A Light at the Tunnel's End

First off, here are a couple of pictures from the weekend that I didn't get posted before. :)

Wii Bowling Tournament :) Nicole won, Becca took a very close second, and Ryan brought up the rear. :)

The girls "riding" in the therapy car (normally used for patients to practice getting in and out of vehicles).

Selfie from our first walk together outdoors post-stroke :)

Ryan started off this morning feeling quite depressed. It didn't help that he went the entire night without any pain meds, so his back pain was pretty intense. He just wants this whole thing to be over. We read another conference talk about patience, and had a good discussion, which seemed to help. Then he had therapy while I went to see the girls and take a shower. This afternoon and evening went better, and Ryan's mood was boosted by some great things:

1. During physical therapy, Ryan walked down and then climbed up an entire flight of stairs (not the easy steps in the PT room, but an actual flight of hospital stairs! His therapist then graduated him from his old walker and got him a new set of wheels (a fancier walker that allows him to sit if he needs to)! Along with these new wheels, Ryan was granted the freedom to walk around the floor on his own (without someone next to him every moment)!
2. The wheel chair was removed from Ryan's crowded room because he hasn't used it in two days! Yay for lots more walking!!!
3. They no longer have to count every calorie that Ryan eats, because he's been eating just fine! To celebrate, he enjoyed some chicken strips from Dairy Queen. :D
4. Ryan's doctor said he should be able to remove the gastric/feeding tube from Ryan's stomach tomorrow!
5. Multiple staff members have told Ryan that they've got his back and will advocate for him to go home a.s.a.p.! He's making remarkable progress!
6. Our little Miss Becca finally got her wish, and Grandma Muench gave her a haircut! (Becca has been begging to get it cut because she hated having it on her neck in the hot summer.)  :)

Ryan also was able to read a few verses of scripture to me this evening. He reads fine if there isn't a lot of words on the page, so we had to increase the text size of the scriptures on my phone. :) He said he tried to read a paperback book I'd bought him, but there were too many words on those pages, so they just swam in front of his eyes. He is getting better at it though!

Tomorrow we will have the meeting to discuss Ryan's progress. Then his doctor will use that information to set a goal date for Ryan to graduate from rehab and go home! Ryan will still have work to do at home, and will likely still have to go to physical therapy appointments, but he feels that being home will go a long way to helping him improve! We are so grateful for all of the extra help that everyone has been offering us! I'm letting others who are closer to our home handle the details for that so that I can stay with Ryan and try to keep his spirits up while he patiently pushes on through this recovery process.

Every day we witness more miracles, and we feel more blessed by all of your faith, prayers, love, and support! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

💙💚💛💜💛💚💙