Merry Christmas to all! Tony and I are in London visiting Matt and his beautiful family. We are having a wonderful time. Tony is still doing very well. He had his appointment with the opthamolagist on Thursday and he said he thinks he can fix Tony's double vision with surgery so he won't need to wear the prism glasses. We were against the surgery in the beginning but it seems to be his best option, so he has an appointment to have the surgery done on January 11th. Please keep him in prayer that all will go well. If all goes as planned he may not even need to see his eye therapist anymore. Tony also got a call to set him up with an appointment with an orthopedic doctor on the 10th about his finger. The doctor confirmed that it had been broken. It had been mentioned that the might want to shave the bone a little since re-setting finger bones is hard to do because the bones are too small. I think we might just get the consult right now , but put off any suggested surgery for awhile until we have his eye situation behind us.

Tony has his last therapy day on Wednesday at Rancho. It has been a bit tiring going back and forth to Downey 2ce a week. The rehab has been helpful in Tony's recovery but it will be nice to be done. We finally were able to get an appointment to see the opthamologist this week on Thursday. He should be able to tell us if Tony will be a good candidate for eye surgery. The appointment should take about 2 to 4 hours.
Please keep Tony in prayer this week as the opinion of the opthamologist will help determine the direction of his eye therapy.

We recently had a family evaluation for Tony at Rancho. His last day of therapy there will be December 14 th. Therapy there has been very helpful. We have had a chance to get to know some of the other patients in the group. He has a partner that he regularly does therapy with. He is a producer for Extreme Sports. He has a very creative personality and has kept us laughing. Another young man has also been joining them lately for physical therapy. In physical therapy they often times will add mental games to the physical work outs to stimulate brain cell growth. The three of them have been having a good time together.
We love the therapists. Spending eight hours a week with them has given them time to really get to know Tony. By watching him in social, physical and mental activities, they have been able to give him some good guidance. We will miss them.
While we will miss them, it is time to move on. Tony will still be getting some eye therapy in Pomona, but it won't be as time consuming.

Our next phase will be to focus on his eyes. Right now he still has the double vision. He still sees clearly and has been compensating for the double vision by turning his head slightly. The therapy hopefully will help him fuse the two images together. It takes about a year for the brain to completely heal so his eye may continue to improve on it's own. What he has is similar to a lazy eye. We are hoping he can keep his binocular vision. If his eye doesn't improve, eventually the brain will start to turn off the images from the left eye so he will only see one image.
Part of his homework for his eye therapy is to play video games for a half hour to an hour a day with his prism glasses on. This is something he has very happily been doing. Tony also ordered a program called POSIT SCIENCE his OT at Rancho recommended . He would like to start driving again and this program should help him get ready for that. Once the doctor determines he is ready to drive, he can take the driving class at Rancho. The class may only take a day or two to complete, depending on how he does.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for Tony as we come to the next phase of his recovery.
God Bless

it.

Happy Thanksgiving! This is a very special Thanksgiving for us. I have been thinking all week about the wonderful miracle we have been given. I had to give Tony a great big hug and tell him how happy I am that he is here with us. The thought keeps crossing my mind about what I would be doing today if he hadn't come out of his coma. Thank you Lord for this precious gift !!!!!

Tony is doing well. He likes being back at work. He has been coming home very tired but his stamina is continuing to grow.
In his therapy session on Wednesday they had a guest speaker from the research department. She is doing a study on how exercise affects recovery.
For a long time it was thought that brain cells did not regenerate themselves. They are now finding that they can. By doing arobic exercise, brain cells can regenerate in the hypothalamus and the neurons can then travel to different parts of the brain.

What this speakers research has been finding is that patients have been able to get back to the level in achievement they had before the accident if they have faith that they can. It doesn't matter if it's a physical activity like extreme sports or an intellectual activity. They can build their reflexes and reaction times to the same level they had before. Not only is that true of things they were good at before , but its also true with learning new skills. She showed some slides, including one of a skate boarder who regained the ability to do some amazing tricks.

The way they achieve these goals is the same way they got the skills in the first place. By practicing and continuing to make things just a little more complicated as you progress. She suggested the patients do some form of aerobic exercise for twenty minutes a day to get the oxygen flowing to the brain which in turn starts the brain cells to regenerate. The exercise should be at a level were you can continue to talk while doing it. if you can't, you are pushing too hard. Then follow that with an academic study to build on those new brain cells. The difficulty level needs to gradually increase so you are always pushing yourself just a little bit more.

The speaker emphasized that the patient had to believe they could make the accomplishments in order for them to happen. I find it interesting that in today's politically correct world it is being left out the faith or belief in whom? I have had the opportunity to speak with some of the parents who have been going through this recovery process as we have. So far, the ones I have asked have all been spending a great deal of time in prayer for their children and believe they have been given a very big miracle. These are parents whose children were not expected to make it. One father told me that after a week and a half in the ICU, the doctors pulled off all the life support and told he and his wife his son would die within 48 hours. Praise God he didn't! He and his wife were constantly on their knees in prayer for their son.

Tony got his new glasses on Friday. He is supposed to wear them 3 hours a day. Hopefully they will help him get his double vision into single vision. His eye doctor is still recommending we see an eye surgeon. We intend to get a second opinion on that.

Tony has been doing really great. He has a lot of self motivation and that has served him well. It has been amazing to watch him recover. it's like watching a movie run in fast forward. Over the past few months I have watched him re-learn to do many things. I watched as Mike and I or his therapists would give him instruction on how to do something. At first I would think he may not be able to do this, but he keeps proving me wrong. I would see him thoughtfully taking in the instruction and searching his memory to find where that data had been stored in his brain. it doesn't take him long to comprehend it and then he starts running with it. He still learns very quickly . It is getting harder to find things he needs to work on. It is good for him to be back at work so he can continue to find the re-conections. The other day he did a test in therapy and the therapist commented that he did a lot better on the test than she did. I see that happening a lot lately.
When Tony was in a coma he was put on the ventilator only because the drugs he was on would paralyze his lungs. His therapist told me that was a very good thing because it doesn't appear his brain went without oxygen. In Fresno they monitored his oxygen level very closely. God was looking out for him and I am very thankful for that.

Tony hit the half way point today for his out patient therapy. He has done 4 weeks with 2days a week. He has 4 more weeks left. He is very anxious to be done with them. After the 4 weeks are done he should be able to take the drivers training at Rancho and start driving again. Tomorrow afternoon he has an appointment with the neurologist. He has been taking anti seizure medication as a precaution since the accident. He got an EEG a couple of weeks ago that came back normal with out signs of seizure activity so we are hoping the neurologist will stop the medication. It is the only medication Tony is taking and he will be glad to be rid of it. His speech therapist said usually it is the gun shot victims that are prone to the seizures . We are fairly certain he will be taken off the medication within the year, but the sooner the better.
One Of Tony's therapists asked Tony if he would participate in a panel of survivors at the end of a conference they were hosting at Rancho on Saturday. I got to go to the conference from around 9am until 5 pm. It was really for therapists and nurses so it was a great opportunity for me to get a real taste of what is happening from the therapists point of view. One of the speakers was talking about one the the therapies Tony has been receiving in physical therapy. They had him moving and turning his head if different directions. I found out that was to get little particles out of the fluids in his ear canal that can cause problems with equilibrium. apparently they only need to do the exercise a few times to get the particles out. It only works with trauma patients because the particles are there because of severe shaking, not with people who have the particles because of illness because the cause of it is different.
From 4 to 5 pm they had the panel discussion. Tony and his partner in therapy as well as two other young men who had been patients in the past were on the panel. All 4 of the men were around Tony's age. All of them had very good recoveries. They also asked the parents if they would be on the panel for another prospective. They then had the audience ask what ever questions they wanted to ask. Tony did very well.

Tony went back to work on Tuesday. His work had a welcome back party for him today. Mike said it was standing room only. On Tuesday it was like sending him to his first day at school again. I was very excited to see him getting back to doing what he loves to do, but I was also worried about how it would be for him getting back into the swing of things. His Bosses have gone out of their way to make the transition easier for him as have his co-workers. I couldn't even begin to describe how grateful I am. It brings tears to my eyes whenever I think about it. Tony had a big smile on his face. I know he really appreciates it too.

It's been a good week this week. On Monday and Wednesday Tony had his therapies. He wrote a couple of programs for his occupational therapist. In his physical therapy he ran for the first time since the accident. We have also been going to the gym a few times a week so Tony is getting stronger and looking good. In his group meeting they talked some more about the brain. They said that studying and arobic exercise helped speed up the regrowth of the connections and that improvement can continue to happen for a very long time.
Tony also had an appointment with the neuro optometrist on Friday. We ordered some frames for prism glasses. It should take about 2 weeks to get those. We got a name for an eye surgeon to make an appointment for a consultation. I'm still not sure that's something we should do because I haven't seen much positive reviews on the Internet about the surgery. The eye doctor said Tony is already doing some compensating on his own for the double vision by looking off to the side a little. She thinks working with the prisms may help improve his double vision but wont get rid of it. The best result to get rid of the double vision would be a combination of surgery plus prisms. Please continue to pray for his eye to heal.
On Tuesday Tony is planning on going back to work. Please keep him in prayer for this. He is very excited about going back to work and moving on with his plans for the future.

Pray For Tony: Back to Work

Back to Work

Yesterday Tony had a neuro optometry appointment. They did some more measurements on his eyes. Next Friday they will give him a prescription for some prism glasses. I think the prisms will be stuck inside a pair of clear glasses since his eyes are 20 20 still. That should take away the double vision. I believe the plan will be for him to come in for about 6 weeks of eye exercises once a week. She also wants to refer him to an eye surgion about adjusting the length of the eye muscles on his left eye. she wants the surgeon to get some measurements early in the game but thinks the surgery should happen in about 3 months. Neither Mike, Tony or I want him to get the surgery but we need to know what all the options are. She seems to think the best treatment would be therapy to improve the eyes as much as possible, and then a combination of surgery and prism glasses.
I am still praying for a complete recovery. Our God has been very merciful to us. When I look back to where we started this journey I am so amazed at where he is today. On that day I couldn't see Gods plan, but I knew he had one. That gave me comfort knowing that God loved Tony . I can not imagine what it would be like for someone who didn't have faith in God. Many times I would come up with my own plan in my head as to how things should go. When Tony had the trachea , he would cough a lot. It was hard to watch him so uncomfortable and I just wanted it to stop, but the doctor told us coughing was a good thing because it kept his lungs clear. That is just one example, but I was constantly being reminded that sometimes when things look bad, good things are actually happening. God had given wisdom to the doctors and nurses who treated Tony. We were thankful they had it and prayed for them to have it. They were able to see things that Mike and I could not, but their wisdom is just a speck of what Gods wisdom is. I believe the purpose of miracles is to build faith. I have seen a lot of that happen from Tonys accident. My faith has grown by leaps and bounds but I have also had many others come to me and tell me how their faith had been strengthened. I have also had a couple of people say they don't believe in miracles. I don't really know how to respond to that. I can only say that we are given free will to choose to believe or not. We love you and want you to have the peace that we do but that is between you and God.

Tony has his 3rd therapy session today. There was no therapy on Monday because of Columbus day. Tony got to spend some time on the driving simulator. He is really wanting to drive again so he was very happy to give it a spin. He also spent some time working on his balance.
Please keep Tony in prayer as we are planning on having him go back to work on October 24th. He's made so much progress, we think he will be ready.

We were able to get an appointment with a neuro optometrist yesterday. they had a cancellation so we got in right away. The office is at a school optometry in Pomona so there were students observing. On the way there Tony commented that he hoped there were some pretty college girls there. He said the one advantage of having double vision is that if there's one pretty girl he will see two. Well he got his wish because the students observing were almost all women. We were there about 3 hours while they gave him all sorts of tests on his eyes as well as walking and balance. One of the nice things about having students watching is that the doctor was explaining what the tests were for to them . We have another appointment next Friday to finish the tests and then he will be getting some therapy sessions with them to help strengthen the muscles. They will be co-ordinating his therapy with Rancho so they don't do things he is already doing at Rancho. Eventually he will should get some prism glasses but his vision will probably still change some so he won't get the glasses just yet.

Mike took Tony to his 2nd out patient session today. They gave Tony a web site to go on to find a nuerooptomitrist in our area.They also gave him some exercises to strengthen the muscles in his eye. After the therapy sessions Mike took Tony to a resturant for a party for one one their friends at work. It was the first time he had seen a lot of his co workers since the accident and he really enjoyed it.

First out patient rehab session

Tony had his first outpatient therapy session today. The first hour was spent in a group classroom type setting with about 10 or 11 other patients. The instructor was explaining to the group how the neurons in the brain form pathways to save and retrieve information. After an injury these pathways are wiped clean and need to be formed again. This is done by doing things repetitively which is similar to making a groove in dirt by moving a tool back and forth over the same spot . The deeper the groove is the quicker it will be to find the path. Once the most basic pathways are restored they can be used to build more complex pathways. She was discussing some different things the patients can do to help rebuild these pathways.
After the first hour the group separated and spent an hour each with a therapist from ot, st, and pt individually. I asked his ot(occupational therapist) about the neurooptamolagist. She said the neurooptamolagist they use tends to get backed up so it would probobly take awhile to get an appointment. She said she would get me a list of doctors in my area so I could try and get an appointment set up on my own.
The physical therapist spent time working on his balance. His balance is pretty good but he still has some minor issues. Some people have asked me if Tony can walk. Yes he can walk without assistance and he is getting up and down the stairs without any problems. I started taking him to the gym with me a couple of days ago so he can work on rebuilding his strength. One therapist told me you loose about a weeks worth of muscle for every day you spend in bed not moving.
While Tony was in physical therapy I had the opportunity to talk to another mother who's 26 year old son was in the group. He was a very handsome young man and had a really good job in charge of PR when he was injured. Apparently he had just broken up with his girlfriend and tried to commit suicide by jumping off the roof where he lived. He was found by a neighbor who came by and called for help. He seems like a very nice young man. He doesn't remember jumping but he realizes what a horrible ordeal it was for his mother to have to go through. God may use him someday to help others contemplating suiside. I'm sure at the time he didn't really consider how his actions were going to affect those he loved and loved him. I felt their pain. He has had a much slower recovery than Tony. His accident happened in January and he stll has trouble remembering what happened yesterday. While his recovery has been very slow the good news is that he still continues to make progress and his mother is very happy to still have her son.
His mother and I shared what it was like to have a son in a coma and not know if he would live or die .

Tony had his neurologist appointment today. I think he might have been the same kind of doctor we saw at. Rancho last Monday. He had Tony read the eye chart for the 1st time that I know of since the accident. he still has 20 20. His left eye still doesn't dilate as quickly as his right and he still has double vision. Tony says he doesn't see double when looking at his computer nor for very long distances, just in between. We are very thankful for the vision he has but are hoping his left eye fully recovers. we haven't had any calls to make an appointment with the neurooptamoligist yet but I will ask about that on Monday when we go to rehab. I will also ask about the orthopedic appointment for his finger. Please continue to pray for his recovery . Thank you Lord for all the recovery you have already given him.

Rancho called today and said Tony will start therapy on Monday. thank you all for your prayers. My sister-in-law lives in New Jersy very close to one of the top rehab facilities in the country so we were praying about getting Tony into there. We were getting a bit concerned because he has been out of rehab for a month and a half and still didn't have a date for out patient rehab. Since Tony is all set up for Rancho we will probably still send him there. We don't want to delay things any longer. the good news it that even though he has been with out rehab for a month and a half he has still continued to improve a lot. I think we will also continue to try and get information on what the New jersey facility may have to offer him that Rancho doesn't.
Tomorrow we have an appointment with a neurologist and I will ask him what he thinks.

I called Rancho today to see how the x-rays on Tony's finger came out. The doctor only comes in once a week and hadn't seen the results yet. She said it would probably take a few more days. We are still also waiting for them to call for his rehab appointments. Please continue to keep us in prayer. Another option in rehab facilities has come to our attention. We are weighing the pros and cons of changing our decision at Rancho at this point in the game. We want to make a decision that would be in Tony's best interest. Please pray the Lord will make it clear to us what that should be. Also please pray for his continued recovery.

Tony is still continuing to improve. This week was a good week for him. He seems to be having a bit more energy. He still tires easier than he used to but his self motivation to do things seems to be coming back stronger. Until recently it was necessary to give him gentle prods to get him off the couch and do some therapy. All week he has been taking the initiative to start projects on his own. When Tony was in College we really didn't need to stay on top of him to do his homework. He was really good at organizing his time and getting his studying done. I can breath a little easier knowing this is coming back to him.

Tony's doctor appointment went well. They ex-rayed two of his fingers on his right hand to see if there was something that could be done surgically. The tech told him he fractured his middle finger but it had healed it's self but didn't say anything about the one he has trouble with. I guess we will have to hear back from the doctor about that one. They also did a blood test to check anemia and some of the other things that were off when he was in the hospital.

Tony's aunt Maria has flown home to New Jersey but not without leaving all kinds of goodies in the refrigerator. We are all going to miss her. Tomarrow morning Tony has a doctors appointment at Rancho . I thought it was to go over the results of Thursdays appointment but since they updated us after the appointment I'm not sure what is for. Maybe it's to verify he is healthy enough to do physical therapy there. I guess we will find out in the morning.

Expecting Excellent Recovery

Tony had his evaluation at Rancho today. There was 1 doctor,2 physical therapists, 2 occupational therapists, 2 speech therapists, and a phychiatrist. The were all there to observe Tony as they asked him several questions for about 2 to 3 hours. After the group session was over we were told that they expected Tony to make an excellent recovery!!!! So fantastic to hear! I could tell he has made a lot of progress since he came home but it was good to hear the prognosis from a professional. After the group session he spent about 20 minutes with one therapist from each division. In those sessions he was given more tests in order to better individualize his rehab. Tony's therapy will be much more advanced than the therapy that is normally given because he is very intelligent. He is not suffering from depression or anger issues, nor does he have any desire to take drugs or drink alcohol so they decided the phychotherapy wasn't necessary. Tony is so happy and thankful to God just to be alive!
His therapy sessions will be on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8am until 12. They should last from 2 to 3 months and they will call us as soon as they have a start date on the schedule. Most likely that will be in 1 to 2 weeks. He will also be seeing a neurooptomolagist about his left eye. I want to thank all of you again for your prayers. We know they are the reason he is doing so well and we thank God for all that he has done for us. Please continue to pray for Tony as he enters this next phase of his recovery. May God Bless all of you!

Tony is doing well. He is looking forward to getting back to work. Tomarrow is his evaluation day at Rancho so hopefully we will get an idea of how much rehab he will need soon.

Day 77

Tony had a good weekend. Saturday he went to Disneyland with his friends for his birthday. He made it to around 3:30 until he got tired. Not bad considering what he has been through. Yesterday we had a birthday party with all Mikes relatives for him. Aunt Maia and everyone took care of the food and the planning so we didn't have to do anything but enjoy. It was a great party and very nice to see everyone.

Happy Birthday to my little brother!!!!

Tonys birthday

Happy birthday Tony!!! A very special birthday indeed. Thank you Lord for this day!

Day 75

Tony had an appointment with his GP yesterday and the doctor said he was doing well. His GP has a tentative date of October 25th to return to work. I had also talked to a neurophychologist who said he thought Tony would be able to do the job because his memory is intact. He just warned that Tony needs to take the time to heal before going back to work. Next Thursday we have an appointment for his rehab evaluation. Hopefully then we will have a better idea of when he will be ready. I think we will stick with Rancho Los Amigos for now because the doctor I just spoke to confirmed what we were told in Fresno. Rancho Los Amigos is known internationally for having a good rehab program. Please continue to pray for Tony's healing. He is still making progress. His left eye is looking better. he says he still has some double vision but I can see him focusing better. His doctor said that is something they will address in rehab and maybe put a patch on his good eye to build the mussle in his left eye for awhile.

Day 73

This Saturday is Tony's birthday. We plan on celebrating this year. Tony will be going to Disneyland on Saturday with some of his friends.and On Sunday we will have a party with a lot of Mikes relatives. It should be fun.

Day 72

Tony had another good day visiting with his Aunt Maria. He is getting around fairly well these days. He has his appetite back and has put some weight on. He is at a health weight for his height but he is at the lower end.
He did some logic puzzles yesterday and he did well on them.

Day 71

Tony spent a lot of the day with his Aunt Maria today. She is a great conversationalist and that is good for him right now. She also made us a wonderful dinner. She is very sweet.
While Tony and Maria were at the store I took my car to the car wash. The Good Will was near the car wash and I had some things At home I wanted to donate. I decided to walk over there while I was waiting for my car and see if the drop off was open today. I walked down a fairly long alleyway and when I got close the attendant said he had been watching me "from way back there and I had the biggest smile on my face so I must be thinking of something really great." I hadn't even noticed I was smiling but I was thinking about how fortunate I was that I would be able to see Tony later and see his wonderful smile. Yes, I was thinking about something great. God is good!g

Day 70

Tony's Aunt Maria got in this afternoon and he is having fun visiting with her. His energy level was pretty good all day. Next Thursday he has an appointment with his GP and the following Thursday he has an evaluation for rehab. I am anxious to find out what they will suggest for him.

Day 69

Tony had some friends over from work to visit him today. I know he enjoyed having someone to play portal with who actually knew how to make their man go somewhere. We live about 1.5 hours drive from their office so it was really a long way for them to come. Tomarrow Tony's Aunt Maria is flying in to visit him. He is really looking forward to seeing her.

Day 68

Tony's surgery left his neck very sore for about a day but he didn't feel the need to take anything for the pain. They entered his vein from his neck and followed it down with a camera to his vena cava to remove the filter. It was feeling much better today.

Day 67

So a couple of really nice things happened on our trip to Fresno. Sheryl from the YMCA family camp made arrangements for her parents to be at the camp on Tuesday so we could go there for an hour. All the sessions were over so it was just us. The YMCA family camp was were we were headed when Tony got in an accident. We have gone there every summer since before Tony was born. Tony looks forward to that trip every summer so it was really nice for him to get to go up there and get some pictures! It was as beautiful as ever with the smell of fresh pine trees in the air. We hated to leave.
After we left the camp we went to Terry's house to hi and to introduce Tony to the staff. They said they had room available for the night if we wanted to stay. Mike and I had been thinking how nice it would be to stay there again but we didn't want to impose. They were so good to us when we really needed it. It was really a great feeling to have Tony with us this time so he could see how nice everything was. He has very little memory of his stay in Fresno.
Once we checked in we went over to the hospital and said hi to some of the nurses and one of the respiratory therapists that worked on Tony. They really were wonderful and we wanted to thank them again. Who ever hires the personnel at the hospital (and Terry's house) really deserves a lot of credit. I didn't run across a single person there that wasn't compassionate and professional and hard working . We spent a lot of time there so we got to meet a lot of the staff. We will never forget them. As wonderful as they all are we are happy to put that chapter behind us.

Day 66

We just got home from Fresno. The surgery went well. We had a few nice surprises while we were there but we are all very tired right now so we will put them in the blog tomarrow. Thank you all for praying.

procedure

Tony is waiting in the lobby to go in to have his filter removed. Please pray for him.

day65

On our way to Fresno for Tony's surgery
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Day 65

Tony started the morning off by going to church. We have so much to be thankful for it was a good way to start the morning. We had Tony do a couple of short programs in c sharp today. He also solved a couple of algebra word problems without much too much effort. with all the progress he's made so far I think we might only be able to notice the changes every few days from here on in and that's ok.

Day 64

Tony had a good day today. His short term memory appears to be ok. I was thinking his surgery was on Thursday of next week but he corrected me. The 31st is on Wendsday. I also checked out a rehab facility in Pomona for his out patient rehab. The out patient building is only open M through F so I couldn't see that yet but they showed me the in patient facility. It's closer than Downey and looks nice. I'm just trying to get an idea where he would receive the most helpful treatment.

Day 63

Today Tony walked all the way around the block with no problem tonight. We also put together a puzzle and played a little pool. He has been able to get up and down the stairs pretty well on his own. His energy is slowly starting to come back. We made an appointment for September 30th for the neurologist. We are beginning to see a routine forming for the next phaze of his recovery. we are still so thankful for how far he has come so far but he is not done healing yet. thank you all for your continued prayers for his recovery.
I would also like ask you to pray for one of my employees. Her name is Susan. When I came back to work I found out she has cancer and is scheduled to probably have a kidney removed in a couple of weeks. She asked me to pray for her today and I know she would appeciate our big family of God to lift her up. understandably she is having a hard time emotionally as well as physically. please pray for her.

post from Tony Hoffert

Hello to all. I'm Anthony and I would like to thank everyone for their prayers, cards, and words of encouragement. On June 24th I was involved in a terrible car accident (of which I have no memory of). I was air-lifted to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, California where I layed in a coma for well over two weeks. My initial prognosis was not good. My parents were told that due to the brain injuries I had incurred I would not wake up from my coma or, if I did I would possibly remain in a vegetative state. I believe your constant prayers for myself, my parents, and the staff and doctors at CRMC gave me the strength as well as my parents to endure this ordeal and also helped guide the doctors in the best course of action for my recovery. I have little memory of when I had initially awoke from my coma but as the days went by my memory of work, school, friends, etc. had returned (with the exception of the accident).

On July 29th I was transfered to Rancho Los Amigos, a rehabilitation hospital where I would re-learn how to walk, eat and talk again. Two and a half weeks later I was released from RLA and actually walked out on my own to my parents car.

Today, I had my first follow-up visit with my family doctor. He had recently received my medical reports from both CRMC and RLA. My doctor stated that one of the injuries I had received was so severe that people typically do not survive this type of trauma. He stated that it was a "miracle" that I not only lived but that I could also walk and talk.

I still have a ways to go as I build up my strength and stamina but I am determined, through the power of your prayers and an awesome God to make a full recovery. I'm looking forward to returning to work and seeing my co-workers again. Thank you all and please continue to pray for me.

Tony

Day 61

I started going back to work half days early in the mornings about 2 weeks ago. Mike has been with Tony while I'm at work. Tony called me yesterday morning and asked what time I was going to be home and told me what he had been up to so far in the morning. it was a great call and he sounded so good. It felt for the moment just like it did before the accident.
Tony had another good day today. He is getting around so much better. He still tires very easily. His body will still be healing on the inside for awhile and he will need close monitoring for the time being. Our goal is to use this healing time to get him on some schedules with things that will help him get back to a normal life. Now that his computer is fixed we are trying to encourage him to do some programing. He was working on a computer game he created before we left for vacation so he looked the code over today that he had written . He was able to follow all of his lines of program.
We also want him to get some practice walking so we have been combining that with going to the store or somewhere else . He has been keeping very busy in between rest periods during the day.

Day 60

Tony had another good dat. he sat outside with mike in the morning and watched a couple of guys construct a shed in our Back yard. We did some homework after that from his therapists. Followed that with a game of pool. then thecDell comuter guy was by to fix Tony's laptop.
It's working again ! He spent some time getting familiar with it again.

Day 59

Tony and Mike went to walmart today to buy him some new cloths that fit. Tony played a game of Halo and won. We also took the dog for a walk halfway around the block. I didn't have to give Tony any assistance in walking and I think he could have made it all the way around.
He also did a couple of the worksheets from the therapists and did well on them.

Day 58

Tony had another good day today. We went to go see a movie today and laughed a lot. Tony is also starting to notice some of the things that aren't working like they used to. His left eye is not working as well as his right and the index finger on his right hand doesn't bend all the way light it used too. We are starting a list of things to ask the doctor about on Thursday.

Day 57

Tony is walking much better Today. We took him to the Home Depot and he did well walking around. His balance is getting better. I tried to play "portal 2 " with him on the xbox but I wasn't very good at it so we didn't get to far. We were plaing as a team and I kept falling off the cliff. After that we played a game of pool. I'm still amazed at how much he improves every day.

Day 56

Tony's friend Daniel came by today and played some video games with Tony. Tony really enjoyed it. Tony's walking is getting a little better Today. He is having a little bit of double vision on occasion which I!m thinking may be affecting his balance. hopefully that will go away over time. His hand tremors in his right hand have significantly decreased. the doctor had said originally they may go away or they may not. they could have been caused by the accident or by just muscle weakness. They said each day you spend in bed you loose a weeks worth of muscle strength. Since he was in bed for about a month without much activity he has a lot of muscle strength to regain. We we also glad to find that when Tony stepped on a scale he weighed 10 pounds more than the scale in his bed was weighing him at Rancho. he is still under weight but not by as much as we thought .
while Tony was at Rancho one of the doctors accidentally spilled Tony's water glass on Tony!s laptop and the keyboard hasn't worked since. I called Dell computers today and they should send a technician out to fix it next week. That is a relief because computers are a big part of Tony's life and it's good therapy for him to get back to that as soon as possible.
Tony also has his first doctors appointment with his general practitioner here in Chino on Thursday then on September 15th he is scheduled for an assesment with the therapists at Rancho to determine how long and otten his out patient therapy will be. On the 19th he has an appointment to get the results of the assesment and see the neurologist I believe. We are still praying for a full recovery and are so thankful for all the progress he is making.

Day 55

Another awesome day with Tony. Tony went online and paid a few of his bills. He also went on his xbox for awhile. we worked with him on some of his take home assignments from his therapists. later we had a family dinner at the table followed by "true grit" on the DVD. He is getting up and walking more now that we are at home and he has places he wants to get to. The hospital was going to send us home with a rental wheel chair for awhile but we opted not to take it because we wanted Tony to get used to walking. I thought we'ld wait a few days before we tried taking him upstairs but Tony thought he would like to sleep in his own bed tonight. We still need to be close by when he walks so he doesn't fall but he is getting better.
Mike and I walked him up the stairs and tucked him into bed tonight like we did when he was little. I feel so blessed.

Day 54

We got Tony home yesterday! It was so nice to be home I almost forgot to post it on the blog. They scheduled him to have the filter removed on August 31st. So we will be back in Fresno for a day or two. Tony has been getting around fairly well. He still needs Mike or myself to hold his arm when he walks to help him keep his balance. I don!t think we will try going upstairs with him for a few days. Tony was very happy to see his dog and lay in his favorite spot on the couch, He was also happy not to eat hospital food. it was nice to sit on the back porch for awhile and have more of a normal day.

Day 53 hour 9

Tony had a very busy day today. They took his feeding tube out this morning followed by an ultrasound followed by physical therapy and a visit from a co worker. Followed by speech therapy , then his occupational therapist did some tests to see how much progress he had made from the beginning of his stay in Rancho until today. He has shown a lot of improvement. We then played a board game that should help him strengthen his short term memory. He seems to have retained his long term memories quite well.
After the board game we went outside for about an hour and had chicken pot pies from KFC. We came back to his room watched part of a movie and then another co worker came by for a visit. Tony really appreciated his co workers taking the time to come and see him.
We then finished our movie and Tony started to dose off.

tomorrow is also a very big day. We get to bring him home! Yea!!!! He has really been looking forward to this. Hopefully before we leave we will get an appointment with the out patient program to figure out how much more therapy he will need before he can go back to work or drive again.

Day 52 hour 9

Tony' will get his feeding peg out tomarrow! They took the bandage off his trach today as that is healing up. he is also scheduled for a 8am ultra sound to check his filter in the morning. We may have to take him back to Fresno to get it removed next week. The doctor thought he could take it out in Torrance but it sounds like the insurance would require it be done in Fresno. it would be an out patient thing and we would be taking him ourselves. We are not looking forward to going back there but it was a good hospital.

Day 51 hour 9

Today was a "free day at rehab for Tony"(no therapy). We spent a couple of hours in the hospital grounds outside and got take out from BJ's. Tony got the chicken Alfredo and ate every noodle of his lunch. that was good to see as he only weighs about 126 pounds right now and I know it was full of calories. ( I never imagined I'ld ever think it was a good thing to eat something full of calories.) He has been doing a pretty good job eating all his hospital meals because he knows he needs to but he hasn't enjoyed them much.
Tony also did a little bit of walking down the hallway. After that we went to a Church Service in the hospital for all the patients that wanted to attend. We are still thinking Tony can go home on Wednesday afternoon but we are not sure how taking out the drain will affect the timetable. The ultrasound they did on Friday didn't give them a clear enough picture and they said they were going to do another one this week. Tony wasn't supposed to eat anything after midnight the night before the ultra sound. Since they didn't say anything about not eating tomorrow morning I don't think they will do the ultrasound tomorrow. They also said on Thursday they wouldn't do the procedure on the same day as the ultrasound. They said it would be an out patient procedure at a hospital in La Habra so I'm thinking they may want to do it on Wednesday after we leave Rancho but we haven't been told by the doctors what the plan would be.
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Day 50 hour 10

Tony's day went well. His therapy today was to play Mexican bingo with a group of about 8 or 9 other patients. He actually won one of the games. He spent some time on his computer as well and wrote a simple program. he still continues to improve on a daily basis. He walked to the physical therapy room with minimal assistance but he still has balancing issues and he tires very fast.

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Day 49 hour 8

Tony spent a lot of the early part of the day trying to get his ultra sound done for the filter in his artery. They did two attempts today but still didn't get the scan they wanted so they are going to try again on Monday. Tony had to go without breakfast and lunch because he needed an empty stomach for the scan. He was finally able to eat in the late afternoon. He had a couple of friends come by for a visit in the early evening. He enjoyed the visit.

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Day 48 hour 9

Tony will be getting a catscan in the morning on the artery were they put the strainer in his artery to catch any blood clots he might have got. the doctor said he is too young to leave it in so they want to remove it. The nurse said it will be minor surgery.
Tony has been going on his computer the last couple of days for his occupational therapy. his physical therapist walked him to the therapy room to do some exercises today. His balance is getting better. He is getting to the point now where I can help him walk a short distance fairly easily.

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Ecclesiastes 3

A few days ago, my mom posted some verses from Ecclesiastes 3. In our church here in England, I taught that exact passage the Sunday before Tony's accident. The message would prove to be very prophetic and timely with Tony's accident happening 5 days later, and then considering the following weeks and months. For any who would be interested in listening to that message, here it is:

• Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 - Seasons (mp3)

Day 47 hour 10

Tony had some friends from high school come by to see him today. They brought cookies and he actually ate one voluntarily. Since he hasn't really wanted to eat any of his meals that's a real compliment.
Tony is really looking forward to coming home next week.

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Day 46 hour 6

Tony got his tracheotomy out today! They also took out his I.V.. The only thing he has left is the peg for his feeding tube. He isn't using it anymore but they have to leave it in for 2 to 3 weeks because if it's not healed enough food can leak from his stomach into the wrong place.
He should get that out next week. We can't wait to get him home. His tentative release is a week from tomorrow. I got home from the hospital about an hour ago. This is the first time I have been home before 10:00 pm since we've been back. I need to get a few things done before he gets home. I'm very excited that it will be soon!

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DAY 45 HOUR 8

Tony's friend Daniel was by to see him today. They had a nice visit. Tony enjoyed the company. Daniel was here to observe Tony play a game of chess with his speech therapist.
Tony says he is hoping they take his trach out soon because it makes him cough. The doctor wasn't sure if they would take out his feeding tube this week because it hadn't been in long enough to heal yet. He said they usually take the feeding tube out first shortly followed by removal of the trach but he would see if he can take the trach out first.
In his physical therapy today he was able to stand up and play golf on the wii. Tomarrow they will practice walking. He also was able to go on the hospital computer and surf the web a little bit.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV)
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; (Ecclesiastes 3:2 ESV)
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up; (Ecclesiastes 3:3 ESV)
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance; (Ecclesiastes 3:4 ESV)a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; (Ecclesiastes 3:5 ESV)
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away; (Ecclesiastes 3:6 ESV)
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; (Ecclesiastes 3:7 ESV)
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:8 ESV)

This passage from the bible has been on my mind for much of this journey. I am so thankful this was a time to heal and build up and laugh and dance.
During the month we spent at the ICU I saw a lot of life and death. when you spend a lot of time in the waiting room there you hear family members and friends talking amongst themselves about what brought them to The ICU . Some you see for days on end. Others only for a few hours. I heard people weeping in the hall ways because someone had passed on. On the night the doctor tried unsuccessfully to get the drain back in Tony's head the doctor came to talk to me. He said one thing he had come to believe is that there is a higher power that is ultimately calling the shots. He could use all the skills he had as a surgeon on two seemingly identical cases but ultimately God would decide who would live or dye. He told me they had an emergency surgery that night that did not go well. I knew who he was talking about. I heard the parents of a young man talking about the boy earlier. He was riding a motorcycle I believe and was hit by a car. He was bleeding too profusely for them to operate earlier in the day. I never saw them again.
On another occasion Matt and I were going into Tony's room and had to wait in front of Tony's room as a body covered by a sheet was wheeled passed his door.
We recently found out that on the same day we left Fresno for rehab "Terry" had died in the same hospital Tony was in. The place we were staying at was named after "Terry". He was hit by a car some 50 years earlier and his mom drove several miles every day to see him while he was in a coma. He recovered and his brother and mother later spear headed the building of "Terry's House."
When my parents died I mourned for my loss. If a loved one is a Christian, you know " to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". I take great comfort in the fact that they are in heaven and I will see them again someday. As hard as it was to let them go, I knew they had both lived a full life.

Day 44 hour 9

Tony had a really good day today. He ate most of his breakfast , lunch and dinner. Today was a free day at the hospital so we took Tony outside into the hospital grounds for awhile. He had some visitors this week end and enjoyed seeing everyone who came. I also gave him back his cell phone today and he spent some time this evening catching up on facebook and reading his emails. His control of his hands has greatly improved but it's a bit difficult for him to type messages on his phone so I'm guessing he won't he responding until he gets Internet on his computer. Then again he keeps surprising me with his progress so you never know.

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Day 43 hour 10

Tony has been eating for a day and a half now. He is not really showing much of an appetite yet but hopefully he will soon. He needs to get more calories in. We went to the mall today for a couple of hours with his speech therapist . Tony enjoyed getting out for the first time since his accident. He sat in his wheel chair for 3 hours and did pretty well.

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Day 41 hour 9

Tony passed the swallow test! He had his first meal today at lunch time. The doctor said Tony may get both his trech and feeding tube removed on Wednesday! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Day 41 hour 9

Looks like Tony will get his swallow test tomarrow around 9:30 . If he passes he will get lunch ! He may also get to go on a field trip this week end to the mall. It would be nice for him to get out of the hospital for awhile. . Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Day 40 hour 17

The speech therapist gave Tony some water and ice chips yesterday and he did well. She was going to schedule him for an X-ray sometime between today and Monday . they will give him something to drink with barium which will allow them to see if it all goes down the right pipe when he swallows. If all goes well he can eat again. One of the nurses said they usually take out the feeding peg and the trach right before they go home. Tony will be very happy to see it go.

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Day 40 hour 10

Tony had another great day today. He realizes he was really confused and that things are clearer now. The doctor had him start with the number 100 and subtract 7, from 93 subtract 7, from 86 subtract 7 and so on. He said Tony got 80 percent correct. I think alot of people who had never been in a coma would have trouble with that.
He was using more complete sentences when he was speaking today as well. He did some more walking with a walker and climbed the stairs again. We got a tentative date of August 17th for him to come home. After that probably 2ce a week of out patient therapy. Every day, I feel we have been given a wonderful gift from God and I am so thankful.
Hopefully we will get internet access in the rehab center soon so I can update the blog earlier in the day. I filled out a form today to get a password.

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Day 39 hour 8

Tony had another great day.   He walked with a cane and climbed some stairs in physical therapy! He wasn't very steady and needed balancing from the therapist but I never imagined he would be doing that already. God is good! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Day 36

Tony had a very busy day today.  He worked with 3 therapists today. He had some ice chips and did well swallowing. Maybe tomarrow pudding. He also got dressed with a little help and brushed his own teeth. It was exciting to see. Daniel was by with a ipad star trek trivia quiz. Tony did great! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Day 36 hour 9

Tony went on his computer for the first time since the accident. Unfortunately I don't know if the rehab center has wifi so he couldn't get onto the internet. We watched a next generation star trek episode on it which he picked out and started on his own. Hopefully tomorrow they will do their evaluation of him and we can get him on a schedule. I really want to see them work on his eating so he can get the tach and the feeding peg removed. Tony is also wanting to try and walk again.

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Day 35 hour 11

Tony had a good day today. He was talking a lot more and his memory recall was also getting better. Phyllis was in to see him and they had a really nice visit. Tomorrow is there free day so no physical therapy. I'm really wanting to get through the physical therapy so we can bring him home.

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Day 34 hour 18

getting ready to go to the rehab center. From the physical therapist in Fresno I found out a little bit of what will probably happen in rehab. He should have about 3 hours a day six days a week of intense rehab. After an accident like Tony's the brain looses a lot of pathways to information. It's like a hiking trail in tall grass that easily shows you the way to go. When the grass is mowed you have to make new paths to connect that get stronger with repetition. The therapist said eventually they will probably have Tony do things like walk and juggle at the same time to re stimulate multitasking abilities. Right now Tony is in a phase where these paths are starting to re-connect but sometimes the information gets crossed so the mind will try and make sense of it by piecing different memories together and fabricate a conclusion. His brain is also working on getting normal functions going like getting up to go to the bathroom. (which he is not allowed to do yet because he is not stable enough for it to be safe.) so he can get obsessed with wanting to do that. He has a long way to go but every day I can see some progress.

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Day 35 hour 10

Tony transferred to Rancho Los amigos this afternoon. I just got home from the hospital a few minutes ago. It's been a very long day. Hopefully we will be able to talk to someone at the rehab center soon and get more of an idea of what will come next. Tony has come a long way but he still has a long way to go.

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Day 34 hour 3

Tony has been quiet all day today. He is in some pain from the peg feeding tube operation. they just changed out his tracheotomy tube so he is one step closer to being able to get that out. sounds like he will be getting transferred by ambulance tomorrow to Rancho Los Amigos in Downey. He is looking forward to getting closer to being home.

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Day 33 hour 22

Tony is back in his room after the surgery.

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Day 33 hour 19

Tony is in surgery right now for his peg tube so please keep him in prayer.

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Day 33 hour 7

Tony is still in Fresno. Please pray for the insurance to come through for Rancho Los Amigos. I think the plan is for him to be moved on Friday. They are going to do the feeding peg tomorrow. He was able to swallow much better today but did get a little bit down the wrong pipe. They don't want him to get pneumonia from food going down the wrong way and end up on a ventilator in the ICU again. They think the peg will be the best way to get him the calories he needs for rehab. On the bright side they may also change out his tracheotomy tube tomorrow for one that can get the button on it.
He walked about 10 steps with a walker in rehab as well as sat in the wheelchair for another 2 hours today.

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Day 32 hour 19

Tony may get moved to Downey today. The nurse told us they would be moving him today but sometimes that can mean a couple days.

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Day 32 hour 1

The mornings are getting busy for Tony. His physical therapist was in today. He had Tony take 3 or 4 steps with a walker and then had him sit in a wheelchair for 2 hours. Tony was very tired after that and is taking a little nap. Hoping his speech therapist will be in today to try some more food. She is still recommending the peg tube but one of his doctors would like to see if he can skip having that done and eat. So please keep praying. They are also talking about changing his tracheotomy tube any time now. the speech therapist says they could probably put the button on the next day after they change it. It would really be nice for him to get that out because it causes a tickle in his throat that makes his cough a lot, not to mention it hurts sometimes.

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Day 30 hour 22

we are seeing more improvements this morning in Tony. He has gotten orders to be moved out of the step down ICU into a regular room today. If he had a feeding peg he could probably be transferred to Downey right now. The doctor said he probably will be able to eat soon but it may take a week or so. He may still need the peg but were hoping not.

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Day 30 hour 1

Tony is talking a little more today. he is confused about things. We were told he would be. We need to work with him to get his short term memory again. He was able to use my iPad to type in the word "Titan". We were going to watch a DVD on the moon landing and he decided he wanted to look up Titan. He didn't get much farther than typing it in. He also was able to read the white board in his room with the date on it. Since it is the week end he won't be getting any physical therapy until tomorrow. He should also be seeing the speech therapist tomorrow and we are hoping she will clear him to eat. We are still hoping he won't have to have a tube inserted in his stomach for feeding. We are also hoping he will get what's called a "button" on his tracheotomy soon. It would replace the purple cap and if he can keep it on for a couple days straight I believe they can remove the tube for the tracheotomy and stitch it up.

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Day 28 hour 21

When we came back into Tony's room last night at 8:30 . Tony was talking again. we asked if he was felling ok and he said "menthol". We were so happy he was talking and thought maybe be didn't know the right word for what he was saying. Then he said "what are the side effects".
We realized he was talking about "mantatol" , one of the drugs they were giving him when he was in a coma. His new room here is on the 10th floor and the heat rises . The air conditioner isn't working that well and it's hot. He thought the manitol was making him hot. the nurse got him a fan for his room and he felt better. he was answering questions with yes or no with his voice instead of shaking his head yes or no. it was coming much easier for him. this morning he is a bit tired still but we got a few verbal answers from him.

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day 28 hour 6

They moved Tony into the step down unit this afternoon. We were trying to get him to talk again and figured a good place to start would be to have him say Matt again. This time in a very weak voice but clear enough for Mike and I to hear he responded to my voice saying "Matt" with the words "my brother"! He repeated the phrase for us about 3 or 4 times when we asked. Later I asked if he wanted me to change the channel on the TV and he said "no" on his own. when I left for shift change I asked him to speak again for me and I think he said "are you coming back?" Mike and I almost started crying we were so happy. Thank you Jesus!!

Day 28 hour 1

Tony sat in the wheel chair for 2 hours today. He was crossing his left leg on top of his right leg. More movement than I've seen before on the left side. The physical therapist asked him what his brothers name was and he mouthed "Matt". The therapist didn't know what Matt's name was and asked us if that was his brother's name (it is)! Later I asked him to say it again and he made a noise with his voice as well as mouthed it! Mike is jealous that his first word wasn't "dad". We still would like him to be able to eat before he goes to rehab so they don't need to put another tube in him so please keep praying.

Day 26 hour 23

Tony spent over 2 hours sitting in the wheel chair today for physical therapy. they are still tying him in with sheets so he doesn't fall out but he didn't need a collar to hold his head up today. he was moving his left leg on and off the foot rest of the wheel chair as well. that was the most I've seen him use that leg so it was exiting. eventually they will try and get him to walk with the walker but they need to get his back and neck muscles stronger first. the wheel chair helps to do that. his left arm is getting stronger every day.
They stopped giving him the adivan and the pain killer " on a regular basis " a couple of days ago. right now his is on pain killers "as needed". every time they ask Tony if he wants something for the pain he says no, so he hasn't had any of those drugs for about 2 days.
when we went in to see him this morning we had to put on a yellow gown and gloves. he is on quarantine. He has some kind of a bug that is drug resistant which I guess is common in the hospital. they are letting his own immune system try and fight it off. they can't really say how long it will last. at this point they are not majorly concerned but that could change.please pray for that to go away.
please also pray for him to be able to swallow correctly and also move towards talking. They want to make sure when he eats the food will not go down the pipe so he can eat. he's had what they call the purple cap on his tracheotomy for a whole day now. that basically is a one way valve that let's air out but not in. his feeding tube goes through his nose right now. a lot of rehab centers don't take patients unless the tube is going directly into the stomach. if he can swallow correctly and eat, I think they will take the feeding tube out, otherwise they will have to put one directly through his stomach before he leaves the hospital.
Thank you Lord for being here every step of the way and thank you all for praying for Tony.

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Day 26 hour 3

Just spoke to the doctor. Tony will be going into step-down any day now. If all goes well he will be in Fresno about another week and then transfer to Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center in Downey via ambulance. It will be good to get back home.

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Day 25 hour 22

Tony has been off the ventilator for a whole day. They have moved the ventilator out of his room and he has been cleared to go to a step down room. The rooms are pretty full right now so he hasn't been moved yet. They put the valve back onto his tracheotomy this morning that should allow him to talk but he hasn't yet. The speech therapist said one of the bleeds in his brain was located in the speech area so he may have to learn to speak again. It's a bit early to tell as he has only had it on a few hours. His physical therapist took him outside in a wheelchair today. I think he enjoyed it.

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Day 25 hour 1

Tony had a busy morning today. He sat in the chair for an hour and a half and he has been breathing on his own most of the afternoon. His muscles are getting a bit stronger. They put what's called a purple valve on his tracheotomy today. That allows air to flow over his vocal cords. He should be able to talk soon. His started with the speech therapist today. She said she heard him say Hi. It was almost like a whisper. He didn't say anything else but she said sometimes they need to hear their voice cough and make noises before they are ready to try on their own. I did hear him make a groan noise. Thank you Lord for another baby step!

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Day 24 hour 8

They got another sample from his lungs today to try and find what is causing him to have a fever. They have been checking different places but so far have not found the source. They gave him a bit more Ativan because getting a sample can be painful. It can also make him sleepy.

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Day 23 hour 22

Tony has been awake for a couple of hours this morning. We turned on some of his music for him today and tried to watch a video with him but I don't think it was one he wanted to watch because he put it on pause. The nurse gave him some tylenol a little while ago so he is getting a little sleepy. Hopefully the physical therapist will be in today to put him in a chair.

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Day 23 hour 4

Watched a movie on my iPad today with Tony. I was holding my IPAD up for him to see and he moved my hand over a little because I think he was trying to get it at an angle where he could see the screen better. I also had the volume bar showing on the screen and he moved the volume up with his finger and tapped on the screen to make the icon go away (he knows I don't know the little tricks to make things go on it). His control is shaky but he definitely knew what he was doing. He also lifted his head a bit higher to see the screen than he had before. Very exciting for me to see! Mikes cousin Arlene drove down to see him today and we had a nice visit. Yesterday one of Tony's co workers came by. Tony isn't quite to the point were he can visit but hopefully he will get there soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

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Day 22 hour23

Tony is resting. the doctor said they will move him out of the ICU soon. Either to a intermediate place for a couple of weeks where they can wean him from the ventilator or into rehab , depending on where he is.

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Day 22 hour 7

They had Tony breath on his own again for 30 minutes. The next big hurtle will be for his pneumonia from the breathing tube to get better and for them to wean him off the ventilator. Please keep praying for him as he is still in critical condition. Getting off the ventilator will be a big factor in determining were they put him next. The physical therapist says insurance companies don't usually want patients to stay in the icu longer than 4 weeks and we are concerned where he will be moved to. If he is still on the ventilator he will need to be in an acute care facility.

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Day 21 hour 23

They just took the drain out from Tony's brain. A step in the right direction. they had him breathing on his own for about 30 minutes today. I think Tony is a bit more relaxed today. Thank you Lord for his progress!

Day 21 hour 21

Tony is resting comfortably. the nurse said he had a big Mucous plug that came out during the night so he is breathing easier. Yesterday he had a hard time remembering who people were. that could have had something to do with it. Today he is remembering who family members are so that is good to see. They did a breathing test on him today and he did fine( breathing on his own). The respiratory therapist is going to try putting a traich collar on him this morning and letting him breath through pumped air instead of the ventilator.

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Day 21 hour 6

Tony was more confused today. The doctors told us we would have up and down days so I pray tomorrow will be better. The physical therapist put him in a wheelchair for an hour today. His muscles are very weak after being in bed for so long and he is trying to get him to be able to sit up on his own. They may take his drain out tomorrow. They decided to keep it in one more day. Please continue to pray for his recovery.

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Responses

I'm sorry but I am having some technical difficulties responding to the posts. please know we appreciate them.

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Day 20 hour 21

Tony is feeling better this morning. He is awake a lot more of the day now.

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Day 20 hour 9

Tony had another good day recovery wise but not such a good afternoon. He is in a lot of pain after the tracheotomy. He finally fell asleep at 9:30 pm. Please pray for a good nights sleep for him as well as some relief in the morning.

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Day 20 hour 3

Tony's tracheotomy went well. Thanks for you prayers.

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Day 20 hour 2

Tony is getting a tracheotomy right now so please pray for him.
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Day 19 hour 21

Tony is fairly alert this morning. They haven't done the tracheotomy yet but they are planning to do it sometime today. He should be able to talk once they can wean him off the tracheotomy (not sure how long that will take) Mike was asking him last night if he remembers family and friends as well as co workers. He shook his head yes. That was nice to see. He seems to be comprehending most of what we say. It will be nice when he can talk again. The doctor clamped off the drain to see how he does And they will probably take it out soon. the physical therapist said he did really well yesterday. his head muscles are weak but they should get better with time. They are going to put him in a wheel chair again today. Thanks again for your prayers. Please keep them coming as he has a long way to go.

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Day 19 hour 8

We just spoke to the doctor. They have decided to do the tracheotomy tomorrow after all. Mike and I were concerned because we thought that he was doing so well breathing on his own. The doctor said he is doing very well and may not need the tracheotomy to function for too long. They want to get the tube out because it has been in too long and they don't want to take the chance of him not getting enough oxygen. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors as to how to treat him and please pray the surgery goes well.

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Unwavering

It’s the middle of the night here in London. I’ve been back in the UK about 33 hours which means jetlag is in full swing. As I lay wide awake in bed my mind was meditating on unwavering faith, specifically the faith that Abraham had in Romans 4.

God had made a promise to Abraham, a promise that seemed impossible to keep. In fact in Romans 4:18, we read that Abraham hoped against hope. In other words, he had hope in a hopeless situation. What gave him this hope were the promises of God.

In watching my brother’s slow recovery with its good days and bad days, it would be easy to find myself wavering or staggering at God’s promises. My hope must rest in that which is certain. This is what Abraham did. In Romans 4:20-21, we read that “no distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

If you find your hope wavering, it’s possible that it is placed in the wrong source. Abraham placed his hope in the promises of God. God does not lie nor change his mind. What are some of his promises that we can stand on in this roller-coaster recovery as well as your own hardships?

• God is good and he works good in our lives. The Bible tells us in Mark 10:18 that God is good and in Romans 8:28 we see that everything he does is for the good of his people. I have very limited knowledge. I am not the Lord’s counselor, so I am in no position to tell him how he should act. Some of you may remember the film, Bruce Almighty. Not having God’s wisdom and trying to play the part of God, he found that rather than doing good in people’s lives, he was harming them. This is how it is when we try to tell God what would be good in our lives. It is for us to trust his goodness.
• God is love and he works his love in our lives. The Bible tells us that God’s very character is defined by love (1 John 4:8) and that even the difficulties in our lives are actually fingerprints of his love at work (Proverbs 3:12; James 5:11). Even when I do not see the purpose in what God is doing, I can stand unwavering knowing that God loves Tony as his own son.
• God is committed and he sees his work to completion in our lives. Sometimes it seems like the difficulties never end. But the reality is God sees his works through to completion. He is unlike so many of us who begin projects and never finishes them. He completes everything he starts (Philippians 1:6). Whatever work he is doing in Tony, and the rest of us, God is positively relentless in finishing the work. He doesn’t abandon us.

If you find yourself wavering in difficulties, have you considered who your God is? Is your God faithful in his promises? If you trust in Jesus, you can stand unwavering knowing that as the Scripture says, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Day 19 hour 2

Tony had physical therapy today. They asked Mike and I to leave the room for this one today because they put him in a wheel chair for a while so his body could be in a different position. Because it was his first time in a chair, they weren't sure what would happen and they didn't want us to get scared. Tomorrow we should be able to stay in the room during his therapy. Tony hasn't moved too much today because I think the therapy wore him out. We are just letting him get some rest.

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Day 18 hour 20

Tony's fever is down. He still has some bacteria growing in his lungs from the breathing tube but they are letting his body fight it off right now instead of giving him antibiotics. His breathing tube is still in but they gave him another test this morning where they turn off the oxygen for awhile and he did fine. He hasn't had any icp spikes yet but he has a little bit of fluid draining.
They will probably be taking out the drain soon. He was moving his left arm more this morning which is good to see.

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Day 18 hour 9

Tony has been getting stronger and more responsive by the hour. They have music they can turn on for him in his bed. They had classical on for him and I said "oh, they have nice music on for you". He shook his head yes. He has been opening his eyes when the nurses ask him to. The nurses have all been excited to see his progress. One nurse told us it was really a miracle to see his progress because they didn't think he was going to make it.

Day 18 hour 4

Tony is having a good day today. He opens his eyes for about a minute at a time about every couple of hours. they just gave him a scan to see if maybe he has a blood vessel on his left side that is constricted because he isn't moving his left side as well as the right. When they got there the nurse asked him if he was doing ok and he nodded yes. Then she asked if he was in pain and he shook no. he also raised his right arm to find his breathing tube and this time he found it and was able to place his thumb and index finger around it. what an amazing day! Such a change from yesterday. God is good!

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Day 18 hour 2

Praise Report!
The doctor was just in and said she was really happy with how well Tony is doing. She told Tony the reason he was having trouble talking was because he had a breathing tube in his
Mouth. She says they are probably going to take it out tomorrow morning! Thank you Jesus!!!
Thanks for your prayers and please keep praying!
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Day 17 hour 21

The doctor just came in. She says Tony is moving in the right direction. She says he hasn't had to have the drug to reduce his ICP for 48 hours so she is going to meet with the trauma team about pinching off his drain and see how he does. If he doesn't have trouble they will remove his drain soon. She is also talking about removing his breathing tube as well as bringing him off the medication and trying to wake him up. The physical therapist is here right now. he had said Tony needs to be to a point where he is following commands before he can work with him. Looks like Tony is moving towards that so he is starting the preliminaries. The next phase will probably be to move Tony to a step down status. That would be in a different part of the hospital because he would be at a point where he doesn't need the level of care of the ICU anymore but he still needs a high level. At some point when he is stable enough they will move him by ambulance to a hospital closer to home. Baby steps. Thank you all for praying. Please continue to pray!

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Day 17 hour 20

Tony put up 2 fingers for the nurse and the doctor and moved his toes!

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Day 17 hour 4

The physical therapist once again told us what the doctors have told us all along. It was a low point of the day but we are on the uphill side of the roller coaster again. His doctor just told us they are going to give Tony some time before they do the tracheotomy because he is showing some signs he may be able to breath on his own soon! A few days after we got here one of his night nurses said something I have been clinging tightly onto. She has been working in the ICU for 10 years. She said what the doctors are telling us is based on the statistics of people with severe brain injuries like Tony's. They don't take into account that we have an awesome God and she has seen people do well they never expected to survive. God has his plan in this and
I will trust in him.

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Day 16 hour 21

Tony is having a slow day. He isn't responding much today. This may be because he is exhausted. The physical therapist came by and spoke to us regarding Tony's recovery. He said it is too early to estimate the level of Tony's overall recovery. He could end up in a full time care facility, or he could end up with minimal longterm damage. or God could bring him to full recovery.

I fly back to London later today. I packed my stuff this morning which included my suit. I flew over expecting a funeral, but praise God there hasn't been one. There is still a chance Tony won't pull through but he is becoming more stable. Today or tomorrow they will do a Tracheotomy as well as a Gastrostomy. These are both temporary and/or long term solutions depending on the extent of recovery.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and loving support in this difficult time.

Day 16 hour 9

Tony had a good day today. He has been moving his right arm and right leg and we also saw him move his left shoulder. he also has been opening his eyes a lot. He is still very weak but his breathing is getting stronger. It is so good to be able to see his eyes open and see his muscles move. We are not sure what any of this means yet but the nurse says he did good.
the doctor took him off the opium based sedatives and put him on ativan and percocet which he gets orally through a tube. the doctor will check his drain in his head sometime this week and pinch it off to see how he does. If he does well they will remove it. Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for his recovery.

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Day 16 hour 0

Tony's right arm seems to be getting a little stronger. He lifted it up to his breathing tube which is a good sign. Instinct is to want to pull it out so they will put a light restraint on that arm whenever we are not in the room. They don't think he has the strength yet to pull it out though. Looks like he is starting to track a little with his eyes. His left eye is not dilating as well as his right and he hasn't had a lot of movement on the left side yet. They are watching that. They are going to reduce his sedatives some more today. The doctor will probably sign an order to remove the med lines from his chest and put an iv in his arm instead. The one in his chest is a bigger source for infection and since he has been running a fever they want to take that one out. Thank you Lord for his progress! He still has a long way to go.

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Day 15 hour 20

Praise Report!
The nurse said Tony followed a simple command! Right now most of his movement has been on his right side. Please continue to pray.

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Responding to Commands

Great news this morning! Tony is responding to commands. He was asked to give a "thumbs up" which he did! It was a lot of work for him and there is a long road of recovery still ahead of him, but this means there are mental functions connecting with motor functions. Again there is still a long road ahead, but at least we have a little more clarity as to which road we are on.

Thank you for praying... Keep it up!

Day15 hour 18

Tony has been opening his eyes half way this morning on his own. He can't respond yet to requests to move toes or fingers. He has a bacterial infection growing in his lungs which they are treating. His brain is still swelling some but the drain is working and they are occasionally increasing his sedation for short periods of time to control his icp. He is still on half the sedation his was on before. He hasn't used his lungs for 2 weeks so the muscles are weak but he's breathing . The plan is to leave the breathing tube in for 5 days and then give him a tracheotomy so they can ween him to breathing on his own. Thank you Lord for bring him this far. Please continue to pray for a full recovery.
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Day 15 hour 8

We are waiting and praying. Tony is still in critical condition and he is still in a coma. The paralytic is still off and he is on half the sedation he was on yesterday. He was on the medication for a very long time so his muscles are weak and it will take a little while for the medications to get completely out of his system. The next couple of days should give us a better idea of where he is.

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Some Response

I saw Tony open his eyes and move his arm about 10 minutes ago. The nurse induced some pain on one of his fingers to see if he responds to pain. This is a normal test that they do. Since Tony is off the paralytic medication so he can respond to some sensations. His responses are good responses. His body is quite weak as he hasn't used any muscles in over 2 weeks and he is still heavily sedated with pain meds and anti-anxiety meds. It is still too early to tell whether or not the responses are just reflex. This is another one of the baby steps in this marathon.

I also just spoke with one of his doctors and she is encouraged. It doesn't seem that Tony has any infections thought they will continue to monitor him for infection as he has a bit of a fever and an increased white blood cell count. His color is good, his vitals are good. They have reduced some of the sedation (coma) meds as well.

Day 14 hour 21

The paralytic is turned off. They hopefully will be able to leave it off unless his pressures go up.
They have to wean him off the sedatives slowly. He has a lot of drugs in his system and has been on them for awhile so it could be slow. He has moved his fingers on his right hand, opened his eyes for a second and maybe tried to cough! We have along way to go before we can tell if he will come out of the coma so please pray!

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Day 14 hour 20

Tony had a good night last night. They are reducing the paralytic right now so please pray for Tony.

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Successful Surgery

Tony is out of surgery now and we are told it was successful. Thanks for praying!

We will be watching his ICPs to see if they respond by decreasing which is what we want.

Tony in the OR now.

Tony is now being taken into the O.R. for his surgery. This should take about an hour, so we will update you all when it is finished.

Another try at brain surgery

The doctor said Tony is in the 3% of patients that still have swelling after 2 weeks. The procedure they did yesterday is done all the time here without many complications. Tony is the exception.  They ordered a special CT scan for him and are going to try and re-insert the probe in the middle of his brain via guidance from the CT in the operating room because of the difficult angle in which it needs to navigate.  They are trying the least invasive procedures first.  Getting this probe in right is really important. They have been unable to get the probe in right on the two previous attempts.


Thank you for standing with us in prayer. Please pray for Tony as he undergoes a third attempt today.


We trust God is faithful and is working out his sovereign plan, also understanding that part of that plan is for us to seek him and intercede to him, standing in the gap.

Day 14 hour 13

The attempt at repositioning the probe was not successful so they put the old bolt back on. If his pressures still continue to rise, they may try to re-insert the probe in the operating room with a ct scan to guide them. At the moment his icp is at 4. Please continue to pray for Tony.

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Day 14 hour 10

The procedure the doctor just did on Tony does not appear to be positioned in the right spot. The doctor is going to have to try to reposition it using the same drill hole. He said Tony is not responding like most of his patients do. Usually they have stopped swelling before now, so he is not sure this will work. Please keep Tony in prayer that they will find the right spot and he will respond well to the treatment.

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Day 14 hour 4

The doctor is taking out the old bolt and putting in the other probe right now. He mentioned three places in the brain where Tony had bleeding (not new bleeding)and it looks like all three areas are shrinking (improving). He says they may only leave the probe in for a day and then remove it depending on what it reads.

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Day 13 hour 23

Tony is back in his room from the scan. The scan looked good . It did not appear to have any additional swelling and it appears He has some signs of improvement.They haven't taken out the bolt yet because he must still be monitored. The bolt is not usually in this long so they are concerned it is not functioning properly. The other probe apparently is a much more accurate devise. They gave him an anti-clotting drug and they want to wait 6 to 12 hours to insert the new probe.

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Tony is going into another surgery now

Thank you for your prayers regarding the surgery Tony underwent yesterday. The surgery was successful and we thank God for that.

The doctors are concerned that they are not getting the right intracranial pressure (ICP) reading. They are going to take out the bolt for monitoring the ICP. They fear it may be reading inaccurately, so they will remove this one, drill another hole in the skull and put a new bolt in which should monitor the ICP more accurately. This surgery has some real risks as it involves drilling into the skull and sticking probes around the brain. For those interested, here is a diagram of what this procedure looks like.

Please continue to pray for Tony. Yesterday's surgery went well and we know many people were praying. Continue to pray through this one as well.

Thank you all!

Day 13 hour 18

Still waiting on the Lord. Tony got meds at 12pm and 4am.
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Day 13 8th hour

They should have some idea tomarrow if the test they took today shows any infection but it will take two days or so to identify the best antibiotic if there is an infection there.
The last time he got the diuretic was around 2:30 before the spinal tap. Right now his icp is fluctuating between 10 and 25.
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Surgery successful

Thank you for praying. Tony's surgery to extract some CSF from his spine went well. It was a fairly straightforward procedure but the risks involved were substantial. But they got what they needed. Now they need to run a culture on his CSF to see if there is an infection there as well as what type of antibiotic to give for the specific need.

Tony is going in for surgery right now

The doctors have concerns that Tony's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may have an infection which would be a serious hinderance to healing. In order to treat an infection of the CSF, the neurologists need to draw out some of the CSF to run it through a culture and make sure he gets the right anti-biotics. In order to do this, they need to perform a lumbar puncture. Essentially they need to go in through Tony's lumbar vertebrae with a syringe. This procedure has some risks, and especially since Tony's intracranial pressure (ICP) may be high. Some of the risks are paralysis (if the neurologists nick a nerve), spinal cord compression, or an uncal herniation (essentially meaning death).

Please pray for Tony right now as he is undergoing this procedure as I type this.

Day 13 hour 1

I just spoke with the doctor. She spoke with the nuero doctor and they decided to go ahead and do the spinal tap. His numbers have been low enough to reduce some of the risk and the test will help them figure out what kind of antibiotics they should be giving him. Please keep him in prayer that all goes well. they just gave him some medication to bring his icp down and will wait to do the procedure until it is low. She is hoping to have it done sometime tonight.

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Day 12 hour 22

Just spoke to the doctor. she says no change from yesterday. The trauma group and the neuro group are going to have a meeting today and discuss doing a spinal tap. His white blood cell count is up which means he probably has an infection somewhere. They did a culture of his lungs for pneumonia and now they don't think he has pneumonia. They think his ruptured spleen might be infected, but their is a risk that doing a spinal tap at this time would kill him because his pressures are not stabilized yet.

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Day 12 20th hour

Tony had to get the medication 3 times during the night. It appears his fever is down at the moment. Waiting for the doctor to come in.

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Day 12 hour 8

Still waiting on the Lord. The nurse just gave Tony a diuretic so we start the clock again, but it is working to bring his vitals in line.

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Day 12 hour 4

Back with Tony. He got the diuretic 3 hours ago. Right now he is at 13. Just waiting on the Lord for his timing with a renewed faith.
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Day 12 2nd hour

Mike, Matt and I are sitting in the Lobby of "Terry's House" waiting for the change in shift. Of course we are feeling down because we will have to wait longer for them to try and bring Tony out of the coma. The Lord just sent us some comfort in the form of a beautiful young girl who works here. She just told us she was in a car accident a year ago and her parents were like us. Believers who were praying for her recovery and staying in a house just like this. She said she was in a medically induced coma for a month before she came out of it. She says she came out just fine. We really needed to hear something like that at this exact moment. Thank you Lord.

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Day 12 hour 1

They just gave Tony some more diuretic to bring his pressure down. That starts the clock over. The nurse says she has lots of room on the meds to treat him. They are debating whether or not to put the other drain back in. I guess we wait. Right now his icp is at 14
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Day 11 hour 22

Just got some clarification from the nurse. His icp doesn't have to be 15 for 24 hours, they just want it below 25 for 24 to 48 hours consistently before they try to wake him up again. They are also trying to coordinate his ventilator with the right mix of oxygen because of problems with his lungs. Right now his icp is at 12.

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Day 11 21st hour

Just spoke to the doctor . He is still in critical condition, they still don't know if he will come out of the coma. They are looking for an icp around 15 for a consecutive day before they move on to the next step. she doesn't think his brain is swelling anymore but it is still swollen. She also doesn't think the spikes he just had did additional damage because they were of short duration.

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Day 11 hour 20

Tony's Icp is at 21 right now. Waiting for the doctor to come in so I can get an update.
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Day 11 hour 10

Tony's icp is back at 10

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Day 11 hour 9

Tony's icp has been going up to 30 again. the nurse says it's because they are trying to get his breathing in sync with his vitals.

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Day 11 hour 8

Tony's fever is up again so they are trying to bring it down. His icp is at 17. Hopefully he will have a good night.

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11th day 5th hour

Tony's numbers are still looking good. They had to give him a little of the diuretic a couple of hours ago because his breathing treatment for his pneumonia caused his numbers to go up. Mike and I were concerned when we came into the room because his icp machine was reading negative numbers. The nurse was checking with the doctor on what to do and he suggested changing out the monitor with a different one. Seems like a reboot fixed the problem. Being a software engineer I think Tony would appreciate that.

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Day 11 0 hour

They got the new iv to work, so they are just waiting for the X-ray to show everything is ok to start using it. They do that because you risk infection if you leave one in for too long so they move locations periodically. That one was for his medications.
They still haven't replaced the drain to the middle of his brain yet. The doctor said most likely they will replace it because when they start reducing his meds Again it will help him. His icp is at 13 right now. The nurse said she has been able to use the sedation meds to control his icp today. He is still on the paralytic and the dehydrating meds but she hasn't had to increase them to keep the control. That's a good thing. The doctor just checked in with the nurse. She's poked and prodded Tony and not had a big reaction. The doctor looked at me and said "good, hopefully we are turning a corner.". . Thank you Lord!

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