A little over a month since I started intensive rehab, and now we are getting on a plane and flying back to the Northwest, back to Camano Island. Jerry drove us to the airport and wheelchair transportation was arranged for in advance from the curb to the plane seat. The entire flight went as smoothly as we could hope.
Before leaving the hospital, I met with Dr. K., the “physical doctor” who has monitored my progress during rehab. She said, “We don’t want to see you go, you have been our “superstar.” My physical, occupational and speech therapists echoed the same sentiments. Earlier, when I said that I will lift my foot to the wheelchair foot-support, something I had not yet managed, my occupational therapist said, “I have no doubt that in a couple of days you will. I have never seen anyone like you. You say you will do something, and two days later you do it. You have such a strong will.” I feel these comments are reflections on my Guru, who demonstrated such a strong will and set the pattern for me to emulate.
It has been interesting being out of the hospital after such a lengthy stay—being in traffic, activity at the airport—it all has given a shock to my healing brain. Even though everything went so smoothly, I found I could not move my left leg by the end of the flight, in fact the last hour of the flight was excruciating. I played Papa’s Ram Nam on my phone and he made it possible to endure it.
In the contained environment of the rehab center my brain had made new connections and advanced; out in the world my brain struggles to absorb it all—I was also fighting off the first signs of a cold. Many of the advancements I had made have been temporarily lost. Yesterday I slept through much of the day, and today I am making slow progress to being back to myself, with windows of time with greater control over my body movements, less pain and clearer thinking—I am also overcoming the cold– it never got a grip on me. This trip has had a greater shock to my system than I had anticipated.
The other factor I find interesting is that while in rehab, inner experiences ebbed allowing for full concentration on healing the body. As soon as I came into the house I heard and felt the powerful Aum and I entered into an interior state of being. God’s Presence has been manifest in both the rehab and the house in their unique ways, but a definite shift to interior consciousness has come since arriving home. This is God’s inscrutable play and He is in charge of it all and works for the highest good in all He does.
I arrived home to a bountiful display of nature’s colors—so many vases full of flowers. There was also a refrigerator/freezer full of food made with such love, and modifications for the house—a ramp and handrails thanks to Greg and Jill, a yard looking perfect thanks to Rebecca, get well cards and loving acts of service by so many helping, loving hands, all done in seva to God—my heart overflows with gratitude. We will continue to monitor how the brain heals and recovers from the stroke and the trip home. Right now, this brain and body needs to rest in Him and be surcharged with His sacred life-force.