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