An Update as 1/20/13

The past couple of weeks have been very busy weeks as we have been putting the half of our house that was impacted by the mold remediation back together. It has been an opportunity to clean out closets, throw away things we no longer use or need, and get a fresh outlook on things. We were especially blessed in this project when our dear friend Jim Klagge came to visit. He spent hours vacuuming the mountain of books to go back into the bookshelves in Bob’s office. That was a tremendous help! Not only was everything covered in potentially moldy house dust, but the painters had had to do some wall repair, so that added a layer of plaster dust to everything besides. Bob would have been willing to help, but I really didn’t want him anywhere near that project because of my concern that there was mold spores in the dust, and that that mold was in some way a contributing factor to his illness. Without Jim’s help, I’m sure I would STILL be vacuuming and cleaning books! Instead, we’ve got things nearly settled. We’re about ready to hang the pictures back on the walls and call it done.

What has been keeping Bob busy, and pretty frustrated, is getting our all of our technological devices on speaking terms with one another. The computers won’t talk to the printers, and the phones won’t talk to the computers, and televisions won’t talk to the wireless network! Our formerly peaceful home is filled with devices giving one another the silent treatment!  It has been frustrating for Bob to try to fix all of these problems because he knows he used to know how to do it, but his attempts have only seemed to make things worse. After three days in technology purgatory, on Friday we finally called in professional help to get all that sorted out. But even this morning, Bob has been befuddled by technology challenges. It turned out that somewhere in the confusion, the mouse to Bob’s laptop got switched with another mouse so that he had a mismatched set of transmitter and mouse. We finally figured it out and he’s back in business again.

Bob’s memory continues to be a challenge. There are times when it seems to be getting better and other times it seems to be worse. The past few days it is worse. Yesterday, Bob and I spent much of the morning putting together a new bed in the guest room, and then after being out for the afternoon we finished it up in the evening. When it was all finished and the room put back together, Bob was beaming about how good the room looked. This morning when I got up I happened back into the room and called out to Bob, “This room really does look great. Thanks for your hard work on it.” Bob came to join me, and looking around said, “This really does look gorgeous, but I have no memory of working on it.” Even while working on it, Bob’s memory problems were evident. At one point Bob asked me to help him move the mattress out of the way, which we did. Then he left the room for just a minute to go get something. When he returned, he exclaimed “Oh, good, you moved the mattress. I was JUST thinking that we ought to do that!”

There is better news to report on the seizure front. We had a rough patch earlier in the month that turned out to be medication related. It was scary to be back to that place. Once we got him back on his regular routine with meds, the seizure activity quieted down. Now he has occasional small episodes when there is too much stimulation, but mostly he is getting back to his regular activities. He was pleased to have a friend pick him up and take him to his Kiwanis meeting on Wednesday.

Last weekend, we had a big adventure as Bob made a surprise appearance at a WellCoaches retreat that was being held on Captiva Island in Florida. The WellCoaches community is such an important part of his life and he was so delighted to be with all of his colleagues again. It was especially wonderful to be with our dear “daughter” Erika. And while Bob was enjoying being part of the intellectual work at the retreat, I was enjoying having my toes in the sand walking on the beach and reading a novel by the pool! It was a one day respite that really helped recharge my batteries. I am now getting back into work full swing at the university as my semester gets underway. I have a particularly busy spell coming up as we bring in candidates for the Dean’s search for which I am serving as co-chair. Bob’s dad is coming from Cleveland to help out during that time, and I am so glad for his help.

I continue to be grateful for all of you who are continuing to keep Bob in your prayers. It is wonderful to have as much of our former lives back as we have, and we are still hopeful of a full recovery. But it is clear we still have a ways to go. We’ve been told that brains take a long time to heal and to expect uneven progress. We’re having the opportunity to learn new depths of patience, bolstered by gratitude and the awareness that things could have turned out so much worse. If you’ve got a spare prayer here and there, we’d also ask for prayers for our friend Amy who is once again experiencing some mysterious health challenges.

Be well. Megan