Towa returned home for a visit from September 15 to 17. Because he was getting tired of hospital life, this time at home was rejuvenating for him, and he was able to regain some strength and energy during a restful visit. He ate a meal with his family at Lalaport Toyosu, watched a movie, and stopped by a bookstore. In total, he spent about 4.5 hours at Lalaport, the mall where our church meets for worship.
With his therapist, he is now able to go on walks outside, a ways from the hospital. Sometimes, for practice, they go shopping at a corner store, like Seven-Eleven. Other times, they walk to the station. Normally, it takes an adult ten minutes to walk from the hospital to the station, but it takes twenty minutes for him. He walks uphill on the return journey to the hospital, which takes about twenty five minutes.They are planning to take train and bus for his rehab sometime so that he can practice commuting. Around the hospital, Towa has permission to able to walk freely by himself, so he goes to eat meals, brush his teeth, and return to his bed by himself. Before Towa returns home from hospital, his target is that he will be able to walk without the use of a walking stick.
Regarding the health insurance in Japan, the time covered by insurance for rehabilitation is limited. This is why he needs to be discharged from the hospital in November. His parents are trying to determine potential problems to be solved or addressed for when Towa returns home to stay, for his daily life. Currently, they are facing time constraints as far as Towa’s support goes. If he goes to school again, for a while his parents will need to go to school along with him, and back home, too. Because our sons go to the same school and ride the same train (which is about a 1.5 hour commute door to door!) we will be able to help him with this. They anticipate that they will probably need help with childcare and meals again until he is able to go school by himself.
Towa has discovered that it is still very hard for him to squat down to the floor (to pick something up, for example), and also standing up after sitting on the floor. Standing up from these positions is quite difficult for him, and he needs help to do so. It is still risky for him to take a shower by himself, so he will need help from his family. He has been keeping up with his rehab in order to be as ready as he can to leave the hospital in November, however he will surely need lots of help and support.
Towa’s right hand is still not able to move like his left hand can, and he still doesn’t have feeling back on the right side of his body. He has feeling and sensitivity in some spots on his right side, but mostly cannot feel anything. Please pray for his continued healing, and that God would restore this feeling to him!
Please pray that God would provide exactly what the Aoyagis, and Towa in particular needs! Thank you for your continual prayers!
(This blog post was edited by Sean based on this past week's update on him written by one of our church staff. Thank you for reading! God's grace to you today.)
