The great news from this week is that Ryan is allowed to start driving again!!! :) :) :)
He scored well enough on the last test to be allowed behind the wheel again! He has to take it slow for the next few weeks, so he needs to stick with local, familiar roads, and speeds under 45mph. But so far, he's feeling pretty good about being able to drive! It takes him a lot more focus and effort to drive than before his brain injury, but we expect that things will feel more natural with practice.
Ryan has also been working on typing, and he re-took the peg test, shaving 4 seconds of his time on the left hand and 3 seconds off his time on the right hand. In physical therapy, he's been working on increasing strength and endurance. One of his exercises involves lifting a metal basket with weights in it, and carrying it around the room. In the most recent session, he was up to 35 pounds -- it really wore him out, but he's clearly improving!
Towards the end of this month, Ryan will be having a surgery to correct his deviated septum and remove his uvula, both of which may be causing obstructive sleep apnea. He's been warned that it could be a rough recovery, with a severe sore throat for 2 weeks or more. But it is possible that this surgery could make it so he'll no longer need to use a CPap -- that will be determined after another sleep study, a few months following the surgery.
This week we had a big adventure getting our Christmas tree. I was totally willing to get a fake tree this year, but the girls pleaded to continue our tradition of picking out and cutting down our tree in the forest. So we bought our tree permit and headed to the forest on Wednesday afternoon. Normally we park our car at the bottom of the canyon and hike up to where the trees are...but this year Ryan felt that if we put the chains on our tires, we would be able to make it up the steep canyon road. Well... 😜 It took us a couple of hours, and a lot of pushing, but we did finally get our car up the canyon road to the BLM land where we could cut down our tree! It was definitely a memorable trip! And we had angels watching over us and helping us on our way! We found our tree in record time, and ended up backing our car clear out of the canyon because there wasn't anyplace we could turn around without the risk of getting stuck! 😄 We had the help of earthly angels the next day, too, getting our car fixed. 😊 Thankfully we didn't kill it as badly as we'd feared, and we have wonderful neighbors who are ever-willing to lend a hand! 💜💙💚💛💖
Tomorrow our sweet Coley-bug turns 14! How did that happen?! 14 years has gone by so quickly! We are so grateful to have Coley in our family -- she is a very bright, happy, beautiful young lady, and she fills our home with laughter and fun!
I hope you have a beautiful week, and that you take time to ponder the many gifts you have received from our Savior during this Christmas season! 💜
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