I forgot to mention that while we were at the hospital after Bryce's surgery, we had the chance to speak with President and Sister Glazier. (The San Salvador Mission President and his sweet wife) We learned of the fasting and prayers that were offered on Bryce's behalf from missionaries serving in Bryce's mission. You should have seen the smile on Bryce's face as he spoke with them Thursday evening. I wish I would have had my camera. What a blessing it is to have the prayers of other faithful members throughout the world praying for him. We have truly felt them lift us and keep us going.
Wednesday, we had our first visit with the Physical Therapist. They gave Bryce some exercises to start working on and a goal to use crutches only when we come in for our next visit. ( I wheeled him in with the wheelchair) He now has a list of exercises he needs to do every day- twice a day. =) (No pain, no gain) They asked Bryce what his goals were and he said, "I want to run and play soccer and get back on my mission." So Bryce and I sat down together and we wrote up our weeks goals. (We have to break things down into little bits so it's not so overwhelming when looking at the big picture.) He wants to be able to pedal the bike all the way around. (This is a little difficult when you have to bend the hip at more than a 90* angle) He also wanted to bend his right knee when stretching the quad muscle at more than a 90* angle. He was about 50* at his therapy appointment. On Saturday, he passed that goal off! We also cycled together and he made it around three times. The rest of the time, we pedal up to where it's painful and then pedal backwards to where he is feels is his limit. When I wrote we cycled together, I mean that he pedals with his right leg and I pedal on the other side with my right leg. (His left hip hurts too bad to cycle)
On Thursday, he started feeling achey all over! This was not good for therapy as we only got up once. Then on Friday, he woke with the chills and a fever of 101* and was very nauseated. In fact he lost his breakfast. This was a a small setback. We spent the day trying to keep him comfortable, warm and somewhat happy. Every time he got up to use the restroom, I opened the window, turned on the ceiling fan and sprayed some Lysol in the air to freshen his room up. This was also a reminder that I am grateful for anti-nausea medicine as well as Ibuprofen. He did sleep for most of the day.
On Saturday morning we heard Bryce singing and joking around with his brothers! We hit the exercises after he took a nice long shower and I changed his bedding and washed his blankets. He has been quite a trooper through it all. He is tired of staring at the same walls all day long. He is looking forward to going outside and seeing some fresher scenery. Unfortunately, it started snowing today, so we will have to wait on getting him outside. We had visitors come on Saturday and they totally made his day. I really mean it that it totally made his day. He loves to visit with others.
Our next appointment is on Wednesday and we will be meeting with Dr West. Bryce will also get to go in the pool for some walking exercises and they will also be taking some more x-rays of his right hip. (the one that had surgery) I attached some pictures of our therapy sessions. The first one is of me cycling with him. The second is him doing one of his exercises with the green band around his knee. He bends and straightens his knee with the resistance of the green band. He isn't one for pictures, but I take them anyway. One day, I hope that we will look back on these photos and we will be better because of the challenges we faced.
I have learned that miracles still happen. As much as I would have liked to have Tom and Matt heal him when giving him a blessing, I know that we need to learn something as we work through this challenge together. I have learned to rely on my Heavenly Father more and I'm grateful that he has trusted me to be a mother to this valiant young man. I am learning about enduring and being more patient. Our family has learned to appreciate the blessings we have been blessed with and to have more compassion for others who are facing their own challenges. We are grateful for you and for your prayers. I have been asked by many of you, what we need, or how you can help and I must say that prayers are the best. We are making progress, even if it is small steps, it's still progress. We just watched the movie, "The Ultimate Gift" with James Garner and he says, "Our lives should be lived not avoiding problems, but welcoming them as challenges that will strengthen us so that we can be victorious in the future."
Have a great week! We are looking forward to making more progress this week.
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