I'll start with the News...

...and end with some thoughts. I know kind of a change/switch for me. Will did not hear back from residencies in the match this year so he decided to try for the scramble... also a no go.  We are back to the drawing boards again.  We have done a lot of drawing the past few years--- I'm sure we'll just have to draw residency into the picture next year :)  On the news story front-- Will took a four hour test to get his limited scope radiology license, we will find out in a few weeks if he passed.  I am assuming he did well, he seemed to know a lot of answers I would have never been able to answer and he finished in three and a half hours, instead of four. Also news, less significant, but news nonetheless. Will gave is last Toastmaster's speech and is moving on to full time studying regime with his dad, instead of using that time to prepare speeches. In February Will taught a lesson in his Elder's Quorum (church class) one week and the next he gave a talk to the ward (church congregation). He did really well on all three of his public appearances. His thinking/presentation abilities are really a lot quicker and more cohesive than they used be. His presentation abilities are progressing towards a "doctor" range-- you know lots of problem solving and evaluating in just a few moments than articulating a solution in a five minute doctors apt. News that does not pertain to Will's recover but you may be interested in--- Ben's six month birthday is today!!! We had a big party and ate all of his pie without him ;)  His developmental milestones include sitting up and babbling. Mostly "Ba, Ba" with a couple of "Ma, Ma's and Da, Da's" mixed in. My ankle is almost better -- I can do some exercise but was sad to find out, after a run the other day, I would not be able to do more intense exercise for awhile longer :(

OK way too much news.  Now onto what I do best. Jabber! What I want to share was inspired by a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) support class I attended. Will was too busy studying for his Radiology License Exam, so I went alone.  I was interested to see if I could glean some tips on "speeding up" his continued recovery. However, most of the topic matter was centered on organizing the piles of medical bills that come up in the early or chronic periods of recovery- ie, when you're visiting multiple doctors for rehab a week.  We are slowly putting all our bills to rest. It was just a few months ago I took our insurance company off my "free favorite callers list" (the past two years I spoke with insurance agents a few hours a week). So even though I did not glean information about on how to speed things up for Will, I walked away with something much better...

At the TBI meeting their were individuals and their caregivers, with a variety of brain injuries. There was one other who had a stroke, and the others had been involved in some car, horse or falling accidents.  Just like us, they had to deal with something very unexpected.  Loss of career, loss of independence, and loss of ability. For the caregivers- it was loss of income, loss of "the husband they married" or loss of "the child the knew," etc... Loss is the key word. It seems to me that these types of injuries are more about loss than it they are about dealing with change. Can you imagine- being an aspiring doctor, lawyer, dentist, teacher, etc... one day and then your dream/career being gone the next. Now in place of those dreams you need someone to help you walk or remember to check your messages.  More than confusion caused by the injury, I could see the individuals at the meeting felt angry, sad, and even panicked. My heart went out to them.  Most of them were in situations far more difficult than Will and I.

As I left the meeting, however, in the place of sorrow, I felt a greater love.  Where would we be without each other. I can't imagine Will getting near as far as he has without his parents and siblings. I can't imagine us getting near as far without my family and his family. I love them more than ever.  And even though there are times when we are besides ourselves with grief and hurt one another, our faith and love brings us back. More than ever I believe that Will can be healed. Without family we are badly handicapped, and with them we can do anything. Just watch and see....

Summer

Some recent projects

I think that Summer has written the last few times so I guess its my turn. It is, after all, my (Will's) recovery blog. Anyway, I think its a good medium to share thoughts and insights, and sometimes even a few pictures, to show what I (and We) are doing. With that I'm just going to briefly go over some of the most recent occurrences and, of course, show you some pictures.

First of all I would like everyone to know that we got done (well mostly done) with the upstairs painting. That included painting the kids playroom, the doors and the upstairs landing. Below is a picture of Ben and myself in our newly painted entry way. At that time we still had to do the doors and we still have to do some painting in the kids room, but the place does look a lot nicer.

Also, of course, we recently had Valentines day. Well recently is probably an exaggeration. I know, I know, I should have blogged about this sooner. It was a good day, though, and we celebrated with buying the complete set of the Chronicles of Narnia in hardcover (at a good deal of course). As you can probably see we are not reading them in the order they came in. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was placed second in this series and of course everyone knows that it is really the first book.

Some family members have decided to put in a storage shed. This will be great for us because we have lots of stuff that we could probably ship over there. Unfortunately, they have also bought a couple of four-wheelers which will undoubtedly take up most of the room. (I hope you know that I say "unfortunately" in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. I'm sure they will be a lot of fun.) Anyway, I'm out supervising while a couple of my brother-in-laws prepared the spot where its going to be put. A couple other projects I've done were hung some blinds at my brother-in-laws new house and installed a new doorbell at my wife's parents.

As far as Summer and Benjamin go they are doing great. Summer now has her boot off, which she had because she broke her ankle, and is moving around fine. She recently went to the museum at Hill Air-force Base with my mother-in-law, two nieces, and Benjamin.