Going Home!

Yeah! Rachel gets to go home on Friday. She is looking forward to being home with the family and doing more 'normal' type activities as her therapy - day in and day out. She will be doing some Physical Therapy with a therapist in town. We have exercises from Occupational Therapy to do at home. Speech Therapy will be all day, every day ;-) and Recreational Therapy will be game time with the family.

Monday, Rachel made brownies in therapy and is washing the dishes in the above picture.

I called Rachel on Monday night (I came to Lincoln on Tuesday). We talked for 30 minutes and she was completely understandable. We had a great chat. Yesterday, Rachel signed her name with her right hand! Two weeks ago, she had almost no control over her right hand fingers. And she did a grip strength test today. With her right hand she only registered 1 or 2 pounds ten days ago. Today, the little tester registered 25 pounds of grip strength!!! Huge improvement. Today in PT, Rachel walked 250 feet without stopping. On Monday, they thought it would be a week or more before she could go 250 feet without stopping. Two days later, she masters the challenge. She also was able to stand up from her wheelchair with zero assistance.

We are having all the nurses and therapist sign Rachel's quilt that she got from Naomi. They all feel honored that we ask them to sign. Several of them have stopped us in the hall and are saying they are sad to see Rachel leave, that they enjoy her being around.

We will still be doing the updates when Rachel is at home. Thanks for checking in.

~RuthAnne

A Truly Happy Thanksgiving

Rachel had a good Thanksgiving. She spent the day with Ryan's family at the house we are renting. They had turkey, all the food that goes with it and a fun game of Scrabble. Anna, Ryan's sister, sent a couple pictures from the day and a note that I will include at the bottom. Ryan is with Rachel this weekend, Nancy (his mom) will be with Rachel on Monday and Mom and I will be with Rachel from Tuesday - Friday. She comes home on Friday!

This is how Rachel and Ryan do it: No handicap parking, no ramps, and riding in a BIG diesal truck (Ryan's). This was Rachel's first ride in the truck since being in the hospital. I know they both loved the challenge.

Nancy, Rachel, Ryan coming into the house were Thanksgiving was celebrated. David is behind with the wheelchair, 'just in case'.

David/Nancy Baltensperger, Rachel and Ryan, G'ma Fass, Emily and Allyn Weddle

-playing scrabble.

From Anna,

"Rachel never used the wheelchair at the house. Ryan encouraged her to just walk from the truck to the chair inside the living...and did fine! Dad just had the wheelchair behind her in case she did need it or something.

In one of the pictures you'll notice us hovered around a game - Scrabble. I caught Rachel and Ryan laughing gleefully after having racked-up a bunch of points in the word they had placed on the board. (We played in pairs) Infact, Rachel and Ryan creamed the rest of us in that game! Not fair that Ryan had the smartest person on his team!!!! (Rachel provided alot of the spelling/placement ideas on their team, as pictured of her pointing with her finger in one of the pictures.)

Even though it was a "different" thanksgiving (in that we were spending it at a random apartment in Lincoln versus at home on the farm), it was a memorable and encouraging just to know that Rachel has come a long ways and is continuing still at the same speed or perhaps faster!"

Smiles,
Anna Baltensperger

The Double Date

Ryan, Rachel, RuthAnne & Josh We had a great time Saturday night.

Joy

Today marks her 77 days since the stroke and the 50th day at Madonna. I just reviewed the posts from the beginning of her journey and am amazed how Rachel is recovering.

DISCHARGE DATE: NOVEMBER 30

LAUGHTER and JOY

From the beginning, when all looked bleak for Rachel's recovery, we held on to "The Joy of the Lord is your Strength!" These were the first words Rachel heard when she came out of sedation. These words are put to song but what about putting them to life? If you would observe Rachel day in and day out in her room, in therapy or at mealtimes....she is happy and laughing. She is the only patient who smiles and laughs . This makes it so easy for Ryan, the family, the therapists, and the nurses. She is just s delight! Honestly, I have not seen her feel sorry for herself during her time of challenge.
Her tears have been all about WHEN.....WHEN will she be back to normal. When will she be married.

Yesterday we talked about getting married. She wants to be able to walk down the isle and to be able to care or herself first. A noble goal. In light of that, she isn't planning on getting good at the wheel chair or trying to learn to be independent by depending on handicapped facilities. Another noble, thought-out goal of her own. She would rather be assisted or go slow until which time she can do things easily on her own. She wants to mentally work with her body to get it back to full function instead of accommodating its weaknesses. Go girl!

Now for her progress report.

RIGHT ARM

She has much more strength in it......raises it above her head and is eating with it which is amazing! When she grabs something, her fingers now will release when she wants. This is new this week. Before she could grab but not let go....how frustrating!

RIGHT LEG

The shaking in the right leg comes now only when it is very fatigued from therapy. If it starts, she has figured out how to help it stop. She is able to lift her right leg to take normal steps vs. dragging it into the correct position.

WALKING

Yesterday she walked with one therapist and a cane that she barely uses. She is able to walk farther and farther in her 30 minute sessions. She also maneuvered the steps for the 3rd time. Each time she does the steps, she does better than the time before. Her right leg did not shake much during this process.

BATHROOM

She has full function and good control (meaning she can hold it or release it when she goes). Think about how this simple, taken-for-granted function is wonderful when it works and so limiting when it doesn't. PLUS, she doesn't have to spend a lot of mental time trying to coordinate when she drinks liquids, has therapy and will have to go to the bathroom. She is sitting on a regular stool and able to get out of the wheelchair, stand up, turn and sit without assistance....just someone there to 'spot' her in the event of imbalance.

SPEECH

She is speaking much but would like to speak with more volume and definitely wants to sound normal. Currently her voice is low and labored. When her lungs get to full function, this will continue to improve. She talks on the phone to Ryan. The nurses understand her pretty easily although we still must pay close attention when she is talking.

Continue to pray for her knees so they do not lock back when she walks, more strength and pray for planning the date of her wedding.

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, I leave you with this verse:

Nehemiah 8:10 And Nehemiah continued, "GO and CELEBRATE with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad, for the JOY of the LORD is YOUR STRENGTH."

HAPPY THANKS GIVING!

Bless you all who hold Rachel in your heart and prayers,

Crystal

Food!

So the big news is that Rachel got upgraded to level 5 foods....which means she can eat and drink anything! She was surprised how easy it was to go from level 3 to 5, but so hard to go from level 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. A couple hours after she was upgraded, she looked at me and said, "That means there isn't anything I can't eat!"

Friday, yesterday, Rachel walked 300 feet in her morning PT session. We are thinking that is twice as far as she had previously walked in the same amount of time. She also did the set of 4 stairs again (it's been a week since last time). The stairs went alot better. Coming down is a bit more challenging than going up.

Today we get to go out for a couple hours. Tonight we are going to go out for supper. Rachel will get to ride in a car and eat 'real' food. We are all excited. It'll be a double date, Rachel and Ryan, and Josh and I.

Yesterday, Rachel attempted to raise her right arm (the weaker one) above her head completely... and this time it went all the way up! Another breakthrough.

Specific prayer requests:

• Rachel walks out of Madonna unassisted
• Right leg stops shaking
• Right thumb, ring and pinky finger gains full function

Have a great weekend!
RuthAnne

6 Weeks in Nebraska

Good afternoon,

6 weeks ago Rachel left the hospital in Iowa City. Rachel couldn't talk or move anything but her head and right arm (barely).

I have only been gone for two days and there has been improvement. So fun. Josh and I left Sunday night and I got here this morning around 10am. It's the little things I notice. Rachel can scoot forward in her chair by herself, which takes a good amount of trunk control. When she stands, most of the time she does 98% of the standing herself. Rachel's right arm is continually improving, just slow. But when I left on Sunday, she could not lock and unlock her wheel chair (a cam action) with her right hand/arm. Today, it looks like it's not a big deal, she does it easily. Rachel also did an arm exercise that she had done two weeks ago and got to see huge improvements with her right arm. What was really neat is that Rachel commented that she could see the big improvement. She doesn't usually get to see the big changes like we do because she lives with herself everyday.

As far as we know, Rachel's release date is November 30th. It was originally today, but they extended it. A good thing. 2 1/2 more weeks of therapy in her favor before leaving. A couple of us got okayed to do transfers with Rachel. Transfers are where someone assists in getting Rachel from the bed to the wheelchair or from the wheelchair to the car. Now we can take Rachel out for a couple hours when she has some free time. Yeah! -Starbucks, here we come :-)

Rachel's right leg is also getting stronger. The shaking is still there, but it seems be getting more manageable. She is walking a bit faster and with less effort.
Oh, and when the nurse turned her back on Rachel, she sat up in bed by herself! She used her left hand on her bed railing to help assist. This is definitely a first!

Watching a miracle,
RuthAnne

The Quilt

If you click on the picture, it should enlarge it.

Yeah, It's Saturday!

Rachel always looks forward to Saturdays. They work her hard here through the week, and on Saturdays and Sundays, she only has a couple therapies. She is resting today and getting ready for another tough week. Josh and I are here for the weekend and impressed with her continued progress.

On Friday (yesterday) Rachel walked 100 feet with only one person assisting and no rest breaks. Then she walked over to the stairs and climbed up and down 4 stairs. Go girl! Her goal that was set when Rachel got to Madonna was to walk 10 feet with 2 people assisting her. This 100 feet was accomplished at the end of a day at the end of a long week.

Thursday, Speech Therapy, okayed Rachel for level 3 foods and straight water (she's been on level 2 with thickened liquids). Now she can have breads and ground meat. Level 2 was no breads and all soft foods that aren't sticky (like peanut butter).

SOOooo.... this means Rachel's PEG tube came out Thursday afternoon!!! Rachel is one 'happy camper'. She was more than ready to have that tube out of her stomach, it was always getting in the way of her clothes, therapies, and constantly sore. Rachel laughs, because it looks like she has two belly buttons :-)

It sounds like Rachel's treadmill therapist doesn't want to work with Rachel on the treadmill because of the shaking in her leg. So she will be taking the week off from the treadmill.

Rachel specifically is asking for prayer for this shaking that occurs when her ankle is quickly reflexed, mostly in walking. The shaking hinders her walking ability. (and for her knees that wants to lock when she stands or walks).

Check back in a couple hours and I'll be posting a picture.

RuthAnne

Try This:

Okay, news update. Some of you who can't see the pictures or the addresses probably need to go to www.Microsoft.com and download Internet Explorer 7 or go to www.Mozilla.com and download Firefox. Both are free. I personally recommend Firefox, it works MUCH better than Explorer. After that, you should be able to see all the goodies on the side of this blog just fine. And that will probably help those of you who can't leave posts.

-Josh

A Dream

Hello Everyone,

My name is LeAna, I am a good friend of Julia Garrison (Rachel's sister). I recently had a dream that I feel God used to remind me of how important it is to pray for the Garrisons and hope that it reminds you to continue to faithfully lift up Rachel and her family before our Lord!

In my dream, I walked into my kitchen and saw a newspaper lying on the table. I picked it up and started to read, noticing a picture of myself. I started to comment on it when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my older brother, Evin, was sitting at the table.

Evin lives a few hours away, so I was thrilled to see him and excitedly exclaimed, “Evin!!!” as I gave him a big hug. He let out a little moan as if in pain and slowly, with slurred speech, said something like, “You better stick with the neck hug.” I was confused and pulled back quickly to ask what he meant. He motioned slowly and with much effort to show me that he was in a wheelchair with a headrest and supportive boards in front and behind him to help him sit up. He gave a half smile as if to say, “It’s OK,” but upon realizing the condition he was in, I broke down and wept. I wept to see him in that condition, and also at the realization that I had been so caught up in my own little world, looking at myself in the newspaper, that I had not even noticed him there.

I woke up crying, and continued to cry for a few minutes until I fully realized it was just a dream. Even after realizing this, though, I still had a hard time holding back the tears at just the vivid memory of “seeing” him like that, even if only in a dream.

At this point, I felt that God was putting it strongly on my heart to pray for Rachel, the rest of the Garrison family, and Ryan. It occurred to me that in my dream, I knew in the back of my head that Evin was OK - that he was going to recover. And yet, it absolutely broke my heart to see him in such a state.

I speak to Julia on a nearly daily basis, and am updated frequently on Rachel’s physical progress. I often forget that though she survived against all odds, this doesn’t mean that it’s an easy road from here on out. I’m sure that there are days for her when she is terribly discouraged, and days that it hurts Ryan and her family to see her so changed.

So as we continue to praise God for the incredible progress that Rachel has made thus far, let’s not forget to implore Him to give strength, joy, and hope anew each day to the Garrisons and Ryan.

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." -2 Corinthians 13:14

LeAna Negron, New Jersey

Mom writes from Lincoln:

Rachel just asked me to put on the blog to pray for
-her walking on the treadmill every Tuesday and Thursday mornings (10:30am CST)
-her legs would be coordinated with God's help vs. pharmaceutical intervention
-that the spasms in her legs will disappear (they show up with exertion and fatigue)

Rachel's right side has good muscle tone.

The therapists say Rachel is one of the hardest working, determined patients they have seen.

We are all pleased with her progress, even though the list of things she can do without assistance is short, but growing!
Therapy is a very long, laborious road for all involved.

Prayers have been answered in abundance! In light of that, let me ask you.... would you consider praying for a touch-from-God miracle?

-Crystal

Isaiah 45:18,19 "I am the Lord," he says, "and there is no other I

I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord speak only what is true and declare only what is right."

Pictures

Rachel and Ryan. Fun to see them standing together. Sometimes Rachel wears tape on her right arm to help with the muscle stimulation.

The treadmill. The harness helps support Rachel's weight so that she can work on her gait pattern.

A Year In 3 Weeks?

Ah, another day in Lincoln, Nebraska. I am sitting in the room with Rachel and Speech Therapy is working with her. Rachel is reading an article out loud to us. Very cool. She is talking more and more. Thursday night, Ryan was not able to spend the night, so he called and talked to her. They talked for an hour on the phone! Rachel said that she thought he understood at least 80% of what she said to him on the phone. Either because he repeated it back to her correctly or responded appropriately. Yesterday, they did a test with Rachel to see how much air was escaping through her nose instead of it coming out of her mouth. The test went well. Little, if any, air comes through her nose. The lady that did her test had never seen Rachel before, but had heard about her. And that 'test lady' said that she thought Rachel had progressed at least a years worth in just a couple weeks. She said that it had been a very long time since she has seen someone progress so quickly, going from not speaking at all to speaking this well.

Your prayers are powerful!!!

Yesterday, Friday, Rachel walked on the treadmill for the first time. It went well considering it was the first attempt. I guess the first attempt usually doesn't go well at all, but I would say that it went well for her first time and being at the end of a very busy day at the end of a long week. Rachel was a bit frustrated with it. Some of the frustration Rachel is having is coming from her right leg. Her right ankle/leg shakes kinda like a spasm when quickly flexed (just like in walking). The medical condition is called 'clonus'. Her next treadmill session is on Tuesday and Rachel is concerned about the shaking. She does not want to use medication to treat it, but allow her body to figure out how to control the muscles appropriately.

So let's pray fervently for Rachel's right leg, so that her walking progresses rapidly. The therapist's say that Rachel has good strength, so strength isn't as much of a concern as the shaking and spasms that interfere with walking.

Rachel is also asking that you pray for her right arm, it is still weak. She is trying to eat with it, but needs alot of assistance to scoop the food onto her spoon. Rachel was right handed before and really wants full function of her right hand.

The doctor doesn't want to remove Rachel's feeding tube that is in her stomach for another week or so. Rachel is not using the tube for anything, so it is just a waiting game. Rachel is able to swallow all her pills.

Thank you for all your support,
RuthAnne