Nov 10, 2006

Quite a day

Ian had quite a day today. The speech therapist told me that she was in to work with him, and the other therapists just happened to come at the same time. They were very enthusiastic about their experience with him. Here are the good signs they saw:

  1. They had him sitting up on the edge of the bed as though he were sitting in a chair (they were supporting him). When his foot came close to the floor, he set it down as though he were going to stand (without weight on it). That was good, because most patients in his condition aren’t oriented to their surroundings well enough to put their foot flat on the floor. Normally, patients are limp and set their feet down in a twisted position as though they have no awareness of the floor beneath them.
  2. When the speech therapist put the bed back down after his sitting session, he looked at her and smiled. He also smiled at Larissa, and his heart rate went way up when he saw her.
  3. When he was lying in the bed he held onto the therapist’s fingers as she lifted them into the air until he no longer had the strength and dropped his hand.
  4. He made the gizmo noise again (see a previous post).
  5. They’ve had an oxygen sensor clipped to Ian’s finger. Today he picked at it with the other fingers on his hand until he was able to remove it. The therapists put the sensor on a finger on his other hand, and he did the same thing. They had to put the sensor on one of his toes, so he wouldn’t remove it again. When it was on his toe, he kept wiggling his toes (trying to figure out how to get it off?). He must, therefore, be aware of his hands and his feet.

Thank you, Lord. Please keep praying...

Steve Murphy

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

God is so awesome to let this steady recovery happen!!!

I laughed when I read that his heart rate jumped when he saw Larissa. :)

Thanks for passing on the good news and know that we're praying for more!

Anonymous said...

Praise God!!! That is sooo awesome!!! God is working!!! Brings tears to my eyes to see how much of improvement from the previous posts!! Thanks for updating!! Will continue to pray! ~Jen

Anonymous said...

God is at work here, it is so exciting to see. God we give you all the glory!! so excited, praying even harder

-mike

Anonymous said...

I do not know your family personally, but my husband and I have been desperately praying for Ian since we heard his story. My husband Ken suffered a traumatic brain injury on Sept 14th of this year. He remained in a coma for 13 days. The day before he woke up, he was removing the oxygen sensor from his finger. Please do not give up hope! I believe that God is going to miraculously heal Ian, as I believe he did my husband! As a note of encouragement...within three hours of waking up, Ken was able to walk with assistance. We attribute this to the constant prayers of our church, family, and friends. The nurses said it was "like a miracle". I told them it WAS a miracle! He is now home walking, talking, and thankful to God for his awesome provision. We will continue to pray daily for all of you!

Dana and Ken Foster

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the updates. It is so encouraging to read how Ian is making steady progress and even more encouraging to see how the rest of you are continuing to trust the Lord. Still praying!

Stephanie Jewell said...

That is so beautiful that he smiled at Larissa :,)