked" Terry's prosthetic knee, and HE WALKED ALONE!!!! He used the walker for balance, but NO ONE was holding him!! He walked an average of 25 feet each time after that. At one point, James said that with the progress Terry's making, he should be able to move around the house AS HE WISHES by MAY 31!!!! We IMMEDIATELY joined hands and PRAISED GOD for HIS work in Terry! It seems SO SOON after this LONG year! We started water therapy again this past week. James thinks the water is the best -- and safest -- place for Terry to work on balance. After the first week when we had three days in the water, we'll go to 2 on land and 2 in the pool. That way, he will get the benefits of both. I'm EXCITED to see what God has in store for us! We've been asked to speak about all of the new life we have experienced since the accident. We're looking forward to it, and trying to "see" if this is the first step in the new direction we're to go. We are doing our best at trying to listen to God's leading. He's been SO FAITHFUL to us through all of this, we are humbled and GRATEFUL for HIS many blessings! I think that's about all for now. It has certainly seemed the progress is getting faster and faster. Terry's strength and endurance improve all the time!
BALANCE is the current hurdle, but with God's help, Terry will gain that soon, I'm sure. He still deals with a fair amount of pain, but we THINK that means the spinal cord is healing. The pain seems to be in a certain area for 2-3 weeks, and then moves down. We hope for COMPLETE healing, so that he can feel his legs and feet better. I'll write again when I can. I'll let all of you know if I'm going to "finish" this sometime. THANK YOU for your PRAYERS, ENCOURAGEMENT and continued interest. All of YOU are being used by God to keep us going!