Four weeks

Today is four weeks from the accident.

We were reminded again this week that it truly is a miracle that Angie’s life was spared in the accident. Speaking with the doctors and emergency responders, we can only point to God for the gift of Angie’s life being preserved through the trauma her body experienced. God is good and He is loving and we give Him the glory for saving her life.

On top of the miracle of her life, these past couple weeks have shown us how the mercies of God have permeated so many aspects of this journey. The first week in the hospital the doctors could have fostered in us a false hope, but they were honest and presented us with the facts of the situation. In hindsight, we’re so thankful for the doctor’s wisdom both in caring for Angie and for guarding our emotions from over-expecting results from her recovery.

These past 28 days Angie has progressed in so many ways both mentally and physically. In the Mary Free Bed facility at Sparrow, Angie has been participating in daily rehab exercises in physical, occupational, recreational, and speech therapy. On average she’s working three hours a day regaining strength and mobility, and outside of those sessions she’s been mostly resting (during which we’ve all enjoyed a Harry Potter movie marathon and best-of episodes from The Office).

Angie is increasingly cognizant each day and has been able to communicate through thumbs up and down, multiple choice options with numbers, and surprising us all, hand-lettering with Sign (which we completely forgot her and Amanda had learned when they were younger). The other day we witnessed a beautiful moment as Angie woke up from a nap and after Ryne said “I love you” she hand-lettered back “I L-O-V-E Y-O-U.” While there’s still some uncertainty how much of her memory and knowledge is still foggy, it’s evident Angie is aware of relationships and their significance in her life.

The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
Psalm 28:8

With Angie’s increased communication, we’ve seen her frustration at the inability to communicate verbally with us. Yet even with her limited means of communication we’ve seen her personality and humor shine through. We’re praying for peace for Angie in this area in particular that she not be discouraged with slow progress.

In her increased mobility and strength building through rehab, Angie has been quite exhausted and is also experiencing what’s called Neurofatigue. This is due to the fact that her brain is having to overwork to do tasks that each of us take for granted each day. Different parts of her brain are compensating from the trauma as well as rebuilding connections to carry out daily functions. This is a natural part of rehab but it can still be tough for us to see her so tired out.

This next phase in Angie’s journey will probably be longer than our time in the NICU and it’s been a transition for us as that had become a bit of a norm. We’re so thankful she’s moved into therapy, but it’s a bit challenging moving from what we were used to.

If you’re looking to pray for us, here are some specific prayer requests and things you can do:

• Pray for strength and rest for Ryne
• Pray that Ryne doesn’t get sick
• Pray for all the doctors, nurses, and Ryne to carry out their respective roles well
• Pray for our navigating each transitional step in this journey
• Pray for Angie not to be discouraged or frustrated
• Pray for God to heal Angie

Text

Please text when you think about us or Angie. Angie’s phone is on and working and she’d love to hear from friends and family (we’ll read to her any texts that you send). There’s a decent likelihood we won’t respond right away (or at all) but know that we’ll read your texts to her and that they’re really encouraging to each of us!

Donations

Click here for some opportunities to support us financially and with meals. These continued gifts have been a huge blessing for us all – thank you!

Send us a Note

We love reading your notes and stories. Keep sending those in and know that we read and cherish each one!

Thanks again for all your continual prayers, support, and hope you’ve shown in so many ways.