Weekly Update #36

Julie wanted her dad to do this week’s update so here it is:

Julie’s Dad John here, and this is my turn to blog her weekly update.

Flew up last Wed. afternoon with son-in-law Jeffrey First Officer right seater, as I boarded, stuck my head in the cockpit and demanded no bumps and a smooth flight to which he said sure thing while his Captain (left seater) was thinking, who is this guy?

Ended up 42C… At least an aisle seat…
Smooth flight… Jeffrey complied…

Got to see my first born six hours later and she looked gorgeous! FULL head of luxurious hair, no wrinkles anywhere on her face (I guess the Botox spreads) she looked great! Even Siena jumped out of bed to welcome me back. Wonderful welcome… More in the morning.

Next day I was amazed at her progress! Her mom Arleen had seen her twice after we both left in January, but this was my first time back in 10 months. During her aquatic therapy sessions, I saw her actually walking underwater by just holding her therapist’s hands! She can swim… Well actually dog paddle… quite a sight that nearly brought me to tears. Out of the pool and into the gym, she cranked out over a mile on the NuStep stepper machine.

Later on the treadmill while DH assisted she walked by just hanging on to the handlebars at an amazing pace. But the best was the last as she climbed up first a short flight of six stairs turned a corner and walked up sixteen steps! She did it all on her own while Jeffrey just helped guide her feet from hitting each other! You may have seen a video of her physical accomplishments posted on FB. Oh yeah, side note, due to family pressure I was forced to get my own FB account so I cannot hack my wife’s page with unsolicited comments. Julie set that up for me. Thanks Jewels, now I cannot hide behind your mother’s aprons anymore. 🙂

The rest of the time with her included fixing a few things with the shower head and repairing a broken sliding drawer, replacing a fridge water filter. Mundane things that dads do.

Meeting Karen, Siena’s nanny, was great as I found her to be a wonderful helper for her. She is so sweet and patient with little missy as she can be quite a handful as many of you know. Makes her breakfast, gets her ready for school, takes her to school, picks her up from school and even helps with her homework! She is such a blessing!

Went to River Rock Church on Sunday and I was very moved by the love and support the members have given Julie for all the time she has been through this long ordeal. Quite interestingly, their current sermon series is entitled HE>i which Julie adopted as her personal slogan way back in Sept of 2011 before her surgery. Not a coincidence, but a God thing to encourage her as well as all of us that God is greater than anything we face, our fears, our struggles, our sin, our death. Through Christ’s resurrection, we can be assured truly… HE> than death. We can be fully confident that we will like Job, one day see our Redeemer.

Well enough preaching… Julie is doing great… Not yet completely independent at home. Struggles with getting peanut butter lids off, reaching the cereal containers on the high shelf. But she can stand and cook at the stove, sit and empty the dishwasher and dryer. She is well on her way to full recovery.

Continue to pray for her. Full recovery also means recovering from the trauma of physical, emotional and spiritual struggles. While she has powered through a lot of issues and is still dealing with some currently, I am confident she will make the right decisions and actions that will bring back an even better Julie that we all love and appreciate!

Love you Jewels… You are my Jewels!

Dad