Prayer requests

These boots are made for walking

Anne is FINALLY starting to make a little progress with her walking.

On her first day of rehab (May 7th) – she had no head support, and the only part of her body she could move on command was her right index finger. She made great strides in the next few weeks (especially cognitively), so that when she left the hospital, she could sit, track with her eyes, eat and talk – but her walking never really improved…

Just in the last few days I’ve seen the first improvement in her walking. Her feet are more relaxed. She’s stepping great with her right, and even moving her left leg a little. I don’t have to assist her as much with weight-shifting… and her balance seems to be improving. I’ve been helping her climb the stairs. She’s got great strength in her right quadricep. We’re even working on descending the stairs. This is harder for Anne because when she initiates the step down with her right leg, she must bend her left knee, but she can do a few steps :-) All of this is very encouraging!!

We’re still praying constantly for sweet Anne. She’s made so much progress, but we’re humbly hoping for more. We’re trying to remain open handed with Anne. Every day, I go through the same emotional pattern… Grief, followed by surrender, followed by hope.

Please pray for Anne:

  1. That her walking will continue to improve
  2. That her focus and attention will improve so that she can particpate in group activities\
  3. That God will give her a clear and crisp mind, and
  4. That she would be aware of God’s presence and care for her.

Thank you! -kathryn

Anne’s family

Anne woke up from her nap yesterday and saw Canon, Kate, and Grandmom, but not mommy – her little lip quivered, she made a sad face, and asked “where’s mommy?” The emotions of a 5 year old are returning! How wonderful!

This morning Kate (just turned 4) loudly announced that she was performing “bending therapy” on Anne. The procedure was apparently to take Anne’s arms and bend them back and forth quickly at her elbow! Anne had a look of both concern and joy while Kate was ensuring that Anne’s therapy continues ’round the clock :-)

After swimming, Kate told me that she would only allow Anne to use her Dora kickboard up until Anne was all better. As I was considering directing Kate on being unselfish, Kate seemed to read my thoughts and explained, “Daddy, Anne doesn’t really like Dora” . . . . so our little Kate was looking out for her sister!

We are seeing this more and more – Canon and Kate really watching out for Anne, being protective of her, wanting to help her get better and always wanting to spend time with her. At night, when we pray, we pray for lots and lots of things, but Kate and Canon’s words are primarily prayers for Anne.

Please pray with us:

  1. Anne’ mind would be clear and focused
  2. Anne’s memory would return
  3. Anne’s left arm would begin to function
  4. Anne’s legs would work so she could “walk and run and dance”

-eric

Lots of laughter

As i type this, our little Anne is sitting on the sofa right next to Kate and Canon talking and singing about all sorts of topics. The things she says continue to slowly inprove in their context. She just seems a little more “with it” regarding her ability to understand what is happening around her. She occassionally says very funny things that make us all laugh and laugh, and Anne just loves this. . . . . then she will re-state the funny to ensure she milks all of the laughter she can from us. She gets a huge smile across her whole face during these episodes, and i think seeing her smile just brings such joy to our hearts it gives us the freedom to laugh even more.

We went to the pool today and Anne seemed actually excited about the trip. It appeared she was thinking about the future just a little bit – actually anticipating something beyond the immediate present.

Little Anne still really only has use of one limb – her right arm. Her left arm will occasionally move, and while she can move her legs, the high tone is preventing much progress in the way of any standing or walking.

Please pray for her mind to sharpen, and for her memory to improve. Little Kate prays every night that Anne would “soon be able to walk, and run and dance”. We so look forward to that day!

-eric

Positive signs of improvement…

Her injury is primarily on the right side of her brain. According to her MRI, the damage to her right hemisphere is extensive. Anne has shown typical deficits associated with Right Hemisphere Damage (RHD). Here are a few:

  • Flat effect – no expression and monotone speech.
  • Verbose since the left side of the brain controls verbal skills, RHD patients tend to talk alot :-)
  • Limited Focus and Attention
  • Limited Self Awareness – RHD patients fail to recognize the sympoms of their brain injury. For example, an adult with RHD doesn’t understand why he can’t go to work or drive a car.

Anne has shown improvement in alot of these areas. She has some expression when she talks, and even though she can’t carry a tune (yet), she’s constantly singing! On the flip side, Anne talks quite a bit, which is a blessing at home. She still struggles with an extremely short attention span and she is easily distracted.

Most encouraging is that she has shown glimmers of self-awareness – which is a HUGE positive sign that she is continuing to heal. She’s made brief comments that she is mad about the car crash and sad that God doesn’t love her. When I try to ask her questions about what she’s feeling, she typically gets distracted and starts talking about something else…

I feel like Anne is only able to express a fraction of what’s going on inside her. She’s impaired by her impulsivity and attention deficit.

Please pray:

  1. That Anne’s attention would increase so that she could participate in age appropriate tasks and activities
  2. As Anne’s attention increases that she would be more self aware and that we would have the wisdom to walk that difficult road with Anne,
  3. And finally, that Anne would come to a place that she can say with full awareness that God is Good – and can sing (in tune) His praises :-)

That’s my hope for Anne – that she would know God more deeply as a result of her journey.

Thank you! -kathryn

Surrender

God has me in a very good place – one of surrender. Every morning, I ask God to keep me here, and I ask for the grace to surrender Anne to Him (again) and leave her with Him for the day.

This place of surrender is one that I could have NEVER come to on my own. It is a glorious place to be. Surrender brings peace -true peace. A peace that rises above circumstances and rests on the promises of a good God. I don’t know how long God will let me stay here, but I’m trying to drink as much as I can while I can :-)

Meanwhile, Anne seems to be flourishing. Her attention is improving. Her abilities to ask appropriate questions and make conversation are improving. Her hand to mouth impulses are still strong, but have decreased slightly. She’s warm, engaging and fun to be around. Her stream of consciousness chattering is distracting in group situations, but is delightful at home.

Overall, we’re just so thankful for the person God is shaping her to be. We’re still praying for her to be able to participate in group activities with appropriate behavior, for her to be able to walk and use her left hand – but mostly for her to experience the joy of God’s presence on earth and for her life and spoken testimony to glorify Him.

Thank you for joining us in prayer, and for loving Anne and our family through this journey. – kathryn

Slow progress

Anne just completed her 4th week of day rehab. It’s a drop-off program, so I don’t get to see her in therapy. Each day the therapists write brief journal entries about Anne’s progress, but it’s just not the same as being there…

At home, Anne seems more controlled. She communicates more clearly what she wants and needs. She sits with more stability and inhibits her impulse to grab and pinch everyone :-) She still has a long way to go, but we are hopeful that Anne will be able to participate well in group activities like school and church.

Anne is also showing more emotion, which is an excellent sign that she is healing. She’s been expressing both joy and sadness. I’ve seen her smile so big that both sides of her mouth turn up and her whole face brightens. That’s a glorious sight! But she’s also been saying “I’m sad” alot lately…

We’re praying for:

  1. Anne to be able to inhibit her impulse to mouth everything so that she can develop the fine motor skills necessary to write
  2. for Anne’s muscle tone to decrease in her ankles and calves so that she might be able to walk, and
  3. for Anne to have joy from experiencing God’s love and care for her.

Thank you for walking this journey with us… -kathryn

Slow and steady…

Anne continues to make slow but steady progress. Frankly, it’s hard for me to pinpoint specifics because I see her everyday, but those who see her less frequently assure me that she is improving :-)

Since caring for Anne at home, there are certain areas that are physically difficult for both Anne and me. I’ve found myself praying specifically for two things…

  1. That her muscle tone in her legs (which is extremely tight due to her brain injury) would decrease so that she might be able to control her legs and walk, and
  2. That she would resist the impulse to put everything in her mouth and also to drop her food on the floor!

As you can imagine, meal times are a bit stressful, but Anne has made improvement here too – instead of throwing EVERYTHING on the floor, she only throws about half. Slow and steady, slow and steady :-) There WILL come a day when she eats normally again!!

Congnitively, Anne, again, is steadily improving. One of her PT’s commented to me today that everytime she sees Anne, Anne seems to be a little more aware and ‘alive.’

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are constantly amazed at the sacrifice of time, gifts and talents so many of you have blessed us with. It’s been a profoundly rich blessing for our family.

Taking one day at a time… -kathryn

4th of July weekend

Our little family had a busy 4th of July weekend, and little Anne was right in the middle of all of it. Lots of swimming pool fun, a cookout, spending time with friends, an adventure getting to church with peachtree rd closed, and plenty of warm July sunshine :-) . Anne is really good at taking it all in stride. She is almost always happy, is quite engaging, and has a sunny little personality – we are so thankful for these 3 traits.

One of our prayers has been for Anne’s “no” answers and negative responses to turn to the positive. God has answered! Anne is now very positive – and seems always willing to try any new thing. Anne has also begun telling us what she wants to do, or where she wants us to take her, or how she is feeling.

Please continue to pray for Anne’s walking, reading, and writing. These are the three goals we have for her in the day rehab program. These three things seem almost impossible at the moment, and are such huge goals, but we serve a mighty God. I often find myself praying while i am on a run around the neighborhood – that one day Anne would be able to run beside me and that i would have a hard time keeping up. i can’t really imagine it, but for some reason i feel God calls me to pray that prayer. What an exciting day that would be!

-eric

Day Rehab…

Wow! Day Rehab is awesome!! All the therapists work together as a team to accomplish Anne’s goals. The support staff is amazing – even working with Anne during the entire lunch hour to keep her food off the floor and in her mouth :-)

The best thing about Day Rehab is that at the end of the day, Anne gets to go HOME!

Anne after her 1st day at Day Rehab

Please pray for wisdom for all of Anne’s primary therapists as they evaluate her over the next two days. Based on their evaluations, they’ll set her goals and determine their course of action.

Our prayer for Anne is that she will be writing, reading and walking by the time she leaves Day Rehab. For that to happen, she needs to make drastic improvements in her focus and attention skills. We’ll see what God does :-)

-kathryn

Wow,

…Anne is home. Anne has really done so well adjusting to home – even with the juxtaposition of having many new experiences for Anne mixed into the familiarity of home:

  • she has learned to sit on her own for 5 minutes or so before falling over.
  • Anne has continued to eat really well, although she still makes an enormous mess :-)
  • she is sleeping better here than at the hospital
  • she seems happy and is only fussy when hungry or constipated
  • we took her to the pool and she enjoyed a short water therapy session

Canon and Kate have been really sweet and are always wanting to assist Anne. Anne pokes their eyes, pulls their hair, and squeezes their noses, but Canon and Kate just love on her. Tonight Kate said to Anne right after Anne pulled Kate’s hair – “I love you, Anne”. Somehow at 4 years old, Kate understands where Anne is in her recovery and is willing to be on the journey with Anne – only God could make that happen.

Pray for Kathryn – it has been hard: While at the hospital, the comparison was the miracle of Anne moving from the stillness and silence of the PICU to Anne’s speech and movement while at inpatient rehab . . . . but at home, we are much more reminded of (and mentally compare her to) Anne’s little person prior to the accident. So we continue to have joy through some tears when remembering the past . . . . but we know God calls us to be in the present with Him . . . . and Anne.

The day rehab program starts on Monday, so our journey continues. . .

Pray that Anne will continue to heal! We have three goals for our stint at day rehab – Reading, Writing, and Walking. Please pray that God heals Anne in these ways.

-eric