Waxing Philosophical... and Kung Fu Panda?!

Dan and I go to the movies almost every Friday night. The local theater in our town allows people with disabilities in for free – and so Dan and I like to go to a lot of movies. Last night we saw “Kung Fu Panda” and I thought it was awesome... it was funny and had an underlying message that has caused me to ponder.... (how can one ponder over a cartoon.... hmmm) Even though the scenery was hand drawn, it reminded me of China, the big tall temple buildings, the rope bridges, the noodle shop and the dumplings... It was fun for me to think of the wonderful people that we met in China that we grew to love. We wish that we could go back and see them all.... There were so many good people there from the nurses, therapists and doctors to the people that we met in the hospital. Going to China was a rich experience for us and the experience has forever changed us.

For many years we have not had association with others that have had serious accidents in their lives. I didn't really gain much strength from the early support groups that we were encouraged to participate in. I was expecting Dan to get better and every one else was trying to face the reality of never getting better, so needless to say, we ended up not participating. I am sure that I missed a wonderful opportunity to meet many really great people.

Those of you who know us may know that Dan is much more social than I am. He treasures his relationships with so many people and it means a lot to him to go visit and know how they are doing. I, on the other hand, get dragged into my work-day living and really only associate with family and close friends. I do enjoy my friendships and relationships – I just find it harder to reach out because of the other pressures that are in my life. Much of “keeping in touch” with others comes through Dan's emails, texts and communications than with my own.

I have been thinking a lot about our friends that we met as a result of our China adventure and Dan's stem cell treatments. Many new friendships have developed that we cherish. We think of Tori – who was the first inspiration to us all as we watched their courageous story, Missy and Travis that we have come to know since to Chris and Koo, Ty and Renee, Glen and Monnie, Jack and Dorene, Gary, Lorraine and Gary Jr (the wonderful young man that helped Dan climb the Great Wall!), Norm and Marlene, Stephen from Florida, our Aussie friends (Judy, Nichole, Maria, Dennis, Diana, Nathan) to all the doctors (Dr. Wisdom), therapists (Lily – the slave driver!) Nancy, nurses (Esther, Shirlene, Sunny, Kelly, Tina, Jingjing...) to the wonderful hospital staff (Diana, Wendy, Kamee, Kotan, Suzie, Isabelle) to the wonderful people we met at church (Mac & Janet Coleman, Phil & Donna Coleman, Steve & Kristie Hendrix, Donya Harvey and family... ). The list could go on – but these are a few that we think of when we reminisce on our wonderful adventure to China....

Dan is doing just great – he is working out and trying hard to improve. He goes up to Sandy three times a week and spends the full day at a therapy center called Neuroworx. Many who have seen him since the China trip may wonder if there is any progress... (and back to my pondering from Kung Fu Panda... where we learn that there is no secret ingredient to become the great Kung Fu master – it is only found in one's beliefs and perceptions of what their potential is...) Some may say – why hasn't the secret ingredient (the stem cells) worked already?! That was sure a long journey and a lot of money and time – where is the benefit?? ... and all we can answer is that we are trying our best to make an improvement come to pass – but it may take time, and perhaps the greatest secret ingredient we have is our belief that God will bless us as we make the effort on our own.

I am not sure what the end of this story will be... I can say that I feel good about the journey and that we trust in God enough to know that the outcome will be a blessing in our lives. We know that we have been blessed already by the wonderful people we have met. Out hearts go out to them in each of their situations and we pray that they might have some of the wonderful blessings that we have experienced. We have a desire to share our faith and beliefs with them in a hope that their lives may be blessed as ours have been. There is no doubt that life could be better – but let us not always be looking so hard for a better life that we forget to stop and count the blessings of the life we already have. There can be joy and peace, even in the midst of great challenge and sometimes it is the greatest challenges that drive us to find the anchor and the peace that we need so desperately.

So – my recommendation for the day – go see the movie (Kung Fu Panda)! I hope it will help you to believe in your potential – and also that you will have a good laugh and release any tension from the week you may have just had! Dan and I send our love and best wishes to all – we so appreciate your support and continued prayers in our behalf. It is because of you that our burdens are light, and we appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers in our behalf.

Angie's Graduation!

Way to go Angie -- it was a great day!

We are so proud of our daughter Angela! She graduated from Seminary AND High School this last month. Seminary graduation was held on Sunday, May 18th and Angie sang with two other girls from our ward at the event. Seminary is a weekday program of religious study that is sponsored by our church... Angie attended for four years and the graduation is a recognition of successfully completing this course of study. We are very proud of her for this great accomplishment!

Angie also graduated from Orem High School on May 30th. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time. Here are some pictures from the event for you to enjoy!

The big moment has arrived! Angie is on her way to get the diploma!


Angie did a dance as she came through the Orem "O" -- of course -- we thought she was the cutest one there!


A more serious moment... getting the diploma!


Angie sees her family through the crowd -- is she excited or what?!


Angie with her niece - Gentry!


Angie with her sister, Heather! (we don't know how we got such good looking children!!)


A pretty good shot of the family -- (I think Grandma Balls is checking out the great grandkids...)


Jeff and Dan wanted to play "dominoes" - they are trying to tip us all over!


The graduation line up--


We have NO IDEA what Jeff is doing in the background! ;-)


Angie with her cute nieces, Gentry and Riley (aren't they just adorable?!)


... apparently Dan and Jeff wanted to get in on some of the picture taking action!


Dorothy (Dan's sister) and Tony join us for the big celebration. Angie threw her cap up into the air and we caught it on camera! Dan, HeatherJ and Riley are in the background...


Angie with her sister Heather!


Angie getting a congratulation hug from one of her best friends... Sili Latu


... at least we think they are best friends! Angie will be rooming with Sili in the fall and living at Heather Cove (an apartment complex that Jeff and Kallie manage). She will be attending college at Utah Valley University here in Orem.


The beautiful graduate on her BIG day!!


Proud Mama and Grandma with Angie on her big day! (the three generation picture!)


Angie and her friend Melissa


Here we are at home enjoying the "graduation feast"!


Angie - we are so proud of YOU!!

What Mother's Want...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! Dan and I have been busy (crazy level busy) the last month or so. Dan is doing well and continues his therapy at Neuroworx in Salt Lake City. I continue to work and as of late have been re-arranging my entire house to accommodate the move-in of my son, his wife and two granddaughters. They will be living in our basement for the next year or so while Nathan is going to school. He returned to school and is working towards a Pharmacy degree. We are happy for them, and it will be fun to have them here... but it has been a task to clear out a basement (furniture and all) so that they could have an apartment down there. It is apparent we need to have a "garage sale" as I have accumulated way to much stuff in the time living here (fifteen years...)


This is my beautiful granddaughter Riley and her stuffed animal friends...

So -- now for a "mother story". The routine is that I take Dan to the bus stop on my way to work, get him on the bus which he rides to the Sandy TRAX station. He is then met by the Paratransit bus that takes him to Neuroworx for the day. At the end of the day, the routine is reversed - Paratransit picks him up and takes him to the bus stop and he rides the bus back to Orem, where I pick him up on my way home from work...

One day we were running a little late, and so instead of taking him to the main transit center, I headed to the bus stop at UVU (Utah Valley Univeristy) which is the last bus stop in Orem before the bus gets on the freeway. I pulled up and there was a line up of buses. I was going to pull in behind them, but Dan prompted me to whip in front of them and 'cut them off' so that they would not leave without him. So -- I did -- I pulled right up in front of the entire line-up and jumped out, got the wheel chair out of the back hatch, quickly loaded Dan into it and whipped up the bus ramp in record time!

I thought we were doing pretty good, but then I went to get off the bus and noticed a police officer parked next to my vehicle with the lights on... I started to say "Officer.... I was just..." and I recognized him as a previous neighbor. He just wanted to say hello -- so there we were catching up on old times and the bus line-up just had to go around the both of us... I am sure the driver was not too happy, but I was thankful that at least he thought I was getting a ticket! The next day when Dan got on the bus - the driver gave Dan a detailed booklet of all the bus stops on this route, and said.. "Here... will you give this to your mother?!!" I don't get how I get mixed up as Dan's mama - but it has happened on more occasions that I want to admit!

So-- leading into what do mothers want anyway... it is Mother's Day today and I know that all I want is for my children to be happy -- and most importantly that they will find the anchor in their lives that will bring them the happiness and peace that I have had over the years. It is not what happens to you in life, but rather knowing that there is a Power greater than us all that we can lean on in times of need. I hope my children learn to rely on the powers of Heaven.

What do I want as a wife? --I would be wrong if I didn't say I would like to see the day that Dan has his full abilities. It is so hard on him - especially when there is so much work to be done around the house -- to watch and not be able to help out like he wants to. I would like him to work side by side with me... that would be awesome! We are determined to do all that we can to help him -- what I have come to realize is that some of the goals and dreams that we have take more than we originally estimate to make them come true. I still believe that Dan can improve - I just think it will not come without a lot of hard work -- and some time. We need to not give up on our dreams, just because the road is hard to get there. That is a great lesson that I have learned this past year.

Wishing you and your family all the best! Don't give up on us... we are still working our tails off!
----------------------------------

(...later) We just got back from relaxing with the family at a time-share condo in Midway. We went up for a family dinner and get together, and then Nate and his family stayed over. It is only about 20 minutes from our home, but is up a canyon in some beautiful country, so it is a nice get-away. The children and Dan have all been so good to me the last few days. Yesterday they came over and had a big "work party" at our house where the boys put in a new sink, did some electrical work and then the girls worked in the yard, cleaned the hot tub and sanded the front porch railing in preparation for painting. It was a BIG day and we got a lot accomplished.. and I am so glad that I have such wonderful children (and their spouses) that are so helpful to me!

Chillin' at the condo...

We played games together and ate a wonderful turkey / cheesy potato dinner with all the trimmings... and then topped it of with some rhubarb cake and ice cream. Thanks to Angie for cooking such a great dinner for all!



Dan gave me a sweet card - and with his permission I share his message...
"Always remember that you are my one and only. I appreciate your unending acts of Love from putting my shirt and socks on or rushing me to the bus in the morning to telling me to come to bed at night. Thank you for bearing and teaching our beautiful children. You are a Super Mom and wife!!! I can't wait till when I can take care of you. :-) Love, Dan"

It was hand written -- now you know why I think he is such a great guy! He makes up for his disability with his love and cheerful countenance. -- oh - and by the way -- he WON the UNO game! He was pretty proud of that!

Take care friends.

"See Dan Day" at Neuroworx

Thursday, March 27th was "See Dan Day" at Neuroworx! The entire Neuroworx team surprised Dan by all wearing their "See Dan... " shirts. He was really happy - they are such a great group and so supportive of the people that they work with. It is great to have such a great team to work with, and Dan really likes it there.

He also has been going to the SCI forums that they are a part of - these are held every Tuesday night at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City. He sent me a text last Tuesday and said - "I'm on the TRAX, and I'm going to the Gallivan Center". He did the same thing tonight... I just barely went an picked him up from the bus stop (at 10:43 pm) - so it makes for a long day. I have a conflict on Tuesdays and I can not get away to go with him to these events. It makes me nervous to have him out this late at night on his own, but he doesn't always listen to me.... so we say a prayer and hope that he will be protected. If anyone wants to spend a Tuesday night with Dan - let me know!

We have had a great week - we had a fun Easter - we had all the kids over for dinner and it was a good time. I would like you to see our favorite Easter egg -- this is Wilson.



Kallie and Angie had a good time coloring this egg... they went over to the corner of the kitchen and huddled - working on their piece of art. They went and got the movie "Castaway" to make sure that they did the face right - and then they went and found the hot glue gun so that they could put on his "hair".

I just don't have the heart to eat "Wilson" - that is the only problem!

Pray for Chris...

To all our friends and family --

We would like to introduce you to some very special friends that we have met during our "stem cell journey". Meet Chris Barnes and his wife, Koo...





You can follow their story at Chris Barnes Blog

When we were deciding about whether to come to China, it was Chris and Koo that gave us hope and courage to come. Koo is an amazing woman - she is a loyal and dedicated wife - who stands by her man and does all that she can to help him recover. They are now in China for a second stem cell treatment for Chris! Chris has made so much progress over the last year - and we pray for his continued improvement. Please join with Dan and I as we follow their courageous journey to China and pray for the blessings of Heaven to be with them at this time!

Go Chris and Koo!!

"Get over it!... and move on..."

I am sorry for not posting in so long - we have been heads down just trying to get our life in a new rut... a good rut! It does take a lot of arrangements to do logistically, but I think we are getting there.

For LaNae - she just finished up a major project at work (wahoo!), attended a youth conference with a group of youth and then got to see a nephew get married in the same weekend-- way to go Braden and Tiffany!



Here is a really cute picture of my (great) niece and nephew, Emily and Harrison... aren't they adorable?!



Now for Dan -- he got to come to the wedding too... but other than that he has been on a pretty rigorous schedule with therapy. He goes up to Neuroworx on Tues, Thurs and Friday and is focusing on trying to improve his gait. He doesn't have the awareness of what his trunk is doing and has used his trunk (main body area) to get his limbs to move. So, in order to move his hand, he has compensated and twists his body to get his arm to move. He does the same with his legs, so his walking is a process of moving his body to get his legs to move. Right now, in therapy, he is working on focusing keeping his trunk straight and getting the muscles to work to properly move his leg through and transition his weight without the body movement. He is making good strides... improvement is slow... but it is there, and for that we are thankful.



This is Dan working out some of his unused leg muscles on the parallel bars....



Here Dan is walking up straight and tall AND without a leg brace!!


This is Dan standing on an upside down exercise ball and trying to balance on it... this is kind of hard! (I tried it...)






I am also trying to get more protein and amino acids into Dan's diet. He drinks a protein shake every day, along with some protein bars and his usual vitamins twice a day. We are done taking all of the medicine that we got in China, so we are on a regular diet with supplements. Dan takes a lunch with him on the days he goes to Neuroworx... so the routine is this - I take him to the bus stop on my way to work, and after an hour bus ride, he is picked up from the bus stop in SLC by the paratransit service, and then about 10 minutes later he is at Neuroworx. He sends me a text so that I know he is safe and sound there... then it is a full days work for him. He works out on the equipment on his own as much as he can, at 11:00 - he goes into the pool and does his aquatic therapy, then he DRESSES himself!! (this is good- very good!) ... and then he usually eats his lunch and has another set of therapy in the afternoon before either a family member comes to meet him, or he comes back home on the bus via paratransit / UTA.

I think the people at Neuroworx are enjoying Dan's sense of humor.... they send a little radio handset in with him while he is dressing, in case he falls or something, he can press the button on it to get some assistance... well - the other day - he got all dressed, wheeled himself out to the main area, and then pressed the button (he was in the same room as his therapist) and then laughed his head off when they said - somebody better go help Dan...! He thinks he is pretty funny for sure! [uh... Dan... have you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?!]

Another good quote from Dan is "Get Over It!" I guess he was transferring from his chair to a piece of equipment and Jan (the head honcho) looked across the room and said -- "You still make me nervous..." to which Dan replied... "Get over it!" We think it is a pretty classic Dan quote -- they should put it on their wall! Jan had a good laugh and enjoyed telling others how Dan told her to "get over it"!

So all is well with us... we continue to work hard, and we feel good about the effort we are putting out. The progress is slow, but there is some progress and for that we are grateful. We continue to put our trust in the Lord and know that we will be blessed for our efforts. We will get the maximum benefit from the stem cell treatment - and we will take it as far as we can take it. Where ever our journey may take us, we are happy to go, for we know we will learn much in the process. We have a loving Heavenly Father that cares about us, and will bless us through our trials. This we have learned over the years and so we continue to put our trust in Him, knowing whatever the outcome, it will be the best outcome for us. But for now... we just keep workin!

A Day in the Life of Dan...

This is Dan working out in the pool at Neuroworx, as Dan was working on therapy there. He really enjoys going there and we think the therapists are top notch. We only wish we could have him stay longer and get more help.

Let me tell you about our day on Friday... but to begin, I would like to start out with a disclaimer so that you don't think I am a neglectful caregiver. (I might be, but I hope you will understand...) Dan has enjoyed quite a bit of independence over the years as he refuses to stay at home and do nothing. He has a recumbent bike that he rides all over the Orem / Provo area. He rides it into stores (it is his summer wheelchair), and if he ever gets into a situation of needing help, he has his cell phone that he can call or text with. He also has ridden the bus by himself from our home, all the way up to the University hospital in Salt Lake City. That required that he ride the bus to the TRAX station, change and ride the Trax and then be picked up by the ParaTransit service which would take him the rest of the way. I worry at times about him, but he is determined to do what he wants and get where he wants to be, and such has been our life.

On Thursday, we made arrangements for him to ride up to SLC to go to Neuroworx on the bus to the Trax station, and then made arrangements for the paratransit service to pick him up there and take him to Neuroworx. He sends me a text message at each point along the way so that I will know everything is going well with him. So I get a text -- "made it to Neuroworx" or "on the bus", and even though I am at work and sometimes tied up in meetings, I know how he is doing.

Friday, however, there was quite a few mix ups... I got him on the bus at 8:12 am and then I headed for work and he was off to Salt Lake City... at about 9:30 am, I got a text message from him that he was at the Trax station, but that the Paratransit service was not there. I called Paratransit, and they told me that I had scheduled the ride for Saturday (NOT!) and so no one was coming... they put us on hold while they listened to the recording of the scheduling call, as I did tell them the schedule was for Friday, not Saturday. I then called my sister-in-law who lives in South Salt Lake City and asked if she could go over and pick up Dan and take him over to Neuroworx. She was happy to do so, and so I called Dan back and told him that she was on the way to get him...

Well - they got over to Neuroworx, and the main therapist wasn't there that day, and they didn't want Dan to stay there (he was early). They were nervous about liability issues if he were to fall or something like that... and they haven't worked with him enough to know what his abilities are. so they asked him to come back at 1:00 for his appointment. When we first decided to go there, we had been told that Dan was welcome to come and work out at the facility at other times than his appointed time, so this was a surprise to us. Anyway -- I am stuck at work and am fully booked until noon, and I can't get away to go get him. So he went over to my brother's home for a few hours and then they took him back at 1:00, and by then I was able to get away and meet them there. So it was a crazy day....

We will meet with the team at Neuroworx to get this resolved, as we are looking for an aggressive therapy program for Dan, and 3 hours a week doesn't cut it. The plan was to allow him to work at the center for at least 4 hours each time he went up. We may have to hire a caregiver to go and assist him so that they will feel better about him being there. Apparently, other patients that come and use the facility do have a caregiver with them that can provide assistance. So we will need to figure this out... We do really like the center and feel that they have a lot to offer Dan. They have been spot on in their evaluations, and are really helping with the time that he has been given. We just need to make arrangements so that we can get more of this good care, as they are really good at what they do.

We will keep you posted as things progress...