18th Month Anniversary

Last Friday was the 18-month anniversary of Thom's accident.  We are so grateful that he continues to show signs of improvement.  He has been practicing walking in parallel bars at therapy and it is both grueling and rewarding work:

All of this work in the parallel bars has been complemented by weekly sessions in the Ekso.  Thom is putting up some pretty good numbers these days.  On a good day, his left leg only needs 35% assistance from the Ekso and his right leg is able to dip below 50% more often.  As a result, Thom is looking much more stable in a standard walker and is tantalizing close to being able to stand up on his own using a walking to stabilize himself.

In Occupational Therapy, Thom is learning how to use his right hand for more functional tasks, albeit adapted, with the little finger return he has on that hand.  Still, he is using both hands for daily tasks more often now.  

One of our new year's resolutions is to challenge ourselves to venture outside the city at least once a month, by car, or train.  Our January trip will hopefully be an overnight in New York City, a location we both miss very much.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Our 100th Update!

Greetings friends and family,

Earlier this month an interview of Thomas was published in the UK Catholic Herald.  Here is the link, in case you had not seen it:

Thomas Peters: ‘The course of my life has changed forever’
He was a handsome blogger known to millions as the American Papist. A freak accident left him fighting for his life – but his faith survived

Thom has been hard at work in therapy this fall and continues to make incremental gains.  We are looking forward to celebrating a quiet Christmas together.  We will post a more extensive update in the new year, but wanted to assure all of you of our thoughts and prayers in this holy season -- Merry Christmas to you and your families! We are so grateful for all of God's blessings this year!

Summer Flew By: An Overdue Update!

Hello friends and family!

Our apologies for not posting in so long!  We have so much to share, which is partly to blame for our silence on the blog.  

Since our last update, we have not been idle!  Thom's continued progress has been assisted by diversifying his rehabilitation activities.  Over the summer, to improve torso strength and balance, we started hydro-therapy (pool) once a week.  Exercising in the water allows Thom to be more independent in his movements and the water also provides resistance which improves muscle tone.  

Ekso training

At the same time, Thom has been using a new piece of equipment called the "ekso," a free-standing eksoskeleton that assists with standing upright and walking.  When he first tried it, he could barely take any steps in it, but after many months of practice and patience he is now taking hundreds of steps per session.  The machine can give anywhere from 0% to 100% assistance to each leg; this number can be tweaked by therapists as needed.  Thom is down from 100% in each leg to 75% on the left and 70% on the right.  His stride length is also improving and his legs no longer cross over each other when he is walking.  The ekso stores data from his activity each session, which is extremely useful feedback, and he continues to see improvement.  

A couple weeks ago, Thom was measured for AFOs: these are braces for his ankle and calf that will provide him additional support when walking in therapy.  We expect these to arrive next week and he is really excited to start using them!

On the OT front, his left hand continues to improve slowly.  His therapist told him it is beginning to be difficult to find new challenges for his left hand. He is up to the point of being able to use chopsticks in that hand, which is a big deal!  Perhaps even more exciting is that, 14 months since the accident, Thom's right hand is showing signs of recovery(!!!).  He is now able to make small controlled movements with his thumb, which is how his left hand began to recover one year ago.  

Please continue to pray to St. Francis that Thom might regain movement in both his hands.

Over labor day weekend we had a great visit with family and friends in Michigan.  It was our first trip back since the accident.  Neither of our families' homes are accessible to Thom, but we found an accessible hotel to stay in and hosted everyone there.  It was wonderful to catch up with our close and extended family, and with so many friends that we had not seen since our wedding last April.  Travel there and back was both a challenge and an opportunity to further learn how to navigate planes and cars with his wheelchair.  

Since coming back from Michigan we have been preparing for what promises to be a very busy fall.  I am returning to writing my masters thesis and Thom is taking on some new projects as well.  He is excited to find his energy and stamina returning for intellectual and physical activities.  We're looking forward to a productive fall and hopefully more frequent updates to all of you :) 

We continue to receive notes and prayers from so many of you.  Thank you so much!  Your encouragement and steadfastness on our behalf mean the world to us.

One year since, one year strong

Today, the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, marks the one year anniversary of Thom's accident.  As this day approached, we reflected together upon where we were last year and where we are today.  We agree that we want this day to be a joyful remembrance and not a sorrowful one.  After all, the all-encompassing effects of the accident are with us every day, but today is a chance to be grateful for God's mercy, continued providence, and His love.  As Thom wrote in his reflections when he left the hospital, so many miracles were needed for him to get through the accident alive and to survive the following months.  We are so grateful for all of these miracles.  

Today we invite you to pray and celebrate with us for all the grace and beauty that has come out of the accident.  We are grateful beyond words for the outpouring of love and support this past year.  

We want to leave you with a video and photo of what gives us hope and joy these days -- this progress wouldn't be possible without your prayers and generosity!

 

Please keep the prayers and support coming and Thom will keep the steps coming!  :)

A Most Happy Birthday (and an Early Birthday Present!)

Today is Thom's birthday and tomorrow is Natalie's birthday. Thom wanted to share a couple thoughts on the happy occasion:

Well before my accident last summer I changed my Facebook settings so that I would have to personally approve every time someone mentioned me in their status update.

Because of this setting I have hundreds of status updates to approve, stretching back to the accident last year. So earlier this week I went through and read dozens and dozens of posts from my family and friends asking for prayers and sharing updates about my recovery (and setbacks) as they happened. Of course my wife did relay this activity to me at the time but I was in a different mental state then. 

Rereading them this week reminds me how blessed I am to be alive today, and how lucky I am to be able to celebrate a birthday this year. And of course, how grateful I should be (and am!) for all the prayers and assistance I have received and continue to receive from my wife, family and friends.

I can't say it any simpler and clearer than this: thank you, thank you God, for my birthday!

We have some other happy news to share -- Thom recently received his manual wheelchair! We will post a photo of him in it soon. It was somewhat ironic that the day he received it he used the chair mostly as a seat to practice standing with his therapist's assistance and spent the rest of the session working on walking! Still we are so happy he has it because this means additional mobility opportunities including more car travel. Also this is the first time he's been in a chair that's actually made to his measurements so it is much easier for him to get around in the apartment and outside -- an early birthday present.

We're both so excited to discover what good things God has in store for us this year!

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Our Grace-filled Pilgrimage

Dear family, friends, and supporters,

Our apologies for not posting an update sooner!  Since our return, we have been busy  with recovery, getting back to therapy, and preparing to host family.  We have also needed some time to pause and reflect on our whirlwind travels.  Going to Lourdes was an extraordinary and powerful experience, which stretched us to our limits and was truly unforgettable.  

Even at the outset, there was so much grace surrounding this opportunity and which helped us make the journey in the first place.  Last winter, when the Knights of Malta "interviewed" us for the trip, we were nowhere near ready to make such a voyage; Thom was far too weak, and we had no experience of traveling in our new circumstances.  But, piece by piece, as the trip approached, necessities came into place.

In the days leading up to the trip, numerous of things beyond our control went wrong.  The day before departure, Thom's new manual chair wasn't ready, despite the company promising it would be.  While we waited, they constructed a temporary chair from spare parts in their warehouse.  When the airport shuttle showed up the day of our trip, the wheelchair lift was malfunctioning and would not work.  We had to ask people passing by to kick and jump on it to make it work.  Once we arrived at the airport, all of the printers at the ticketing counter were malfunctioning.  Our group of 400+ pilgrims waited for hours while they worked to get them back online.  Once our group boarded the plane, there were mechanical difficulties, and 5 hours later, the flight crew had to cancel our departure altogether.  At 1:00 am our group was back in the terminal and needing a place to stay.  Amazingly, the Knights managed to find transportation and rooms for all of us in Baltimore.  It was a grueling ordeal -- it was after 3:30 am before we got to our hotel -- and yet all the pilgrims remained kind and patient with one another and with everyone they encountered.  It was a truly heroic display of virtue. 

The next day, our group celebrated a private anointing Mass at the Basilica in Baltimore.  It was a beautiful, uplifting experience that made everyone realize the pilgrimage had already started.  And even though we hadn't managed to yet leave Baltimore, our adventure had begun.  Travel that day went off without a hitch!  And after a couple hours of sleep on the airplane, we arrived in Lourdes.  

That week in Lourdes was extraordinary; not only by fully participating in the rich and traditional devotions of Lourdes, but by being part of this annual pilgrimage with Knights and Dames of Malta from all around the world.  Over 30,000 Knights, Dames, companions, and sick (malades) gathered in Lourdes and participated in pilgrimage with us.  

A highlight from the trip was most certainly having the experience of washing in the baths.  This opportunity alone was miraculous.  Since we arrived a day late, we unfortunately lost the reservations that had been made a year in advance for our large group.  But somehow that day, despite the overwhelming crowd huddled in the pouring rain, we both managed to gain entrance.  Other highlights include, taking part in the nightly candlelit rosary procession, the Eucharistic procession, and the massive international Mass on Sunday in the underground church.  We also visited the one-room cachot where St. Bernadette lived for a time with her family and attended Mass in the church where she was baptized.  

Every day a different Knight & Dame were assigned to care for Thom.  They pushed  his wheelchair and served in every way they could.  Truth be told, this was a sacrifice for us because we didn't have much time to ourselves to share and contemplate the experiences of each day -- were were always in motion in seemed.  There was also not much time for sleep.  The days began very early and there was a full schedule.  By God's grace, we managed to arrive at the start time every day because we did not want to miss out on any spiritual opportunities.  Thom managed to survive on about half as much sleep as he needs, but that was something to offer up as well.  To say we came back to DC exhausted, would definitely be an understatement.  

Daily meals were shared in common with our group and these events were a great chance to get to know our fellow malades and their companions, to hear their stories and pray together throughout the day.  For us, these individuals were a powerful example of hope and trust, and another reminder of the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of struggle.  It was humbling to meet so many faithful members of the Knights of Malta and to be a recipient of their endless generosity.  We had our share of difficulties that arose during the trip, inevitable consequences of such an undertaking, but through these moments and more, the Knights did their very best to care for us and see to our needs, always with patience and kindness.  We will never forget it.

While we were in Lourdes, we embraced many opportunities to remember all of YOU in prayer -- all of you who have supported us, prayed for us, and prayed with us ever since the accident last summer.  We brought a list of these names to Lourdes, and placed them on the altar at the Grotto during a private Mass offered for our group on the Saturday we were there -- almost a 1,000 names in total.  We also lit a votive candle for all of your intentions.  

Since returning home, Thom has had some of his best days of therapy!  Last Wednesday, for the first time, he was able to take a step with his right leg!  Natalie was holding the walker and got to see this leap of progress firsthand.  Needless to say, his therapists are very excited and so are we!  His occupational therapist has also been focusing more on the fingers in his right hand, which are beginning to show faint signs of recovery.  As always, all of this progress means more work and more patient effort, but we have so much to be thankful for.  Truly.  

There is more to share, but for everything that we have yet to discern, and still don't fully appreciate ourselves, we thank you for your patience and continued prayers as we continue to be open to the Lord's Will and Our Lady's intercession.  

Here are some of our favorite photos from our trip!:

Names of family, friends, and supporters left at the altar of the Grotto during our private Mass

Eucharistic procession

At the start of the candlelit rosary procession

Candlelit rosary procession, every night in Lourdes

International Sunday Mass in the underground church

Farewell dinner out in the countryside (beautiful Pyrenees mountains!)  

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Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

As Thomas and Natalie prepare for their pilgrimage to Lourdes, please join us in praying this Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for his full recovery. Please pray also for all the other pilgrims who will also make their pilgrimage! (And for their safe travels!)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception." A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings deign to cast upon us a look of mercy.

By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request.

(state your request - for Thomas Peter's full recovery!)

Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory. Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen.

Follow with a daily prayer: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. 

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

Novena originally posted by EWTN.
Icon written by Br. Claude Lane, OSB, of Mount Angel Abbey, OR.
Learn more about Lourdes.

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