Better Than Ever!

Hello and Happy New Year from Ally and the Winkert family!

It has obviously been some time since my last post in September. For many of us, 2020 is thankfully in the past and we are all hopeful for a happy and healthy 2021. That post described a wonderful and glorious day for us as Ally returned home and it felt like a fitting end to the "Rally for Ally" saga from the summer of 2020. I would like, however, to now post an update on how Ally has been doing in the past three months.

The short answer is that we could not be happier with her progress! Ally's "word of the month" for September was "awesomeness". To hear her frequently speak that word gave us great joy. Ally has continued to work hard to recover from her physical and brain injuries. After coming home on a sunny Saturday in September, there was little time to rest as only two days later she started outpatient therapy at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington DC.

Therapy again included physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions. Physical therapy concentrated on building her strength and stamina, as well as including some balancing exercises. For a while she continued to have some pains in the leg where there were ankle and knee breaks, but those pains seem to have now subsided. Thankfully, Ally has not had any pain related to the broken and repaired vertebrae in her back. She has permanent rods and pins placed in her spine, but to date she never mentions any discomfort related to that surgery. Ally’s hair is slowly growing back, however, she is naturally impatient with the progress but knows this will obviously take some time. Physical therapy concluded just before Thanksgiving.

Occupational therapy included some basic evaluations and testing. One major area of occupational therapy is to evaluate her cognitive skills, monitor her progress in that area and (of most importance to Ally!) determine her readiness to drive a car again. She seems to not have any qualms at all about being in a moving vehicle. Ally has no memories of being a passenger in the car accident and is anxious to drive again, as you would expect from any 19 year old that wants to regain her independence! Speech therapy continues as Ally has progressed from working on her cognitive awareness and basic communication skills and she is now focused on goal setting and her ability to plan, organize and execute steps for success. She has been taking a few online personal enrichment classes that have been monitored by her speech therapist. Her goals are to be successful in both short-term daily activity planning and in the longer-term plans of beginning college studies this year.

Life at home is far from normal, as you may expect, as we are all still suffering from the pandemic world that we live in. At the time of her accident, Ally had just graduated from high school after spending the final two months learning from home. Summer had not even begun at the time of the accident. On the day when anyone graduates from high school, life changes almost immediately. Ally naturally wanted to come home to the life that she had been living, but even if she had not been in an accident, that was not possible, especially in 2020.  In early October, on an day off from therapies, Ally and I went on a day trip to Ocean City, so she could put her foot in the sand and look out at the ocean. On that trip, we came up with a couple phrases. One was that everything before the accident was now "in the rear view mirror". The other was that now, as she moves into the future, her life will be "better than ever". Words to live by!

In an effort to make up for lost time this summer, Ally stayed busy this fall. First of all, she celebrated her 19th birthday on November 1st. After the trip to Ocean City, we spent a weekend in the Outer Banks staying at a friend's house, as we attended a small wedding that was able to happen safely despite the pandemic. We also went on a day trip to Skyline Drive to enjoy the fall colors. A friend of ours that owns horses invited Ally to enjoy her first-ever ride on a horse. Ally and I went on a trip in search of one of the few covered bridges in Virginia. Catherine took Ally and a friend back to the Outer Banks again in November. On Thanksgiving, we typically all participate in a Turkey Trot, but this year the races were all cancelled and we were forced to create our own "do it yourself" version at home. Ally more than held her own, running two miles and finishing strong! Let's just say that her physical therapy was a success.

While still in the hospital in July, as Ally began to regain consciousness and awareness, one of her usual thoughts of homesickness was how much she missed her cats. Also, in the early weeks of her recovery while in Fairfax Hospital, she had visits from a small "therapy dog" that even while she was still semi-comatose, she enjoyed touching and petting. In a moment of weakness at that time, I apparently agreed that we could finally add a dog to our household. The day after Ally came home, Catherine and Ally met and adopted a friendly two year old Yellow Lab, coincidentally named Cally. After a couple difficult weeks, Cally and the cats are all coexisting peacefully.

Later this month, Ally will be taking a couple on-line classes from Northern Virginia Community College. Her college choice was previously Liberty University, but she is now considering other options. I expect that her occupational and speech therapies will conclude later this month and she will get final clearance to drive a car. She also hopes to be able to work as a lifeguard again soon, but will need to be re-certified.

Ally has come to realize over the last few months how much support we have received from all our many friends, relatives, neighbors, members of church and school communities and many others both from our local community and from those far and wide. We are truly humbled. All prayers were appreciated and we know that God listened. We know it. Thank you to everyone! 

As we move in to 2021 and hopefully return to a normal existence, our goal is to remember to be "BETTER THAN EVER".

John, Catherine, Ally, Katie, Jack and Patrick