Today was a long day, back to work after a busy weekend. As many of you know, Leah returned to work at St. James United Methodist in Bellevue last week, and we took one more step on the road to recovery. Leah was very pleased to get back to work, not only to once again use her brain, but also to start to give back to the folks at St. James who have been so wonderful to us. Going back to work was a bit of a challenge for Leah, as we had to work on getting her back behind the wheel, getting up early, and finding the stamina to stay at work and be active all day. She came home many nights last week, looking tired, but she seemed very pleased to be back.

Returning to work was also a bittersweet event for Leah as well. As many of you know, Leah and Renee spent many hours emailing and chatting with each other in between the various documents and phone calls, and many times would come home and call each other up on the phone to laugh and talk some more. The two of them spent so much time talking and laughing that Zack and I really never had much to talk about, as the girls had filled us in on the goings on so much that we had nothing new to share with each other. The time that the girls spent chatting with each other helped pass those days when the bulletin was done, newsletters printed and the phone was quiet. So as Leah returned to work, she was returning to a place where she and Renee had had many happy moments, but where now the little chat window would stay blank, and the email box empty…

Leah continues to attend PT sessions, and continues to show marked improvement towards a full recovery. She increased all her range of motion measurements by another 15-20 degrees, and has added some strengthening exercises to her 3 times daily routine. We now have different colored thera-bands (giant rubber bands of varying levels of resistance) hanging from the banister and door knobs, a hammer, and an assortment of various contractions such as pulleys and peg boards for her to use. She has almost completely recovered full range of motion in her wrist, and only has about 5 more degrees of rotation before she would have full range. She is slowly gaining strength in the hand, and each day is more capable of doing more.

Rachel is also continuing to make great strides down the road to recovery. Her skin grafts continue to heal, and are beginning to look a little less red, and more pink. The swelling continues to go down in the hand thanks to vigorous Occupational Therapy and lots of interesting little contraptions like her “bionic hand” which is a computer controlled machine that randomly flexes her fingers and hand to start to force the edema out of the hand and down into the arm. One of the areas of concern for the doctors is that there may be some vein damage under the area where the skin graft is on the wrist, and that may be preventing some of the fluids from being removed as quickly by the body. Her PT and little devices have really helped however, and the swelling has begun to go down, in fact enough that her fingers are beginning to look normal. Her foot continues to heal, and she was cleared to discontinue use of the walking boot. She is able to walk fairly well, in fact she and Dad resumed walking at the lake every day, although the walk is much shorter. Her more active movements helped to reduce the small clot in the leg, and at her screening last week, it was found that the clot had completely been absorbed. She was able to be removed from the blood thinners she was on.

She did receive a little bit of discouraging news last week, as it was found her ribs are not healing nearly as fast as they would like. Some of this is due to the other damage her body is having to repair, but some of it is also a result of her inability to use her right arm a great deal. As the muscles in the torso get used, they tend to move the rib bones back into position allowing them to heal. Her relative lack in motion in that arm is not allowing the muscles to pull the bones into place as effectively, therefore not allowing the ribs to calcify.

I would like to take a moment to pass on our condolences to the Duethman family who lost Terry earlier this month, and let them know that all of us in the Hall family are praying for you and are here for you should you need anything at all.

I would like to give a quick shout out to our dear friends Paige and Marc, who were married this past weekend in Oklahoma City. Congratulations you guys, I hope that you will have a happy, loving and joyous marriage, and Leah and I look forward to seeing you guys soon!

I would like to end tonight with a quick little thought about Renee. Tonight we had dinner with my parents and my aunt Kathy who is visiting from Florida, and while we were sitting around the table sharing stories, laughing and enjoying the wonderful meal my father prepared for us, I remembered how we always used to sit around the table with Renee and Zack when they would come and visit, laughing and talking long after the meal was over. That simple act of companionship and love personified and defined Renee. She was always one to share a smile and a laugh, lend a helping hand, or just be there for you. She celebrated life, and helped all of us live just a little bit more.

Thanks to all of you out there who help us, support us and pray for us. You keep us strong and with your help we will get better. We can never express our gratitude enough for the overwhelming support and generosity our family, friends and complete strangers have extended to us.

J