Navigating the tunnel

The road trip/journey analogy seems to be working well, so I’m going to stick with it. And since the psychiatrist has used the tunnel imagery during her last two visits, I thought I’d use that same mental picture for this update. Facts up front and some reflection at the end.

Sometimes as we’re marching along from day to day it feels like the journey will be endless. However, when we look closer, we can find small improvements almost every day.

• Becky’s overall health is so much better than it was one month ago, two months ago, or even in September/October of last year when we were in and out of Emergency Rooms and hospitals.
• Although it’s not 100% certain yet, the rehab team feels like Becky is on schedule to be released from in-patient rehab next Tuesday (1/16) at the tail end of a winter cold front/storm.
• Becky continues to make incremental steps in regaining strength. She’s still a long way from normal, but moving forward.

As of today, once Becky’s released from in-patient rehab, the transplant team wants us to hang around Dallas for another week just to make sure no issues pop up once she’s no longer under 24 hour medical care.

We still have a lot to learn about what daily life will look like once we leave rehab, and then leave Dallas. New meds. New routines. Lots of blood work (which should taper off over time). Out-patient therapy. Trips back to Dallas. How much assistance Becky will need. This will not be the end of the journey. This will be turning another corner in the current tunnel.

The UT Southwestern psychiatrist used the tunnel analogy because like when you’re driving through a long tunnel, it’s hard for us to see changes from day-to-day as we navigate this part of the journey. All we see is the road or the tunnel, and we’re not even sure we see the light at the end. It seems a long way off. She advised that we need to trust those around us that have been here before. There is a light, and as long as we keep moving forward we’ll eventually emerge. Life won’t return to normal overnight, but with some work, we’ll get there.

So there you have it. We’re in a tunnel. Frankly, some days feel pretty dark and we’re not sure which way to turn, but we have to trust the medical team and continue to have faith that as long as we keep moving forward, we will emerge. We’ll be stronger than before, spending time with the grandkids and family, and telling stories about those three months we lived in Dallas.

I’ll leave you with this … Don’t turn life’s tunnels into a cave!