Greetings from Germany!
I’m sitting down after another productive day of therapy at Medicos! Mom has really progressed positively in this last week and has moved from a wheelchair to a walker, to just two walking canes since the weekend!
A new procedure for us after surgery has been lymph drainage. It’s something very common after surgery in Germany and is wonderful for the healing process. Lymph drainage is done by a very light massage on the skin and works to slowly drain the lymph fluid that the body has built up after a strenuous time, like surgery. If the lymph’s become too full they cause swelling and water retention in different areas of the body. There are many different lymph drains internally all over the body and the therapist’s job is to massage the fluid to those drains. The procedure is quite relaxing and if done right normally leaves one rather sleepy. Lol, Mom literally had to fight to stay awake during one of her sessions and began asking the therapist all sorts of random questions to keep from dozing off ;)
Well Herr (Mr.) Wiegmann is still at it trying to work on Mom’s spear like pain in her hip. He has also done some of her lymph drainage as well. Though Monday we had a bit of a different session with him. It was more of a “craft” like session! He applied continuous lymph drainage tape to Mom’s legs and feet. It was quite the interesting process to watch Herr Wiegmann cut out (by hand) each piece and apply it! I have hence nicknamed Mom Spider-woman! The reactions back home to the photos of her new racing stripes (as Dad refers to them!) were quite humorous They were first mistaken by a friend for blood running down her legs and then after my brother got a look at the photo he was jealous that Mom now resembled a Transformer!
Mom has been suffering with very swollen legs and feet especially. In this photo they have her in a lymph drainage machine which works similarly to a blood pressure cuff. It gets tighter and tighter then slowly releases. The machine mimics the work that the therapist was doing but isn’t quite as effective. So now Mom has lymph drainage done manually and by machine daily. She loves her 30 minute appointments with that machine lol! It’s so relaxing she almost fell asleep!
Tomorrow will be Mom’s last day at Medicos; after that we only have three more days till we return home. For me it is a mixture of joy and sadness. I’m happy to come home but sad to leave all the friends we have made here. From therapists to other patients from Canada and the U.S., our little family of patients is so filled with faith and believers! I so enjoy watching and participating in encouraging one another and sharing stores in the evening of the day’s trials and triumphs. It makes it hard to say goodbye and I find as I get older I hate saying goodbye more and more. Though with the goodbyes also comes hello’s and after what will be 28 days away from home, both Mom and I are so ready to say a big hello to our family and friends in Canada!! So thankful for this trip and the giant step towards Karin’s Road to Recovery! Was so blessed by this verse sent over to us from Dad today: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
If you would pray for the last few days, and most of all for the flight home, that we would be filled with peace. Our flights home are scheduled to take us through some pretty giant and busy airports in London and Toronto.
May our return to Canada only be the continuation of the beautiful journey God has Mom on as He restores her to a more mobile life!
Blessings