Normal

So its kind of eerie how NORMAL life is starting to be again.

Cory is back to work almost full time again already (I know surprise surprise, you cant keep a work-a-holic away for long). He is no where near being able to drive again so he gets picked up and dropped off everywhere he needs to go. My little brother just laughs because Cory has always talked about wanting to get a limo or some large comfortable car and hire someone to just drive him around to where he needs to be so he can work in the back of the car. Isn't it awesome that Cory's wish came true. HAHA...

Anyways, Cory decided this week that he doesn't need his walker or his braces around the house. I think he's just lazy and would rather take the risk of falling then take the time to put everything on. (But hey I don't blame him its takes a lot of work to "suit up")

He has done pretty good as far as walking goes, he has only fallen "bad" two or three times. Unfortunately it always seems to happen as we are putting Rubi to bed. Don't ask me why but every time Cory stands up after our song and prayer he seems to fall...and then we just laugh for about 30 secs. and try to get out of her room before she gets too hysterical. HAHA!

Cory has continued to go to out patient therapy and he is doing really really great. Last week however he did loose his pants in the pool. I wasn't there but he said that it was Hilarious and the therapists said she has never had that happen before. (I guess that's what happens when you loose 30lbs. I suppose I better go to the store and buy him some new swim suits)

We are sad to say that our insurance wont cover us to go back to Mayo Clinic to get his follow up evaluations done. We were really bumed because we wanted to go see the neurology team that really got Cory through the rough times. My next quest will be to find a good neurologists that is on our insurance. Cory still needs another EMG to see how much nerve damage has been done. His feeling is a long ways from normal so the test should let us know a little better how long it will take for his recovery.

Well that's about it...here's to our NEW NORMAL!!!!

O and one more thing Cory got to go to the movies for the first time. He LOVES the movies so that was such a fun treat for both of us.

WEek 1

WE did it. We made it through our first week home. And I can't lie we have had a pretty rough go at it but hey we are alive and there's something to be said for that.

Cory started his out patient therapies this week and I think he really likes it. On Monday he had an evaluation so the PT would know what she had or doesn't have to work with (wink wink Cory's a little thin guy these days) Anyways, she made him do some pretty advanced moves that even made Cory a little impressed that he could do them. (Nate it was the stuff on that sheet that Cory was supposed to translate into Spanish for you and never did...we are still working on that ha ha) Cory's favorite part was he had to race against a timer. So he did each race three times and took average of the three to get his results. The first set of races was done with OUT his leg braces and the second set was WITH his braces. If I would have known that Cory was going to have so much fun at his evaluation I would have brought my camera...It was pretty entertaining.

Cory also had his first visit with his PCP and he decided to do another ultra sound of his legs. We are excited to say that we think we are in the clear as far as the blood clots in legs. Cory is even more excited that he can stop giving himself a shot in the tummy every morning.

Tuesday we got to have lunch with some really close friends of mine. After we decided to meet up with my dads family at BIG SURF water park. Cory didn't get in but he enjoyed watching Rubi and I swim and splash and go down the slides. We also gave Rubi her first Dip-n-dots and we got our fav. Blue Icee. We had a blast and for a moment life felt normal again.

Wednesday we spent relaxing. Cory actually didn't relax too much. He spent most of the day on the phone WORKING!!!! Yup you cant keep a work-a-holic away too long. HAHA he also got to go have a guys afternoon with my little brother and his friend. It was a well deserved and NEEDED afternoon for Cory.

Today Cory had PT again only this time is was aquatic. We didn't talk much about it after because as soon as he got into the car he made me take his shoes off because I guess he had a really hard time putting them on after therapy and its because one of his toes was curled under and he didn't know it. After the shoe came off he was in A LOT of PAIN!!! That's what he gets for not wearing his leg braces.

Which leads me to my next point....I want to give a shout out and introduce all of you to the new members of our family...now I hope you are sitting down for this one....


the wheel chair


the walker (we still need to add tennis balls to the bottom)


the shower bench (with arms and back)


the throne..affectionately known by Cory as the "B 1 Bomber" for reasons you can guess...


the braces...I bet you've never seem them in that color before haha. (Cory picked them out after I told him to go BIG or go home...he decided to do both) we are also narrowing it down to what vinyl sticker we want to put on the back of them...to be continued.

WE made it...

So on Thursday Cory was finally released after 9 weeks of this craziness...we couldn't be happier. My little brother was able to help me go get Cory and ALL of the stuff that he comes with these days. You don't realize when you live somewhere (like the hospital) how much you can accumulate over a months time. We had clothes, 6 pairs of shoes, hats, toiletries, toys, medicine, wheels chair, walker, Cory, candy, un opened soda cans/breakfast drinks, computers, bed side commode, shower chair, pretty much you name it we had it. It was funny the nurses looked at us like we were crazy with all the trips we had to make from his room to the car.

We want all of the people that helped Cory at the hospital to know how truly wonderful they are. SO thank you to Nate, Jen, Lindsi, Vasanti, Jennifer, Dr. D., Larry, Jerry and ALL the of the nurses, therapists, food staff, and house keeping. We really appreciate everything you did for Cory. You are all angels to us. We will miss seeing you everyday and hope to come back for a visit very soon.

Since we have been home life has been a lot differnt and very very FULL. We have had a few crazy nights of firguring out how to sleep in the same bed again, Cory is figuring out how to shower and go to the restroom at home (o the things we take for granted). I have the responsibitlity of making sure he gets all of his meds., dosent fall out of his wheel chair, dosent fall when he DOES walk, and I have to remind him that its okay to take it slow on not rush like he used to (this is very tough for him). In addition, all of the relatives from my dads side have come into town for a little family reunion so life has been full of swimming, eating out, bbqing and much much more to come this next week. Cory and I have both been a little overwhelmed at times but its been okay because we have been forced into REALITY again.

I have thought about this a lot lately. It's so funny that when something happens in my life weather its having a baby, loosing a loved one, or now this trial I ask myself "why CAN'T the world just STOP for two minutes a let me take a deep breath and figure out how I am going to be able to get through this?"...don't the bills know that they just need to be put on hold for a while, doesn't my body know I don't have time to eat right now, why is everyone else still waking up and going to work everyday, these are the things I ask myself. And somehow it doesn't matter I still have to keep going because LIFE isn't set up to accommodate these unforeseen circumstances. I have to be strong. My grandpa used to say "you will either make it or you won't" haha and that's kind of how I am feeling right now.

Anyways, we are happy that Cory is home. And he is doing AMAZING. He came home using a walker and his leg braces called AFO's (I forgot what that stands for) but he also was fitted for a custom wheelchair because even though he can walk...its only for short distances before he is completely wasted. His wheelchair will be delivered in a couple weeks so in the mean time he has a loaner.

On Monday, Cory will start out patient PT where we will go to the hospital 3-4 times a week. Cory is very happy that he is finally to this point. He is still mostly numb in all parts of his body but little by little he thinks it might be coming back.

He wanted me to mention a few more things...When he sits for long periods of time in his wheel chair his legs get very swollen and red. He likes to walk because it helps with that blood return from his legs to his heart. His favorite thing to do right now is swim with his girls. Swimming is the only time he can stand completely straight up. It is very hard for him to balance with out some sort of flotation device. And lastly when he gets out of the pool he says his body feels really heavy and it makes him a little sad.

Well that's it for now. Sorry I feel like this post was delayed and now is a little random but once I figure out this new home life hopefully I will be a little more consistent on here again.

Thank you for your continued prayers and Happy 4th of July.