Goodbye Rehab, Hello Home!

Yesterday we received news that Josh is being discharged this Friday, July 24th. It was a day of mixed emotion. We were surprised by the news, as he wasn't expected to leave the rehab till next week. As much as we are looking forward to Josh coming home, we feel a little anxious as we leave the supportive medical and rehab team whom we have grown to love and rely on. For Josh this also means saying goodbye to the people who have had a huge impact on his road to recovery and who have supported him emotionally. It will be a big change for Josh as he moves away from very structured days filled with activity and people to a more relaxed and more self motivating environment. However we are so thankful that Josh is coming home to be with our family once again.

It was three months ago that Josh was in the serious work accident diagnosed with Significant Diffused Axonal Injury which is a sheering of the brain due to the shock waves of the explosion. God spared Josh's life and carried us a family through that very difficult time.

Josh has made a miraculous recovery and we are ever so thankful for the way the Lord has healed him. As we reflect on Josh's progress we see how quickly Josh has moved through his recovery. Physically, Josh looks like his old self, almost like he doesn't belong at rehab at all. Yet he still struggles with his speech, short term memory loss and functioning cognitive issues. His outpatient therapy will address these issues and will focus on Josh's goals of returning to work and learning to drive again etc. We are thankful that the WSIB is going to follow through with all the recommendations of the rehab team and Josh will begin therapy once we return from our camping trip.

Please continue to pray for our family as we begin a new chapter in our life. Please pray for continued and complete healing for Josh. Please pray for the many patients we have come to know who are not making the progress they have hoped or prayed for. Thank the Lord for places like the Toronto Rehab Institute which do incredible work.

As this will be our last post, we wish to thank you all for your continued prayers. Thank you for blessing us with your words of encouragement and deeds of kindness, visits etc. It was wonderful to know we had people who loved us join with us in our very hard journey. Thank you also to Bruce for posting our blog, as it was a great blessing.

The Lord chose to spare Josh's life and heal him in this amazing way for reasons we do not know. We stand humbled and in awe before Him as we know it's not because of anything we or Josh has done to deserve this but it is only for His purpose and for His glory. To Him we give all the praise and thanks.

We will finish off with our wedding verse:

Philippians 4:4-8 "Rejoice in the Lord always. again I say rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Much love to you all,
Phil and Terri and Josh. Joel and Irma, Josh and Meagan, Karina and Stephen

Ten Weeks Since The Accident

We have just passed the ten week mark since Josh's accident. We are so thankful he is home again for his fifth weekend. A few weekends ago Josh was home for Father's Day. Phil could not have asked for a better gift than that of having Josh's life spared. To also have Josh home with the family on that Sunday was not what we would have expected weeks ago, an added blessing.

We have also been so thankful that Josh has been able to attend church for the past two weekends. Then last week Josh was determined to be at his younger brother's grade 12 graduation. He even came to the small celebration afterward. This past week was also special; due to the July 1st holiday, Josh was able to come home for two nights this past week as well. We celebrated Canada Day a day early as we went as a family (minus a few members) to the Blue Jays game. We had a great evening celebrating with Josh, even though the Jays lost. This was a big excursion for Josh as it involved a lot of walking and a lot of people. He did well!! We all enjoyed ourselves, although Josh was very tired on Wednesday.

On Thursday, we took Josh to the Aquarium in Toronto with his grandparents. It was one of the things on Josh's list to do while staying in Toronto. Although Josh is looking good and is doing well physically, we are realizing more and more that he gets very tired easily. Signs of being tired are tremors in his right hand, leg shaking, altered speech, and trouble with memory. We are learning as a family along with Josh that although it is good to push forward and have fun, there needs to be a balance between rest and activity.

Last week Friday, Josh was moved out of his semi-private room into one of the larger rooms that is more like a tiny apartment. He is now responsible to make his own breakfasts, tidy his room and even make his own bed. :) We look forward to Josh moving home again at the end of the month. For now, he is progressing well with the help of all his therapists and he is working hard. They have become dear to us, especially to Josh. We hope to visit St. Michael's ICU in the near future as we promised we would return with Josh one day when he was doing well. Who would have known that it would only be a few months later!

Please continue to pray for Josh and for complete healing. Pray for patience as we wait and for acceptance of what will be. Someone recently sent us a card reminding us that although Josh's accident was so unexpected and so unimaginable for us, it was never unexpected for our God, who is our loving Father. He knows all things and all things are in His hand. Therefore, we echo the song once again... "All is well with my soul, it is God in control, I know not all His plans, but I know I'm in His hands."

Thank you again for sharing in our walk.

Love Phil and Terri and Josh and family