Well, Troy had his eye doctor's appointment this week; the eye doctor did a very thorough evaluation of Troy's eyes. She said that he benefited from prescription lenses in her report. She mentioned that his eye alignment is off since his appointment. She stated that he did have jerky movements and double vision of equal size in all areas of gaze. During peripheral field testing, she noted an inferior field loss of the right eye and a slight nasal field loss in the left eye. His ability to use his eyes together has been impacted. Basically what all this means is that his eyes don't work together.
Typically, the eye doctor trialed prism lenses to help fuse images into one image. She trialed these during his appointment and they did not benefit Troy at this time. She wrote a prescription for glasses to correct acuity issues and recommended using tape on them at this time. She gave him several eye exercises that we have added to what he has already been doing for his vision. She also has recommended that he follow up in 6 months.
So, although all of this sounds like Chinese talk to me right now, at least it gave me an idea of Troy's visual condition and by Troy wearing these glasses it will eventually strengthen his eyes enough so that then the doctor can work on the other defects he's having with his vision.
The blessing in all of this is that Troy has vision, period! With the cranial nerve damage he has, he came very close to being blind and God covered Troy against that! Praise God for being a merciful God and so full of grace!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Assessment of the house with Troy today
The physical therapist brought Troy and his CNA to the house today so they could assess how he would do when he comes home for good on November 24th. We tried out both bathrooms with him and decided that the girls bathroom would work best, we also had him maneuver his way around the house and he was able to make his way around the house with no problem. The therapist and nurse were both very impressed with how well he did getting around the house and the way the house is laid out really helps him as well, so I was happy to see that God led me in the right direction with this house.
I also found out that it looks like Troy will need quite a while longer of therapy that anticipated. They feel that he is doing well with therapy, but due to his rate of recovery, it looks like it will be closer to 2 years before he will be weaned off of the therapy regime at Shepherd so he can be sent to another place of our choice. In a way, I was happy to hear that Shepherd is willing to work with him, but on the other hand, that means we'll have to stay here longer. Both issues are OK though, the girls have already made friends at school and church and the church we go to here has already reached out to help me and the girls in many ways, so either way will work out for us. God continues to bless our family! Praise God for that.
So, the next step will be to figure out how long the CNA will be authorized to be here to help me with Troy once he's home on a more steady basis. He will still have to be transported to therapy and back so we still have to go through, but on his non-therapy days they are working out to see for how long a nurse will be here to help me. I pray that God provides me with the best care for him and that I get the necessary help for him so I can continue to take care of the girls, the house, work and school.
Everything continues to fall into place so I continue to remain faithful to what God is doing in our family and with Troy's recovery.
Thanks to everyone for the continued support!
I also found out that it looks like Troy will need quite a while longer of therapy that anticipated. They feel that he is doing well with therapy, but due to his rate of recovery, it looks like it will be closer to 2 years before he will be weaned off of the therapy regime at Shepherd so he can be sent to another place of our choice. In a way, I was happy to hear that Shepherd is willing to work with him, but on the other hand, that means we'll have to stay here longer. Both issues are OK though, the girls have already made friends at school and church and the church we go to here has already reached out to help me and the girls in many ways, so either way will work out for us. God continues to bless our family! Praise God for that.
So, the next step will be to figure out how long the CNA will be authorized to be here to help me with Troy once he's home on a more steady basis. He will still have to be transported to therapy and back so we still have to go through, but on his non-therapy days they are working out to see for how long a nurse will be here to help me. I pray that God provides me with the best care for him and that I get the necessary help for him so I can continue to take care of the girls, the house, work and school.
Everything continues to fall into place so I continue to remain faithful to what God is doing in our family and with Troy's recovery.
Thanks to everyone for the continued support!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Troy's text today
Troy just sent an awesome text and I wanted to post it on here to share with those he doesn't have their number or who didn't receive it.
This is the beginnings of Troy's testimony:
"I remember driving my honda, one day,. And having these crazy doubts about the existance of God, silly i know guys, the .next thing you know i wake up at shepard center not knowing how to speak. The.place i am at now, i remember them from shepard center guys. GOD is real. Christ paid tbe price, willingly. If not, i would not be here to tell you. Ifyou.are confused, rent the movie Gospel of J ohn . Or call me and i will.explain...this just might save.some your lives. I should be dead and gone. But i have more work to do..............."
Excuse the grammatical errors, but I wanted to copy and paste it just the way he sent it so I wouldn't alter any words he wrote.
Praise God for Troy!
This is the beginnings of Troy's testimony:
"I remember driving my honda, one day,. And having these crazy doubts about the existance of God, silly i know guys, the .next thing you know i wake up at shepard center not knowing how to speak. The.place i am at now, i remember them from shepard center guys. GOD is real. Christ paid tbe price, willingly. If not, i would not be here to tell you. Ifyou.are confused, rent the movie Gospel of J ohn . Or call me and i will.explain...this just might save.some your lives. I should be dead and gone. But i have more work to do..............."
Excuse the grammatical errors, but I wanted to copy and paste it just the way he sent it so I wouldn't alter any words he wrote.
Praise God for Troy!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Troy has access to the blog now
I also wanted to let everyone know that, as of yesterday, Troy has access to the blog now, as well. I have been reading the blog to him, but when I'm not at pathways he wanted to be able to come in here and see everyone's comments and look at how far he's come.
Please take a moment from time to time to leave comments and will be going through them all. I'm trying to see if I can just set up the guestbook in here and that way you can leave messages there.
As soon as you see the guestbook, feel free to leave comments for Troy on there :)
Thanks to everyone for all the support and prayers. Hugs~
Please take a moment from time to time to leave comments and will be going through them all. I'm trying to see if I can just set up the guestbook in here and that way you can leave messages there.
As soon as you see the guestbook, feel free to leave comments for Troy on there :)
Thanks to everyone for all the support and prayers. Hugs~
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Busy, busy!
Wow! Time is just NOT on my side these days, but I continue to trudge along and keep on going forward! There's no reverse in this journey we are in. :)
A lot has happened in the past 9 days that I haven't posted. I'll try to summarize it without leaving out any details.
Last weekend, October 9th, Troy's mom, brother, sister, twin nephews, and niece were here to visit with him. It was a wonderful weekend! He joked around and we all laughed so much at his jokes by the end of the weekend my cheeks were sore. His mom brought with her different foods and cakes his mom and family had made for him and, of course, his grandmother's famous iced tea! He was so happy with all of them being here. What a blessing it was for all of them to make it here this weekend.
Our 7 year wedding anniversary was on that Sunday, October 10th. It was pretty emotional for him, especially after everyone left, because he dwelled on the fact that he couldn't drive out to go get me something. I consoled him and told him that the simple fact that he was still alive and talking with me on that day was the best gift he could have ever given me! I told him, with what you have been through and as hard as you have worked in your therapy, you don't owe me any gifts for at least the next 5 years! After that, though, you'll have to come up with some pretty neat stuff if you want me to still stick around. We both busted out laughing, both of us laughing with tears in our eyes. It was awesome to see him so happy!
On Tuesday, October 12th, it was his birthday, so I drove up to see him with the girls and we all surprised him (every patient in the house with the nurses) and came into his room singing him happy birthday with a cake! He was so surprised and again, a bit emotional, but much better this time. He was happy to see the girls and I again and I continuously reminded him how blessed he was to see this birthday! He agreed!
On Thursday of this week Troy was taken to Shepherd Center and he did some swimming therapy. I heard it went very well; Troy wasn't too happy though, he says it wore him out. But the therapist said he will now go once a week for swimming therapy to help build his strength with some low pressure exercises in the water. Also, on Friday he had an appointment at Shepherd Center to check his bladder and kidneys to see why he has been getting so many urinary tract infections. I have not gotten the results of those tests yet, so please keep that in your prayers, as well.
This Saturday, October 16th, Troy, the girls and I went to Georgia Aquarium. We were blessed with tickets to the Aquarium and the Deepo's 3D show at the Georgia Aquarium. It was amazing! We had such a wonderful time! I even got a picture of Troy standing next to the shrimp tank looking at shrimp with Tyra. His chair is behind him and his nurse (which came along with us) was standing behind him, but he held himself up there for a good 5 minutes and didn't want to sit back down...LOL)
In the picture, Tyra is the one hanging off the top of the tank in the picture and if you're wondering what that is on his head, it's his eye patch; he has to wear it so he doesn't see double.
This is a family picture of us at Georgia Aquarium.
He has that look on his face in this picture because he was crying most of time we were there. He just kept saying he was crying happy tears and he was so happy to be there with his family and enjoying us again. He kept saying how he has taken us for granted and will never do that again. Typing this now brings tears to my eyes because I know how much he wanted to be able to get up and walk around and run after Tyra and goof around like he always used to, but I also reminded Troy how this experience is humbling him and all of us in the process. We need to know that we aren't invincible and that we are nothing without God in our lives and by our side. I was so grateful for the person who blessed us with those tickets! It was definitely memorable and the look on Troy's face looking around at all the fish and sea creatures and taking it all in, was priceless!
And to finish this weekend off I took Troy and the girls to I-HOP. That was lots of fun too (except for Troy and Tyra were singing at the top of their lungs songs that came up on the intercom as we ate -- Brianna and I just had this mortified look on our faces...LOL)
Another interesting thing that happened this weekend was that Troy has decided he wants to move out West. I have asked him if he's sure over and over and in different ways and every time he says YES. He wants to move out there to get away from it all. He wants to start his new life and start fresh. I don't know when exactly that will be happening, or if it will even pan out, but I have already told Troy that I will follow him wherever he wants to go. He is thinking California, but I already told him that's not happening. So, we have compromised and are considering Washington or Oregon. Of course, nothing will happen unless God wills it so, so we'll see what happens with that. I know wherever we end up at, we'll be just fine as a family.
I do find that we now laugh more, share more, hug and kiss more than we ever did before; both as husband and wife and as a family. Troy is truly my soul mate and I'm so blessed to have him as my husband!
A lot has happened in the past 9 days that I haven't posted. I'll try to summarize it without leaving out any details.
Last weekend, October 9th, Troy's mom, brother, sister, twin nephews, and niece were here to visit with him. It was a wonderful weekend! He joked around and we all laughed so much at his jokes by the end of the weekend my cheeks were sore. His mom brought with her different foods and cakes his mom and family had made for him and, of course, his grandmother's famous iced tea! He was so happy with all of them being here. What a blessing it was for all of them to make it here this weekend.
Our 7 year wedding anniversary was on that Sunday, October 10th. It was pretty emotional for him, especially after everyone left, because he dwelled on the fact that he couldn't drive out to go get me something. I consoled him and told him that the simple fact that he was still alive and talking with me on that day was the best gift he could have ever given me! I told him, with what you have been through and as hard as you have worked in your therapy, you don't owe me any gifts for at least the next 5 years! After that, though, you'll have to come up with some pretty neat stuff if you want me to still stick around. We both busted out laughing, both of us laughing with tears in our eyes. It was awesome to see him so happy!
On Tuesday, October 12th, it was his birthday, so I drove up to see him with the girls and we all surprised him (every patient in the house with the nurses) and came into his room singing him happy birthday with a cake! He was so surprised and again, a bit emotional, but much better this time. He was happy to see the girls and I again and I continuously reminded him how blessed he was to see this birthday! He agreed!
On Thursday of this week Troy was taken to Shepherd Center and he did some swimming therapy. I heard it went very well; Troy wasn't too happy though, he says it wore him out. But the therapist said he will now go once a week for swimming therapy to help build his strength with some low pressure exercises in the water. Also, on Friday he had an appointment at Shepherd Center to check his bladder and kidneys to see why he has been getting so many urinary tract infections. I have not gotten the results of those tests yet, so please keep that in your prayers, as well.
This Saturday, October 16th, Troy, the girls and I went to Georgia Aquarium. We were blessed with tickets to the Aquarium and the Deepo's 3D show at the Georgia Aquarium. It was amazing! We had such a wonderful time! I even got a picture of Troy standing next to the shrimp tank looking at shrimp with Tyra. His chair is behind him and his nurse (which came along with us) was standing behind him, but he held himself up there for a good 5 minutes and didn't want to sit back down...LOL)
This is a family picture of us at Georgia Aquarium.He has that look on his face in this picture because he was crying most of time we were there. He just kept saying he was crying happy tears and he was so happy to be there with his family and enjoying us again. He kept saying how he has taken us for granted and will never do that again. Typing this now brings tears to my eyes because I know how much he wanted to be able to get up and walk around and run after Tyra and goof around like he always used to, but I also reminded Troy how this experience is humbling him and all of us in the process. We need to know that we aren't invincible and that we are nothing without God in our lives and by our side. I was so grateful for the person who blessed us with those tickets! It was definitely memorable and the look on Troy's face looking around at all the fish and sea creatures and taking it all in, was priceless!
And to finish this weekend off I took Troy and the girls to I-HOP. That was lots of fun too (except for Troy and Tyra were singing at the top of their lungs songs that came up on the intercom as we ate -- Brianna and I just had this mortified look on our faces...LOL)
Another interesting thing that happened this weekend was that Troy has decided he wants to move out West. I have asked him if he's sure over and over and in different ways and every time he says YES. He wants to move out there to get away from it all. He wants to start his new life and start fresh. I don't know when exactly that will be happening, or if it will even pan out, but I have already told Troy that I will follow him wherever he wants to go. He is thinking California, but I already told him that's not happening. So, we have compromised and are considering Washington or Oregon. Of course, nothing will happen unless God wills it so, so we'll see what happens with that. I know wherever we end up at, we'll be just fine as a family.
I do find that we now laugh more, share more, hug and kiss more than we ever did before; both as husband and wife and as a family. Troy is truly my soul mate and I'm so blessed to have him as my husband!
Friday, October 8, 2010
2 Week Update 9/25 - 10/8
It has been a hectic two weeks in my world, but I'm happy to report that Troy has been trucking long and doing really well in his therapies. The therapists continue to love working with him because he's such a huge participator in his own recovery.
Last weekend we finally got out outing with Troy. The girls and I got there about 11am and got Troy ready to go out with us. For this particular outing, I was given the option of taking the nurse with me, or not, I wanted it to be Troy, the girls and I, so I opted for no nurse. I got Troy loaded up into the car and broke the wheelchair down to fit in the trunk. I realized at this moment how a bigger car is definitely going to be needed, but nonetheless, I was elated to have him out with us so I didn't care. I crammed us all in and away we went. I asked him where he wanted to go, he said he didn't care (like always - lol - nice to know things haven't changed) So, we ended up at Chili's. I don't have a handicapped sticker for the car yet so the parking arrangement was very interesting, but we made it work.
Troy ate like a horse! It was awesome to see him so happy being out with the girls and I. I did notice, though, that after about 20 minutes of us being at the restaurant he was getting very edgy, almost irate at times. Regardless, we had a great time out. Also, to make things even better, Troy's dad surprised us from NC! He called that he was in town and he met us at the Chili's. Troy was happy to see him.
The rest of the weekend went great! We took Troy to the mall so I could buy him some winter clothes to wear for these colder months and then we went by the hospital to pick up his nurse so I could bring Troy home to see the house. He couldn't spend the night with us, but I wanted him to at least see the house, his dad was excited about that too. I was nervous at first though, it wasn't in the plans, but I knew God would help me and guide us to do the right thing. When he got to the house the first thing he said was "The house is huge and where's my toolbox?"
We showed him his toolbox then brought him inside. He was in awe at the house and remembered the TV and couches. The funny thing was that he didn't remember his computer. He asked to see his laptop and when we got it for him, he was adamant that wasn't the one he had. Anywho, all in all, it was great having him here. I can't wait til I can bring him home on the weekends to spend nights with us!
Other than that he's doing really well. He's still a bit confused at times and gets agitated and very mean when he's tired, but it's all a matter of me recognizing the signs and knowing when he's had enough.
Thank you so much for the continued prayers. God is working miracles in Troy's life and I am grateful every day for giving Troy another chance at life, another chance to be with his family!
This Sunday will be our 7 year wedding anniversary and I've been praising God all this week for giving us another chance at another year together. This anniversary almost didn't happen...I will cherish this one the most!
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