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I received this from a friend in church: "I just received a call from Phyl at church with an urgent prayer request. Heather Jane's family was in a car accident this evening (Fri) on the beltline. Heather Jane is one of our infant childcare workers. The most critical request is for their 4 year old son, Ian, who was Med flighted to UW hospital with an open skull fracture and is currently in an induced coma with an inserted probe to monitor his brain. It sounds like he is in very critical condition right now. Tom (Ian's dad) has a neck injury that they are still waiting for the results from the CT scan. Their daugher, Regan, was also in the car, but not seriously hurt. She is however, very traumatized by the event because there was a great deal of blood. Please be in prayer for this family and especially for Ian tonight. I will keep you updated when I know more. Ian had surgery last night. His skull is fractured in 3 places, he has a tear in the lining of his brain and his eyes and nose were fractured. He made it through surgery and was able to hear and respond after surgery. I wish I had more details for you and could tell you what this all means. He is still in critical condition and there is a lot to be concerned about, but it is good that he made it through the surgery. I trust that God will lead you in how to pray for Ian and his family. His dad, Tom, is expected to be released today.

Please keep them in your prayers! Hope to have more details tomorrow."

Thank you all for your prayers! It is a joy to read them.

I spent most of yesterday after church at the hospital with the family. Doctors and HJ (HeatherJane) thought Tom might have internal bleeding, because he was dizzy, and when he stood up, all of his color drained out. By the grace of God, it was not. Seems the accident knocked out of alignment something in the inner ear that affects balance. (Three little stones.) He will probably be discharged today. For now, he's in a room one floor up from his little boy.

The swelling has gone down a great deal for Ian - his little face is so swollen that, if HJ hadn't told me this was Ian, I would not have known. I sat with him Sunday so HJ could check on Tom, and get a little rest. It seemed to me I could see a big difference between early afternoon, and when I left at 9:30 last night in the swelling in his face. The doctors have also said there is no spinal cord damage! He moves his legs and arms, and sometimes swallows. He's doing about half of his breathing on his own, and about half is ventilator-assisted. He still gets pain medication, and it makes a big difference. His parents had just left the room late yesterday when it wore off and he needed more. With the meds, he rests fairly quietly. When it wears off, he's very restless and his little face shows the pain. I sang to him while I sat with him, and his mom thought he was enjoying it.

Regan, the daughter who was in the accident but relatively uninjured, is quite the cool-headed child. She couldn't get out of her seat at first, so she used one hand to put pressure on her father's head wound, and the other to keep Ian's airway open. After the accident, she's experiencing aches, pains, and a lot of trauma. She has trouble sleeping, because she keeps reliving the crash.

Three of our pastors were at the hospital for much of yesterday, as were other women from the church. Our pastor's wife had spent all of Friday night with the family, and most of Saturday. One of our children's leaders works at the pharmacy at the hospital, and has spent a lot of time with the family, as well. They're surrounded by good people, and the nurses, doctors, and staff are the best that can be had. If something like this had to happen, at least it happened close to some of the finest medical care in the country.

One of the nurse's said she was really impressed with how the family's church members came around and supported them. The other woman who was with me at the time looked a little perplexed as she said, "Well, that's what church families do." The nurse assured us that was not her experience, so we invited her to join us.

The man who hit them is a young man, only 25, and is very distraught. Our church is also praying for him. He's been to visit our pastor and our pastor spent a lot of time counseling him.

God bless you all, and thank you for your continued prayers.

Today's update is very good news!

First, Tom was discharged from the hospital with instructions to take Dramamine for the dizziness, and OTC pain medication for the pain. Now he can spend time with HJ and Ian!

Edna was visiting today, because she felt God had put it on her heart to annoint Ian, and to pray privately with HJ. When they were alone, she did. She annointed Ian, and she and HJ prayed over him, praying that he would arise!

Since yesterday, the swelling in his face has gone down drastically. It's still swollen, but he's starting to look more like Ian.

About two hours after that, while Pastor Bill, Rose, Dave E., Tom, HJ, Riyal and I were there, the doctor came in to say the results of the CT Scan were back, and they could take off Ian's cervical collar - no ligament damage to his neck! So, they took that off, and he started moving around a lot more - he stuck out his tongue, trying to get rid of the ventilator tube in his throat.

Then the doctor removed the bandages from his head, and took out the ICP (Intra Cranial Pressure) monitor, since his pressure had been well under the range they were hoping for. He became very active, and opened his eyes while HJ could see him! Tom had just called his mother on the phone to give her the good news about the cervical collar, and HJ excitedly called to him to come see. Ian kept moving, opening his mouth and trying to dislodge the tubes, and even tried to reach up and grab the tube. His little hands are tied down because of the other IVs, so he couldn't reach, but he tried with all his might!

After his nurse (Heather) gently cleaned up where the bandage and cervical collar had been, he settled down and rested for most of the rest of the time I was there tonight.

The doctor had the respiratory therapist come in, and start a test to see if Ian can have the tubes taken out. He said that, once the tubes are out and he's no longer sedated, we'll see much more rapid changes. The test is to leave him hooked up to the ventilator, and set it so it is "boosting" his breathing, but he has to initiate the breath. (If I understood things correctly.) Then, if he takes enough breaths per minute for an hour, he could have the tubes out.

I left before the test was completed, as Erin, Regan, and a friend of Regan's were there, and I thought it might be better if they had some family time. However, he was not yet able to breathe on his own well enough to remove the ventilator tubes. He was breathing 10-14 times per minute, and needs to breathe about 18 times per minute.

Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Tom asked me to extend their thanks for all the prayers, visits, and kindnesses shown. Their hearts are overflowing with thanks.

Today was a very, very good day. Ian passed his breathing tests, so the tubes are out of his throat! He has been awake for long periods of time today, and responsive. He drank apple juice earlier today. When I got there (about 5 this evening), he had said "Hi" a few times, and had sat up in bed unassisted. A friend of the family who works at St. Mary's (Terry) was visiting with HJ.

A little later, another friend brought his sisters Meredith, Shelbey, and Regan in for a visit. Once Meredith started coaching him, Ian talked a LOT. First, he said "Uh oh" clearly enough that we all heard him. HJ said that's the first word he said when he was learning to talk!

Then he said: "I love you." "Do you love me?" "No." (three or four times - I forget what he was being asked.) When Morgan called, HJ put the phone near Ian's ear, and Morgan (one of his sisters away at college) asked "How are you doing?" and he answered: "Good" He called the girls by the little nicknames he has for them.

His daytime nurse told HJ that she could order some food for him! So he got to eat some ice cream (high protein), apple juice, and a little applesauce. He also had some mashed potatoes, but didn't care for those much.

After eating, and spending more time talking with his sisters, he was showing his tiredness, so HJ persuaded him it was time to say "Night Night". He burped, swallowed hard, and then carefully and deliberately said "Night Night".

Sondra and Marco stopped by - Sondra is the person who works at Dean Care who stopped the day of the accident, and gave HJ and Regan a ride to the hospital. They were really relieved to see how great he looks, compared to the day of the accident.

He may have some permanent damage to his vision, but that won't be known for a while yet.

Now that he's conscious, and active, he'll be starting rehabilitative therapy. The doctors and nurses have advised Tom and HJ that it will be intensive, and exhaustive for Ian, and he will need to rest as much as possible. They will also have a great deal of studying to do, and will be helping him with the therapy sessions.

So, the hospital asks that we hold off visiting until later in the day, and that we not stay late. I'll still be getting updates from HJ, and posting them here.

This is what Tom posted yesterday on Ian's CarePages:

"3 December 16, 2006 at 11:16 AM CST

Ian rested in relative comfort through the night. They believe his seizures were caused by an electrolyte imbalance due to something called SIADH. This syndrome causes the body to excrete too much sodium and when the sodium drops below a certain level (now I'm in over my head), seizures can result. The treatment for this syndrome involves gradually raising his sodium levels via IV to get them back into the normal range. They believe this will stop his seizures and hopefully get him back to where he was when he left the PICU on Wednesday evening.

The plan calls for keeping him sedated and intubated for at least the next 24 hours. Then, we'll see how he's doing and decide what to do next. The good news is that they think there won't be any permanent damage due to the seizures and that the sodium deficiency was the cause, so they should be controllable. No word yet on whether they will still keep him on anti-seizure medication after his sodium imbalance is fixed, though I suspect they will, just to be safe.

Thank you so much for your prayers for our little boy. Please pray that this therapy does what we expect it to and that Ian makes up the ground he lost over the last couple of days."

This is the e-mail I sent to the prayers from our church:
"I stopped for just a short visit yesterday afternoon, and he was resting peacefully. At about 4, the nurse assigned to him (Randy) asked him to wiggle his toes, then to wiggle the toes on his right foot, and then on his left, and Ian responded appropriately to each request. He opened his eyes for a little while, too.

If you're in the choir, you already know that HJ attended the cantata last night. She said that she felt it was time for her to be in church. My daughter,grandson and I sat with her, and she really enjoyed it! She looked the most at peace that she's been since Ian was hurt.

My grandson is spending the day with me today, so I won't get back to the hospital until tomorrow. If Tom posts more updates to the CarePages, I'll relay those.

God bless you all."

Thank you so much - I read the posts from greenhornet and others who were praying into the night. "The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." and I know we have the prayers of many, many of God's men and women bringing Ian before his throne in prayer.

I haven't been to visit today (just got back from returning my beloved grandson to his parents), but here's what Tom posted today on the CarePages:

5 December 17, 2006 at 03:54 PM CST

We have great news to share!

Ian was seizure-free for the entire night. His sodium levels, which had been as low as 111 (for you medical types out there) has been raised to about 138-139. Normal, as I understand, is somewhere in the 140-145 range, but if anyone wants to correct me, please feel free. Ian was able to maintain a sufficient level of alertness and was sufficiently restless and uncomfortable that they decided to remove his tube today.

Ian's OG tube was removed this afternoon. He wasn't doing a lot for most of the afternoon besides sleeping, but he seemed to be tracking our movements, at least occasionally. Then, Morgan, BJ and Meredith arrived. Meredith sat down at the beside and started talking to Ian, and all of a sudden, Ian started talking back! He told Meredith that he missed her, said her name, etc. He also told a number of others that he missed them too, including his nurse, Susan.

The effort of speaking took a lot of energy, so now he's pretty quiet. We were thrilled to get a little glimpse of our Ian again and it certainly gives us new hope as we progress through his recovery. Once again, we have seen the power of your prayers.

If anything else happens today, I'll be sure to post something later. I wanted to get this new news out as quickly as possible. Again, thanks for your prayers so far, and please keep praying for Ian and our family.

Tom and HJ

Thanks for continuing to keep my friends in your prayers. Tom posted a pretty thorough update to the CarePages, so I've just pasted it below:

"December 18, 2006 at 05:11 PM CST

Ian continues to improve. He was able to eat today, and boy was he hungry! I guess I would be hungry too, if I hadn't eaten for almost nine days. His sodium levels have stayed pretty consistent and he seems to be maintaining them without much help. His potassium was a little low, so they are watching that closely as well.

He did a lot of talking today, some of it appropriate, some of it random. This morning he informed his aunt Ellie that the character on the sticker on his hand was Magenta, not Blue. He also informed all of the group gathered this morning that he is a non-magical person--He said "I am a Muggle." He seems to respond very well to his sister Meredith--she's the one who is able to get him to talk. Morgan also had pretty good luck today too.

He had a little incident this afternoon where his heart rate spiked, his temp rose and his oxygen saturation started to drop, but it only lasted about half an hour. No one suspects that he had another seizure, but they do think it may have had something to do with irritation from being intubated. It went away as quickly as it came, and we are thankful for that.

He still seems to be very tired and has not been moving very vigorously. We suspect that this may be due to some weakness brought on by lack of nutrition. We have also been warned that the effect of the seizures may linger for several more days. I think they're talking about releasing him from the PICU tomorrow or the next day. Frankly, we'd be perfectly happy for him to be here even longer, given our experience when he was on the floor last week. Please pray for strength for his body, healing for his brain, and great communication between the PICU staff and the staff on the Peds floor.

That's about all for today. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Tom and HJ"

When I got to Ian's room today (about 5 or so), I saw the most beautiful sight - he and his mom were cuddled together in the chair in his room! He was very responsive, and shortly after I got there, his nurse gave him a bath and washed his hair. You should have seen him! His face was pure contentment! It was as if he'd been wanting that bath and shampoo all week!

Here's Tom's update, with more details:

December 19, 2006 at 06:55 PM CST

Today, we have only good news for you. This morning, the nurse woke HJ to tell her that Ian was calling for her. When she went to the room, the nurse asked Ian if he knew who HJ was, and he said, "That's my Mommy!" Needless to say, HJ had to choke back the tears. He was very conversational all morning and talked to me and his sister Morgan on the telephone. It was a little sad, because one of the things Ian said was "I want to come home!" He pretty much continued talking(and making sense) through most of the morning. He even read the names of his preschool classmates in the picture book they put together for him.

After lunch (he ate everything he could get his hands on--we're watching to be sure his hunger off-switch isn't defective), Ian was pretty tired and he hasn't been nearly as talkative for the rest of the day. He did pick out his dinner tonight and has made a few comments about what's been on the TV, etc. Oh, and this morning, HJ reported another Ian moment--when one of the docs came in and asked him to turn over so he could be examined, Ian turned on his side, curled up and faked a snoring sleep. I'm sorry I missed it. Even the neurologist was impressed, saying Ian's recovery is the best Christmas present he could have asked for.

So, at least cognitively, it looks like Ian is on the way back. He's been able to keep his electrolytes balanced on his own and we're awaiting the results of this afternoon's EEG to see if they can reduce his dosage of the anti-seizure medication. While he's not all the way back, they feel like he's on the right track and they feel comfortable enough to probably move him to the floor tomorrow, pending a couple of more electrolyte tests. They expect to remove the central line and his catheter tomorrow--I'm sure that will make Ian happy. Still not a lot of progress to report relative to his right eye--it still looks like the optic nerve has sustained some damage.

Tomorrow, we start back on the motor skills rehabilitation. Ian seems to be moving everything OK, but there's going to be a lot of work to do to get him walking and doing the things he used to do. Ten days of laying in bed combined with hyponatremia (low sodium levels) and seizures have sapped his strength, so please pray that he regains his strength and motor skills quickly. All the girls are saying that the best Christmas present they could get is to have Ian come home for Christmas. HJ and I agree, but we're going to make sure that he's ready before we push too hard for that.

Thanks to all of you for your prayerful support and all the nice messages you are leaving on the message board. I promise we will try to write back as soon as we can. I (Tom) took the morning to deal with issues at home (the outside world doesn't stop for anyone), and there's quite a pile of just daily stuff that needs my attention, but we'll at least say "Thanks" in the update. Boy do we miss Ellie's (my sister-in-law) help since she went back to VA! Please continue to pray for Ian's full recovery and for strength for our family--we appreciate it more than we could ever tell you.

Tom and HJ