Journal entry by Katherine Nyboer —
One final update from Olivia as we choose to move forward in grace, love, and hope that only our Savior can give. Thank you for following along with us on this journey. Ya’ll have been such an encouragement to me and our families. Much love! ❤️ -Katherine
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Dear friends and family,
18 weeks ago today, just over 4 months ago, it was May 28 - the tragic day that changed our lives. I cannot express enough my thankfulness for what you all mean to me and my gratitude for all of your love and support throughout this trial. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
The biggest and most wonderful update - on September 5, Alex asked me to marry him!!! This was (by far) the easiest and most exciting "yes" of my life! We are so excited to begin our lives together this December and continue to take the next steps in our lives. Because we are both out of the hospital, trying to find a new "normal," and now planning for our wedding, this will be the last post on Caring Bridge. If you would like to reach out to me directly about something specific, you are welcome to do so! But here I will give a final proper update and prayer requests that will be continuing on throughout the foreseeable future.
- Praise! Alex began his first week full-time back at work last week! While it is busy and there is a lot to be done, he is so thankful and excited to be back at work and to be able to be a solid provider looking into the start of our marriage.
- Praise! I am fully out of the wheelchair and we've got it returned and out of the house! And… I've even worked myself out of the walker already! I am now using my small-base quad cane to keep myself stabilized and (hopefully) will be walking on my own without equipment in the near future!
- Praise! Despite my fused spine, my range of motion is still showing signs of improvement. I continue to have significant back pain, but am so thankful that I am not paralyzed and that there are no further serious concerns at this time.
- My TBI (traumatic brain injury) still has an effect on me, but is not significantly hindering my personality, memory, and cognitive abilities anymore. There still are times where I am speaking and my mind comes to a complete blank, but I usually will recall what it was that I was talking about or can be reminded and my mind will quickly come back on track. I am so grateful to finally feel like myself once again and that Alex, my family, and my friends see it in me too.
- Praise! Thankfully, upon discharge from Mary Free Bed, I was weaned and taken off of all narcotics and off of my extensive medication list. So grateful to know that the pain I am experiencing is the full level of pain that my body is in rather than being masked by high dosages of medications.
- Prayer Request - Update on my eye: we had a consult with one surgeon who would work directly on lifting my eyelid (this was suggested to us to be done before any surgery on the eye itself). He wants to wait until November (at least) before any chance of moving forward on surgery. Multiple eye surgeries are still likely in the future for me within the next months/years, so continue to pray for wisdom in navigating through many different opinions from doctors on the next steps with the eye. Currently, we are pursuing specialized vision therapy that will be appointments once a week for the next 9 months with extensive home exercises. He is prescribing a variety of specialized lenses to therapeutically work the eye in the hopes that my brain will start to better communicate to the muscles and the third cranial nerve that innervates the eye. Please pray that the vision therapy would be highly effective and possibly even alleviate the need for eye surgery!
- Prayer Request - I saw the orthopedic surgeon who had originally put both of my legs back together and thankfully, he does not think that the screw heads have moved at all! He sarcastically told me that I simply needed to eat more McDonald's to "pork up" so that I can't feel the screw/plate/rod metal heads popping out of my leg! Thankfully, there is no immediate concern or need for surgery. However, he said that further surgery may be necessary in several months if the metal is continuing to cause me this pain and more limited motion that I have been experiencing. Continue to pray for balance, stability, less pain, increased ROM (range of motion), and continued improvement in order to (hopefully) not need further surgery on this!
- Prayer Request - Alex's hand has a swollen area on it and has been causing him pain and limited hand movement for quite some time now. He has begun therapy sessions for this which will be twice a week for the next month or so. Alex's leg that was broken also continues to bring various challenges to him such as stiffness, pain, and can affect his mobility.
- Prayer Request - I will be starting orthodontic care once again due to the severe jaw fractures and the teeth movement from the impact. Continue to pray for some difficulty that I have been experiencing yet with eating/moving my mouth and for the orthodontic treatment that I will need to start again.
- Prayer Request - Alex and I both have follow-ups soon with the doctor who has managed the care with our occipital condyl fractures. Our scans are showing slow, but good progress in healing. Continue to pray for this healing and for the head/neck pain and stiffness that we have both had to experience.
I currently am still in extensive outpatient rehabilitation, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, pool therapy, and (as mentioned above) vision therapy. Alex and I both also have extensive doctor/surgeon follow-ups with the many specialists who have been managing our care. I will likely have a considerable amount of time yet prior to being given the green light in returning to driving and working.
There is no way that I could ever truly express my gratitude for all of your thoughts and prayers through my family's communication on Caring Bridge. My mom and my sister have done such a wonderful job in expressing the ways that each of you would be able to best pray for Alex and I throughout this journey and I could not be more thankful - a BIG shout-out to them. I also could not be more thankful for every single one of you who have showered us with kind messages, cards, generous gifts, and countless prayers during this time. God has worked so many miracles in this time of our recovery and through all of you and how you have each encouraged us in such beautiful ways. Thank you, from both of us, for who each of you are to us and your significant impact on our lives.
God has been so faithful and good to us every moment of this journey. While life did not seem "good" in any way throughout many days and weeks of our painful recovery, God's goodness never once was diminished. The "why?" may be a question that we will never be able to answer on this side of eternity, but we can both rest in the peace that the Lord's will is much greater than our own. He is holy and His ways are perfect, even when they may not make sense to us. Our understanding is limited, but His knowledge is limitless.
All the time, God is good.
God is faithful and you can trust Him.
Love, Olivia and Alex ❤️
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