Posted on 12/09/2006 8:48:18 AM PST by knittnmom
Copywrited site-but this family attends my church and needs prayer urgently.
May God grant grace to Ian, Tom and HJ.
BTTT
Continuing prayers for Ian and family. Pour out Your Grace, dear Lord All-powerful.
More answers to your prayers - thank you!!
Here's Tom's update:
January 11, 2007 at 10:22 PM CST
We visited the Orthopedics folks today (for 2.5 hours) and got some great news. Ian's leg is definitely healing and you can see new bone forming around the fracture. Following the reading of the x-rays, Ian's full-leg cast was removed (he couldn't stop laughing while his cast was cut off, because the vibration of the saw tickled so much) and a short-leg, waterproof walking cast was put on. Ian will wear this for two more weeks, and then he'll be on his own.
He has given walking a shot, but his balance isn't all that great, so we have to help him get around. Following his meeting with Carol, the speech therapist, we bumped into his Physical Therapist, Betsy, and she took a quick look at him. She was also concerned with his balance and recommended that he use a walker, at least for the short term. We spent about ten minutes choosing and sizing the walker, and then a few more minutes training him to use it. So, Ian is now mobile--we have to watch him closely, as sometimes his ego writes checks his body can't cash (he tries to do things he's not yet capable of doing). I figure a couple of days with the walker and he'll be running around the house.
Speech therapy went pretty well today, too. Ian did a good job with picture identification and with making up stories about photographs. It all appeared pretty basic to us, especially relative to what he was doing prior to the accident, but he continues to show improvement. He is now scoring in the average four-year old range, but both the therapist and HJ and I agree that this is not where he was before he was hurt, so there is still quite a bit of work to do. However, he is showing marked improvement in spontenaity, responsiveness and concentration. His key challenges continue to be word identification (i.e., coming up with words without prompting), putting things in sequence and problem-solving/thinking things through. They assure us that these things will improve, but it's still a major area of concern for us and we continue to pray for his recovery in this cognitive area.
That's about it for today. We are thrilled that he's beginning to be able to get around, and with the long leg cast off, he's much easier to get into the car and take to the bathroom. We are so thankful for this progress.
Oh, and for those of you who are curious about how my vertigo treatment went today, you'll be happy (at least I hope you'll be happy) to hear that I didn't lose my breakfast. Instead of an hour of trying to make me dizzy, the PT took mercy on me and just treated me after I told her about my symptoms. I still got plenty dizzy, and I've felt queasy all day, but it looks to me like my symptoms are markedly improved. Theoretically, the queasiness should disappear in the next day or two and I should be as good as new. With snow coming this weekend, maybe I will be able to get out on the slopes with the girls before the end of the Winter! Thanks for your prayers for me.
No more therapy this week, but if there is more news I will give you an update. In the meantime, please keep on praying for us!
Tom and HJ
Dear Lord, please lay your healing hand on this family. In Jesus Name, Amen.
We're thankful for his wonderful progress, too.....and the wonderful update. Ian sounds like he's doing great and continued prayers for more progress! ((hugs)) for Ian!
Thanks for the update.
Prayers continuing for Ian, Tom and all.
sleuth
Thanks for the update. This has truly been a day of blessed news for lots of hurting people.
Ian improving steadily.
Two kidnapped boys returned to their families.
And at last a certain evil one has recused himself from the Duke case.
May the Lord grant His grace and comfort for all concerned.
BTTT
Additional prayers up! :)
Continued prayers for Ian's recovery. Tom, if you hit the slopes, wear a helmet!!! It is a mandatory requirement in our family, and with your injury and dizziness, it better become your new best friend!!!
Thank you for your continued prayers! Be sure and let me know if you want removed from/added to this ping list.
Here's the latest update from Tom, Ian's dad:
January 19, 2007 at 12:05 AM CST
Sorry it's been such long time since I updated the site.
Ian continues to improve. His long cast was cut off last week and his mobility has improved. Following PT yesterday, he no longer uses his walker and he is moving around the house pretty much without assistance.
Speech and language continue to be his primary challenges from a cognitive perspective. He still has difficulty recalling things without prompting, though he is making progress. He also struggles with problem-solving and with following more complex series of instructions. Sometimes we think he's doing great, and other times we worry that he's not getting better. I guess the only thing we can really do is work with him and pray really hard. It's worked so far, so there's no reason the power of prayer can't keep on working!
Ian is really enjoying his gradual return to normalcy. He has enjoyed going to church the last two Sundays and was really happy to see all his friends, both children and adults. He keeps reminding us that he wants to get back to preschool as soon as he can, because he definitely wants to see all his friends there (did you hear that, Harvey?). We're hoping to get Ian up to the High School so he can see all of his teachers before they finish their class for the semester--I guess that means we have to do it tomorrow!
Next week we have appointments with the Neurosurgeon and the Neurologist, and I think maybe he'll get his cast off as well. I'll let you know how all of that goes.
Thanks for your continued prayers.
Tom and HJ
Thanks for the update. Prayers continue.
BTTT
Thanks for the update, continuedprayers for Ian's full recovery.
Great news, thank you. :)
Thanks for the update. You've been wonderful to keep us informed. Continued prayers.
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