Journal entry by joanne wallen —
Hi everyone,
The last 2-3 months have been extremely challenging for Scott and I, both physically and emotionally. For example, in the past 2 months I’ve had 4 trips to the ER and 2 trips to urgent care. It’s hard to explain the intricacies of my care.
That being said, in the spirit of Thanksgiving I want to focus on the positive and uplifting things that have happened.
- October 17th I had surgery for a Baclofen pump to be inserted into my abdomen. A tube wraps around from my abdomen to my spine, where medication is administered. This will eventually help me gain more movement on minimal medication.
- The Able program is going very well. I will post videos on Facebook for those who wish to see (as Caring Bridge won’t support videos). They are from a few months ago and I’ve made even more progress since then.
- Maple Grove Middle School continues to do amazing things for me, even though I’ve been gone from work for 2 years. The most recent was a very generous gift from staff to add to my Able account. I love keeping touch with colleagues, turned friends.
- The school district social workers took me out to celebrate my professional achievements from 32 years as a social worker in the district. They even had a presentation that highlighted so many wonderful accolades.
- A huge gift this week has been having my wonderful niece Katrine visit from Florida to stay with me and help support me emotionally. She wanted to come and spend Thanksgiving with us, which is very meaningful.
- Travis and Kaitlin have a lot on their plate but continue to visit with our beautiful grandchildren. I am still trying to find ways to connect with the kids in the meaningful way we did in the past. Although relationships change over time, I am grateful for the memories from before my accident. I am working through the grief of how involvement as their grandparent has changed. Thankfully, they remain very close to their Bapa (AKA Scott). Meanwhile, Kaitlin has the privilege of plucking my eyebrows, trimming my nails, and being IT support.
- Nick is simply awesome. While my time with him is very important to me, what he has done in helping Scott is tremendous.
- I am fortunate to have an amazing medical team that continue to give me lots of hope. Finding PCA coverage has been challenging, there are a few who have provided tremendous support and great care. It’s typical that this is an area we will need to be on top of.
- I have been surrounded by love from many friends, who regularly gift me with their time and help me with tasks around the house. This includes my other wonderful niece, Kirsten, who is here many Monday nights to stay with me so Scott and Nick can keep up their bowling league. It has been fun to build a closer relationship with her. There are many people to thank and you all know who you are ❤️
- Though the Able benefit was done back in May, I am still amazed by the love and care that was shared with me. It brought immense joy to see so many former students and staff who worked with me at MGMS. Even many coworkers from my first job 20+ years ago at Cedar Island came to my benefit. I have such fond memories of the high-quality colleagues I have had the privilege to work with. To my benefit group - what can I say except you all rock, and gifted me with an outpouring of love and hope.
- I am so thankful for my friendship with Deb Brezina and others who continue to go above and beyond with me. We still have a lot of fun.
- Last but far from least is my wonderful husband, Scott. He has so much on his plate. While he certainly has low points and I can see how exhausted he is balancing my care and work, he still has the most generous, caring heart. Scott has supported me beyond words. He has a hard time asking for help, but I’m working on encouraging him to do so.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 🥧 🍁
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