Lifting Up Dad From Our Knees.....: some slight encouragement..

Friday, February 9, 2007

some slight encouragement..

when the doctor tells you things like "that movement is just reflexes" it becomes difficult to get excited over movements. that being said, dad has been more and more responsive each and every day. today, andy asked him to wiggle his toes.....and he did --- three different times on command. he also slowly looked at andy and pulled andy's hand towards his chest. we continue to pray that these movements are consistent and on command so the doctor feels that he is responsive enough to get him off the ventilator. more updates later...

11 comments:

Anonymous said...: Oh. how encouraging to hear such positive news. My heart leapt for joy reading your last post. What a great answer to our fervent prayers. God is so great. We are continuing to pray.
Ursula; February 9, 2007 at 2:33 PM
Anonymous said...: That's great Jason. The Smith Family continues to pray for your dad and your family.

Brad; February 9, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow! Those are more than just reflexes...that is an answer to prayer. Thank you Lord!

You guys are in my heart and on my mind continuously throughout each and every day!

Love you all!
Bendi; February 9, 2007 at 3:09 PM
Anonymous said...: FANTASTIC!
what do we know, but sure sounds like for than just reflexes..
thx for sharing encouraging update:)
we continue praying for those
miracles and your endurance in the process
steve and helen; February 9, 2007 at 3:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Praise God ! Gidddy Uppp !
Man, I love my Jesus !
Keep the Faith.

Gallagher's; February 9, 2007 at 4:06 PM
Anonymous said...: That's great news. Let's hope this is the first of many good things to come. Stay positive!!!

Tony Kline; February 9, 2007 at 4:15 PM
Anonymous said...: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!"

Rev. 19:6; February 9, 2007 at 4:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Praise the Lord!! Prayer is an amazing thing! We are so happy!!
John & Tara; February 9, 2007 at 6:18 PM
Anonymous said...: It was amazing to see Jim progress every single day this week! Every day he looked better and better and today he looked the best I had seen him yet. On monday, docs said we need to wake him up- his eyes were mostly closed! Today he looks very awake and pretty alert! The nurse said he is still in a semi coma, but I am amazed his eyes are open and looking at all of us. I know he hears all of us family talking to him! I told him about all the people that are praying for him-- and that he would just be floored! May God be praised! Let's keep hanging on! Love Nettie; February 9, 2007 at 10:00 PM
Anonymous said...: SAT., 3:26 PM

WE ANXIOUSLY AWAIT . . . EVEN A FEW WORDS FROM YOU ALL.; February 10, 2007 at 3:27 PM
Anonymous said...: We in North Carolina are thrilled to hear such good news. I work in the medical field and know that those are not just reflexes. When your Dad moves on command three different times, that is God working through him to encourage your family. We continue to pray for his recovery and your strength and peace. I also pray for wisdom for the doctors to care for your Dad through to a complete recovery. Be encouraged. Janice Bentley and the North Carolina Bentleys; February 10, 2007 at 3:33 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.....

Friday, February 9, 2007

some slight encouragement..

11 comments:

Dad with Alena at Christmas

The story as we know it...

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