I’m very pleased to say that I am now officially an outpatient! This means that I will continue my recovery by regularly meeting with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and a lot of other therapists, but that I get to live at my parents home! I might be the first 28 year old this excited about living with my parents . But it is obviously a huge step up from being a hospital resident.

As far as my recovery goes, I’m walking everywhere, going up and down stairs, and inching my way back to being able to do my yoga and pilates again (yes, I’m excited about that!).

As far as how I’m doing emotionally, I continue to feel immensely indebted to my family members and friends who have given so much to me and my parents during the past few months. I’m incredibly indebted to the care from my doctors, nurses, and the professional support staff from Craig Hospital in Denver and Waikato Hospital in New Zealand. It’s because of all these people that I’m able to sit here this morning, updating the blog, sipping coffee, and chatting with my parents about New Years plans.

I lost the love of my life. But I’m lucky to still have this much love in my life. And that gratitude helps me get closer and closer to normal.

 

Hoping all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and wishing you a Happy New Year.

 

Kirsten

Hello all! I continue to get better and recover. Today I was actually given permission to walk around by myself. It may sound like nothing, but these are the baby steps in my road to recovery.

It goes without saying that as challenging as the physical recovery may be, I'm having the hardest time processing the loss of Kallan. I keep having dreams that he is here with me, reminding me to follow up on my exercises to get better and chatting with me about what's going on in his world. It could just be the impact that he made in my life coming through, but I like to imagine that he's doing just what he would have done in life--keeping me company and making sure I follow up on all the thing I need to do to get better.

Either way, I'm getting through recovery more quickly and stronger because he was a part of my life. And he will be a part of my life for every year I have going forward.

Wedding Photos

The families are starting to gather mementos from Kallan and Kirsten's beautiful wedding, and would greatly appreciate seeing your favorite photos from that joyful time. Please send the photos that you would like to share with the families to family.steinke@gmail.com. You can add them as attachments or send a link to an online album that allows us to download them. If your files are too large, please email family.steinke@gmail.com and our tech support team will help you out.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Happy Thanksgiving every one.

It goes without saying that this holiday brings mixed emotions to my heart. On one hand I know that it is incredibly unfair that I get to spend this day with my family and Kallan has passed.

On the other hand I know that Kallan would want me to survive and thrive—just as I would have wanted the same for him if roles were reversed.

The amount and measure of support my family and I have received in the past few months has been tremendous. Thank you all so much for all the cards, the visits, the help you’ve given my family, the love and support. We are blessed to have a veritable army of love and support behind us.

I continue to get better and stronger each day at the hospital. There is no doubt on my mind that the love and support behind me and my family is pushing that progress along.

We all have so much to be thankful for.

Kirsten

Day by day I'm getting stronger and sadly, I now understand the situation that preceded my arrival at the hospital.
My source of strength has been hearing and knowing I have so much love from my friends and family around me.  I still have some progress to make, but cannot wait to see you all.
That time approaches quickly.
Love to you all and thank you for the continued love you have given me.
Kirsten

Kirsten's comments from today November 13

Thank you so much for sending me all the sweet cards and messages.  They are all up on my wall as a reminder of all the support there is in the world for me.  I miss you all.

I love living in the hospital < JK >

I’m working hard to get back to a real life as soon as possible.

Kirsten update:

Kirsten’s condition continues to improve as she needs much less medical support and is primarily facing more and more physical and occupational challenges.  She is strengthening herself with workouts with the PT team, meeting the trials of getting back into the things we all do in life, and keeping all those doctors and nurses from bothering  her all the time  J  She is much more mobile now getting around the facility with ease.

Her amnesia of recent events continues, but more and more current activities are being recalled.  She is greatly appreciative of all the cards and emails she is receiving and they decorate her walls.  It’s not yet time to have visitors as the added excitement conflicts with her need for rest and relaxation.  Her mind and body need to heal.  The therapists are doing a wonderful job of continuing her rapid progress, but this takes a toll on her stamina. 

Kirsten’s wit and humor are dominating her daily interactions with all the staff.  They are always on guard for an unexpected quip or comment that surprises them all.

Quote of the week from Kirsten:

“Sometimes it’s good to have something like this happen, because you learn you can live through it.”

Thank you for your continuing support and interest.