The past two weeks.

It has been two weeks since my last post. In that time, Erica and I drove to Maryland to visit my father, my sister came to visit for three days, my mother has returned to her home in Florida, Erica has been learning to ride her new trike and she went to the ear doctor. So needless to say, this has been a busy stretch of ups and downs in a short time. I could have written complete posts about each of these experiences because the reflections go deep. But for the sake of catching up, I’ll skim the highlights.

My birth father lives in an over 55 community in Maryland with level lots, homes built for accessibility, safe sidewalks and a community pool. Everything was so easy, as if it was designed for Erica. We met new friends including Kelly, an amazing woman who has been legally blind for over thirty years and has learned to adapt to a highly functioning independence. She wrote a book that creatively describes her experience with vision loss and finding excitement while accepting it. What an inspiration and an overall enjoyable, but short, visit.

My sister’s visit was another inspiration for Erica. At age 44, Kristin had a severe brain injury that caused her to not be able to walk due to balance, she struggled to form words and could not focus on single tasks. Sound familiar? After three years of therapy, Kristin is now able to plan trips and travel on her own from Florida to Pittsburgh. My sister is able to understand exactly what Erica is feeling, physically and emotionally. They spent three days talking and laughing. And without saying a word, she challenged Erica to climb stairs without assistance. If Kristin can do it, so should Erica!

My mother returned to Florida with my sister. And as our youngest son, Bram, returns to college on Friday, we are beginning the transition to relearn life in an empty nest. We will certainly have help from family, friends and the church, but nothing can compare to the six weeks of full-time dedication that my mother committed to living with us. What started as complete caregiving, became support and then light assistance — I am convinced that Erica’s improvement could not have been as rapid and successful without my mother’s commitment. We will be forever grateful.

And the update you’ve all been asking and praying about… the hearing. The ENT surgeon and audiologist confirmed that Erica has complete hearing loss in her right ear. This is possibly a side effect of earlier chemotherapy, but more likely a brain radiation treatment effect. This is irreversible and was very difficult news for Erica. Just another blow to her health. We’ve been talking about how she keeps winning the battles, but each one leaves a little more scars. The yay is that her left hearing is better than perfect! So Erica is be able to hear just fine (from the left side). Erica’s ENT and Oncology team are in communication to be cautious that future treatments take her left ear hearing into consideration.

So the battles and the biking continue.
Thank you for the prayers.