Final Update, by Josh

Hello everybody! Josh here. I've been home for almost a week now and it feels great to be home. I've started doing home therapy with my occupational therapist, but I'll wait until after camping to start things with my other therapists. Yes, thankfully my family didn't go camping without me; we go camping next week. We all enjoy camping and hopefully it's a relaxing time away… and not too hot like the weather we've had this past week!

In a way it was sad saying goodbye last Friday to all my therapists and nurses. We had a pizza party with the nursing staff to show our appreciation of them. The staff seemed happy to see me leaving in good health but also sad to see me go; we all got along well. It was a little emotional for my parents and grandparents. Grandma also made her boter-koek (butter cake) which they loved (and a therapist had even asked for her recipe!). It was a bit of a community there but my family at home now is a nice substitution.

I would like to thank you all for reading and staying in touch with the situation. Thank you also for all the support you've given to my family. Thankfully I don't remember the first few weeks or anything that happened close by the accident but I know it was tough for them and they were appreciative of the support. Thanks also to everyone who came by the hospital and rehab to visit. If I haven't thanked you directly I probably don't remember the visit (my memory just started kicking in about the last month, so any memory outside that is spacey).

Thank you also for all the prayers you've given to God for my situation. God has been so gracious in my recovery, from getting discharged out of the ICU to the kindness/gentleness of the nursing/physio staff. It's only because of God's grace that my life was spared. My recovery isn't complete yet, so I'll still ask you guys to pray for patience as recovery will slow down in the next few months. Any/all prayer is appreciated.

So I'll give you an update with how the next few weeks/months will be going down. Yes, we're going camping next week at McGregor. After that, holidays will hold off for a few weeks, and then we're going to North Carolina with the family to enjoy a cottage on the Outer Banks. When I return, home therapy will fully commence and be underway. I'll be meeting with Occupational Therapy a few times a week, a speech pathologist a few times a week, a rehab therapist running therapy weekly (all at home), and to cap it off some physiotherapy twice a week in Richmond Hill (clearly, not at home). So, while my original thoughts were that I might have too much down-time at home, clearly I'll be busy enough with therapy both at-home and away from home. Hopefully I’ll be busy enough over the next few months and not have too much time sitting with my arms crossed.

Thanks again for all your love and support. It's been great knowing I'm not alone in all this. Have a great summer (what's left of it), and I will try to as well. God bless you all.

Josh