Joel had an interesting day yesterday. He was fairly awake all morning and then after lunch was hoisted into his wheelchair which I pushed up hill to the physio gym. Then he was hoisted out of the chair and onto a bench bed thing where they started working with him to get him to sit upright without leaning or falling over. Again it became obvious how much energy he was using just to concentrate on sitting unsupported. He did crack the physio and OT up when they asked how he was doing, to which Joel replied, “great, I could do this all day.” After about 15 minutes you could tell he was tiring. The good thing is that he tuffed it out in his chair till 4-00 in the afternoon, which is all good for him. He seems to be retaining more info from a day to day basis which is also good news. And what we are really excited to see is that he is managing to move his left leg around a bit while on the bed. The weight of it is too much while sitting, but it is moving.
Can you please remember us in your prayers as we start building relationship with the other families with kids in the unit. I was chatting to one yesterday and when asked if I could pray for them and their teen, it was a resounding yes with tears! God is opening doors to minister to some very hurting families and we need wisdom above all.
I’m heading back to Tga today with Hannah and so that leaves Cheryll here holding the fort while I’m away.
We’ve now also got accommodation for the next 3 weeks out at Laidlaw College (the old Bible College of NZ campus) in a self contained student flat. So God just keeps providing.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
21 days…or 3 weeks later
Yesterday I had to swallow hard. Not because I had never pushed someone in a wheel chair before but I hadn’t pushed one of my kids in one before. Joel was fitted out with a racey little number and given leg exercises and stretches to do while sitting. All progress… all be it too slow for a father who wants his boy back. I wonder what God the Father went through while He watched His only son die…and had to wait patiently for 3 days before he was raised back to life. I know my Joel is coming back and we see small glimpses of that every day… he is off his slop diet and onto chewing stuff now; not being fed as much as in hospital, but it’s all good. He is starting to remember short term memory stuff like names of staff and where he actually is and Joel is managing to move his left leg while lying in bed. Still can’t move it while sitting but the physio says she can feel the muscles twitching which means the message is getting through but isn’t strong enough yet to get the desired response. Patience! Joel has his 17th birthday next Monday so that will be a quiet celebration… but a celebration indeed! Now that he is more responsive we are praying with him rather than just for him. He knows his God.
If you want to come and visit could you please just arrange it with Cheryll or myself and limit it to a couple of people at a time. This is to give his brain as much ‘down’ time as possible.
Hi Cheryll here… When I look back at the photos I took nearly 3 weeks ago I am amazed at where he is now. Back then we were so delighted when he would squeeze our hand on command and here he is having small conversations. Last night Hannah asked him what he was thinking… he gave the right response …he told her he was thinking how pretty she looked … and how annoying the fan was!
We are still blown away by all the prayer that has gone up for Joel (and is still going up) and all the emotional and practical support we have received. Specific things to continue to pray for…
Left leg and side to gain more strength and movement
Determination for Joel to put in the effort during physio sessions etc
That he would be more awake in the day and sleep well during the night
That he would get through the stage they call PTA [post traumatic amnesia]
Patience for Kevin
If you want to come and visit could you please just arrange it with Cheryll or myself and limit it to a couple of people at a time. This is to give his brain as much ‘down’ time as possible.
Hi Cheryll here… When I look back at the photos I took nearly 3 weeks ago I am amazed at where he is now. Back then we were so delighted when he would squeeze our hand on command and here he is having small conversations. Last night Hannah asked him what he was thinking… he gave the right response …he told her he was thinking how pretty she looked … and how annoying the fan was!
We are still blown away by all the prayer that has gone up for Joel (and is still going up) and all the emotional and practical support we have received. Specific things to continue to pray for…
Left leg and side to gain more strength and movement
Determination for Joel to put in the effort during physio sessions etc
That he would be more awake in the day and sleep well during the night
That he would get through the stage they call PTA [post traumatic amnesia]
Patience for Kevin
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Moving day
Did you miss the blog entry last night? We couldn’t find any where to plug in so when you get to read this you will know that we have made a connection!
Where to start with yesterday? Cheryll had to be at the hospital by 8.00 in the morning to travel with Joel. Someone more urgent than Joel needed the ambulance and so they had to wait for the next free one. It made a long start to the day but hey, what’s a few more hours sitting in the hospital?!
Eventually we made it to Ranui. Let the fun begin. Cheryll was helping to wheel Joel out of the ambo, lost her footing and fell with one leg caught between the two ramps. She must have been close to snapping her leg and bruising and swelling started nearly immediately. So she is walking…just. Joel was stuck in his room and we got a tour and explanation of what goes on. It creates funny emotions being here. on the one hand hope and expectation and on the other, when you see the severity of others, it is a fairly heavy sorta place to be in. then that turns to excitement when you see how well Joel has done and realize the extent that his healing has progressed and that almost makes you feel guilty when you look at some of the others.
Joel was adamant that he had been on two ambulances yesterday. He couldn’t work out where the other one had taken him and seemed confused and got a bit ‘towey’ when we said there was only one trip. Explaining that he had come from Hamilton Hospital to Auckland to the rehab center wasn’t enough for him…then…we realized we were a bit slow; he was having memory snippets of the accident. He kept saying that the other trip didn’t take long and that it was real short (unconscious at this stage).
Most of the time what he says is in the right context, particularly any comments to do with the immediate or the distant past. But sometimes he comes out with something that shows confusion. He told Hannah that this morning he had gone for a walk with Mathew and then went for another walk with Adam. Both Mathew and Adam had visited the previous day; sadly the ‘walk’ was wishful thinking at this stage. But it is encouraging to see him start to recall stuff that would be classed as short term memory. He also found his remote for the bed and started pushing the button and went up then down. The up and down went on for a while and when asked what he thought he was doing he said he was bored and that it was helping. He starts working with the physio and occupational therapist today.
So we continue to pray for his restoration to be complete and it seems that God hasn’t finished with us either. He is continuing to ‘deal’ to us and we have bouts of ‘leaky eye syndrome’. Thank you for everything.
Where to start with yesterday? Cheryll had to be at the hospital by 8.00 in the morning to travel with Joel. Someone more urgent than Joel needed the ambulance and so they had to wait for the next free one. It made a long start to the day but hey, what’s a few more hours sitting in the hospital?!
Eventually we made it to Ranui. Let the fun begin. Cheryll was helping to wheel Joel out of the ambo, lost her footing and fell with one leg caught between the two ramps. She must have been close to snapping her leg and bruising and swelling started nearly immediately. So she is walking…just. Joel was stuck in his room and we got a tour and explanation of what goes on. It creates funny emotions being here. on the one hand hope and expectation and on the other, when you see the severity of others, it is a fairly heavy sorta place to be in. then that turns to excitement when you see how well Joel has done and realize the extent that his healing has progressed and that almost makes you feel guilty when you look at some of the others.
Joel was adamant that he had been on two ambulances yesterday. He couldn’t work out where the other one had taken him and seemed confused and got a bit ‘towey’ when we said there was only one trip. Explaining that he had come from Hamilton Hospital to Auckland to the rehab center wasn’t enough for him…then…we realized we were a bit slow; he was having memory snippets of the accident. He kept saying that the other trip didn’t take long and that it was real short (unconscious at this stage).
Most of the time what he says is in the right context, particularly any comments to do with the immediate or the distant past. But sometimes he comes out with something that shows confusion. He told Hannah that this morning he had gone for a walk with Mathew and then went for another walk with Adam. Both Mathew and Adam had visited the previous day; sadly the ‘walk’ was wishful thinking at this stage. But it is encouraging to see him start to recall stuff that would be classed as short term memory. He also found his remote for the bed and started pushing the button and went up then down. The up and down went on for a while and when asked what he thought he was doing he said he was bored and that it was helping. He starts working with the physio and occupational therapist today.
So we continue to pray for his restoration to be complete and it seems that God hasn’t finished with us either. He is continuing to ‘deal’ to us and we have bouts of ‘leaky eye syndrome’. Thank you for everything.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Last night in the Waikato
The big shift is on tomorrow! Joel is off to rehab (not drug & alcohol); a special unit that helps rehabilitate from brain injuries, more on this soon.
Today Joel was very sleepy in the morning which wasn’t much fun for his mates that arrived from Tauranga but he perked up in the afternoon to greet Adam with a “wassup bro.” As the afternoon wore on he came out with some more of his sense of humour and even made comments on how ‘phat’ Joe’s Honda-saurus was. He has moved a little more sometimes pulling himself around on funny angles on his bed by hanging onto the edge of it. His left leg is still not moving so that is something we can all pray for. He has great recall of the past but still not much short memory which is normal as he doesn’t have the brain energy to remember and then recall. Ask him who visited yesterday and he will name someone but not the ones who were actually here. In saying that, some ‘special visitors’ he does remember. The thing that the nurses were most happy to hear was that he asked for help re certain bodily functions instead of just letting rip! These are all important steps.
If any of you want to write to him the snail mail address is:
Joel Robertson
c/o ABI Rehabilitation
180 Metcalfe Road
Ranui
Waitakere City
Auckland 0612
There is no point in txting him as he does not have the capacity to use his phone yet. As far as visiting is concerned it will be at the above address but can you please contact us first. From what we can gather the staff work out a weekly schedule for him and visiting must then work round these times. It is also restricted in numbers and the length of stay so that Joel will use the energy he has towards his improvement. So what I’m saying is I don’t know yet. Keep you posted. God has been very gracious to us…we got a phone call and have been offered a house for the first week in Auckland. Its an interesting part of the journey but God has already showed us that we can trust him!
(Cheryll writing now): Just one other thing before we move on from Hamilton… while Joel was in ICU we met an amazing lady named Beatrice whose husband had been very, very sick for some weeks. She was almost like an angel that God sent for me and we often met in the waiting room or the corridor and would hug and pray together. Please pray for healing for her husband Russell and strength for her as she walks this journey.
Today Joel was very sleepy in the morning which wasn’t much fun for his mates that arrived from Tauranga but he perked up in the afternoon to greet Adam with a “wassup bro.” As the afternoon wore on he came out with some more of his sense of humour and even made comments on how ‘phat’ Joe’s Honda-saurus was. He has moved a little more sometimes pulling himself around on funny angles on his bed by hanging onto the edge of it. His left leg is still not moving so that is something we can all pray for. He has great recall of the past but still not much short memory which is normal as he doesn’t have the brain energy to remember and then recall. Ask him who visited yesterday and he will name someone but not the ones who were actually here. In saying that, some ‘special visitors’ he does remember. The thing that the nurses were most happy to hear was that he asked for help re certain bodily functions instead of just letting rip! These are all important steps.
If any of you want to write to him the snail mail address is:
Joel Robertson
c/o ABI Rehabilitation
180 Metcalfe Road
Ranui
Waitakere City
Auckland 0612
There is no point in txting him as he does not have the capacity to use his phone yet. As far as visiting is concerned it will be at the above address but can you please contact us first. From what we can gather the staff work out a weekly schedule for him and visiting must then work round these times. It is also restricted in numbers and the length of stay so that Joel will use the energy he has towards his improvement. So what I’m saying is I don’t know yet. Keep you posted. God has been very gracious to us…we got a phone call and have been offered a house for the first week in Auckland. Its an interesting part of the journey but God has already showed us that we can trust him!
(Cheryll writing now): Just one other thing before we move on from Hamilton… while Joel was in ICU we met an amazing lady named Beatrice whose husband had been very, very sick for some weeks. She was almost like an angel that God sent for me and we often met in the waiting room or the corridor and would hug and pray together. Please pray for healing for her husband Russell and strength for her as she walks this journey.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday evening.
Here we are at the end of another day. Cheryll and I have just spent the last half hour of visiting up with Joel. He was fast asleep so I held his hand and prayed. And also reflected back on some of the journey…the three major ‘bad news’ reports from the medical staff and the amazing recovery so far from Joel…the little stories of how this has affected and challenged people and their faith in God, including our own…the incredible prayer support we have heard about and felt…the fantastic practical support from the people here in Hamilton…and the terrific friends that Joel has and the love they show to him and us…and I could go on but won’t bore you.
Joel has improved a little more today. He tires very easily when there is a group of visitors and nods off to sleep readily. The conversations he had showed that there’s nothing much wrong with his long-term memory. He was able to recall most of what was being talked about. He is also getting a little more assertive that he wants to get out of bed, which is a good sign. He alternates between a lazy boy chair and his bed. He rang his buzzer for the nurse today, not once but 3 times, which indicates an ‘emergency’. They all came running and then he calmly said, “Can you move me into my bed please?”
Thank you for all the comments that people have made on this blog … just like some of you have told us that you look forward to reading the blog every day … we too look forward to reading your comments. We’ve also been told by quite a few of you that for some reason you are unable to post comments on here … so there must be something not quite right with it.
We are praying:
For Joel to be able to move his left leg around more
Movement to become more smooth and automatic
For his short-term memory
That God continues to restore the areas in his brain that were affected by the knock
Joel has improved a little more today. He tires very easily when there is a group of visitors and nods off to sleep readily. The conversations he had showed that there’s nothing much wrong with his long-term memory. He was able to recall most of what was being talked about. He is also getting a little more assertive that he wants to get out of bed, which is a good sign. He alternates between a lazy boy chair and his bed. He rang his buzzer for the nurse today, not once but 3 times, which indicates an ‘emergency’. They all came running and then he calmly said, “Can you move me into my bed please?”
Thank you for all the comments that people have made on this blog … just like some of you have told us that you look forward to reading the blog every day … we too look forward to reading your comments. We’ve also been told by quite a few of you that for some reason you are unable to post comments on here … so there must be something not quite right with it.
We are praying:
For Joel to be able to move his left leg around more
Movement to become more smooth and automatic
For his short-term memory
That God continues to restore the areas in his brain that were affected by the knock
Friday, January 22, 2010
Hi friends.
Have you found that our postings are getting a little lighter in nature?
Cheryll went back to Tauranga for the day so that she could sort out her class room and school stuff. Hannah went back as well so that she could work for 3 days which is good ‘normal’ stuff for her to do. And all this meant I was to hold the fort here and do all the visiting by myself… but some others turned up which is what happens when your son has such great close friends. I want to share three things which happened today.
First was… we haven’t had any real contact with the top dogs of the neurological team since being on their ward. Visiting doesn’t start till after they have finished their rounds. We knew that if we had questions they have been available but we have been rapt with the nursing staff and the info we get from them. Any way today I was walking down the passage of the ward and one of the neuro surgeons came towards me. I said, “my boy’s doing well isn’t he?’ to which he replied “Well? Your boy is a Lazarus.” They don’t chuck words like that around often!
Second was… a good friend, one of his many ‘lady friends’ came today for a visit. She had bought over a photo of some friends which also included her. We are starting to collect these for the team in the rehab to use for memory work etc. Well I asked Joel if he knew the people in the photo, to which he said yes. I pointed to the first of the 5 in the photo, Joel responded with “me”, the second he said “Lewis”, to the middle person in the photo, who happened to be the young lady standing next to me, he said, “some random chick” then he went on to name the other two in the photo, “Luke and Georgina.” I asked him again about this random chick and told him to look at who was standing next to me. I said, “is this just a random chick?” to which he replied, “Oopsy”. I think he still has his sense of humour!
Thirdly… we have our marching orders. On Monday morning at 9.00am Joel is leaving Waikato Hospital and moving to the brain injury rehab in Ranui. So we will all become ‘Westies’ for a while. Cheryll will travel with him by ambulance and then Hannah and I will follow up behind to start the next part of the journey. We’ll keep you posted.
PS. Joel ate all his dinner tonight. He had asked for a McChicken burger but had to eat slopsy stuff. When he was all done the nurse asked him if he was full. “Yep” he replied. When she had walked out he turned to ‘the young lady’ visitor and said, “to tell you the truth I could eat all that again.” Ha that’s my boy. Speech is still slow but improving and his ‘food tube’ is out and so is the ‘other one,’ so it’s all looking very positive. Thanks again for your prayers, love and encouragement.
Cheryll went back to Tauranga for the day so that she could sort out her class room and school stuff. Hannah went back as well so that she could work for 3 days which is good ‘normal’ stuff for her to do. And all this meant I was to hold the fort here and do all the visiting by myself… but some others turned up which is what happens when your son has such great close friends. I want to share three things which happened today.
First was… we haven’t had any real contact with the top dogs of the neurological team since being on their ward. Visiting doesn’t start till after they have finished their rounds. We knew that if we had questions they have been available but we have been rapt with the nursing staff and the info we get from them. Any way today I was walking down the passage of the ward and one of the neuro surgeons came towards me. I said, “my boy’s doing well isn’t he?’ to which he replied “Well? Your boy is a Lazarus.” They don’t chuck words like that around often!
Second was… a good friend, one of his many ‘lady friends’ came today for a visit. She had bought over a photo of some friends which also included her. We are starting to collect these for the team in the rehab to use for memory work etc. Well I asked Joel if he knew the people in the photo, to which he said yes. I pointed to the first of the 5 in the photo, Joel responded with “me”, the second he said “Lewis”, to the middle person in the photo, who happened to be the young lady standing next to me, he said, “some random chick” then he went on to name the other two in the photo, “Luke and Georgina.” I asked him again about this random chick and told him to look at who was standing next to me. I said, “is this just a random chick?” to which he replied, “Oopsy”. I think he still has his sense of humour!
Thirdly… we have our marching orders. On Monday morning at 9.00am Joel is leaving Waikato Hospital and moving to the brain injury rehab in Ranui. So we will all become ‘Westies’ for a while. Cheryll will travel with him by ambulance and then Hannah and I will follow up behind to start the next part of the journey. We’ll keep you posted.
PS. Joel ate all his dinner tonight. He had asked for a McChicken burger but had to eat slopsy stuff. When he was all done the nurse asked him if he was full. “Yep” he replied. When she had walked out he turned to ‘the young lady’ visitor and said, “to tell you the truth I could eat all that again.” Ha that’s my boy. Speech is still slow but improving and his ‘food tube’ is out and so is the ‘other one,’ so it’s all looking very positive. Thanks again for your prayers, love and encouragement.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Hi… are you waiting for this?
Joel has had a huge day. We have been amazed at the progress and the staff are also rejoicing at how good Joel is at this stage of recovery. He has talked to the physio, doctors, nurses, visitors and family today. By talking we mean a couple of words and answering questions. He is aware that he is in Waikato Hospital and was able to tell the nurses the date of his birthday and the year he was born. He said to Hannah that she was looking good and was asking us to move his legs around to get them more comfy. He also wanted to know where his cell phone was. The youth of today eh … can’t live without the cell phone! When we told him that Rory probably had it, he was confused as to why. We have been told that short term memory is usually a problem area but we will wait and see what God has done. This evening he asked for pillows to be put under his legs and said those wonderful words, “I love you.” He has also eaten all 3 meals and is only getting the stuff down the tube at night coz he isn’t eating enough to keep his calorie count high enough. The biggest delight for him today was seeing Logan, Amie and Sienna for the first time since being in hospital. There are still some major hurdles to face but we are confident in what God has said; that he will recover completely. One of my personal prayers has been answered. I have daily prayed that Joel would be peaceful as he wakes and this is how he is. A lot of patients recovering from head injuries wake very disorientated, aggressive, agitated and with some very colourful language. Joel has skipped this part which is great. Please keep praying for his full recovery and specifically at the moment for his left side to become more mobile and in particular that he is able to move his left leg around the bed.
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