Part ten: Rehab, cardboard testimonies, and home bound

Rehab was such a good time. It was time to really work on going home. They told us that we should expect to be there 7-10 days. Ryan had his mind set that it would be 7. I continued to remind him that he needed to be realistic and just take it a day at a time.

They worked him pretty good. He had therapy for 3 hours a day split between morning and afternoon sessions. When he needed dialysis he would miss his afternoon session. He only needed 2 sessions while he was in rehab. His kidney's continue to constantly improve and it was such an answer to our prayer. His creatinine levels were steadily coming down.

The kids enjoyed another visit with their daddy that Saturday. That was our routine to visit on Saturdays. They just became more and more comfortable around their daddy and Ryan felt so much better getting to hold them.

We just waited for the days to pass really. I joined Ryan in therapy watching his improvement. The days were long and boring, but we knew with each passing one we were that much closer to being back in our own beds!

 

Our church did cardboard testimonies during this time. They are powerful. If you have never seen this, I suggest you youtube them immediately. They are so moving and those are from complete strangers. I was asked if we could do ours. Normally, the person walks on stage and holds their sign showing the front and back. It is their testimony. The way God worked in their lives. Of course we wouldn't be able to do that, so we took pictures. Here is ours:

I was hoping that it would work out that I would be home to attend church that day. I had been spending my Sunday morning at Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Little Rock, but I desperately wanted to be back at our home. I headed home late that Saturday night so that I could make it. I am so happy that I did. 10,000 Reasons is the one song I played on repeat while in the hospital. As soon as it starts the tears come. We sang it this past Sunday in church and the tears were there. They played this song during the testimonies. That, along with everyone showing the way God worked in their lives was so overwhelming. My heart hurt, but was so happy. These people had gone through the toughest times of their lives. From the loss of children, addictions, to crumbling marriages it was all there. People you would never expect it from, but people brave enough to share their deepest struggles and how they trusted God and he led them back. He took care of them just as he did Ryan. Ours was the very last testimony. It was so hard to see, but also so right. God had carried. He was still healing Ryan's body. Never leaving us. I know that He held Ryan's hand throughout this entire ordeal. There is no way that Ryan would have made it if we didn't have the faith that the good Lord would pull him through and heal him.

 

That was truly one of the most incredible days I have witnessed. The love was flowing for all of us that day.

 

Here are our sweet blessings napping before heading out again. Our neighbors took such good care of us during this time. I think everyone and their grandma wanted to mow our yard. We are so blessed to live in such a great little neighborhood!

 

Back at rehab, Ryan was continuing to kick butt and take names. He was done with the Friday we arrived. They checked in on Monday and Tuesday and they were still coming down so on Tuesday they removed the line where they did dialysis. Mind you, I was terrified because we all know what happened the last time they pulled a line. Luckily, the Abbotts were visiting while they were doing this so they kept my mind occupied out in the hallway. Everything went perfectly fine and we just knew that the next step was discharge!

August 13, 32 days after being admitted to the hospital Ryan received his Freedom Flag. Yes, they seriously give you a Freedom Flag when you leave. It was hilarious.

 

Ryan was in rehab for only 7 days. Just as he said he would be. We gathered up our stuff first thing Wednesday morning because we knew today was the day. I am pretty sure we were sitting there waiting for discharge papers by 7:00. We. Were. Ready.

Can you tell he was pretty happy to be leaving?

Seeing him walk out those doors was awesome. I didn't even cry either! It was such a happy moment knowing that a month ago if you told me he would be doing this I would have looked at you with complete skepticism. But, here we were. GOING HOME!

It was so nice being on that road headed back to Dardanelle. Ryan hated my driving, but I told him I was capable. H was just paranoid. Granted, he hadn't been in a car in a month.

 

We arrived home safe and sound and just let them babies love on their daddy back in their normal environment. It was glorious and we continued to sing praises to God for reuniting our family!

We knew that we had two final hurdles to complete- the adrenal mass and our kidney function continuing to return to normal. After all we had been through we felt like those two were going to be a piece of cake.