Therapy for my Father

On August 11th 2016 at approximately 9:30am I was, uncharacteristically, at my parents place in the dining room when my father, who was the only other person home, appeared from his office and, motioning towards the door,  said: “we need to go to the hospital”. I didn’t understand at first why he was asking me, he could drive, or who he was asking for… we have all these significant moments in our lives that, for one reason or another, change our course. For me that was one of those days-- the day I lost (part of) my father.

The past 9 months have been an interesting journey for my family and I, but especially for my mother and father. I remember right after the stroke had happened when my father was in Rehab, I would visit him every morning and stand witness to his spirit wrestling with the depredation of his body; that process, or battle, took a lot out of him. He refers to it as "finding his new normal". Perhaps some of you experienced this dichotomy in receiving one of his post rehab emails. Although we’ve come to the realization that my dad will never be the same (thank you mom for accepting that first), we’re hopeful and expectant that my father will find a new normal that he thrives in. He’s making tremendous progress! And he's finding a new kind of healing - emotional and spiritual- that is inspiring us all.

Therapy is a big part of him finding his new normal. We’re very grateful for the health care system in Canada that provided structure and support in the early months post stroke, but there’s always this question of whether we’re doing enough, where is the best therapy and how can we be sure. We can’t. We’ve exhausted the programs available to us and are now navigating therapy on our own and for the most part we’re doing well. My dad frequents a personal trainer twice a week (my best friend), formal speech therapy twice a week, and tremendous support from his community - many of which are you (the best kind of therapy). However, my father still has a lot of idle time where he isn’t working his mind and we’ve been looking for ways to remedy this.

Through a referral from a trusted friend we’ve landed on a clinic called http://aceclinics.com/ . What we like about this program is there’s two hours of homework everyday which is facilitated by an app (think Luminosity) and monthly visits with a clinician. The purpose of the program is to work on cognitive abilities, like processing speed. The program costs $7,600 and $180 per clinician visit. 

I’m truly my father’s son; I’ve struggled with making this ask. I don’t like being dependent on people and it’s a humbling position for me to be in to specifically ask for money. However, I recognize this pattern and want to step out of my comfort zone to break it. Furthermore, and more importantly, I feel God is teaching me to be reliant on him rather than my own strength and to extend an invitation to bring people into our journey.

I love Owen tremendously, he’s my best friend, a mentor, continues to be my coach, and he’s my father. I'm asking you because I know - and have seen - how you've loved him and/or me through this time as well. I’d love for you to continue to partner in this journey with us. 

All of us kids are helping out in ways that we can - with both our time and resources. But this one we need help with. We think the therapy would be a great motivator for his continued recovery.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Some videos below:

First steps post Stroke:

For my Petra people:

Still encouraging us:

Pushing some weight around in the gym:

A throwback to Restore (his last venture):