Hello, and happy August! We hope this finds you all well and enjoying the long days of summer. 

We have made the decision to close this chapter of communication, so this will be the last official update. It’s not because everything is roses and sunshine, and it’s not because Susan is fully healed.  There’s just much less to say now… improvements are not day to day, or even week to week. They’re slow and sometimes difficult to discern. They’re up and down, and always evolving. Most importantly, Susan is aware and cognizant of her well-being, and any updates about her condition should now come from her. 

I will leave you with what has occurred the past couple of months. Susan had 3 separate eye surgeries to correct structural and visual issues with mediocre results.  Her surroundings appear dark, as if she’s wearing sunglasses. It’s a change that’s difficult to adjust to.  She had a total elbow replacement on her right elbow… if you remember, she had a displaced fracture just above her right elbow that wasn’t diagnosed for a while and healed improperly. The surgery went smoothly and she now has full function of her right arm and hand again! Physically, she’s slowly gaining strength, walking frequently and even took some small hikes. Cognitively, she has some short term memory trouble. Emotions are frequently overwhelming and accepting “life before” versus “life now” is an ongoing struggle. We are not at the end of the healing journey, but the healing trajectory has begun to level out. It’s a tough pill to swallow for all of us. There has always been a “next” in this process… a next phase, a next treatment, a next step. It’s hard to acknowledge when there might not be another “next”. In some ways, the grieving is just beginning. Accepting the new reality and grieving the remaining losses is just starting to take hold. It’s a less obvious, less acute struggle, but it’s a deep one. 

We’d like to extend our immense gratitude and appreciation for all the support the past 278 days. You all are an incredibly loving, caring, uplifting group and we’re forever thankful that you’re our group. We send our love to each of you. Please know how deeply you impacted our lives. We will never forget. The journals and comments are all being kept so we have them. We have slowly begun to read them to Susan. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

With love,

The Richey Family