Lifting Up Dad From Our Knees.....: Laughed at a Joke

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Laughed at a Joke

Rehab went well today. Dad was put in this machine type thing so that he can stand and it helps him walk, but more right now to gain strength and balance. He sat on the edge of the PT table to learn to balance for quite awhile and sat and in chair for 1.5 hrs. He tolerated everything well. When put back to bed, he fell right to asleep, I am sure he was exhausted.

Although Dad cannot speak, Joey and Andy told a joke and Dad was laughing at it, silently. Dad gave Anna a big smile and just seemed to be in a better mood about the day. He still has those moments of staring around, and he hasn't responded to anything the doctor ask of him. Please continue to pray for his ability to understand, recognize, and speak through this PT process so that he can move on to the Rehab center at the hospital. He still needs to respond to commands. We are thankful for every little thing that he has done.

Kelli

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: What wonderful news! This news put a smile on my face and I imagine it did yours as well.

God Bless!
Becky Wells, Stiebeling; February 28, 2007 at 4:02 PM
Anonymous said...: I was there today when the joke was told....I cant even begin to tell you how that just made my day!! that was probably the most of dad I have seen yet! It filled my heart....:) thank you for all of your constant prayers..they are much appreciated. love anna; February 28, 2007 at 10:07 PM
Anonymous said...: VERY COOL!!
Might have to start sending some jokes :)
Steve has a bunch of blonde ones
and I think you are all brunettes, right?
still praying this miracle thru.
xxoxo; February 28, 2007 at 11:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Anna,
I know it filled your heart with joy when your dad responded to you today! Praise the Lord! every little step is still a step in the right direction!
You all are in our thoughts and prayers.

Misty, Keith, Savannah, Corbin & Sheriden

P.S. We love you Grandpa Jim!!; March 1, 2007 at 12:59 AM
Anonymous said...: Dear Maley's,

PTL!!! I'm sure it fills you with hope when you catch even a glimmer of the person you know and long to interact with again.

We will continue to pray. We serve a great God!

May God bless you as you wait on Him.

Love, Ken and Rosa Liston

PS Did any of you catch the special on reporter Bob Woodruff (I think that's his last name) and his brain injury/recovery with Diane Sawyer on ABC? I couldn't help but think of all of you. Incredible!; March 1, 2007 at 9:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Sometimes I know it is hard with small improvements to be super happy because you are around the situation all the time. But from an outsider it is amazing the improvement jim has made..Keep your spirits up

Justin; March 2, 2007 at 1:30 PM

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The story as we know it...

On Friday morning (Jan. 19th) around 10:50am, i recieved a call from my brother Joe telling me that he needed me at the house. I asked him what for and he told me that dad had hurt himself somehow...he had a black eye, his nose was bleeding and was "a little beat up". I immediatly got into my car and started heading that way. I called Joe back and asked him for more details and he told me that he was having a hard time getting dad up. I told him to call the EMS and he said that he thought Jason had already done that and he was on his way. When i pulled up, i saw the EMS was already there. I walked in and i saw Jason, Anna, Joe and several EMS people along with dad sitting on a gurney. They imediately took dad out in the EMS...not knowing what was wrong...just that something really wasnt right. We followed the EMS to parkview ER and had to go wait. Mom met us there as she flew across town to get there. We had to wait a long time (it seemed like days!) before we were told what was going on. The chaplain kept coming out to "brief"us...but thats all it was, a "brief". Finally, the ER doctor called the family together and told us the news...dad has a broken neck and he is bleeding in and on his brain on both sides....this is very serious. "Its a bad deal" the ER doc kept on saying, but we had to wait until the surgeon would come in and take a look at the CT scan before we could find out for certian what was wrong. Dr. Young finally came in and said that he had looked at dad and his scan. Dr. Young was very "matter of fact" with us which was good. We needed that! He told us very similar things to what the ER doctor told us. He said that dad had broke his neck, C2 to be exact. He also said that he was bleeding in several areas in his brain. He needed brain surgury immediatly. On a scale of one to ten...with ten being the worst...dad was a "plus 10". Dad went into surgury and was there for 3.5 hours or so...he came out of surgury fine but we found out the damage was worse than they had thought. They had to remove some of the damaged area and he would be on life support. We were told that the next 3-10 days are life and death...or very critical. What we think what happend is something as follows: Dad was sleeping down in the basement which is a normal thing. Between 8:30am and 10:30am, he tried going upstairs. This info is a little sketchy because we werent there, but based on some of the info that we have seen, we think that he tripped on the stair going up and fell...hitting his right eye on the stereo and then hitting face first on the ground. This created the damage that we are aware of. We spoke with the cardiologist today and found out that dad has also had a heart attack with in the last eight days, but they have not figured out exactly when. There is a thought that this might have caused the fall be we are uncertain. Dad is in stable but "second to second" condition. If and when dad comes out of the "coma" state, there will likely be many months of therapy that needs to be done, plus until the brain issues are resolved, they can not even think about looking at his broken neck. To sum it all up...dad is in very bad condition. We thank you all for all of your prayers and support and all of the food and gifts. Your love for my dad and our family is amazing and we are extremely grateful. We will continue to update you as we know more. Please continue to pray!! Pray for dad (jim) for healing. Pray for mom (sue) that she can continue to be strong. We do know that we most likely havent seen the worst yet. This is when we need your prayers the most. Please feel free to enter your thoughts on this blogspot as we will update you as we know more. We are very thankful for the love you all have shown.

Lifting Up Dad From Our Knees.....

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Laughed at a Joke

6 comments:

Dad with Alena at Christmas

The story as we know it...

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