How can it be August? I just can’t believe the summer is nearing its end and the state fair will be here next week. I just hope that the next few months FLY by as quickly – to the time when we are settled in our new house and loving every minute of it!!!
Things have been good in this Karwoski house. We traveled to Iowa City last week to meet with the eye surgeon again. While the doctor was quite pleased with the alignment of his eyes, the torsion (tilting) is still an issue. Matt can get the two images pretty well lined up at times, but if he lowers or raises his head a certain way, one image turns, so instead of having two images side by side, one is completely turned a different direction. The doctor still thinks it’s early in the healing process to know for sure how things will end up, but he talked to us about the possibility of one more surgery, targeted specifically at the torsion. We all agree that we’ve come this far and the potential to improve them even more is still there, so we want to go for it. Matt was glad to have another option to think about – and so was I. We go back in another couple of months to check on things, and will discuss our options in further detail at that time. Until then, Matt is continuing to try and go without the patch as often as possible, but the doctor also said he would be happy if he only went without it for an hour a day…that nothing he does will hurt the progress or healing.
Physical therapy continues to go well for Matt. Last week his walking in the pool at Timbercreek went really well, and Monday it was his best walking yet. Kim (his therapist) was so excited she was very tempted to just let go and let him go on his own. The combination of the horse, followed by the pool, seems pretty effective to me…though Matt still remains unconvinced it is much better than the walking work he does on land. Either way, the past several weeks have been good. We borrowed a new walker from Amy (his therapist in Des Moines) this past week. It is a different design than a traditional walker, with more wheels etc. Around the house, it worked pretty well, but on smoother surfaces it moved a bit too quickly for Matt to feel like he had real control over it. It was interesting to try out though, and got me thinking about maybe trying some other walkers too. We’ll see.
This past weekend we had a few friends over for one last little party at our Des Moines house. It was a good time just hanging out in the driveway and patio under the lights, talking, laughing, and even dancing a bit in the garage! We will miss the cool party-ability of this house; stringing lights from the pergola to the fence and back to the house, having a fridge in the garage and setting up the food on Matt’s work bench, the driveway flanked by blooming flowers and the glow of tee-kee torches…it is a pretty nice spot for a summer party. It’s just one of those things we will miss about this house – but we have lots of fun memories to take with us.
Last night we had another first. After therapy, we went out to dinner with Kim and her husband Mitch at a restaurant overlooking Lake Panorama. We enjoyed a nice meal, and then ventured out onto their boat for a ride around the lake. It was the first time Matt has been in a boat since our vacation nearly 2 years ago!! The dock was nice and wide so we just wheeled him right down to the boat where he was able to stand and step down into the boat. We rode around the lake, talking, listening to music, and just enjoying the summer evening on the water. Kim and Mitch took us past their house, and showed us some of the beautiful homes on the lake. It was a very nice and RELAXING evening! It was also good for us to think about how he might maneuver on the dock in Minnesota – after seeing how well it went last night, I am sure that the boys will have no trouble at all!! I’m so excited for their trip!!
In house news, we are just putting the finishing touches on things around our place this week and TOMORROW we are meeting with our realtor Jennifer to get it officially put on the market! YIKES! I’m excited, nervous, anxious, and a little stressed about it, naturally. It feels good to be moving forward in the process, but the reality of it all keeps coming in waves of ‘holy-cowness we’re REALLY doing this’!!! I ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers these coming months. Please pray for an easy home building experience, and successful sale of our current home. Please pray for my nerves and blood pressure!!! I just keep reminding myself that it will so great in the end and it will be SO worth it…I just have to make it through these next phases to get there. I just can’t wait for it to be behind us!!!
Things have been good in this Karwoski house. We traveled to Iowa City last week to meet with the eye surgeon again. While the doctor was quite pleased with the alignment of his eyes, the torsion (tilting) is still an issue. Matt can get the two images pretty well lined up at times, but if he lowers or raises his head a certain way, one image turns, so instead of having two images side by side, one is completely turned a different direction. The doctor still thinks it’s early in the healing process to know for sure how things will end up, but he talked to us about the possibility of one more surgery, targeted specifically at the torsion. We all agree that we’ve come this far and the potential to improve them even more is still there, so we want to go for it. Matt was glad to have another option to think about – and so was I. We go back in another couple of months to check on things, and will discuss our options in further detail at that time. Until then, Matt is continuing to try and go without the patch as often as possible, but the doctor also said he would be happy if he only went without it for an hour a day…that nothing he does will hurt the progress or healing.
Physical therapy continues to go well for Matt. Last week his walking in the pool at Timbercreek went really well, and Monday it was his best walking yet. Kim (his therapist) was so excited she was very tempted to just let go and let him go on his own. The combination of the horse, followed by the pool, seems pretty effective to me…though Matt still remains unconvinced it is much better than the walking work he does on land. Either way, the past several weeks have been good. We borrowed a new walker from Amy (his therapist in Des Moines) this past week. It is a different design than a traditional walker, with more wheels etc. Around the house, it worked pretty well, but on smoother surfaces it moved a bit too quickly for Matt to feel like he had real control over it. It was interesting to try out though, and got me thinking about maybe trying some other walkers too. We’ll see.
This past weekend we had a few friends over for one last little party at our Des Moines house. It was a good time just hanging out in the driveway and patio under the lights, talking, laughing, and even dancing a bit in the garage! We will miss the cool party-ability of this house; stringing lights from the pergola to the fence and back to the house, having a fridge in the garage and setting up the food on Matt’s work bench, the driveway flanked by blooming flowers and the glow of tee-kee torches…it is a pretty nice spot for a summer party. It’s just one of those things we will miss about this house – but we have lots of fun memories to take with us.
Last night we had another first. After therapy, we went out to dinner with Kim and her husband Mitch at a restaurant overlooking Lake Panorama. We enjoyed a nice meal, and then ventured out onto their boat for a ride around the lake. It was the first time Matt has been in a boat since our vacation nearly 2 years ago!! The dock was nice and wide so we just wheeled him right down to the boat where he was able to stand and step down into the boat. We rode around the lake, talking, listening to music, and just enjoying the summer evening on the water. Kim and Mitch took us past their house, and showed us some of the beautiful homes on the lake. It was a very nice and RELAXING evening! It was also good for us to think about how he might maneuver on the dock in Minnesota – after seeing how well it went last night, I am sure that the boys will have no trouble at all!! I’m so excited for their trip!!
In house news, we are just putting the finishing touches on things around our place this week and TOMORROW we are meeting with our realtor Jennifer to get it officially put on the market! YIKES! I’m excited, nervous, anxious, and a little stressed about it, naturally. It feels good to be moving forward in the process, but the reality of it all keeps coming in waves of ‘holy-cowness we’re REALLY doing this’!!! I ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers these coming months. Please pray for an easy home building experience, and successful sale of our current home. Please pray for my nerves and blood pressure!!! I just keep reminding myself that it will so great in the end and it will be SO worth it…I just have to make it through these next phases to get there. I just can’t wait for it to be behind us!!!
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