Grand Rounds and Grand Days

I'll start with a very vague sentence that would maybe make more sense if you were interacting with Will daily. "Will is really coming too lately." His clarity of speech, understanding, motivation, and problem solving are really starting to flow together. The complex melodies and chords in "Will's Symphony" are in tune and sound refined and brilliant. As a result- Will is initiating more activities and interactions with others, he is emailing, calling, and communicating more frequently and even our relationship is benefiting--the warm rays of spring are melting the winter worries of Will's recovery.

So I'll bring you up to speed on Will's progress. Will has been studying for Step 3 with another resident every Tuesday. Every Thursday he attends Grand Rounds at the University of Utah. It is fun as a wife to have married someone who didn't always "talk like a doctor" to now have a husband who "always talk's like a doctor" it's amazing to me what these residents know -- Will is brilliant!

We've also been in communication with Dr. Glascow in Ohio. She has instructed William to purchase MKSAP 14, Audio CD's that prepare him for Step 3 of the Boards. Will ordered the CD's online and received them today. Right now I am listening to the sound of the MKSAP CD downloading onto Will's laptop. Dr. Glascow is worried that Will will have a difficult time staying awake 30 hours, so if anyone in the sound of this blog feels free to pray for Will's stamina your prayers and support are always appreciated. We're convinced he will get there. And at the right time William will "run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint."

Will continues a pretty busy schedule of job shadowing a neuro surgeon Tuesday's and Thursdays' and volunteering at a Medical Charity Monday, Wednesday's and Fridays. In our spare time I beat him at basketball, raquetball and running, or maybe it is Will that takes the cake in these areas, I can't remember ;) We're healthy and happy and continue to be grateful for all of your support!

Sincerely,

Summer

p.s. above are pictures Will took of a couple of his sisters

Remember

If I had to label for each month in Will's recovery process this month would be labeled "Memory Recovery." It as been amazing to watch. Just like the old days Will is first to remind me of "this or that or weren't you going to do..." and so on. Other reports on the good news front are that Will has been pretty busy and not pretty tired as a result. I am used to running my husband to the ground than watching him recover/nap for the next few days. This has not been the case. Will keeps me going. In fact today, Sunday, instead of taking an afternoon cat nap Will was all gung hoe about taking pictures (see above). So if this blog post is incomprehensible blame Will for "running ME to the ground."

Let's bring you up to speed on the last two weeks. Lisa, Will's speech therapist, continues to be delightfully surprised with Will's remarkable progress from week to week. So much that she has scheduled the visits for every other week instead of every week. She believes he is doing a great job of keeping up with his "own" therapies. A few weeks ago Lisa asked me to correct Will often, and I mentioned to Lisa if our marriage survived her request to have me constantly nag him to say things again and again than our relationship would be indestructible in the end. So far so good ;) Will's mother said he spoke clearer during their weekly study period than he ever had before. She even went so far as to say that he spoke better than he had before the stroke.

Will and I played lots and lots of sports this week. Basketball twice with my brothers and "new brother in law to be," than on the other days we did racketball and swimming. I'd like to tell everyone that I beat Will at racket ball, because I was the one who taught him to play five years ago, but the rotten kid schools me every time.

Last but not least Lisa came back to me with another request this week. To be very articulate with Will's medical studies-- first off I can't even pronounce the words in the book and last off I don't know if he'll want to stay with me if I am his 24/7 therapist, so I deferred. I called in for reinforcement. Chris, a friend of mine, is a second year resident and has agreed to study with Will every week starting Tuesday. I'm convinced that it takes a community to heal a stroke victim and an amazing family to make each day brighter. We couldn't do this without all of you. Thank you! Thank you!

Sincerely,

Summer

The Perfect Weekend

This weekend we were given a wonderful opportunity to attend U of U's first annual PanVascular Summit at the Canyons in Park City. I worried that because of the duration of the classes Will would quickly fall asleep as I have seen him do in other similar settings... aka church ;) I was wrong. Will came alive this weekend. During the classes Will's eyes rarely closed, and he took notes without prompting. For me of course the classes were an entirely different language and every once in a while I would ask him what things meant and he would smile and quietly explain to me so I could keep up with the lectures (I was particularly interested in the lectures on PFO's). Will was on fire Friday, after the conference his medical knowledge seemed to have returned completely. He did not stumble in explaining to me the ventricles of the heart or the functions of the vessels, what a stunt is, etc... Later at my friends home Will asked questions and joked with them as if they'd been friends for years.

Today Will was wide awake in church and even got up and bore his testimony about his love for the Savior and the atoning sacrifice. I'm beaming to see his progress and thank you all for your prayers. It is as if we've been traveling up a steep mountain, exerting our energy for days on end with only the view of another rock and few scraps to account for the hard work. And when we thought we might faint from exhaustion, we pull ourselves over another rock and find breathtaking hills, mountains and valleys, the path ahead of us and behind us clear. I'm grateful for this time I've had to regain energy and hope for continued success.

Speaking of terrain, we've been out and about a lot lately. Above is Will on his new cross country ski's and a picture he took on a hike. Will bought a nice camera before his stroke, and it has been only recently that he has wanted to use it. Thank you again for all of your prayers and help in this continuing process.

Summer

ps Last week Will and I gave talks in church. Will spoke for 14 minutes, and everyone understood him. In fact many wept as they listened to him relate stories of faith, prayer, and continued efforts in keeping the commandments.