Baby Steps are Still Steps!!!

Praise God!!!  Bob woke up a bit more today. His progress is really slow, but any progress is encouraging.  This afternoon during Melinda's visit with Bob, he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her!!!  He also patted her hand in response to her.  He squeezed Christine's hand and his brother's hand as well.  He even moved his mouth a bit.

Melinda, Christine, Bob's brother, and Laurie met with the neurologist today to discuss the results of the brain stem MRI.  The doctor did a great job explaining the anatomy of the brain and brain stem in easy to understand terms. He said it does not take a big injury in someone Bob's age to cause a bleed in the brain. As you grow older your brain shrinks and a space is created between the brain and the skull.  The blood vessels are stretched.  If there is a injury to the head, it is easy for one of the blood vessels to tear and bleed and the blood accumulates in the space.  This is what happened to Bob.

In his case,  the bleed was large enough to cause his brain to shift to one side.  This caused the brain stem to be stretched on one side and compressed on the other. Now that the clot is gone and the bleeding diminished,  Bob's brain has moved back where it belongs. They had expected to see significant damage to the stem but the MRI showed that there is NO extensive damage to the brain stem.  Again...Praise God!!! There is some bruising to the brain stem and only time can heal that.

So the question of the day is "Why isn't Bob waking up?"  The neurologist explained  there were several factors that played a part :1) the design of Bob's brain and how it grew as a child,2) the fact that he has had hydrocephaly (water on the brain) since he was a little boy,3) because he has had a recent brain injury and bleed, and 4) his age. Put all these factors together and it will probably take longer for Bob to wake up. He said it could take weeks or months! He can't give a time frame.  It will only be after he wakes up that doctors can assess his abilities.  The doctor gave no guarantee to Melinda.  We are grateful that we serve Miracle-Working, Mountain-Moving, Awe-Inspiring, Gasp-Giving God! He knows exactly what is going to happen..and when! 

You're probably asking..."Now What?" or "What Can I Do?"  And the response is pray! Pray! Pray! Pray!   We are asking everyone to join together to pray and fast over the next 3 days. Some difficult decisions will need to be made by the end of the weekend.  This journey is emotionally and physically exhausting for both Melinda and Christine.  They need prayer warriors to come alongside during this time. 

The Meals Ministry at LAOG is providing meals for them ,so if you want to help with meals please contact the church.  Our small group is taking care of cleaning her house and doing laundry for now.  We may reach out to some ladies in the church as time passes.  Please feel free to send and/or post notes of encouragement to Melinda and Christine. As other needs arise, we will post them on this blog or contact people individually. 

Until then....we are remaining
In Line With The Word