Friday Night Crash Closes Westbound Beltline (URGENT prayer request)

Channel3000 ^ | CST December 8, 2006 | unspecified

[knittnmom]

Copywrited site-but this family attends my church and needs prayer urgently.

[paulat]

Prayer ping!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Prayer Bump.

[Rte66]

Oh, no. Just saw this. More prayers being sent up from TX. Poor Tom, let it be something minor. TIA

[rotundusmaximus]

Thanks for the update. The Lord is so good! The body of Christ at work, Praise the Lord.

Blessings,

RM

[rotundusmaximus]

Prayers going up for Tom,

RM

[Basselope]

Prayers for all concerned during this scary turn of events.

[CDHart]

More prayers --

Carolyn

[knittnmom]

Thank you all for your prayers! It is a joy to read them.

I spent most of yesterday after church at the hospital with the family. Doctors and HJ (HeatherJane) thought Tom might have internal bleeding, because he was dizzy, and when he stood up, all of his color drained out. By the grace of God, it was not. Seems the accident knocked out of alignment something in the inner ear that affects balance. (Three little stones.) He will probably be discharged today. For now, he's in a room one floor up from his little boy.

The swelling has gone down a great deal for Ian - his little face is so swollen that, if HJ hadn't told me this was Ian, I would not have known. I sat with him Sunday so HJ could check on Tom, and get a little rest. It seemed to me I could see a big difference between early afternoon, and when I left at 9:30 last night in the swelling in his face. The doctors have also said there is no spinal cord damage! He moves his legs and arms, and sometimes swallows. He's doing about half of his breathing on his own, and about half is ventilator-assisted. He still gets pain medication, and it makes a big difference. His parents had just left the room late yesterday when it wore off and he needed more. With the meds, he rests fairly quietly. When it wears off, he's very restless and his little face shows the pain. I sang to him while I sat with him, and his mom thought he was enjoying it.

Regan, the daughter who was in the accident but relatively uninjured, is quite the cool-headed child. She couldn't get out of her seat at first, so she used one hand to put pressure on her father's head wound, and the other to keep Ian's airway open. After the accident, she's experiencing aches, pains, and a lot of trauma. She has trouble sleeping, because she keeps reliving the crash.

Three of our pastors were at the hospital for much of yesterday, as were other women from the church. Our pastor's wife had spent all of Friday night with the family, and most of Saturday. One of our children's leaders works at the pharmacy at the hospital, and has spent a lot of time with the family, as well. They're surrounded by good people, and the nurses, doctors, and staff are the best that can be had. If something like this had to happen, at least it happened close to some of the finest medical care in the country.

One of the nurse's said she was really impressed with how the family's church members came around and supported them. The other woman who was with me at the time looked a little perplexed as she said, "Well, that's what church families do." The nurse assured us that was not her experience, so we invited her to join us.

The man who hit them is a young man, only 25, and is very distraught. Our church is also praying for him. He's been to visit our pastor and our pastor spent a lot of time counseling him.

God bless you all, and thank you for your continued prayers.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[NonValueAdded]

Thank you for the continued updates and Bless you for helping the family. How old is Regan? That was amazing presence of mind to help her dad and brother Ian with immediate first aid; I only hope that I would be up to the task under similar circumstances. Continued prayers for little Ian and the family.

[knittnmom]

She is ten. She and her sisters had first aid training recently, but she credits Jesus with helping her remain calm during the accident.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Prayer Bump! (Thanks for the update.)

[derllak]

Oh how awful! Heartfelt prayers for this sweet family!

[knittnmom]

You're welcome. I'll be leaving early to go to the hospital this afternoon, and will try to get home early enough for another update tonight.

[SeaBiscuit]

God be with Tom, you and family, may His Grace be upon all.

[Kimmers]

Thank you for the updates....I prayed for them this morning on my talk/walk with God.

[Rte66]

Burning a Candle for Ian and Tom

Light An FR Prayer Room Candle

[knittnmom]

Today's update is very good news!

First, Tom was discharged from the hospital with instructions to take Dramamine for the dizziness, and OTC pain medication for the pain. Now he can spend time with HJ and Ian!

Edna was visiting today, because she felt God had put it on her heart to annoint Ian, and to pray privately with HJ. When they were alone, she did. She annointed Ian, and she and HJ prayed over him, praying that he would arise!

Since yesterday, the swelling in his face has gone down drastically. It's still swollen, but he's starting to look more like Ian.

About two hours after that, while Pastor Bill, Rose, Dave E., Tom, HJ, Riyal and I were there, the doctor came in to say the results of the CT Scan were back, and they could take off Ian's cervical collar - no ligament damage to his neck! So, they took that off, and he started moving around a lot more - he stuck out his tongue, trying to get rid of the ventilator tube in his throat.

Then the doctor removed the bandages from his head, and took out the ICP (Intra Cranial Pressure) monitor, since his pressure had been well under the range they were hoping for. He became very active, and opened his eyes while HJ could see him! Tom had just called his mother on the phone to give her the good news about the cervical collar, and HJ excitedly called to him to come see. Ian kept moving, opening his mouth and trying to dislodge the tubes, and even tried to reach up and grab the tube. His little hands are tied down because of the other IVs, so he couldn't reach, but he tried with all his might!

After his nurse (Heather) gently cleaned up where the bandage and cervical collar had been, he settled down and rested for most of the rest of the time I was there tonight.

The doctor had the respiratory therapist come in, and start a test to see if Ian can have the tubes taken out. He said that, once the tubes are out and he's no longer sedated, we'll see much more rapid changes. The test is to leave him hooked up to the ventilator, and set it so it is "boosting" his breathing, but he has to initiate the breath. (If I understood things correctly.) Then, if he takes enough breaths per minute for an hour, he could have the tubes out.

I left before the test was completed, as Erin, Regan, and a friend of Regan's were there, and I thought it might be better if they had some family time. However, he was not yet able to breathe on his own well enough to remove the ventilator tubes. He was breathing 10-14 times per minute, and needs to breathe about 18 times per minute.

Thank you all for your continued prayers!

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

Praise God and continued prayers going up.

[Txsleuth]

This such good news...from the way he was when he first got to the hospital..it sounds like he is a real fighter.

Keep up the good work, Ian...we are all asking God to give you some help...but, you stay fighting for your Mom and Dad.

Prayers up for the whole family...

Thank you for the update...


sleuth