Rehab therapy, more chemo – a good week

Susan completed her first full week at Broadway by the Sea and is receiving excellent care. The nurses and assistants provide compassionate help and attend well to Susan’s needs for medication, hygiene, and comfort. She has mild back pain most of the time, but she tolerates it well. I visit her once or twice a day and happened to be there earlier this week when she was having a physical therapy session. She used the automatic exercise bike that works legs and arms at a programmed speed and records the patient’s own exertion separately for left and right sides. It’s a useful tool for muscle strengthening and allowing therapists to track her progress. They also applied electrical stimulation to her arms and legs to help build muscle fiber. I watched as the team helped Susan stand from her wheelchair and transfer her weight from side to side while holding parallel bars, then sit down slowly. She still needs “max assist” right now, but has already made progress from last week.
We made a jail break yesterday for our first field trip to UCLA for chemotherapy. She tolerated the long ride well; and the chemo session went smoothly. We’re thankful for no apparent tumor growth from June to July – she’ll have her next MRI in four weeks. It was wonderful to spend a whole day together.

I’ve begun to learn what loneliness feels like since Susan has been at the rehab hospital (and will be for weeks) and I’m spending more time at home and at work again. It’s not that I’m alone – I’m just lonely for her. My longing for Susan feels like there’s a torrent of water rushing through me, through my heart, and I’m being emptied but not filled up again. Yet the peace of God is a great comfort, as is seeing her each day.
Overall, I’m thankful for how things are working out, how God has provided. Her spinal fracture could have been much worse; and I believe she’ll heal quickly. The event of her fall actually brought about the transition from UCLA to rehab, something Susan needed even before she fell. The good thing now is she’s getting relief from the muscle decline brought on by hydrocephalus and decadron, while she’s mentally able now to participate in therapy and get stronger. Susan feels lonely too, but she’s doing well overall. In another sign of God’s provision, I recall Susan telling me that when she was a girl she enjoyed being by herself in her room or in the bath, listening to music on the radio. As I left her alone in her room with radio music on earlier this week, she was content. I realized how well God has prepared her to handle this season.

Susan is still funny. I read her the next day’s menu and asked her if she likes the food. (Keep in mind this is hospital chow, institutional style. I think it’s just tolerable and I’m glad I don’t have to eat it. Also note that she’s stuck in bed and couldn’t walk away if her life depended on it.) She said she likes the food, and “it’s one more reason to keep coming back every day.”
Another time I was talking with Susan by her bedside when a nurse charged in for a second, one of dozens of daily interruptions when one of the staff comes in and needs to do something. As we turned toward her, the nurse said, “Oh, I’m just checking on you, I’m doing rounds,” and left. Susan sort of rolled her eyes and scoffed, “At least she’s not doing squares.”