August 14-27, 2020

 

The last several weeks have been so crazy busy. In the middle of it all, Shannon went on a PANDA-MIC!! She and her giant panda Po went shopping, went for drives, went all over. She took Scott along as well. Someone had to drive.....

Therapies have been going great! Shannon's been doing a lot of core strength building, memory work, and flexibility. She's still working wheelies-- BUT she can wheelie her way out the front door now! She also transfers herself from her wheelchair to the leather sofa in our family room without any help. We are still nearby just in case, but she doesn't need us. 

Some other fantastic things that Shannon has mastered this month are: Dressing herself; you recall, it's hard to dress yourself if you can't control any muscles below your chest. It's a workout, for sure. We've gotten her shower time and night routine down to less than an hour. And Shannon doesn't need almost any help with car transfers! She' getting really strong. 

Shannon's therapies are very consistent now, and it's a whole new world being able to plan things around her schedule, and have days that she can do whatever she wants. 

One Saturday in the last couple of weeks, Shannon had a good friend spend the day with her and the rest of us took off to go rafting- a much needed reprieve from the crazy life we live. It was such a great time! 

We also had the (almost) whole family in town for a fun event! We are pretty spread out across the country, so it's not very often we can all get together!

August flew by, and I cannot believe it's over next week! I can't really express the gratitude I have for the many hands that continue to help us, the calls, and text messages to check up on us and Shannon. I am grateful for the many, many, MANY, blessings we are feeling still. Five and a half months ago none of us thought we would be here doing what we are doing. None of YOU were thinking you'd be doing what you are doing right now. And here we are, finding our way, adjusting to our new lives, and hopefully seeing the good in our situations. Thank you for making our lives easier by just being our friends. 

Please continue to pray for Shannon's spinal cord to heal, for strength to do her therapies, for her continued improvement, and her cognitive health to continue to improve. We love you!

(It's not disney, but still so appropriate)

Po: Skadoosh 

Dreamwork's KungFu Panda