07.02.09
Posted in Prayers Needed, Updates on Sean at 11:48 am by kleung
Posted at 10am PT
Today Sean is going to get an ortho[pedic] consult and hopefully be cleared for weight bearing. Which means that if all goes well he will walk soon! Please hold him in your prayers today as always.
Yesterday was a good day. Sean had visitors throughout the day and Vince and I were able to be home between 1-7 so we got a lot of catch up stuff done and had pool time again. Sean continues to amaze us with his progress and good attitude. He is however, struggling with his therapies. He is sick of being hospitalized and he doesn’t want to do therapy especially occupational and speech. He says they are just about concentrating and cognitive stuff so they are a waste of time. We have tried to explain that when he first started talking most of what he said made no sense and that these therapists and the ones at Kentfield have helped him come a long distance but he still has farther to go. I think that it is overwhelming to go from 2 hours of therapy to 41/2 and it will just take a little time for him to build up to it. The therapists [here] are great and they are working hard to get Sean to participate.
I said Sean had visitors yesterday. He enjoyed that so much and we really appreciate that all of you were able to let us know when you would be there so we could add you in to the schedule. Sean has a daily planner that he uses in all his therapies and it helps his concentration to be able to rely on his schedule. He is so appreciative of visitors and he likes to tell people how much he appreciates them. Yesterday morning he baked cookies in OT so he was pleased that he could be a good host and offer cookies to his guests. We are still, and always will be, in awe of how God is healing Sean daily.
I want to update you an the young man that was in the NTSICU room next to Sean. He was in a terrible motorcycle accident three weeks after Sean’s accident and along with a TBI he had many other injuries. Well now he is at a rehab hospital and is on the road to recovery. I was reading [an] update yesterday and was thrilled to read of how well he is recovering. He is on the same path as Sean. Like Sean, at the beginning the doctors did not think that his prognosis was good. God worked two miracles in two side-by-side NTSICU rooms! All glory to God!
I need end this and get busy with my day but I wanted to let you know that yesterday and today I have started my day with prayer and devotion time and I feel like a new woman. I read something by Henri Nouwen this morning that I have to share with you.
"Prayer is the bridge between my unconscious and conscious life. Prayer connects my mind with my heart, my will with my passions, my brain with my belly. Prayer is the way to let the life-giving Spirit of God penetrate all the corners of my being. Prayer is the divine instrument of my wholeness, unity, and inner peace."—Henri Nouwen, from The Only Necessary Thing
Like bread and water people, we just can’t live without it. SO in your busy day today please try not to neglect to connect because God is great and He is listening.
Love,
Terri, Vince, Sean and Kiersten
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06.21.09
Posted in Prayers Needed, Updates on Sean at 1:24 am by kleung
A particularly good day
Posted earlier today… 
Today was a good day all in all. My sister Kim came to visit so we started out the day having breakfast with her and her boyfriend and his kids which was very nice and normal feeling. After we went to the hospital and found Sean sound asleep so Kim and I walked Ross. I showed her the whole town and foothills in a walking tour. Great workout! When we returned Sean was awake and Vince had arrived. We got Sean in his chair and went outside. (Check out the new pics) Later Vince, Kim and I went to San Anselmo for lunch, then back for more time with Sean. What can I say, it was just a nice day.
Sean was sleepy and napping every time we stepped out. I left the hospital a little while ago to Sean insisting that he was going to walk to the shower. It felt nice to know that there was someone who was with him that could continue to explain to him why he couldn’t do that even after I left. Vince is still there and will stay for another hour. Things to pray for? Sean continues to have a low appetite and he vomited today after breakfast. Pray for his intestinal problems to be resolved please. Things to praise for? Well everything!!
Goodnight beautiful people. As always thank you.
Love,
Terri, Vince, Sean,& Kiersten
Happy birthday Karen! We love you mucho.
[Removed for confidentiality reasons] We are so grateful that they [Kyle and Kayla, Sean’s cousins] were able to stay with us in the first few weeks of this. They were and are amazing and they will always be part of our inner circle.
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06.20.09
Posted in Prayers Needed, Updates on Sean at 1:27 am by kleung
Continued recovery
Posted at approximately 6:30 PM PT
Well it’s been a very long week. Sean just keeps amazing the docs with his miraculous recovery. Yesterday I was at the end of my rope and Vince and I had pretty much decided that we would transfer Sean to [the old hospital’s] rehab today. Although Sean is making incredible progress, he is still in the stage where he lacks impulse control and will pull out tubes. He also will ask the same questions over and over and over again and it was trying my patience beyond it’s limits. It is impossible to explain because looking from the outside in, it would seem that I should be overjoyed and loving this. Well I am but it is hard to be in the thick of it alone. He is getting better and is expected to make a full recovery, but it is a long slow process. We have been told that when he comes home it will be very hard because his judgement will be bad for at least a year and the it will be not as bad but poor beyond that and its up to us to keep him safe.
So yesterday the calvary arrived. Vince came back and [the doctor here]authorized a one-on-one CNA [Certified Nursing Assistant] to be with Sean at all times. [The doctor here] and I had a long meeting and we went over everything that is going on with Sean and we decided that next Tuesday would be an appropriate target date to move Sean to [the old hospital’s] rehab. By then he should be tube free and he will get a follow up CT on Monday so they will know exactly where he’s at.
Today Sean was able to eat solid food. He gets clearer in his thinking every day, so now he keeps begging us to take him home. He has no IV so we are able to take him outside in his wheelchair and he loves the fresh air and sunshine. As hard as this is, God’s blessings are obvious. I keep thinking about the sacrifice that God made in giving us His one and only child to save us because His love for us was that huge. I think about that and then I think about how He is giving us our son back . I am awestruck and humbled.
Thank you all for your continued love and support. We are in week 8 and you have stuck by us every single day. I don’t know how we could do this without knowing that you are all with us in this journey. But God knows that and that is why he has given us the gift of all of you.
As always please keep praying because God is great and He is present!
Love,
Terri, Vince, Sean & Kiersten
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06.16.09
Posted in Prayers Needed, Updates on Sean at 8:17 pm by kleung
Tired but grateful
Posted at 8:02 pm PT
Well today was another day of progress for Sean. Everyone is blown away by how quickly he is recovering. He didn’t get the J tube in yesterday so it was scheduled for tomorrow but they did a barium swallow test yesterday so he started getting a blended diet today and did so well that the J tube has been canceled. Also they clamped his G tube and he hasn’t had any problems. He gets clearer in his thinking every day but impulse control continues to be difficult. Imagine having a very mischievous rambunctious 4 year year old. Now imagine him with the above average intelligence of a 22 year old. Now put him in restraints in an enclosed bed. Now imagine him being 6’ tall. Get the picture?
The doc told me the other day that it was going to be brutal. Well that doesn’t begin to describe it. Today he noticed that his central line tubes were laying across his upper arm and almost got his teeth on them. They had to tape them down to stop him from tearing them out. When I am with him I have to be watching him and stopping him constantly and he gets frustrated by it. I told the doc tonight that this is so much better then watching his ICP monitor but I am wiped out.
When we talked about rehab people wrote and said that we had to find a place that would work for us as well and we thought that was ridiculous. That it was all about Sean and where he could receive the best care. Well they had a point. This will only work if we can do it as well. The good news is, is that he is exceeding all expectations so we might be able to go to [old hospital’s] rehab. Tomorrow I will discuss it with the docs. Of course we will keep Sean where he needs to be but it might be that [the old hospital] could meet his needs now. Then we would be back in the loving embrace of our amazing friends and family and I could get a much needed break. I’m tired and stressed beyond reason. Please pray for us that we can be still and follow the path that God is leading us on. Please pray that we have renewed strength and energy. [Editor’s note, emphasis added]
Yesterday an NTSICU that was with Sean on some of his most critical days and that we have formed a friendship with came to visit. Today one of Sean’s friends came. It is so nice to see familiar faces and I know that Sean as well as myself enjoyed the company. Please feel free to visit. The best days however are the weekend days as he doesn’t have much or any therapy and it helps to break up the monotony.
Got to go for now. As always please hold us in your prayers as we hold you in ours.
And know that Sean’s recovery is a miracle. I hear over and over again from medical personnel that this doesn’t happen. People do not ever recover like this from the kind of TBI that Sean had. The medical care he has received is nothing short of excellent but the divine intervention is nothing short of awesome.
Remember that God is great and He is So very present.
Love,
Terri, Vince, Sean & Kiersten
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