1st Month Recap

It has been 1 month since we got "THAT" phone call, and here is a brief history.

While on a missions trip with Cedarville University, Dan, our youngest son, attempted a back flip and severely injured his C2 vertebrae . This severe contusion to his spinal cord caused a paralyses from his neck down, and requires a ventilator for his breathing.

He spent 2 weeks in Neurological ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He received a halo to support his fractured vertebrae, and a screw to prevent slippage when he sat up. He has a tracheotomy and a feeding tube in his stomach.

He is now at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago just down the street from NMH, and is preparing to learn how to live life with out the use of his arms and legs. He will be here 3 to 5 months.

His daily therapies are in the following areas.

• Physical - He is out on the mats daily to keep his joints flexible.
• Speech - They are challenging him to swallow more liquids and shake-consistency food, talk with his trach collar down, and to sit up in his wheelchair each day.
• Occupational - We are addressing issues of him adapting to his different life in the real world.
• Technology - He has started to operate electronic devices with a "puff tube" and use a computer with a "mouth mouse".
• Psychology / Counseling - knowing God better, dealing with anxiety, relaxing techniques, discussing his "new life" and God's purpose or better yet, Dan's schema*.

His daily health issues, but common for spinal injuries, for the present are:

• Constant temperature spikes - was only under 100* 1 day last week.
• Loss of blood pressure - drops down to 70 + 80 when he get in his chair.
• Headaches - they seem to come on a more frequent basis.
• Weight loss of 30# - Lack of appetite and difficulty swallowing any milk or fat shakes.
  

Thank you for your prayers.

*The word schema comes from the Greek word "σχήμα" (skhēma), which means shape or more generally plan.