Lea continues to regain her strength as I sit down to write a few lines. She has persisted in trying to back off on the narcotic pain medication she has been taking since her most recent surgery, and, thankfully, has reduced to two doses per day from the eight daily doses she needed right after the procedure six weeks ago.

She still is wearing the full length leg brace, from hip to ankle, which is very hot in this Midwest summer heat. Combined with the abdominal binder she has to wear practically 24×7, she is usually uncomfortably hot, indeed. Necessarily, we spend most of our time indoors where she can get some relief from the heat.

She has felt well enough to do some cooking this past week, which quickly wears her out, but is still good therapy for her, since cooking has always been one of her favorite activities. Being able to stand long enough to prepare a meal uplifts her spirits tremendously, and she keeps walking off and forgetting her cane in the kitchen.

Her physical therapy sessions have been going well, with good progress being made in the mobility of her new knee, and endurance of her hip. The knee, however, continues to have excessive side-to-side movement, which causes her imbalance when walking. Hence, the full leg brace. We go back to the surgeon September 6 to get an evaluation on how she is doing, and my concern is that he may have to put her in a full leg cast for several weeks if the knee doesn’t stablize enough with the present course of treatment. That will certainly hinder any comfortable traveling we might do.

We are planning a trip to Texas in mid-September, to consider relocating there near our youngest son and family. We will also be visiting an internal specialist while we are there, to see if we feel comfortable considering trusting her complicated medical condition to his care. We have been SO fortunate to have Dr Miller tending to our needs here, that it is going to be difficult to find anyone to fill his shoes. If I can’t find acceptable care for her, however, I am not inclined to move her out of our present comfort zone.

I have previously closed my private consulting practice and will now be taking a leave-of-absence from DBM for a few weeks until we decide what steps we might take in the next few months. We feel that we are being led to make this move, but, I have to make sure we are moving for the right reasons, and into the right conditions. We have come too far since Lea’s traumatic escapes from death to take unnecessary chances at this point.

We welcome your prayers for His guidance in making this decision, and thank you for the many kind, encouraging, well wishes we receive.  Your your thoughtfulness is not lessened by distance, nor your kindnesses diminished by time. God bless!

The little video below was shot while on a shopping outing to a spice shop in Indy. Our friend Pat sits on the bench with Lea at the front of the store.