June 22nd

Eric will be getting a day pass to come home or do whatever he wants to do on Saturday. On Monday, a therapist will be coming to our house to analyze it to see what equipment we may need. They said that if all goes well, he will be coming home on Thursday or Friday. We will then have to do out patient therapy for a while. He is doing really well and is in good spirits. Continue to pray strength and stamina. And pray for the right side to keep progressing. Thank you for all of your prayers.

June 17th

Yesterday we met with Dr. Kelly the Neuro-surgeon. Both Dr. Snowden (the person who would do the next arteriogram) and Dr. Smith (the Dr. who did the last arteriogram) have been out of town. Dr. Kelly thinks after doing more research that it may be better and easier to do a type of radiation therapy instead of the coil they talked about before. He wants to talk to Dr. Snowden on Monday to see what she thinks. If they decide to go that way, we would not need to do another arteriogram. Dr. Kelly says that the risk of doing radiation is less than the risk of doing the coil or glue. He is going to send a CD with Eric's pictures to some Dr.'s at St. Anthony to see if they could do this kind of therapy and what they suggest. The blood in his brain is almost gone and would need to be completely gone to be able to do the radiation. Dr. Kelly well be visiting with us again on Monday.

On another note, they ran some blood tests on Eric because they were confussed on why he has two blood clots at such a young age. What they found was that he has something called Factor V (5 not the letter v) Leiden. This is a gene that you inherit from one of your parents that makes you pron to getting blood clots. They want us to go to OU med or another hospital when we get out and have everyone including Christopher tested since it is genetic. They also want to do genetic counseling with us. Whoever has it may have to go on a blood thinner. Eric cannot go on the medicine until the fistula in his brain is taken care of. The plus note to this is that since he has this, it is what stopped his brain from bleeding. It's funny how things can be bad and a blessing at the same time. Another funny things is that we may be visiting almost every hospital in OKC. So if you need to know what hospital to go to, you can just ask us.

As far as progress goes, Eric is really coming along. He is learning how to get out of bed mostly by himself. He is moving his arm and hand more. He is learning to do a lot of stuff by himself or with little assistance. His spirit is very positive. He even was able to minister to another young man in therapy. The other guy was down about his situation and say that Eric had a positive attitude and was cutting up. Eric and his mom were able to talk to him and be a good influence. God is doing a really good thing there.

It's funny that God can even speak through movies. I was watching one last night and the question was asked "Why do bad things happen to good people and how can you pray to a God that lets things happen?" It is something that I think we can all say we question. It was answered that God's promise to us isn't that he won't let bad things happen. His promise is that he will be there when they do. It's just like having kids. We can't prevent them from falling down and skinning their knee. But we can be there when they do. God is here, even in the bad situations. God promised Joshua, "I will never leave you." That is for us also.

June 13th

A little progress everyday!! Eric walked with a walker yesterday about 20 feet. He can also flex his hand now. He is very excited at the progress he is making. Christopher comes up almost everyday after daycare. Eric really enjoys seeing him. He told Eric yesterday that he was going to get better because he prayed for him at church. Christopher is adjusting very well to the changes. We are still waiting to see when the arteriogram will be done.

Praise God, Strength and stamina and Micah 7:8!

June 11th

We are making progress. Eric was able to flex his hand today. And he is getting better at flexing his right arm. He did say that his left leg doesn't hurt as much so Friday they had him take 2 steps. He says it was 2 steps with lots of assistance. Today, they got him in a wheel chair and the family got to eat lunch in the lunch room on the floor. Christopher rode with Daddy on his wheel chair. Christopher also calls his bed a wagon. Hopefully soon we will be able to schedule the next arteriogram.

June 6th

Rehab is wearing Eric out. They work with him all day long. As far as visiting hours go, he can have visitors after 4 during the week day and anytime on the weekend. He is in room 372. Please give me a call on my cell at 620-2986 or at the hospital before coming. He may be too worn out to have guests.

Two scriptures we are standing on is Micah7:8 which says Do not gloat over me, my enemies, for though I have fallen, I WILL RISE! The other scripture is my personal favorite, Joshua 6:2. The first word is really all you need and it is SEE! Look it up and you can figure it out.

June 5th

Today was our first day of "boot camp" as they call it. Eric was up working from 8-3:30 with an hour off for lunch. He was exhausted. They had him working on speech to regain some of the harder words. They had him in the gym working on balance and stretching muscles on the left side. They also had him in his room working on his muscles in his right arm. It was really fun to watch all the stuff they do. All the rehab coaches are very nice and positive. I was afraid that it would be painful like the day before. It did help that the nurse kept him filled with Loritab all day, too.

God is still God. Even when things look dark and never ending, God is still God. There has been so many miracles out of this situation. Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Roy drove out here the first week. Uncle Roy needed to go home but Aunt Sylvia needed to stay here. Her friend found out and someone gave Aunt Sylvia her frequent flyer miles to get home. Eric and I needed to re-do the bathroom and were saving up for it. That day that Eric went in, he put a hole in the wall and some of the tile started falling off. Some friends found out and got some money together and totally redid the bathroom for us. The place they bought the supplies at, gave them a discount because of our situation. God is still God. Even though we have not seen the big miracle yet-which is Eric walking out of the hospital-God is God. The list goes on and on. I know it is not easy to have faith. Sometimes it is just a decision you have to make and then walk that way every day. Before you know it trusting God is a well made path that isn't so hard anymore.

June 4th

With help from the Occupational Therapist, Eric was able to get real clothes on today. They also got him up once, but it was too painful and they put him back in bed. He was in so much pain because of his left leg having a blod clot.

Tomorrow he starts physical therapy and everything else. They call it "boot camp". Please pray for Eric's pain and tolerance. Also, pray that Eric will have patience.

He was also moving his right hand and foot more than he has today. We are believing God for 100% healing.

Not a Stroke

Well we have seen the doctor several times since Wednesday. They have determined that Eric did not have a stroke. He had a brain bleed. The difference? A stroke would leave perminent damage, whereas a brain bleed may not leave perminent damage on the brain. The doctor said that after the "bruise" goes down, everything else will be back to normal. They also determined that what Eric has is called an arterial venous fistula. It is where a vessel is weakened and opens or tears and then bleeds. His is the artery that carries oxygen to the brain and goes right down the center of the brain. It is very rare. The doctor said that he may see one in his life time. He said there is only one study on it and it was from 1990-2000. Out of thousands of brain bleeds, this form was only present 9 times. So he is sending the pictures out to another medical place to have them analyze it. He said that they will do an arteriogram 2 weeks from now to see if the blood has moved. If the blood has moved and they can get clearer pictures, they will put a coil in there to stop it from bleeding again. In the mean time, we will be transferred to 3rd floor at Baptist for rehab.

Eric should have moved tonite, but then he had to have an ultrasound done on his left leg to look for a blood clot. He was complaining of pain in his calf and when we looked, his calf and foot was swollen. He was in a lot of pain today. They think he could have a blood clot in his left leg or a charlie horse. He can't get up and take care of a charlie horse, so he just has to sit and take constant pain for hours. We should be able to move tomorrow.

Please pray for a boy who is at Baptist ICU. He is 19 and they think he has a brain tumor. He is going through some of the same things we went through. I met his grandma yesterday and have been praying with her. His name is Kyle Spears.

The thought for the day: Never take things for granted. I know everybody says that, but take it from someone who has been there. Make sure the people around you know that you care for them and appreciate them. I have learned to appreciate the sweet hugs my 2 year old gives even though some days I don't even get to see him. I also appreciate the smiles my husband gives. There was a time in ICU that my husband couldn't smile at me because he was so much on morphine or he was in Lebanon. (Seriously, one day he thought he was in Lebanon). I know this thought is morbid, but one day they could be gone. I haven't had a hug from my husband in 3 weeks. When is the last time that you hugged your spouse or kids and really hugged them?

May 31st

Today we had our arteriogram (also known as an angiogram). We haven't seen the doctor to get a report. It wore Eric out and made him sore. He took pain meds almost all day. So we are still waiting. That seems to be our story right now. Wait! A funny thing happens though when you wait. You also become still and that is when God speaks. It may not be a loud do this, but he speaks. It's in those quiet moments that you know God is near and he is giving you strength to last each minute of each day.

It's times like this that you start to realize the truth in things that people say. Like this saying, "Be still and know that He is God." WHAT?" When we are still and quiet and not trying to fix things, we find that God is really there all along, we just get too busy to hear Him.

Continue to pray clarity for the Doctors who look at the test information. Also, declare life into Eric's right side. I know that Eric will rise again and walk. Thank you for all your support.

ICU-itist

12 days in ICU can make for a very aggitated person. Eric was known for pulling out his tubes. On the 2nd or 3rd night he decided he didn't want his ventilator anymore, so he pulled it out. I'm sure it hurt but Eric just wanted it out. Several times he pulled the feeding tube out. One of the last nights he was in ICU he pulled his feeding tube, IV and was working on the drain on his head. Since he pulled on the drain some of it tore, which meant they had to pull the drain period.

By the second week, he had had so much morphine that he was sort of going crazy. You never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. One time he yelled for his nurse, Rita, and the whole ICU heard him. He had my mom convinced that the tv was on when it was not. He told his parents that he was in a hospital over seas. We came in one time and he had a towel rapped around his hand and said that they were shooting at him. Him being on morphine was probably one of the scariest things I had seen. I just couldn't find Eric.

He is doing good today. He is scheduled to have the arteriogram tomorrow sometime. He seems to be sleeping a little more. Physical Therapy comes every day. Today they put him in a wheel chair to take a spin. He enjoyed getting out of the hospital room.

Life is funny with its curve balls! I never thought in my life I would be dealing with this, especially at 32. But God can handle anything. We have had our blessings. Like the blessing that I was still home when this happened. The blessing that our friends have pulled together and helped us in so many ways. We got a new bathroom out of it. Eric had kicked in the wall and some friends got together to not only finance the repairs but also to redo. So God is good!

Eric's Stroke

It was 7:30 on Monday, May 15th. Eric called for me from the bathroom. He said he thought he was having a stroke. I questioned him and thought there must be another reason why the right side of his body went numb. We called 911 and went to the hospital. Eric spent 12 days in the ICU at Southwest. We then were transferred to Baptist hospital. We are scheduled to have an arteriogram today or Wednesday.

While Eric was in the ER, I called family and had them come in. Susan, Martin, Bethany and Shane flew in from Alabama. Mom drove down from Missouri. Word spread quickly among church and friends and before I knew it we had support from all over the country. Uncle Roy and Sylvia came in also. Several people came to the ER to give me support. The pastors at Destiny all showed up and were with me for a while. The chaplain at the hospital seemed to follow me. I wanted to tell him that I had my support in the waiting room.

I will have to write more later about our experience in ICU. But for now I have to say, God is good. It may not seem like it when you are going through things but be patient and trust in God. I thought I was completely weak and could not go through another day, but we made it through. When people would say this to me, I would think "It is easy for you to say, you're not going through it." I have been there. I know what it is like to think you will not make it. It's during those times that God carries you through. He will give you strength. You may not see the strength until the other side, but it really is there.