Sunday and Monday, January 6th and 7th, 2008

Sunday started with PT taking David to the gym before we could take him to church. You know what they say about the ‘early bird’, so Patty and I watched David work out and then walk two lengths of the hallway with the ‘cool’ walker. That was a lot of walking and again David was moving his left leg totally on his own. He looks smoother and surer of himself everyday.

David ate enough, (over 75%); so that he did not have to have the liquid supplement that they usually tube feed him.

Last night we sat in his room and watched a movie until the laptop battery died. Once again we do not know how it ended. Maybe Bruce Willis died, or maybe they will make “Die Hard 13”. It was fun just hanging out and relaxing.

Today Occupational Therapy, Mark, taught David to stretch his left hand and wrist. It curls up quite strongly, and is painful when it gets stretched, but it still needs to be done. Mark asked David to lead the way from the lunchroom to the gym without directions, and he would be timed. This was a tough chore, as David had to make his way between the chairs and obstacles. With his ‘left sided weakness’ he tends to hit things on that side of him. At the ‘crossroads’ David chose the left instead of the right, and Mark had to eventually tell him that he chose the wrong hall. But once David caught the scent he was off like a flash.

David had vision therapy next and they worked more on getting David to turn his head farther to the sides, and to pay special attention to his left side. This seems to really help David.

David refused him meds last night and at lunch today. Both times the nurse explained what the meds were for and why David needed them, and David finally conceded. We think that it is great that he is aware enough to question the medication.

David was stretched and exercised by Chris during PT. Then he walked between the parallel bars, and was stronger than ever with his left leg! David had another great day.

We are continually reminded how blessed David has been in his recovery. Christa’s brother in law, Dr. John Allen an intern at Loma Linda Hospital, asked (after seeing the video of David walking) what David’s original diagnosis was. When he was told that it was ‘diffused axonal brain injury with intraventricular left basal ganglia hemorrhage and posterior subdural hematoma’, (not to mention the fractured nose, rib, pelvis, the collaped lungs and multiple lacerations and contusions)he said that David shouldn’t ever be walking. David’s PT, Mitch, said that David was making AMAZING progress, and asked David if he had a lot of people praying for him? David said yes, and Mitch said, “I hope you have thanked them!” God truly has blessed David, by his ‘Healing Touch’ as well as by surrounding him with awesome physicians and therapists. Thanks for all of those prayers.

Steve

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

David was working between the parallel bars with PT (Chris) when we found him this morning. Maggie, April and Katie accompanied Patty and me. We watched as Chris helped David stand and rock back and forth, strengthening the trunk muscles as well as the legs, neck, etc. When David seemed balanced, Chris let go and David stood unassisted. They did this lots of times, and got up to 30 seconds of standing alone. This seemed great to us, as it was one more step towards being able to walk. After a brief rest Chris had David walk between the parallel bars. David’s right hand was on the rail and Chris was maybe supporting his balance some, but David was moving both feet by himself. He was really walking! I get the feeling that at this rate we could see David walking down the hallways of “D” wing unassisted, only holding on to the railing, before you know it. It was a real answer to prayer today.

His mood seems more positive as he is seeing progress. I pray that this just snowballs into an even greater determination on his part. It is exciting to experience his victories with him, and fun to relate them to you all.

Steve

P.S. Happy Birthday to Kelli, who reached the ripe old age of 20 today!

Friday, Januray 4th, 2008 (My brother Gary's b'day)

David ate breakfast like it was his last meal, and then he ate lunch the same way. His sergeant came by from Travis AFB and brought him a vanilla shake. Wow, that only happens in the Air Force.

Richard, from Recreational Therapy, worked with David on reading, and David struggled to see some of the words. Then they played a fun basketball game, which worked on David’s eye hand coordination, manual dexterity, and as an excuse to test David’s memory with lots of sports questions.

Se came by late today to grab David for PT, and even though he had been dozing he was ready to go. He wheeled himself out of the room and down to the gym without waiting for anybody. He walked farther than usual with his ‘cool’ walker, and looked good doing it. His gait was smoother, steadier and faster. As he blew past people in the hallway they were stunned.

The Recreational Therapy staff put on their weekly ‘Friday Free Food and Friends Feast’ tonight. It was KFC night, and David chowed down on the chicken (cut into smaller chunks) the mashed potatoes and biscuits. He finished off the last half of his vanilla shake (courtesy of his sergeant), and ate a cookie or two. He seems to have his appetite back! After we ate we watched Spiderman I, (in the same lunchroom/multipurpose room that we ate in) and David watched almost all of it before he said that he was ready to go back to his room and sleep. Now I don’t know if Spiderman lives or dies!

I think that we have mentioned that David talks in a monotone voice, and it's kind of quiet, but a really cool thing happened tonight when David was talking to the nurses. He said something that sounded so much like our 'old' David that it really hit me. There was more inflection in his voice, he used some words that he hasn’t used lately, and it was louder and more authoritative. It gave me hope that our 'old' David is still lurking inside, just waiting to come out.

We have had some problems with the ‘household’ (sprinklers, water leaks, pool problems, dogs), and our neighbors, friends and family have been awesome in responding to our needs in our time of trial. Thanks guys ‘n gals, we really appreciate the support on the home front. I know that God has put it on your hearts to help, and as hard as it is for my pride to accept help sometimes, I truly appreciate it, and thank you. I think that this is a growing time for me and I pray that God is working in your hearts as well. I know that serving our Lord, even in the lowest ways, (cleaning a pool, caring for a dog, watching a house) has rich rewards, and I pray for God’s blessings on all of you.

I close with much love for you all, and a content heart, knowing that all things are working out for His glory.

Steve

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

Christa had to leave us this morning, so we went over early to see David, so she could say goodbye. Patty took her to the San Jose airport while I hung out with David through his therapies.

Se, his physical therapist, stretched his legs out and then had him lift his left leg (bad one) from a lying position, and I was amazed at how high he was raising it. She made him repeat it 15 times, and on the last one she made him hold it for a period of time. He did really well. I was exited because I felt like if he had the strength to do that then he would definitely be able to walk on his own. Then she had him repeat a standing and sitting type of exercise that really worked out his ‘quads’ and will help him to stand up by himself. It was a pretty hard work out, but David was focused and pushed himself until the end. I have to hand it to Se; she is very encouraging, sweet, nice, understanding, and a tough ‘coach’.

I’m of course concerned about David’s left arm and hand, which show almost no movement. Bill, our caseworker, told me that they had a guy with similar symptoms to David’s, and now he has full use of his ‘bad’ arm. Sometimes you just need to hear stories like that to give you faith. I know that our God is bigger than David’s arm problems. He made David’s arm so he can surely heal it.

Our friends Maggie (I think she is Patty’s twin from a former life) and April, and her daughter, (and David’s friend), Katie, arrived tonight. We ate with David (kinda) and visited afterwards. We watched the video that David’s Air Force co-workers made again, and each time we learn new things about his ‘Turkey’ friends. David was sleepy, but we had fun, and we (not David) continued our fun at the Fisher House, as we played games until all hours of the night.

We learned from the ‘vision’ people that David’s field of vision is improving, and that we need to encourage him to turn his head from left to right to really see everything. His mind wants to ignore the left side especially, so we need to train it to “pay attention”.

Doctor Scott met with us informally over dinner (with our friends) and informed us that another drug was being removed from David’s ‘arsenal’ of drugs. In a day or two its effects should be out of his system, and we might notice some difference in his alertness. Hopefully it will be a positive step. That leaves only one drug that ‘sedates’, but it is not very powerful.

As always, we love your concern and prayers.

Steve

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008

Christa made David French toast this morning, and he ate more of hers than he did of mine. I guess she earned a new job.

I got a call on my cell phone this afternoon and I was shocked to hear David say “Dad?” He asked the nurse if he could call me to ask if I would come over to see him. He asked if I knew what hospital he was in, and I said that I was already in his hallway, almost entering his room. It was fun to have him call me like that!

We had fun hanging out with David as he ate dinner, joking and playing around. Out of the blue he said, “Mom, how about if you go up to ‘Jack in the Box’ and get me a vanilla shake”? It’s hard to say no sometimes and Patty drove away on an errand of mercy.

David got on his ‘My Space’ and Christa read him some messages from his friends. He thought about posting a blog (or whatever it's called) but decided that he wasn’t quite ready to tell everyone about hospital life, and the long rehab awaiting him. It must seem very depressing to him.

Now that David is less medicated, I am afraid that he might need as much prayer for his emotions as for his physical healing. Luckily we serve a big God.

Steve

January 1, 2008

This morning when I (Christa) walked into David's room he was sitting in his wheel chair all dressed and ready to go. I said, "Well, hello handsome!" and he gave me the biggest smile!! I just about melted right there! He said hello and good morning right back. We talked for a bit and then we went to the rec room to play on the computer. I showed him the blog and read my entry from yesterday. When I read him the part about how he thought Kelli was "hot" he smiled again really big! I read him all of your recent comments from right before Christmas and he really seemed to enjoy hearing from everyone. I explained to him how everyone reads this blog just to see how he's doing and how much you all have invested in his recovery. He said he understood and was very appreciative of your support and prayers. After the blog he wanted to play solitaire on the computer but he wanted to just tell me where to move the cards and have me control the mouse. Which was actually really cool because it forced him to talk more and I was really able to see his thought process and also where some of his visual problems are. He could always see the right side of the computer screen but the deck of cards were on the left side and he could rarely see those cards correctly. I'm not sure what he sees or doesn't see or if its just really jumbled up. But it was interesting nontheless. He did extremely well considering between him and myself we couldn't manage to win a single hand!!

After computer time we all ate breakfast at the table together (mom, dad, me and David)and had some delicious french toast my dad made. It was so cool to just eat and talk all together as a family again. Then we took David outside to the basketball court and kicked around a soccer ball with him. He started to really get into it and even would kick with his left foot! He did really good at wheeling himself around to go after the ball (Lord knows with me and my parents, there were a lot of stray balls for him to go after!). Then we went inside and he took a nap.

When we went back later in the afternoon my dad and him went to the rec room and watched some football together for a bit until we looked over and David had fallen asleep in his chair! So we took him back to his room but we made him eat a late lunch. He ate more spinach raviolis from yesterday and polished them off really good. Then I asked him if we could watch the DVD that his friends/co-workers/bosses in Turkey put together. He agreed even with the stipulation that he had to give me some background on each person. He said no problem. We watched the video and paused after each person wished him good luck in his recovery and even joked around with him. He gave me all the "dirt" on each one of you guys!!! Just kidding! But he did give a lot of details about fun times he had with each person. He talked about the Turkish food, the go-carts, working in the office and his responsibilities that he had and the fun times "working" there! He talked about who was naughty and who was nice!! Haha!! It was great getting to see you guys from Turkey and that video really was cool! Thanks guys for doing that for him. He was pretty tired and went to bed pretty early tonight. I guess that's good because he'll have a full day's work tomorrow in therapy. Today was a fun day with David and he showed a lot of progress with his smiling, kicking and moving his left leg, playing solitaire, eating real food and talking a lot. Thank you all for your prayers and faith that God is just getting started with healing David. It is going to be a great year full of miracles!! Love you all,
Christa

December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!!! I, Christa, just flew in today an will stay until Thursday. I am very excited to see David and my parents again. David looked great! I haven't seen him in a month so a lot has changed. He doesn't have the trache anymore. He's not agitated and fidgety like he was a month ago. He is very calm and kinda just "chill". Which was a welcome sight! He doesn't fixate and do certain things repetitively. He is definitely more like "David"!! I watched him during PT and he is walking so much better than when I left. Last time he could walk maybe 10 feet along the parallel bars and repeat the walk after a small sitting break. Today he was on his feet for almost an entire hour!! At the end of his session he walked back towards his room with the "cool walker" and the therapists said that David had improved a lot just today. He is moving his left foot so much better, still needing some assistance, but definitely improving. He sat on the edge of the bed while mom put his shoes on and was sitting up so good, even with his feet sticking straight out. He is so much easier to maneuver from bed to chair, etc. because he is strong enough to carry most of his weight and needs a lot less assistance.

Today was the first day that he ate 3 full, "REAL" meals!! He ate pancakes for breakfast, spinach raviolis from Spaghetti factory we brought in for him, along with his vanilla shake and apple juice. For dinner he ate some stew, bread and butter with some more shake and a yogurt drink. He had very little supplement with the feeding tube today - only early this morning and a little tonight. He's getting even closer to getting the feeding tube out!! He also talked so clearly. When I was here last time he was just starting to talk and we had to put our ear right up to his lips to hear what he was trying to say and even then it was sometimes a guessing game. Today I was reminded of his amazing progress in this area. He communicated exactly what he wanted and did it audibly. He asked me to ask the therapists to only ask him yes/no questions. They were proud of him for initiating that and did just as he asked. He talked to Kelli on the phone tonight and it sounded like it was a pretty good conversation. David asked her some good questions and made some pretty funny comments in return to her stories. From my end of the conversation I heard David respond with, "That's nasty." "That's awesome." "You passed. That's good.""Tell everyone I said 'Hi'." "Tell everyone 'Happy New Year'." When he got off the phone dad asked what was so nasty. David repeated the story just as Kelli must have told it (which really was nasty, so I'll spare you!) and we all laughed. I told David how funny I think Kelli can be and he agreed. He said, "yeah, that's one reason why I like her." I asked what the other reasons were and he said, "and she's hot." We laughed. Dad said, "yeah, that never hurts!" He also said because she's smart and tries hard in school, she's athletic and she loves God. He said that's really important to him! My brother is one smart puppy and is really coming around. It was fun just talking and hanging out with him tonight. It was almost as if nothing had changed (minus the hospital room!) as we sat and talked and watched TV. I loved every minute! My dad also told us that he got some really encouraging news today from Dr. Ted. Apparently the dr. is expecting some even more drastic improvements with David now that he is slowly getting off the meds. He says that this might mark a turning point in David's progress and that we might start noticing change faster!!!! Can you believe it???! I am so encouraged, as should you all! Keep praying and thanking God for David's healing. God is truly doing miracles every day in our lives through David's recovery. I am so thankful and my faith has been renewed!

Thank you Lord that you care so much for David and that you WANT to heal him. We give you ALL the glory for every small detail of his healing. You are The creator, and with the same hands that put the stars in their place, you can and will heal my brother. Nothing is too big or hard for you, Lord. Thank you that only YOU can do the impossible! AMEN!!

Love you all, Christa