JOURNAL ENTRY BY STACEY LAINHART - MAY 10, 2022

I'm not sure how it's been a little over 7 months since the suicide blast at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed 11 Marines, 1 Navy Corpsman, 1 Army Soldier and wounded so many others, including Kelsee. These have been the toughest and worst 7 months of our lives.  At least several times a day, I still wonder how we are where we are today.  How and why this had to happen.  Not in a million years would I have ever expected Kelsee to be there in the mix of all of the chaos.

In my mind, she was an intelligence specialist that should have been behind the scenes somewhere on a computer.  That's what I wish she would have been doing that awful day.   I'm still heartbroken for the families that lost their loved ones.  I'm not sure how they make it through each and every day.  I know people ask me how we are making it...and all I can say is that you we just have to do it.....we can't give up and we won't give up.  We do what we have to do. Kelsee continues to get stronger and stronger every day.  She is going to have some serious guns on those arms eventually.  She continues to have 2.5 hours of "research", 2 hours of PT, and 1 hour of OT almost every day.

I've had a lot of people ask me what research means.  Basically, she is participating in clinical trials and/or new research available to find a cure and/or help for spinal cord injuries. Currently, she gets electrical stimulation....similar to a TENS unit, but at a much higher intensity...and immediately following the stimulation, they work with her from a physical standpoint.  I hope she can continue this stimulation as long as possible.  She continues to have pool therapy and I pray this continues as long as possible.

Sometimes, it's hard to try to think of things to write about considering her days are pretty much the same every day.  I try to only post the positive things just so we can always continue to keep that positive mindset.  I continue to be impressed by Kelsee's positive attitude and her willingness to think of her recovery as her current job.  I see what she goes through and it's tough....and it makes me sad.  But God kept her here on this earth for a reason....and we aren't going to let her give up easily.  There is so much more to life than what she is going through right now. 

She WILL get through this!! We finally got 1 nice day in Chicago that Glen and I were able to get Kelsee out by the lake and try out her wheelchair's smart drive.  It's a device that hooks to the back of her wheelchair and it can go 5 mph.  You don't think 5 mph is very fast until it takes off on you.  Kelsee had tested it out a little bit at Shirley Ryan and down the hall of the apartment building, but she really hadn't had the opportunity to get outside with it.  As we were walking to get to Lakeshore drive to take the trails along the lake, she decided to try it out on the sidewalk....well....needless to say she hadn't quite figured out how to stop it, so Glen and I literally had to run and hold on to it to keep her from being tipped out into the middle of the street.

That was a little scary...ok...a lot scary!!!  So she decided to wait to use it to we were in a much safer place to test it out.  The weather was perfect that day, the lake was beautiful, and by the end of the day, she had it figured out.  NOW....we just need more nice days in Chicago so she can get get use of that "smart drive":).  Although the winter has been rough in Chicago, it's going to be beautiful this spring and summer.

Kelsee's best friend, Ava, was finally able to come for a visit.  These 2 were inseparable before Kelsee went into the Marines and it's been tough for Ava to get to Chicago because she is currently in nursing school.  So, I was so happy when Ava was able to finally come and hang out for a few days.  I know it was good for both of them to be together.  We had a lot of fun....they had a lot of fun!  We ate way too much food that weekend, went to a dinner show, and had a few laughs.  OH.....AND....thank God Ava was there that weekend....as I threw Kelsee out of her wheelchair in the middle of the street as we were walking to breakfast one morning.

I hit a little pothole and literally stop her chair and she went flying out.  Thankfully, she was ok....however, I felt AWFUL.  Definitely, a BAD MOM moment!!  I was worried that I hurt her wrist when she went to catch herself and/or hurt her knees or legs.  I think the 3 of us were in shock that it happened....almost in slow motion.  So thankfully Ava was there to help me get her back up.  So we learned a good lesson that day.....she needs to wear her seatbelt.  I'm certain, we'll laugh about it one day.

We've definitely become hyper aware and super sensitive to where we can go and what we can do because of wheelchair accessibility. If you are reading this and own a business, please make sure your establishment is ADA accessible.  We went to a restaurant yesterday that had handicap parking, yet the ramp was blocked by a parking block, which made no sense at all, so we had to roll her to the other side of the building just to get up the curb.  Just stupid!!!

She went through her Neuropsychological testing last week to start the Med Board process.  They say it could take up to a year for Kelsee to be medically discharged from the Marines.  She'll get the result of that test within the next couple of weeks.

I was even shocked that the Federal Health Care facility that we had to take Kelsee to for this appointment wasn't even very accessible.  They had about 30 handicap parking spots in the front row near the building which was great IF they were truly handicap accessible parking.  They were not....they were just normal parking spots with a handicap sign.

So we had to pull into a non-parking spot to get her out of the car and then go park.  AND, they didn't even have a handicap accessible bathroom that I could locate.  It's sad and to be quite honest, unacceptable!! Thank you to everyone that continues to pray for Kelsee and send her cards and words of encouragement.  We truly appreciate it!!   Please continue to pray for her complete healing!!

And please continue to pray for those that lost their loved ones.  Do not forget their names!! Also, check out @nealparrowart on Instagram to see some wonderful paintings he created for Kelsee and of the 13 KIA.  He is truly an amazing artist and has a huge heart.