Good morning! When I visited yesterday, Ian was a little tuckered out by his full day. Here's the story from Tom:
December 21, 2006 at 03:24 PM CST
Good News!
Sorry it's taken so long for the update on Ian's leg, but here it is.
This morning, they set his leg in a cast that puts pressure on one side of the leg to reduce the angulation of the fracture. Then, they did an x-ray to determine if the procedure was successful or if surgery was going to be needed.
We just got the results and we are pleased to report that he will not need surgery. He will, unfortunately, be required to be in a full-leg cast with no weight bearing for the next four weeks. After that, it will be a walking cast for another two weeks. This, of course, complicates the rehab process as now they take walking off the list of discharge criteria, but add in teaching us how to manage a child with a head injury that can't walk but still needs to get to the bathroom, get in and out of vehicles, etc. At this point, we're still waiting for a clear understanding of what specifically needs to be accomplished before he can actually go home. We should have that in the next few days, though the Christmas holiday will definitely stretch the process for a couple of days at least.
On the congnitive front, Ian continues to improve. His periods of lucidity are growing longer each day and his sense of humor is reappearing. Today, when one of the therapists asked him if he knew his name, Ian said, "Yes I do." When the therapist asked him what his name was, Ian responded, "It's a secret. I'll tell you on Christmas." We also heard about his plan to take all of us to the enchanted forest--we got there by counting to fifteen. We weren't sure why we were there, but Ian seemed to enjoy the process.
He seems to be remembering a lot/most of what he knew before the accident. He does, however, struggle with some short-term memory tasks and got a little frustrated today with a memory game that was pretty easy for him before the accident. He also sometimes exhibits something they call "perseveration," where he gets stuck on a phrase or idea and repeats it several times in a row, no matter what you ask him. They tell us this is pretty typical, and should improve over time. The therapists have also said that they are extremely happy with the progress he's made so far.
One more thing: I want to make sure that everyone knows how much we appreciate the efforts of the police, firefighters and EMT's that responded to the calls at the time of the accident. Many of them have stopped to visit us, bringing gifts and hugs for Ian, Reagan and our family. They did a phenomenal job for us and they put their lives on the line for all of us every day, and I can't thank them enough for their professionalism, care and compassion.
Again, thanks so much for your prayers for Ian and our family. We continue to pray for Ian's full recovery--he's come so far, but still has quite a way to go before he's as good as new. We ask all of you to keep praying for us--we know it will impact Ian's recovery in miraculous ways.
Tom and HJ
Carolyn
BTTT
Thanks for the report, Continuing Prayers for Ian.
Blessings for continued healing.
More prayers for healing on the way for Ian.
Thanks for the update.
Prayers continuing for Ian and his family. I know it will be rough being there instead of home for Christmas...but, I believe Ian's health is a great gift...it sounds like he is coming right along...
sleuth
Still praying that he be healed completely in mind and body, and for perseverance for his family.
Prayers for all of you and peace during all of this, especially at Christmas where we celebrate the Prince of Peace's birthday. Love, Maryxxx
Prayers for Ian continue.
Erin is back home, and was spending some time with Ian when I stopped by. I didn't stay long - he looked very alert to me, and I left when his supper arrived. Here's Tom's update.
December 22, 2006 at 07:09 PM CST
Today we had another pretty good day. Ian awoke this morning and was very alert and interactive for a solid 6 hours before he decided he needed to sleep and took a nap. His PT/OT went very well. He learned how to scoot on his bottom (handy for moving around with a full leg cast) and attempted to use a walker. The walker experiment can appropriately be classified as an utter failure--he doesn't quite get the whole "don't put weight on the cast and hop on one leg while supporting yourself on the walker" thing. We're going to get at least an hour to work on this concept on each of the next two days, but indicators are definitely low for success on this front. That would be a good topic for prayer, as it would be nice to get Ian out of the wheelchair and on his feet, even if it is with a walker. We'll have to make a lot of progress quickly though, since the hospital is definitely emptying out for the Christmas weekend and therapy sessions will be few and far between.
On the good side, Ian is doing a great job of sitting up unassisted and holding himself erect. His balance appears to be pretty good and his endurance is increasing. They did note a slight tremor on his left side when he was working during therapy today, but they don't seem to be that concerned about it being a permanent issue. We're going to trust their expert opinion, but please pray about it anyway.
Ian continues to reveal more and more of his personality as well. Today in his sessions with a couple of the therapists (those unfortunate enough to get him when he was getting a little tired), he was a typical silly, relatively uncooperative four year old boy. He faked sleeping, gave silly answers and generally frustrated the psychologist and one of his speech pathologists. Ordinarily, I would have tried harder to get him to behave, but I was really just happy to see him be a little feisty, so I let it go.
I guess our major concern continues to be his short-term memory. While Ian appears to remember much of what he knew before the accident, he's not making a lot of new memories. For example, he doesn't usually remember what he had for breakfast (much like me, but I don't have a brain injury), and he really hasn't shown the ability to remember where he is. While we understand that this is fairly typical for a head injury, the sooner short-term memory comes back, the better it is. Tonight when I asked him where he was, he told me UW Health Hospital, so it's a small victory. We'll see if he still knows tomorrow. This continues to be a topic for our prayers.
A smaller concern (perhaps trivial, but near and dear to parents' hearts), is potty training. After 10 days in diapers, we're now back at work helping him remember what we worked so hard to teach him for the first two years of his life. We take heart from the fact that he remembers sometimes (and he's getting better every day), but we'd love it if he would remember all the time. I know, I know, it's all about me (and HJ and his sisters), but we really hate that whole diaper thing!
So, what we're seeing so far is steady improvement each day. The therapists and doctors are very encouraged by his progress and say he's doing very well. We know there is a long way to go, but we also know that there is a long time line for recovery from brain injury. We're still praying that he'll be able to get a pass to come home for Christmas. This will depend almost solely on his sodium levels, which have been holding steady over the past several days, but the docs aren't taking anything for granted and we agree heartily.
We hope all of you have a great Christmas and happy New Year. I will continue to update during the holidays, but I know lots of you will be traveling and may not be able to access the page. We continue to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support for our family--this will truly be a Christmas we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Deep in the night, I lift up Ian to God. Father, You see this child whom You made, this boy whom You love. Heal him, bless Him, and fill him with the knowledge of Your love for Him. In Christ's name I pray it...
You are God. We praise You, for in You all things are possible!