Update - 4/1/06
What a beautiful day it is in Missouri! Sunny and warm - I'm sure Matthew will be taken outside today to enjoy the sunshine.
Matthew has been pretty aggitated toward the end of this week. He didn't want to eat much. As you can tell from past updates, positive things are happening, but there are always "little steps backwards before moving forward." We all have our good days and bad days.
When our weather started warming up this week, Brenda took Matthew outside in the wheelchair. She gave him a little "pep talk", encouraging him to keep fighting to get better. When they went back to his room, Brenda talked with him more about how much she wants him to get better. She sat next to him on the bed and put her arm around his shoulders. Matthew leaned against her, relaxed and then fell asleep. Brenda said it was a wonderful moment and a treasured memory.
One of the comments for the previous update asked about Matthew's tight muscles and abilities. Because of the severity of Matthew's brain injury, there is so much that Matthew's brain has to relearn to do that we take for granted. The brain has to relearn to communicate with the rest of the body. When there is great force of impact (such as in an automobile accident), there are shearing forces that produce stretching and tearing of axons and insulating mylon sheaths. The damage causes a change in the balance of signals between the nervous system and the muscles. This imbalance leads to increased activity (excitability) in the muscles and they "over-tighten". It is very common for head injury patients to have abnormal physical movement such as tremors or spasticity.
Matthew is NOT walking and is not even close to walking. He has to be lifted in and out of the wheelchair to go anywhere. He is not able to do anything for himself. He has to be fed by others. This might sound like a brusk way to describe it, but maybe this is the clearest way to let all readers know how long a "road" Matthew must travel. It is too early to say if any of the above (muscle spasticity or Matthew's inability to care for himself) is permanent. That is the purpose of the medication - to help relax the muscles so that permanent tauntness does not set in. Matthew has made lots of progress from being in a coma to now awake, swallowing food, and squeezing a person's hand in greeting (just a few examples of what he can do). We will continue to pray that all the things he is going through now are transitions to ultimate healing.
The family is very excited to celebrate Andrew's 16th birthday. They had thought maybe 20 or so people would sign up for the spaghetti dinner - but they are VERY excited that SIXTY people are expected to attend. Andrew is honored that so many want to share in the celebration of his birthday.
We just got word that Brenda's father, Norbert Kaiser had to be taken to the hospital. He has been in the nursing home in Cole Camp for the last month and a half. This morning he fell several times so they had to take him to the hospital. We'll let you know when we find out more details of how he's doing. Please keep Norbert in your prayers as well.
The King of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.
And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never.
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.
(Stanza 1 and 6 from Hymn 412, Lutheran Worship)
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
Matthew has been pretty aggitated toward the end of this week. He didn't want to eat much. As you can tell from past updates, positive things are happening, but there are always "little steps backwards before moving forward." We all have our good days and bad days.
When our weather started warming up this week, Brenda took Matthew outside in the wheelchair. She gave him a little "pep talk", encouraging him to keep fighting to get better. When they went back to his room, Brenda talked with him more about how much she wants him to get better. She sat next to him on the bed and put her arm around his shoulders. Matthew leaned against her, relaxed and then fell asleep. Brenda said it was a wonderful moment and a treasured memory.
One of the comments for the previous update asked about Matthew's tight muscles and abilities. Because of the severity of Matthew's brain injury, there is so much that Matthew's brain has to relearn to do that we take for granted. The brain has to relearn to communicate with the rest of the body. When there is great force of impact (such as in an automobile accident), there are shearing forces that produce stretching and tearing of axons and insulating mylon sheaths. The damage causes a change in the balance of signals between the nervous system and the muscles. This imbalance leads to increased activity (excitability) in the muscles and they "over-tighten". It is very common for head injury patients to have abnormal physical movement such as tremors or spasticity.
Matthew is NOT walking and is not even close to walking. He has to be lifted in and out of the wheelchair to go anywhere. He is not able to do anything for himself. He has to be fed by others. This might sound like a brusk way to describe it, but maybe this is the clearest way to let all readers know how long a "road" Matthew must travel. It is too early to say if any of the above (muscle spasticity or Matthew's inability to care for himself) is permanent. That is the purpose of the medication - to help relax the muscles so that permanent tauntness does not set in. Matthew has made lots of progress from being in a coma to now awake, swallowing food, and squeezing a person's hand in greeting (just a few examples of what he can do). We will continue to pray that all the things he is going through now are transitions to ultimate healing.
The family is very excited to celebrate Andrew's 16th birthday. They had thought maybe 20 or so people would sign up for the spaghetti dinner - but they are VERY excited that SIXTY people are expected to attend. Andrew is honored that so many want to share in the celebration of his birthday.
We just got word that Brenda's father, Norbert Kaiser had to be taken to the hospital. He has been in the nursing home in Cole Camp for the last month and a half. This morning he fell several times so they had to take him to the hospital. We'll let you know when we find out more details of how he's doing. Please keep Norbert in your prayers as well.
The King of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.
And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never.
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.
(Stanza 1 and 6 from Hymn 412, Lutheran Worship)
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
posted by Randy Asburry @ 1:16 PM
3 Comments:
At 7:36 PM,
Anonymous said…
do you know the extent of his brain damage? or is this unclear still?
what are you 100% sure of?
thank you so much for these updates too.
god's blessing.
At 7:35 AM,
Anonymous said…
Rachel -
We attended Andrew's birthday party last night and what a celebration it was!! Our prayers go out to Matthew and especially his family as they need our support and strenght as this will be a very, very long road ahead of everyone involved.
Marsha Mehrens
At 6:40 PM,
Anonymous said…
what a beautiful update...i loved reading about matthew leaning on brenda and falling asleep..thank you rachel...thank you very much...love to all, mrs. lithebe
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