The Road Continues

Matt starts every morning throwing up. They believe it may be the medication, but feel that they have to continue and treat the nausea with Gravol, which makes him quite sleepy for the rest of the day. So they were only able to do 2 breathing trials today. However they lasted 1 hr 35 min & 1 hr 50 min, the longest he has done since before the pneumonia. Way to push through Matt.! Jacki said they played 2 card games of golf. Jacki had to show Matt his cards and play for him, but he still managed to beat her both times. He has not lost his knack for winning (and gloating!). Matt's movement is about the same as before. But he also mentioned today that his feeling sensation is getting stronger, though it is still not up to par, but that will come as well. Progress of any kind is always great to hear. Job 42:2 "I know that you can still do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted." Great verse my mom and Jacki found. They were with Matt since this afternoon, however were unable to see him for a few hours because he was sleeping. His body needs a rest sometimes. Take it when you can, Matty.

Not much change

Well, today was an off day for Matt - not really a bad day, but not as good as it could have been. Matt was only able to do 2 breathing trials today - 40 min, and 1 hr & 40 min. He was throwing up quite a bit this morning during and after physio which makes him tired and thus the 1st breathing trial was more difficult. However, during the 2nd trial he had lots of visitors which kept his mind off the breathing. He was happy to see little 5 month old niece Amy, although she wants to pull out his feeding tube! No real change in his movement, but no backtracking thank the Lord! Finally, although we thought the they would insert a smaller trach today, we were incorrect as they only change the trach once a month, and Matt's had been changed at the end of July. Thus, we don't expect this trach to be changed until around Aug 29. Hopefully the insertion of the feeding tube will be next week. The tape that keeps the tube in his nose in place bothers him, and I am sure he would like to get rid of it. Continue to pray for continued healing and Matt's perserverance. Psalms 27:7 "Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me."

Keep it Coming

Another good day. Better than yesterday. Matt did 3 breathing trials; 1hr 25min, 1hr 10min, 1hr 15min. He could have gone longer but they didn't want to tire him out. Today he was able to move all the fingers on his Rt hand, spreading them apart. His index finger(pointer) can now move up and down, which is another hurdle. The next is to actually bend the fingers, but he will get there. The physio could feel his forearm muscles working while he was doing it, so that was great. The Doctors were asking him what he did to make his fingers move. At the beginning of August, John had told him about a fellow who was a quad for 7 months, and everyday would tell his brain to tell his finger to move. So that is what Matt said he was doing. They want him to do the same for his chest muscles. They work from about the same level of the spinal cord as the fingers, so they know the nerve conduction is working. It will take a lot more time though. Matt says he is concentrating on moving his feet already, but they told him to focus more on his Lt hand for now. Tomorrow they will insert a smaller trach, hopefully that will help with his swallowing. Also next week, they will do the surgery to put a tube directly into Matt's small intestine, so he can get the tube out of his nose. Hopefully that will help his swallowing as well. Unfortunately he is back to water, no Popsicles until the swallowing assessment is passed. If the sugary stuff gets in his lungs, big trouble. He seemed to be okay with that. Water is much safer. Matt astounds me every day, how he has faced such adversity. Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you".

I wasn't able to speak to mom and dad until quite late, and I started to have doubts that yesterday had even happen. But, yes, Matt continued to show slight progress in the movement of his finger, doubting Thomas that I am! At first he had to really concentrate on what he was doing, constantly telling his brain to move his finger. By this evening, he was moving it side to side whenever anyone asked. Some of the nurses would ask him a second time, because it was just so amazing. The physio said his nerve conduction is probably reaching C8, which is even better. He was quite tired today with big rings under his eyes, from lack of sleep no doubt! They only did 2 breathing trials that totaled 2 hours. They also tried to deflate the cuff n the trachea, to see if Matt could talk, but it was too difficult today, so maybe again tomorrow. While he was up in his chair his blood pressure really went down, but he still managed to get outside for awhile. Dad said this evening when he went to visit, Matt said hi to him and fell into a deep sleep. Maybe a much needed rest. Continue to pray to and praise the Lord. Psalms 25:1 "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God".

Great is thy Faithfullness

Huge achievement today. Dad had went to see Matt this evening and Matt started clicking at Dad to get his attention. He had a big smile on his face and told dad to watch his rt index finger. Dad said he looked down, and there was the smallest movement he had ever seen. He asked Matt if it was a tremor or if Matt was doing it. Matt replied that yes, he wanted his finger to move. Dad then called the nurse over and Matt moved it again, no more than a few millimeters but he did it! Shout it from the rooftops! Psalms 111:2-4 "Great are the works for the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate". Dad said Matt was like a little light bulb, with that wonderful smile of his. To understand fully, to move his finger, all the motor pathways above C7 must be working, so since his arms are big muscles, and he has lost so much of them, he isn't able to move his arm but that doesn't mean he can't. Obviously the pathways are working from C1-C7, it will take a lot of work and perseverance for the arms to move. The rest of his day was pretty good as well. Sat up for 2 hours, went outside, did 4 breathing trials again totalling 4 1/2 hours, which is still really good. I forgot to ask about anything else because the other news was too exciting. Thanks for all the prayers, and keep up the good work! Like one of you said on the comments, 3rd days the charm!

Two in a Row

Another great day. Matt had 4 breathing trials that totaled 5 hours, 10 min. We are so proud of you Matt. Keep praying that God will continue to strengthen Matt beyond our expectations. Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God". He had his last chest tube out today as well. Sat up in his chair for 2 hours 20 min with the new neck brace. He was having some difficulty again so they stuffed some towels in and felt much better. Last night he was able to have 2 Popsicles. Great stuff. He did find them a bit sweet since he has had nothing but water for 6 weeks. He did throw up again this am so the may hold off on the Popsicles at night but continue to give them to him in the daytime. Very happy with this. He even got a tic tac, which was also new. They decided not to put the PICC line in and opted for changing the IV site to the right hand, which is less swollen. He is also beginning to feel the urge to push out his... well...poo poo. No delicate term for it I guess. But great news none the less. He did have a slight fever again at 38.3. Great prayers on keeping it stable. Deuteronomy 32:3 "I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God".

Good Day

Today really felt like Matt may be on the upswing. They were able to take 2 of the chest tubes out, which did cause him a lot of pain, but it was much wanted pain. He was able to do 4 breathing trials: 30,45,1hr,40. The Dr Matt has had for the last week has been excellent, really pushing for Matt o get better and trying to give Matt as much hope as he can. Unfortunately he is a locum from Winnipeg and will be leaving tomorrow, but hopefully the ball stays rolling. Matt temp only went up once today,and it was 38.1. Not too bad. Swelling in his feet have gone down but now his hands are so swollen that it was difficult to do his range of motion exercises. Prayers that the swelling continues to improve. They will insert the PICC line in tomorrow morning and they hope that will help the swelling to go down, so Matt doesn't have to be poked for IV's anymore. Hard on the tissue for such a long time and the meds going into the veins are sometimes hard on them. Also had a good sleep from 1 am until 6 am. Doesn't seem like much to us but it is a big improvement on what he normally gets. Prayers for what we want are always good, but prayers for thanskgiving are needed as well. Psalms 86:12-13 "I will praise you , O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify you name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave."