Past Updates On Michael 1...
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject:
Christmas Party with Michael
Date: 12/24/2003
From: The Van
Notes
Hello
and Happy Holidays,
Hope
all have a safe and prosperous New Year! On Friday Dec.19th my family and I
made a trip down to Fairfax
for
a long overdue visit with Michael. When we arrived Michael was taking an
afternoon nap listening to Blues Traveler.
He
had such a relaxed peaceful smile going. We tried to let him rest but, Ardyn(4)
wouldn't have any of that as she
started
to play with his toy R.C. replica and make moto sounds. Michael woke up and we
noticed he looked from side
to
side to see who was there! He was very alert and enjoyed hearing and watching
Ardyn dance and play. We visited
until
Hans his fitness guru came in and started therapy. Michael was really working
out hard! Hans said earlier that week
he
asked Michael if he wanted Hans to stop during a really tough stretch and he
said NO. That is Michael he is tough
and
wants to do what it takes to get back in top form. After his workout it was
time to get ready for the Christmas party.
They
had carolers and even Santa made a visit. It was really nice and everybody at
the home was in the spirit. Michael is
in
a great place and Theresa is really making a huge difference in Michaels care.
She works with him and has a schedule
for
rest, music, massage,etc. Keep the prayers and positive thoughts coming!
The
Van Note's
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
and being Thankful
Date: 11/29/2003
From: Theresa
(Michael's Mom)
Just
want everybody to know that Michael spent an awesome day at my
sister
Rebecca's house on Thanksgiving day, (from about 11 am til 6:30 ish
pm)
and Michael really responded well, able to tolerate the whole day with
the
family and about 20 of us (at one point we put shooting earmuffs on him
so
he wouldn't get overstimualted and he immediately fell asleep!!! He
smiled
at his cousin Evan repeatedly and squeezed his hand in response
(Michael
used to thrash on Evan all in "fun" and Evan appreciates the early
training.....he
became an Army Ranger!) The visit was perfect, Michael
loved
every second of it !! Rebecca's house worked well in every way and we
will
do it again soon. I have so much to be thankful for and so many people
in
Michael's life to be thankful for......Thank you to all of you.
Especially
my daughter Chrissy, my husband, Paul and my sisters and their
families
and Michael's family of friends....(you know who you
are!!!).....you
mean so much to me and I am grateful. I am so thankful to
everyone
who made this Thanksgiving with Michael possible! I am so thankful
that
Michael is so motivated and phenomenal in everything he attempts!! I
am
so thankful for the visits to Michael that mean so much in his continued
and
complete recovery. I love you all and look forward to the big party we
will
be having soon to celebrate Michael!!
Always
and forever grateful,
Michael's
MOM
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject:
Michael's Thanksgiving
Date: 11/28/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
Everyone, Having Michael with us for Thanksgiving was really wonderful.
My
husband, Tim, and my son, Dylan, drove down and picked Michael up at
about
10:00am. When Michael got to the house we all surrounded his
wheelchair
and said our hellos. You could definitely tell he knew where he
was.
When Michael saw his cousin Evan,(Rebecca's son) he got a huge smile
on
his face. We teased him that he was remembering all the bratty things he
used
to do to his younger cousin :) He just smiled and smiled and had great
eye
contact.
We
could tell that Michael was feeling good because in the midst of 20 noisy
family
members he was able to fall asleep in the middle of it all. Later
Theresa
gave Michael a tiny weeny taste of cherry pie filling. He made
quite
a face. We hope that someday very soon he will be eating real foods
again.
I can't imagine having no food, by mouth, for 8 months.
Theresa
and Paul left to bring Michael back to CareMeridian at about 5:00pm.
We
were all so pleased that he did so well being away from CareMeridian for
the
whole day. You can bet that we'll be bringing him home more often.
Bye
4 now-
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
Date: 11/23/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
Everyone. Just a very quick update. Yesterday we were able to bring
Michael
to my sister Rebecca's house for a day visit! We borrowed a
specially
equipped van from a friend and drove him to Petaluma for the day.
It
went really well. I can't tell you how great it was to have him there.
We
have planned on having him there for Thanksgiving next week and thought
it
would be a good idea to do a trial run.
We
had Michael out on the back patio getting some fresh air and sunshine
when
his Uncle Eric started up a little Honda mini trail and brought it out
back
for him to see. Eric was goofing around popping wheelies on it and
Michael
got the biggest smile on his face. It was great.
Please
keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers. We have a lot to be
thankful
for this Thanksgiving. Our family is very thankful that Michael is
still
with us and is making progress in his recovery.
Happy
Thanksgiving,
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: How
Michael is doing
Date: 11/17/2003
From: Chrissy
Hi
Everyone I figured an update on Michael was way overdue... so this one may get
a little long winded... it's ok though,
I
am allowed cuz it's about MICHAEL!! :)
Michael
is of course still improving daily, some days are better than others but he's
definitely still making progress. (OF
course
he IS, I mean come on, we are talking about MICHAEL here, and he is no quitter
or a slacker!!) He's had a bit
of
a cold this week, but it hasn't slowed him down too much, and he seemed to be
feeling pretty good while I was there
today.
Every visit I have with him it seems he's doing something new that I haven't
seen him do before and doing the things
I
have seen him already do he's doing them even better, with more strength and
determination. He has gained noticeably
more
muscle strength and coordination in his legs, arms and hands since my last
visit, especially his right side, but I see
improvement
in his left too. He's right handed so naturally that will be his more developed
side.
On
one of my last visits we got to spend some time with him while his trachea tube
cuff was deflated so he could try
speaking
to us. We asked him simple yes no questions that he answered all correctly and
we also held up colored sheets
of
paper and he told us all the colors one at a time and his responses were very
quick! He was also able to tell us all of
our
names :) He wasn't talking really loud, but we could understand him and could
see his lips forming the words. It's so
great
to see him able to communicate!! I had been getting updates from my Mom about
things Michael was saying, but
mannnnn
the impact it had on me when I finally was able to witness him speaking more
than just one or two words during
one
of his "peak windows", I had to fight back the tears let me tell ya!
My Mom also told me that during one of his
therapy
sessions his speech therapist held up a piece of paper that he had written
"THUMBS UP" on and without anyone
telling
him what it said Michael gave him a thumbs up, so obviously he can read! Mom
also said that Michael has been
practicing
in the "loaner" electric wheelchair and has been following
instructions to move it left and right when asked to.
He
will be tearing the place up real soon I bet!
It
really amazes me that Michael's able to do so much already at this point in his
recovery and it's such a relief and very
encouraging
seeing that so many things and activities are familiar and even automatic to
him after such an extensive brain
injury.
We had no idea what to expect once he was out from under the coma, and very
sadly we could have been facing
the
possibility of basically "starting from scratch" and having to teach
him everything all over again. It really blows me
away
that SO MUCH of Michael is right there, and that there's so much more of him
just under the surface and getting
closer
every day. It would be very easy for anyone in this situation to just to say
"to hell with it all, this is too hard" and
give
up, and some days he does give up easily because of fatigue or frustration, but
he will tackle it again the next day!
And
every time I visit I see him trying and working so hard to do the things he
needs to do to further his recovery. He's
is
and always has been a competitive being, he pushed himself to extremes both
academically and physically before the
injury
and he knows he has to push himself again for a while to get back to where he
was. All of his effort and
determination
shows us Michael is not about to stop pushing himself until he makes a full
recovery and we are
encouraging
him every bit of the way!!
Today
his buddies Jason and Daniel came for a visit too (Thanks you guys!!) and we
all had Michael kicking one of the
big
therapy balls back to us when we rolled it to him and asked him to kick it with
his right or left foot. He was giving it
some
pretty good kicks, with more muscle control and strength than I have seen so
far. It's great to see that not only has
he
regained all of the weight he lost but the muscle mass, strength and
coordination is returning too, slowly, but it IS
returning.
Michael was kind of grinning as we all cheered him on and encouraged him to
give that ball a good kick. It's
always
great to watch Michael's expressions when he has guests, especially his really
close and familiar friends. I know
it
always makes Michael feel good to see his friends, I am sure he gets bored of
just family and staff on a daily basis!
Jason
and Daniel were great with Michael, joking, talking and hanging out with him,
and even watching one of the video
tapes
of 2002 races Don and Jenn sent him. (THANKS A TON DON & JEN!! His eyes
were glued to the screen and
his
expression made it obvious he loved the sights and sounds!!) I read the card
Jenn and Don sent Michael...
Jenn
wrote in it for Michael to give my Mom a hug
so I thought Id let everyone
know that Michael already
puts
his arm around Mom, hugs her, pats her
on the back and also gives her good morning kiss on the cheek
without
being asked to!
Here's
one more HUGE FANTASTIC bit of info... We finally get to take Michael out for
the day from CareMeridian!!
(I
mean for something a little more fun and exciting than an eye doctor or dental
appointment)... Michael will be spending
Thanksgiving
Day with a ton of his family at our Aunt & Uncle's house in Petaluma, which
is about 30 minutes from
Fairfax!!!
My Aunt Rebecca has managed to make special arrangements for us to use her
neighbor's van that is equipped
with
a wheelchair lift, so transporting him will be a breeze. And my Mom and Aunts
are all well trained in his routine of
daily
care. Don't get me wrong, CareMeridian is a GREAT place for him to be recovering
and has a wonderful
atmosphere,
but it will be so good for Michael to be somewhere else for a few hours,
especially on a family holiday.
Who
knows, being in a familiar place could be just the trigger he needs for some
more huge steps of improvement...
and
shhh... but I told him I'd sneak some of my Aunt Rebecca's killer homemade
gravy into his stomach tube feeding
formula
when no one was watching :) It will be a very special Thanksgiving for us, as
we have PLENTY to be soooo
Thankful
for this year!
Ok
that's about all for this update. Thanks again to EVERYONE for all the healing
thoughts & prayers, love, hope, gifts,
cards,
letters, calls, tapes, visits and donations over these 239 days of Michael's
recovery so far!! Keep it all coming!
My
Mom tells Michael about everything you guys have done... she reads his cards to
him, lets him see touch and feel his
gifts
as she explains who sent them, tells him who's called and lets him hear the
messages everyone leaves and also relays
messages
to him from everyone she talks to! I also want to say Thank You to everyone
that has been so helpful and
supportive
to my Mom. She's incredibly strong and has always been hanging in there since
day 1, but I know so many
of
guys have given her just that little extra bit of strength and hope that SHE
needs to help Michael get through another
day!
It means a lot to me and I know it will mean a lot to Michael when he's able to
fully understand how much everyone
cares!!
Until
my next update...
Take
care everyone and have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
~Chrissy~
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
Date: 11/13/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
Everybody. Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. Michael is
continuing
to make progress. Today while he was working with Mohammed, his
occupational
therapist, he was able to follow commands to bang on a drum.
When
he was asked to bang it once, he would, he'd bang it twice, three
times,
etc. He answered a couple of questions by moving his mouth so we
could
read his lips, and he was able to turn his head really well in both
directions.
Mohammed
also did a lot of range of motion with Michael. Poor Mohammed
feels
very badly that he has to cause Michael pain by doing it, but it is
extremely
necessary to keep Michael's limbs limber. The last time Mohammed
measured
the range in Michael's right arm we were pleasantly surprised that
he
has actually gained range. His range of motion in his right arm is now
nearly
in the normal range.
Remember,
it has been almost 8 months since his accident, and with him not
being
able to move on his own he had began to lose a lot of range of motion
in
his arms and legs. It's a normal occurrence in coma and brain injury
patients.
We're just glad that Michael is able to gain his range back now
that
he's having more demands put on him, and since he's starting to control
his
own movements.
He
looks great and is back up to his pre-accident weight of 172 lbs. He
still
has a trache and will probably continue to need one for awhile. He is
still
being fed by a feeding tube, too. He seemed to have a little cold
virus
last week but is fine now. Michael is, and has been, very healthy
through
all of this, thank God.
He
is making great cognitive progress and that is so encouraging to all of
us.
When Michael is having a period where he is responding really well, (we
call
it a "Window"), he is amazing. He responds without hesitation with
hand
signals and/or verbal answers. But there are times when he just seems
to
be tired and just doesn't feel like responding. I guess you can't blame
him,
there are times when all of us just want to be left alone, too. We do
NOT
let it discourage us. If he doesn't respond to a command after we ask
him
a couple of times, we back off. We know that eventually Michael will be
responding
100% of the time. It's just going to take time.
Please
keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers. Pray for him to continue
to
find the strength to keep up this hard work.
Bye
4 now,
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
update
Date: 10/27/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
Everyone. It's been a while since I've written in and I apologize.
Things
are a bit crazy busy these days. Michael is doing really great. I
visited
him today for a few hours. He was in this cool electric wheelchair
that
moves every which way. The coolest part about it is that he is able to
be
in control and drive himself. He is getting the hang of it, too. He has
a
little toggle handle that he uses to steer. With a little help, he can
get
himself going forward and was able to stop when he was told. He's not
doing
it all by himself, yet, but I have no doubt that soon he will be able
to.
He'll be four wheelin' that chair before too long!!
Theresa
and I put Michael on the padded table and did some cross crawling
with
him. Cross crawling is when I move his right arm and Theresa moves his
left
leg at the same time to mimic a crawling motion. Then we switch and do
the
right leg/left arm combination. This exercise is to help retrain
Michael's
brain to use two different areas at the same time. Plus, it helps
keep
him limber. We do this exercise when he is laying on his back sitting
in
his chair.
Michael
mouthed several words to me today. I was able to understand what he
was
saying for most of it. When I asked him, he told me my name, my
husband's
name and my son's name. He also answered "Yep", to a couple of
questions
I asked him. Sometimes he tries to say a whole sentence and
it's
very frustrating when I can't read his lips to understand him. I know
he
has a lot to say and it's just a matter of time before he will be able to
fully
communicate. It's just so exciting to be able to communicate with him
even
as limited as it is right now.
For
those of you who have not seen Michael in a while, you owe it to
yourselves
to come for a visit. Michael is making sure and steady progress
and
it is really great to see.
Bye
4 now,
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: What
Happened!?!?!
Date: 10/8/2003
From: Chrissy
Hi
Everyone!
Sorry
it's been a few weeks since the last update, I should have sent one in after my
last visit... I kind of got used to
everyone
else sending in updates but I guess they have slowed down...
When
I walked in this last visit Michael was wide awake laying in his bed and I made
eye contact, said hi to him and
started
asking his nurse Laura how he was doing. She told Michael to show us the peace
sign and he right away held
up
the 2 fingered sign :) During the conversation I jokingly asked her if one of
the head nurses, Fred, (who is a really
cool
and fun guy and always gets GREAT responses out of Michael) had been teaching
Michael to flip people off better
and
a few seconds later Michael was flippin' the bird and we didn't even ask him
too, hehe :)) He also had lightning fast
responses
to my Mom asking him to show us 1, 2 and 3 fingers and he even snapped his
fingers for us! There was no
confusion
or delay at all. We handed him several things and had him toss them to us and
of course when we handed him
an
inkpen he quickly clicked the end and then moved it around as if he was ready
to write with it. My Mom has taught
him
how to push the nurse buzzer button too... so he will be driving them nuts with
pushing that red button soon haha.
Later
on we had him in the gym again and sitting on the big padded table. We helped
him sit up and he balanced himself
using
his upper body muscles and he even held onto the edge of the table to keep
himself from falling over. He was also
correcting
himself when he'd start leaning to one side by instinctively putting his hand
on the table next to him. That is
called
a protective reflex and it is a great step in his recovery, it shows us how
well the brain is working. His balance is
improving
every time I see him. He is also getting better and better about turning his
head to the right when you ask him
to.
After that we used one of the huge rubber therapy balls and we had him kicking
it to us. His kicks were small
movements,
but he was getting the right body parts to move and got the ball to move. He
used both feet, one at a time,
which
is excellent because it shows us that his left side is starting to catch up to
his right side. We had him repeat the
kicking
several times. I told him he was in training again and he had to build his
muscles back up, so he needs to do
several
sets of reps. He seemed more determined and tried a little harder after I said
that. It was a good visit and it was
great
to see him still progressing as fast as he was last time... but here is some
incredible news...
The
other night, late on Sunday I think, my Mom was going to bed and her cell phone
rang... it was Fred and he told my
Mom
she needed to come back in Michael's room. She immediately got worried but he
assured her Michael was fine,
but
that she needed to get in there right away. He didn't tell her anything else.
Mom hurried in there in her PJ's and Fred
told
her to watch this... he deflated the trake cuff (it's a balloon that seals
around the breathing tube so saliva does not go
down
his windpipe) and touched Michael's cheek and asked him if he felt that.
Michael SAID "yeah"!!! It was difficult
for
him because he had to really try hard to force air through his vocal cords
after not using them for so long but he did it,
it
was a harsh whisper but it was his voice! After that he was coughing a lot
because the saliva was getting past the cuff
down
into his wind pipe so the inflated the cuff again, let him settle down some but
he kept mouthing some words. They
could
not read his lips so they deflated the cuff again and he tried to say something
but they could not hear him. So they
told
him to try really hard to use his vocal cords and in between coughs he forced
out the words "WHAT HAPPENED?"
Mom
said he forced it out 3 times and it was again a harsh whisper but very
audible. I think she just about fell over. He
not
only spoke, he asked a question! She slowly explained it all to him, how the
accident happened, that he had a head
injury,
that he was going to be ok, that he was doing great and getting better every
day, she told him that he wasn't
paralyzed,
told him where he was and how long it had been, told him not to worry about his
landscaping business
because
Jason was taking care of his clients for him. She told him he had nothing to
worry about and to just concentrate
on
getting better. She said he was wide eyed and listening to her very intently.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???!!!???
Mom
said that from now on he gets some time every day with his cuff deflated so
that he has a chance to work on using
his
voice, he may cough a lot and need to be suctioned but she wants him to have
that included in his therapy sessions
from
now on. Woo hoo it's only a matter of time, he's coming back more and more
every day!!!
I
have been meaning to tell everyone that hasn't had a chance to come visit
Michael that if you want to make a VHS tape
and
send a video of you talking to Michael, saying hello, showing him your bike or
jersey, kids, pets, car or whatever just
so
he can hear your voices and see you and some familiar stuff, you could send it
to CareMeridian and that would be a
really
great thing right now. He responds really well to anything motocross related,
he likes the jersey and the checkered
flag
that a couple of his buddies have given him. He watches motocross videos and TV
regularly so I think if he could see
some
of his friends being silly, smiling and talking to him he would really enjoy
it. I mentioned we'd like some race videos
for
him a while back, but I do not know why I didn't think of this "hello
video" suggestion sooner. I really hope a bunch of
you
guys can send him something! Have a get together and tape it! He's very alert and
aware when he's wide awake, so
familiar
things really get his attention now. Remember it needs to be on VHS tho...
Oh
yah, one more thing... Michael has gained back every bit of weight he lost,
he's now back at 170lbs and they even
reduced
his colories. He's got some pudge in the middle happening, hehe.
OK
that's about it for now, I am going down to visit again this weekend so I will
post another update as soon as possible.
'Til
next time...
~Chrissy~
WOO HOO MICHAEL
SPOKE!!!!!!!
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Update
on Michael
Date: 9/16/2003
From: T.
Casterson (Michaels Mom)
You
guys, Michael is awesome!! His progress is just phenomenal!!!!!! He actually
gave me a kiss on the cheek on
Saturday,
(Mom was elated!!) and has done it a few more times, he is responding in so
many ways ---too many to
list,
but here's a few:
He
uses a fist wiggle (kinda sign language) for YES responses to questions, and he
taps his fingers and thumb together
for
no responses! He is pushing himself up from leaning on his side to balance in a
sitting position for longer and longer
periods,
even tho it is incredibly difficult . He puts out 110% effort every time. He
and Chrissy and I spent a good
15-20
minutes with him using his right hand to bat a balloon around, and to hold it
in his hand and toss it to us
repeatedly!!
He is reaching for things when you ask him to, he points to stuff, like if his
shoulder needs repositioning
or
if his nose is itching, he does just SO many things now. He is getting better
control of his movements and works so
determinedly!!
He takes a cup in his hand and with a little help moves it towards his mouth
and he opens his mouth in
anticipation
for the cup and for a spoon and toothbrush too!! When asked if he wants to hold
an inkpen, he opens his
hand
for it, when it's placed in his hand, immediately turns it around to writing
position, then after showing him how to
click
the pen only once, he did it and he flips the pen from writing position to
clicking position, clicking over and over!!!!
If
he drops it on his lap, he feels around searching for it til he finds it and
picks it up!!! He turns his motorcycle handgrip
like
it's a throttle when you ask him to!!! The list goes on!!! He still needs his
periods of rest as he is doing tremendously
hard
work. But after a nap he is raring to go again! He has gained back 35 lbs and
looks great!! He is such a trooper
and
we can see he's got his goals set and is heading straight for them!! But then
again, I am not surprised------
WE
ARE TALKING ABOUT MICHAEL, ya know?
Everyone,
thank you for all your faith in Michael and for sending him all the positive
energy-------it all counts and it's
all
good! Like Michael would say, "Right on" and "No worries".
And
the grateful feeling lingers on and on.......
Michael's
Mom
There
is so much good stuff happening now that I could write 3 times a day!!!! I'm
anxious for everyone to hear all the
wonderful
awesome progress Michael is making
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: My
latest trip to see Michael
Date:
9/14/2003
From: Chrissy
Hi!
Just wanted to let everyone know Michael has really really really been
improving lately and I finally got to witness
some
of the great stuff he is doing and how well he does it :))) His Dr says that
technically he is not in a coma any more,
or
a vegetative state!! YAY!!! :)))
So
far he seems to only have a few peak "windows" throughout the day, or
peak times when he's really responsive and
aware
of what's going on and has the most energy. As you have read in my all of
Aunt's updates these are the time he's
really
able to interact and respond to commands and shows us he understands things we
ask him to do. They are still
working
on getting him to answer simple yes and no question with hand signals and
sometimes he answers quickly and
sometimes
he just doesn't answer, but he's getting better at it, it depends on the
question and whether or not he's in one
of
his "windows" and has the energy to answer. He doesn't have hardly
any muscle strength at all after almost 6 months
of
not using them everyday, so can't lift his arms very high on his own yet but he
tries really hard. He has more strength
and
coordination in his right hand and arm than his left so far but most likely
that is because he is right handed. He is
starting
to try to do things with the left side too though. We help him lift his arms
like when he lifts his hand towards his
face
and lets us know he wants to itch his nose or goatee, and when we put a cup in
his hand and tell him to take a drink
he
will move the cup towards his mouth and he even opens his mouth like he's gonna
take a drink!
He
can't have fluids or food by mouth yet cuz he has a trachea tube to breath
through to moisturize his breathing still and
of
course he still a stomached feeding tube too, but at least he is showing us
that he knows what to do with things like a
cup,
a toothbrush and a hair brush etc. He also opens his mouth when he's asked to
so he can have his teeth brushed and
sticks
his tongue out on command usually too. He will also taste flavored things his
therapists put in his mouth when they
work
with him. Some of them he likes, some he doesn't and he lets them know if he
wants more. We are not allowed to
let
him taste things though, he salivates and because he still has the trachea tube
in he has to be suctioned if it is more
than
he can swallow, they do not want him to get the fluid in his lungs, which at
this point could give him pneumonia or make
him
choke still. Unfortunately getting him weaned off the trachea tube is going a
little slow, but he did recently have a
smaller
trachea tube put in, so that is definitely a huge step in moving towards
getting him weaned off of it and he is doing
better
and better with managing his saliva.
My
Mom and I were in the gym room with him there at CareMeridian yesterday and we
were playing with a purple
balloon...
Michael was punching it and tossing it at us and when it would come at him he
would sometimes try to block
it
from getting to his face and then he'd sort of follow it with his arm when it
bounced away like he was going after it!!
His
vision is a little messed up right now, something neurological is causing him
to see double sometimes, so his brain is
shutting
one eye off at a time, but his eye Dr is confident his brain will fix that and
he will get special glasses soon that
will
help it along, so I am sure as his vision gets better his coordination and
reflexes to activities like that will also improve.
He
would also palm the balloon like a basketball and squeak it with his fingers
and was even smiling a little. Mom says he
has
started to laugh and smile with her and Paul and the nurses quite a bit. We
could definitely tell he was having fun and
knew
what the balloon was, his reflexes were precise, like someone who had played
with a balloon their whole life, not
someone
who was just taught what to do with it :) He also squeaked a rubber bicycle horn
several times for us and when
we
put an ink pen in his hand this time he moved it around like he was going to
write with it and then clicked the end a
bunch
right away, quick, precise and determined movements. He can't write anything
yet but I am sure he will as soon
his
hand and arm strength and coordination improve more. It's all starting to come
back to him little by little. I can't even
begin
to tell you how encouraging to it was to see all of that after seeing him so
often only making involuntary muscle
movements
for over 5 months :)
I
really want to get the message out there to his all of friends, especially the
ones that were around him a lot that this is a
good
time to go see him, the familiar voices and faces will be very good for him. He
will have a phone in his room soon,
so
you will be able to call soon and say hello to Michael too! He smiles when my
Mom holds her cell phone up to his ear
so
I can say hello to him :) It would also help him to see familiar pictures and
videos and I am sure he'd love to hear about
how
the racing season went too! Try calling ahead to CareMeridian or to my Mom if
possible and let them you are coming
so
you guys can try to work it out to be there at the best time for a visit, not
while he is sleepy or when his therapists are
busy
with him.
His
therapists are just as excited as we are about how well he is responding and at
the rate he is improving. They have
been
trying all kinds of activities with him to see how much he responds to and what
he remembers and understands.
They
even tell him to pretend to work the brake, throttle and clutch! Anyone have
any lightweight handlebars they can
send
him??? He still can't sit up on his own for very long, but they help him and
tell him which upper body muscles they
need
him to work and to use on his own for working on his balance and they usually
get sitting up in the gym on the
physical
therapy table every day for short periods... all on his own, not propped up
with pillows or in a chair! Mom
told
me he's been sitting up balancing himself for about 30 seconds at a time
lately. He is doing a lot more things than
I
have mentioned here, I could go on and on, but these were the things I got to
finally see and KNOW that he was
really
doing them on purpose, and that they weren't just involuntary or infrequent
movements. He showing us all that
he's
so close to getting his feet on the ground, and once he does, look out world!!
He has in him every bit of what it'll
take
to come back 110% and I know it's only a matter of time and hard work!!
Thought
I'd share all the good news with you, it's making me cry thinking about it all,
but it's a happy cry :)
Bye
for now
~Chrissy~
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
Date: 8/24/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
everyone. I just got back from and overnight stay in Fairfax. Michael
is
doing just great. He is responding more and more every day. Today he
continually
lifted his eyebrows on command. He did it every time he was
asked,
probably 8 or 9 times! He also responded correctly when asked to
show
us 1 finger, then 2 fingers, on his right hand. He did really well.
My
sister Rebecca, and my best friend Julie, were there and we were SO
excited!
He also is beginning to be able to stick out his tongue when we
ask
him too. This is all such great progress. It feels so wonderful to be
able
to SEE the progress that he is making.
When
I left CareMeridian, Rebecca and Michael were sitting outside enjoying
some
fresh air. He was nice and awake and he looked really good. I can't
wait
to go down there again. It may not be until the middle of next week,
but
as soon as I do I will post any new progress he's made. I'm quite sure
I'll
be posting great progress regularly from now on. :)
Bye
4 now,
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject:
Saturday night visit
Date: 8/17/2003
Time
From: Jason Van
Note
Hello
all friends and family,
Wow
what a visit! Last night a buddy of Michael's Daniel and my family went down to
Fairfax to watch
motos
and visit. When we arrived Michael was resting but, not for long, as we all
entered the room. I walked
over
to his side and he opened his eyes as I spoke. He looked and smiled a huge big
smile as I caught him up to
date
on all the hometown 411. We sang some old tunes and talked some smack. Michael
continued to add his
smiles
and big facial expressions to the conversation. We practiced some starts with
his grips and high fives too.
Ardyn
was more involved with talking to Michael and he really enjoyed her company.
When she was on the other
side
of the room playing Michael totally was focused on watching her play and seemed
very happy to hear and see
her.
Hands down this was the best visit we have had with Michael to date. When I was
saying goodbye he raised
up
his arm to give me one of those high fives we have been practicing. This dude
is awesome. He is so strong and
fighting
to get back in the game. My wife Betty has said since day one Michael will be
totally fine, it will just take
some
time. She is my strength and is very positive when we visit. We are all
thinking of you buddy!
Positive
prayer and thoughts always
Jason
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
Date: 8/16/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
everyone.
I
just got back from and overnight stay in Fairfax. Michael
is
doing just great. He is responding more and more every day. Today he
continually
lifted his eyebrows on command. He did it every time he was
asked,
probably 8 or 9 times! He also responded correctly when asked to
show
us 1 finger, then 2 fingers, on his right hand. He did really well.
My
sister Rebecca, and my best friend Julie, were there and we were SO
excited!
He also is beginning to be able to stick out his tongue when we
ask
him too. This is all such great progress. It feels so wonderful to be
able
to SEE the progress that he is making.
When
I left CareMeridian, Rebecca and Michael were sitting outside enjoying
some
fresh air. He was nice and awake and he looked really good. I can't
wait
to go down there again. It may not be until the middle of next week,
but
as soon as I do I will post any new progress he's made. I'm quite sure
I'll
be posting great progress regularly from now on. :)
Bye
4 now,
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
Date: 8/11/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
Everyone. It's really late and I am exhausted but I just had to write before I
go to bed. Pardon any mistakes,
please.
I had a GREAT visit with Michael today! I hadn't seen him in a few days and boy
did he have some good
stuff
to show me. Hans, his physical therapist, and I brought Michael into the gym
room and put him in a sitting
position
on this big table/padded platform thing. I was sitting behind Michael on the
table and Hans was sitting in
a
chair in front of him. We both held Michael up in the sitting position for a
minute or two, then we told Michael to
stay
up by himself and when we let go of him he stayed sitting up all by himself for
several seconds. We did that a
few
times. We both agreed it was definitely Michael's control and not just really
good positioning/balancing. Later,
Hans
asked Michael to hand him the yellow bike grip that he has, and slowly, with
great effort, he was able to do it!!!
It
took every last bit of energy Michael had, but he really did it! It was
awesome!! I am SO proud of him.
He
has been making much better progress since he's been at CareMeridian. I don't
know if it's just the timing, or the
beautiful
peacefullness of his surroundings now, but we've seen a lot of improvement
lately.
A
little later Hans and I put Michael on the tilt table. We had him standing up for
about 15 minutes. It was so cute -
3
of the staff members and a patient were sitting across the room at the dining
table and when we got Michael standing
up
he looked over at all of them and they all waved and said "Hi
Michael", "Wow, look at you". All of them,
(myself
included) were waving really big and smiling. So Hans told Michael to wave back
at us and he definitely picked
his
hand up and slightly waved. He did that twice, too! Of course, everybody was
hootin' and hollerin', all excited that
he
waved, and I think Hans said something like, " Hey Michael, look at all
those goofy people waving at you, they're
all
looking pretty silly!". And we were, too. :)
After
that, Theresa returned from her appointment that she had been at, and her and I
put Michael on the bed and gave
him
a Chi massage treatment. The Chi machine a really cool machine that goes under
your heels/calves and moves and
jiggles
around. It's suppose to be very beneficial for circulation and all sorts of
other things. I just know that Michaelıs
heart
rate went a little lower, which told us that he was relaxed and enjoying it.
I
will be going down again on Wednesday. I canıt wait to see if Michael has more
progress to show me. He is really
starting
to show his true self, now, his strenghth and determination. To me, it seems as
if his brain has healed enough for
him
to start pulling himself out of this coma. Remember, brain injuries take a VERY
long time to heal. Weıve been told
that
since day one. It has only been a bit over 4 months since his accident. Thatıs
really not a very long time when you
think
about how serious his injury was. I canıt wait to see where he is at in 2 more
months. We are all very optimistic.
Well
of course we are... itıs Michael!
Bye
4 now
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Michael
Date: 8/5/2003
From: Kim Perry
Hi
Everyone. I went to visit Michael last night. My family and I had been camping
so I hadn't seen him in a week.
When
I got there around 4:45 pm, his buddy Jason was there. Michael seemed pretty
sleepy and it was because
he
had had a busy day. He had physical therapy and had been in his wheel chair for
a few hours. Plus he had been
standing
up on the tilt table, too. Also, he had acupuncture earlier in the day. Man,
that WAS a busy day!
Jason
left around 6:00, and I let Michael snooze for about an hour. Theresa had left
to go do some errands, so I
took
that quiet opportunity to sit by Michael and read. After about 30 minutes he
woke up and was very bright
eyed.
I put on a good CD and went to work doing range of motion exercises on his legs
to the music. Michael's
heart
rate was low, he seemed very relaxed and I took that to mean he was enjoying
our workout/ dance session.
We
were able to continue for the whole CD.
A
little later they gave Michael a bath. We're so happy that they have a nice
bathtub there for their patients.
Michael
is always so relaxed while he's getting his bath.
Michael
has gained back about 21 lbs. so far. He looks really good.
One
of the nurses at CareMeridian told Theresa that a couple of days ago Michael
lost the motorcycle hand grip
that
we have him hold onto. She said she saw it slip out of his hand and then
Michael began feeling around on the
sheet
until he found it again. He is making very slow but steady progress. This is
what the doctors had told us to
expect.
Brain injuries take a very long time to heal. We all have to be very patient.
I'll
write again after my next visit, which will probably be on Wednesday. Please
keep Michael in your thoughts
and
prayers.
Aunt
Kim
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Short
Update on Michael
Date: 8/4/2003
From: Chrissy
Hi,
I just wanted to let everyone know Michael is doing fine but he had to have a
quick procedure done to replace
his
stomach feeding tube the end of last week. He somehow pulled it out a little
bit, enough to pull it through his
stomach
wall. It was possibly from him posturing (a common involuntary contraction or
retraction of muscles that
brain
injury patients often do) and moving his arm over the tube. Luckily my Mom
noticed it before it became a
problem.
His food was shut off and his Dr was called immediately. He had to go for part
of the day without food,
but
his Dr came to CareMeridian to replace it with a new and better one that same
day. The procedure went fine
and
Michael was back on his food shortly after that. And he's still able to have
his hydro baths... in the special
Jacuzzi
tub they have for the patients there at CareMeridian. Mom says he loves them!
My
Mom told me that Michael's been responding to some simple commands from his
therapists more frequently
and
that he's also gained back another 5 lbs, which is all GREAT!
I'll
be going back down for a visit this weekend and I will send another update
after that.
Please
keep him in your thoughts and prayers, and send him all your positive healing
energy! He's making small
steps
of progress in his recovery every day :)
Bye
for now
~Chrissy~
___________________________________________________________________________________________