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.

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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Video: Thomas Peters on Fox5 Talking About the Lokomat

For two months, Thomas Peters couldn't talk, but today he's using his voice to make a difference for all SCI patients in Washington, DC. Last night Thomas was featured in a segment on DC's local Fox5 nightly news report.

They did this segment to draw attention to the problem of the broken Lokomat -- a machine that helps SCI patients learn to walk again. As Will Thomas (the reporter) says in the segment, Thomas and Natalie are "not only impressed, but grateful" for the care of the doctors and therapists at NRH, which is, indeed, a state-of-the-art facility, nationally known for their care of SCI patients. But to get the Lokomat working would be a boon for all SCI patients. They are optimistic that they can find a solution.

View the segment here: Fighting to Walk Again

Please keep this in your prayers! Thank you for your support!

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From Thomas & Natalie: 6 Month Update

Thomas has been benefiting greatly from steady and regular therapy over the last few weeks and we have seen his recovery accelerate. 

In OT, after focusing on his right hand for a few weeks, his right thumb and pinky are starting to move very slowly.  His therapist is optimistic that they can get more of the fingers to follow suit, it will just take a lot more time and effort.  His left hand continues to gain strength; they are working on isolated finger movements and he can now compress up to 15lbs (a few weeks ago he could also squeeze 3lbs). 

But it's over in PT where the really exciting work is happening.  While his left leg has been gaining movement, starting from the toes up, his right leg is waking up from the hip down!  Without getting into all of the technical distinctions and details: both legs are waking up!  Over the past couple weeks, his physical therapist has been getting really excited about this progress in his legs and they have been focusing more and more on rehabilitating both legs.  Some of the new exercises include a max-assist stand, next to the mat, where one therapist supports his knees and another therapist supports his upper body, and Thomas holds his arms on a walker.  With this support they help him stand, and he is even working on small squats and shifting weight from side to side!  Of course to stand it takes more than just leg muscles, so they have been intensely focusing on his lumbar and core muscles in tandem.  These muscles give one the strength to stand upright and shift weight from leg to leg.  There are almost a dozen different types of exercises he now does to identify new muscle groups and strengthen existing ones.  This is all very exciting, but a huge number of challenges remain and we are taking it one day at a time.

To even be able to contemplate standing and walking is worlds away from where we were six months ago in Baltimore, hoping Thomas would survive the night.  We cannot put into words how grateful we are for everything and everyone that has been a part of our story these past six months.  In a spirit of thanksgiving and joy we will be praying at a Holy Hour this evening joined by some of our close family and friends -- we will be praying for all of our friends and family, and you our dear readers, who have sacrificed so much on our behalf.  We ask that you keep us in prayer on this the six month anniversary.

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An Update from Thomas & Natalie

Thomas and Natalie share what has been happening recently: 
We may have been quiet but things have certainly been busy these past couple weeks!

On November 25th, Thomas had an in-patient medication procedure to see if he would be a good candidate to receive a baclofen pump. The procedure consisted of Thomas receiving a lumbar puncture, where his doctor administered a small injection of baclofen medication into Thomas' spinal cord (baclofen is a medicine that treats muscle spasms, and is prescribed not only to SCIs but also patients with MS and CP). Thomas was then monitored over the course of 6 hours by his doctor and therapists.  The trial went well; Thomas responded well to the medicine and his spasms were reduced during the 6 hour period.  This procedure is only the first step.  We continue to do research into the baclofen pump to discern if it's right for him, and in the new year we will be consulting with specialists (it's a permanent implantation, with pros and cons of course).  We would appreciate your prayers as we discern this surgery.

Unfortunately, one of the common side effects of a lumbar puncture is an intense headache when sitting up. Thomas left the trial with a bad headache that persisted for several days.  He was able to get some relief by lying flat on his back.  Eventually his doctor scheduled him for a blood patch to fix the problem, but the first attempted patch was unsuccessful. Thankfully, the second patch was a success, but Thomas had missed quite a bit of therapy in the meantime.

Since then he's been making up for lost time.  He continues to gain strength and dexterity in his left hand, and his therapists are focusing on exercises for his right hand as well.  One of his exciting accomplishments this past week was doing a transfer into and out of a car completely on his own.  Just one month ago he needed all the help he could get to do this!  His physical therapist was quite impressed. :) 

Thomas is back to lifting weights in the gym and continues to gain strength. He is also doing more and more exercises with his legs, including a simulated leg press.  Now, none of this means that he can walk again, but if he does regain the ability, it will start with these little exercises!  He is also back to doing the standing frame and other activities he enjoyed while he was an inpatient.  Thomas can now do most transfers on his own and he is adding to the list of activities he can do his own, including combing his hair, brushing his teeth, and taking his jackets on and off (with some help).

Due to the impressive organizational talents of the outpatient team, Thomas will use the last of his medical benefit for outpatient appointments on December 31st.  Thomas and Natalie just found a new health insurance plan with a far greater allowance of rehabilitation services and are hopeful they can transition to the new plan by January 1st.  This would indeed be the answer to their prayers!

Over Christmas break, both of our families will be able to visit for a few days, a great blessing!  We are eagerly preparing for this much-anticipated time together.  Thomas will be in therapy even during the weeks of Christmas and New Years and is looking forward to working just as hard in the new year.

We would like to give a special shout out to the students who recently attended the Love and Fidelity Network Conference in Princeton who surprised us with dozens of get well notes and letters!  Your heart-felt messages were incredibly touching and encouraging! Thank you and God bless!

From Thomas on Catholic Vote: Gifts we Bring

When we go to meet baby Jesus in the manger this Christmas, none of us want to go empty-handed! Therefore I’d like to propose three simple gifts we can bring to the little King this year.
The gift of frankincense: the conversion of our heart. ... The gift of myrrh: the reconciliation of our relationships. ... The gift of gold: the recommitment to promoting the common good. ...

Read the whole post at Catholic Vote.

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From Thomas Peters: Reflections on my Time Away

Thomas and Natalie are adjusting to their new life at home and we will share more about that soon. Thomas is not yet ready to return to his work by a long shot, but he did want to share some of his reflections on his time in the hospital and thank you for the amazing support they feel blessed to have received from all of you thus far.

REFLECTIONS ON MY TIME AWAY

by Thomas Peters

On a Friday in July I awoke in the early morning hours to someone beating on my back with their fists. I was lying on a bed in a place I did not recognize and I was in excruciating pain. It was a kind of pain I had never experienced before and did not understand. There was a tube down my throat and my body felt incomplete, as if much of it was missing. I came to realize in the hours that followed, the man beating on my back with his fists was a nurse, and he was trying to dislodge some of the fluid that was filling up my lungs as the result of the diving accident I had sustained three days previously, an accident that had fractured my fifth vertebrae and had given me a severe spinal cord injury, an injury that has changed the course of my life forever.

I have no memory of the accident itself. By God's grace, someone spotted me floating facedown in the water and started dragging me to the shore. Had I not been seen, I would have surely died. By God's grace, I was injured on one of the only two days of the year when a group of EMTs gathered less than a mile away for training, so I received prompt medical care for my drowning damage. Had it not been that particular day, help would have been about twenty minutes away and I would have sustained brain damage. And by God's grace there was a field nearby large enough for a rescue helicopter to land and
transport me to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Shock Trauma Center, the best unit of its kind in North America. Had I not received the benefit of the best possible care so soon, my recovery would have been unalterably impaired.

Recovery was, and is, hard. It took six weeks to patch me up to a medically stable position suitable enough to transfer me to a rehabilitation center in Washington, D.C. For six weeks in Baltimore, nurses and doctors battled infections and secretions to heal the damage my lungs had suffered from ingesting filthy water. I was placed in a metal halo in an effort to save my fractured vertebrae. And when that effort ultimately failed, I underwent a two-day surgery to replace the damaged vertebrae with a titanium cage. The surgeons also fused my fourth and sixth vertebrates to strengthen my neck. I was intubated, given a tracheostomy, re-intubated, and put back on the tracheostomy. A steady stream of friends and family visited me during this time to lift my spirits and to share tears and smiles. But no one was more faithful than my wife Natalie; she did not leave my side my entire time in the Intensive Care Unit.

A major accident is an invitation to both physical and spiritual recovery. I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident. People will say that accidents like mine should call into question God's mercy or even His existence. But for me, the fact that I survived my injury is the greatest evidence I have ever experienced of God's mercy and providence. I believe God allowed my accident to happen and that He chose to help me survive that accident and every day gives me the opportunity to be blessed through it.

The accident has taught me the essential value defended by the principle of subsidiarity: the value of family and friends as the first line of defense when things go badly. My family and friends have come forward to help my wife and I in ways that have taken our breadth away. They brought us meals, helped pack and move our home, loaned us their cars, contributed their professional advice like how to plan our financial future and cover medical expenses, they have organized prayer groups for us, designed wristbands to help remind people to pray for us and offered us gifts so generous I have had to firmly say no because they are simply too much. The man is never poor or alone who has good friends. My wife and I simply could not gave survived this were it not for our dear family and friends.

The accident has taught me more about the incredible gift of marriage. My father, during his speech at my wedding reception, said the sacrament of marriage gives us the grace to do the impossible. I have met people during these months who think it is incredible, even impossible, that my wife and I survived a trauma like this having been married only three months. I tell them it helps to marry the right woman and get married the right way, the way the Church taught the two of us what marriage is and why it should be honored. People have told us that they are inspired and receive hope from the witness of our marriage – it inspires us too, I respond! We feel it is possible to face anything, even a future of me paralyzed, so long as we cling to each other, to God, and to our marriage vows. 

The accident has taught me to be more humble and realistic about my own efforts and contributions. Before my accident I took pride in my self-reliance, and my ability to contribute to the causes I care about, and I still do, but since the accident I have gained a far greater appreciation for the fact that everything I do and am is because of the Lord. I certainly didn't bring myself back from the brink of death and, as a wise priest told me, my prayers and sacrifices these weeks and months have done more to aid the causes of life, marriage and religious freedom than anything I wrote, said or did to promote these prior to the accident.

But make no mistake, as soon as I am able, I am coming back to fight harder than ever for all of these things because I know now that it is prayer that makes the warrior his strongest.

The accident has taught me that I am a work still in progress and anything I do achieve is for God's glory. I completed my term of inpatient rehabilitation this week and the hard work of learning to live on my own again (with the tremendous help of my wife) has just begun, as has grueling outpatient therapy to regain more of the strength and muscle systems I have lost. The vast, vast majority of individuals with my injury never walk again, but there remain signs that I could beat these long odds, and I have been praying to St. Jude for such a miracle. The majority of individuals with an injury like mine never regain the use of their hands - I have had to write these reflections using a knuckle of my right pinky on a touchscreen, if you can believe it. But through the intercession of St. Francis, I am recovering some finger function in my left hand. There are troubling signs that my life will forever be plagued with neuropathic pain, but as I have learned, pain can be offered up and need not inhibit living a good and worthy life.

In the coming months, I will be focusing on prayer, reflection and recovery, then we will know more about what the future holds. I don't quite remember how it began, but during one of the many sleepless nights spent in the Baltimore ICU, unsure of what that night and the next day would hold, I was inspired by the example of Samuel in the Old Testament, and began quietly saying to God, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." This remains my prayer. I do not know what the future holds. But I do know that as long as I have breadth, and with whatever limbs and muscles I can move, I will strive to serve the Lord and do His will. What else is a life for?

(Ed. note: this was also posted on Catholic Vote & NOM.)

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American Papist Updates!

Thomas, via Natalie, posted today on Twitter and Facebook!  And both got a whole lot of "likes" and re-tweets!

Thank you for your prayers and support!

If you are just hearing about Thomas' injury now, you can visit the About the Injury page for information about what happened, and this post for a look at where he stood one week into the injury, and some recent developments. A full "Week Two" post will be coming tomorrow.


Join us in prayer!