progress.

progress.

Just when I was starting to get pretty stressed out at what I thought was a lack of physical progress, things haved started going a little better again. Yesterday I regained the ability to move my little toe, and also I noticed I'm regaining feeling above my ankle. I guess I didn't even realize how much feeling I'd lost.

Physical therapy went well today. My therapist pushed on my straightened leg some more, which was still painful, but I was stronger this time. He told me that not only was I dealing with it better than before, but also he was pushing on it harder than last time. When he pushes on it hard, it's about three degrees from being straight. My ligaments have been really sore the past few days, which apparently is a good sign, because you have to get your leg pretty straight before your ligaments begin to strain. My therapist also noticed that I'm not getting dizzy or fatigued so easily, which is good progress. This stuff is all a big deal to me, that's why I bother giving details :) After working with my therapist, I learned some new exercises from one of my athletic trainers, and he gave me a physioball to take home. Yay!

So today marks two months since the accident. Can you believe it's only been that long? Time is crawling by. When I think back to how I was doing at various points during my recovery, I can't believe how far I've come physically. The pain is still pretty constant, but instead of being sharp pains from deep within my bones, it's now just more of a general ache. I have a lot of muscle and ligament soreness now, but I don't mind that because it's evidence of my hard work. The last of my bruises are fading and my ankle incision has almost closed up. I still have that stupid upholstery burn on my cheek, but the nurses tell me that should fade within the next year or so.

I hope that the others who were hurt are looking back at October 16th and are happy with the progress they've made since then. I saw Andrew a couple weeks ago and he's walking pretty normally now. One of his fingers wasn't able to straighten yet, but almost. Ryan's cuts are all healed up, and I don't think he's found any more glass lately. Raji is hoping to be able to drive soon - his ankle should be pretty well healed by now. I haven't talked to Ruth much lately, but every time I do talk to her it sounds like she's working hard in occupational therapy and making a lot of progress. Jessie still can't walk, but she is now finally able to answer emails, which I see as a really good sign. I hear the other Jessi went back to school a week or two ago. Brian went to the band concert early in the week and even stood up to give the students a speech. Cassie is currently learning how to walk again, and visited her classmates last week. Andrea seems stronger every time I talk to her. Emotional recovery is going to take a long time for these people and for everyone else affected by the accident, but at least the healing process has begun.

I used to be so angry about all these people I care about having to struggle with their recoveries, but now that I see how much progress everyone has made, I can be happy knowing how far they've come. We all still have a long way to go, physically and emotionally, but I hope I speak for everyone when I say we've reached a point where we can look back and be proud of ourselves for the obstacles we've overcome. We'll have the memories and the scars all our lives, but we'll also have the knowledge that we fought this battle and won.