« July 1, 1 AM | Main | July 3, 8:30 AM »
July 02, 2005
July 2, 9 AM, Talking
asher said hello to me on the phone last night and i almost dropped the phone. i probably would have, but i wanted to hear him say more. we actually ended up having our first conversation since he was injured.
last night when i called asher's room, gloria said the nurse was putting him to bed and she wanted me to call her back after she went back to the apartment where she is staying. i asked her, though, if she could hold the phone up to asher's ear so that i could say goodnight to him. as soon as she put the phone to his ear, before i could say anything, he said, "hello," and it was a very clear "hello." he couldn't respond to everything i asked him, and he did not ask me questions, but he was able to respond to several things i asked, with one or two word answers, and he also told me "goodnight." i have just been filled with praise and thanksgiving to God ever since. something inside of me just continues to jump up and down like a little kid who is excited because he got what he wanted for Christmas.
after i told asher goodnight about 4 times (i just wanted to hear him say it to me again and again and again) gloria got back on the phone and i asked her what had happened that day, had they done something different? she said to call her when she got back to the apartment and she would tell me. did that ever seem like an eternity.
it ended up that she called me first. she said that asher had only started talking when she came back to his room around 6 PM. she also found out from his nurse last night that when asher first came to sherperd on monday that they had started giving him a drug to help him come out of his coma. we had heard about this drug, before we came to shepherd, but we didn't know that the had started giving it to him. apparently this is the same medication that is frequently given to either parkinson or alzheimer patients. this is one of those things, i think, that has to be given during a certain window of opportunity. i wish i could tell you more about it, but i only have a vague knowledge of it at this point. i will find out more, though.
gloria said that when she was talking to asher when she was with him earlier that, without any expectation for him answering her back, he answered the question that she asked him, and she said that his enunciation had been perfect. then she asked him if he could understand her and he answered that he could. that, quite understandably, was the beginning of quite a long and amazing discourse between them. at one point she asked about pain, if his neck was hurting. he said yes, so gloria got the nurse in there and she adjusted the position of his neck and then she asked him again if it hurt and he said "no."
as wonderful as it was for her to be able to converse with him there were also some heartbreaking words. at one point he said to her "take me home" and at another time he said he wanted to go upstairs and take a shower. we live in a 2 story house and he always took a shower upstairs every night.
on the scale (it's called the Ranchero scale) that is used to evaluate what level of a coma a person is in, asher has clearly reached number 4. he was a 2 when he first came to shepherd. when people in comas reach number 4 they typically can be a very agitated and abusive. please pray that asher makes it through this stage quickly and with relative calm.
what asher's being able to talk will mean is that we will be able to begin to find out more about what he has been aware since he fell, what he is presently aware of, as well as what is going on in his body as far as pain, feeling and his ability to move. as you can imagine, finding out some of these things, for us is more than a little frightening, so for asher i cannot even fathom the degrees of fear and frustration that he might be struggling with. i know it is all going to be ok, though. with all the miracles that have been occuring ever day for asher, i know that we just need to view this stage, this period, as reaching yet a higher place on the mountain, even though that mountain is the height of mt everest. we will continue to look upwards towards the summitt, full recovery, in the absolute belief that asher will summitt, and that the view from there, on top of the world, will be spectacular.
yesterday was the start of the skate benefit competition for a fund that the owner of the chattown skate park, kevin jones, wanted to get started for asher. along with kevin, several of asher's close friends (who are also skaters) helped to organize and get the word out about it. they all worked incredibly hard and did the most amazing job of putting this all together. about half way through yesterday's competition it started to rain and had to be called off, but the good news is that it will pick back up today at noon today in order to finish up yesterday's scheduled events. tonight, at 6 PM, the second part of the competition will begin. tonights competition will be for best trick. please pray for clear, but cool weather as well as safety. i hope to be able to post some pictures from the competition by the first of the week.
your prayers are continuing to sustain us as well as healing and restoring asher's body. Bless you all!
filled with joy,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 10:03 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://chattablogs.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/22707
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference July 2, 9 AM, Talking:
Comments
Praise be to Our Loving Lord-We are shedding many tears of JOY! None of us slept well lastnight we were all so excited. We know many more challenges are ahead-We are sitting at the edge of our seat anxiously awaiting Asher's next accomplishments. Andy, Hadrienne and Gloria it is a priviledge to pray with/for you and Asher. Shalom!
Posted by: Jan Moore at July 2, 2005 11:42 AM
Wow! What wonderful news!!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow...I've read this most recent update over & over to let it thorougly sink in.
Keeping all of you in prayer, louise
Posted by: Louise Tucker at July 2, 2005 12:46 PM
Oh, Andy, I am jumping for joy with you! Yes, I am sure you are overwhelmed and even a little frightened, but now you will know with what Asher and the family has to deal. And God will lead you all the way through! What Glory!!
Jane
Posted by: Jane Stewart at July 2, 2005 12:48 PM
Dear Family,
This news is so very great,I can't imagine what it means to you.Our God is more than able and more than willing!!!!!
I am one of those many that God has praying for you that you don't even know.
Remaining before the Throne,
Jackie
Posted by: jackie at July 2, 2005 03:28 PM
praise the LORD! when i saw "Talking" as the
title, my eyes opened wide and my heart
leapt up. it seemed forever for the slow
dial-up computer to show the update.
how very timely for asher to be showing
such progress in his journey to freedom
on the weekend commemorating liberty.
Posted by: grace at July 2, 2005 06:13 PM
Praise God! What a praise to God's goodness that Asher is talking today! I can only imagine the emotions this is bringing up. Know that we continue to pray for you.
My husband met you yesterday with NewsChannel 9, so he now knows who we have been praying for! We will continue to. Thank you for taking the time each day to write to us all. It keeps the prayer requests current for all of us.
Continued blessings,
Jeni Gerlach
Posted by: Jeni Gerlach at July 2, 2005 10:23 PM
Oh, how my heart rejoices with you! We continue to pray for all of you daily.
Oh love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer fuller be.
Oh Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be. -Matheson 1882
I pray for rest for you as you rejoice and see God's hand moving. Love you ALL. Leda
Posted by: Leda at July 2, 2005 10:38 PM
I know that this is a blessing, but I also know that there is still a long road ahead. We will be praying. Just keep letting us know how we can help and what to pray for...one step at a time.
The progress so far, is incredible and a tremendous blessing and shows the power of prayer. Angles are good multi-taskers, apparently.
Posted by: Prayer Buddy at July 3, 2005 12:56 AM
To the Mendosa family,
We are so thrilled to hear the news. We have been following Ashers progress daily and praise the Lord for the miracles. Our prayers are being answered and will continue for his full recovery.
shalom.
From your Canadian relatives.
Posted by: Truus Dales at July 3, 2005 06:25 AM
Andy & Gloria,
What a blessing to see Asher last week and to spend a little time with you.!
When you spoke about the mountain and the summit in you update on Sat. I was reminded of words God had shown me about the beautiful experience of of getting to the top of the mountain.
We had just gotten back from a trip to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and on June 25 in Charles Spurgeons devotional - "Go up on a high mountain "- Isa. 40:9
He spoke of our knowledge of Christ as beingsomewhat like climbing one of these mountains.
When you are at the base you see but little, but as you climb each rising knoll, as you go higheryour view increases, until at last when you reach the summit, you see all of God's beauty for miles. It reminded me of our ; the trails were hard and the altitude high- at times we could hardly breath- should we turn back? is this to hard for us? Our answer was always, We have come this far, we can't turn back now! And we were always rewarded with a beautiful and breathtakinf view of God's creation The climbing was tough, but the reward for perserving was great!
This my prayer for Asher and you all, Keep climbing that mountain, it want be asy, but keep perserving and disciver God's blessings on the summit. To God be the Glory for all He has done and for all He is going to do!
Climbing to the top of the mountain with you, Carolyn & Lanier, Canton , Ga.
Posted by: carolyn ingram & Lanier at July 3, 2005 08:12 AM
