I know ... the title was a horrible play on words, but it is true! The Senate subcommittee put in charge of SSB 1147 passed it unanimously. We are still having a bit of a hang up in the subcommittee for the House, but we are working all angles to get this one going as well. As time is running out before the cut-off date (March 3) for all bills to be accepted into this year's process, we continue to fight ... while putting on a ton of miles and running on barely any sleep. It is confusing to explain everything we are going through since we are new at this, but I am sure we will start getting better at finding the correct words the more we get involved.
We head back down to Des Moines Wednesday afternoon to get prepped for our second "Lobby Day" on Thursday. To sit back and realize just how far we have gotten already this year is amazing. We went from talking about it during our support group meetings, casually discussing it with other survivors and their loved ones, and researching the steps it takes to make a difference to where we are today. Wow!
We know it will take a long time to make a noticeable change in stroke care, but every step counts. We are blessed to be surrounded by a group of people who normally should be focused on getting themselves back and not worrying about other people at this time, but have found a different type of therapy all together with the work they have put in. These are people who have been through it all, so when someone comes to them saying 'we aren't sure how far you can go with this,' they answer back ... "Look how far we have come already, why can't we go any further?" Continually striving to make a change.