Hello friends and family,

It has been 65 days since Scott's stroke yet to us it seems like 6 months ago for some reason.  I say "for some reason" but I am pretty sure Scott could tell you the exact reason it has felt so long.  These two months have consisted of tiring, redundant rehab exercises involving putty, crayons, standing on one foot and frustrating online "mind games" day after day after day.    I reread the update I had written 54 days ago which was when we were coming home from the rehab hospital, and it really is hard to believe how much Scott has progressed.  All of the experts told us it would happen but sometimes we would question it on days when the progress seemed stalled.  But here we are...after working diligently, every day relearning to write, type and use his left hand, Scott plans to return to work on September 2nd.  
During the past month, Scott has had OT, Speech and PT sessions for 6 hours each week at Vanderbilt's Pi Beta Phi Rehab center.  He will continue this until the end of August.  He has been incredibly motivated to do his at-home PT with the help of his assistants, Grace and Ella, who were both home to help him the entire summer.    Many of you have heard me praise them but again, it would have been very difficult to manage without them these past two months.  I was able to continue to work while they managed Scott's care and support at home.  After the first month and half, Scott made it clear to all three of us that he was ready to take over his self management and fired us from Scott duty!   He moved himself back upstairs to our bedroom from the guest room downstairs and has been pretty independent ever since.    He has gone from not being capable of using his cell phone to working on spreadsheets on his computer, being forbidden to touch the stove to roasting a chicken on his Traeger and making his standard egg burritos for breakfast.  The progress is nothing short of a miracle, and we are full of gratitude for his continued recovery.  

In an instant, Scott's stroke changed our family's life...at least for a little while.  However, Scott and I agree that the continual love we were shown from each one of you has changed our lives forever.  It is difficult to convey the magnitude of support our family has felt and even more difficult to express just how grateful we are for it.  The prayers, texts, calls, emails, dinners, visits, cards, lunches, hugs, smiles....they were endless and they carried us through a most difficult time.  We will never forget every single act of kindness and are committed to paying it forward as we now know personally just how much that helped in getting us to where we are today.    This thank you is inadequate in comparison to how we feel about how you have impacted our family.    To all reading this, thank you.  

Scott still has a way to go but if this is what he has made happen in 2 months, we will patiently wait for the rest to come along as I have faith it will.

Love,

Jane