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July 9, 2005
Another First. July 9, 2 PM
i got back to atlanta yesterday about 3 PM and found gloria, hadrienne and asher altogether in his room. asher had already had a pretty full day by that time and was pretty tired. in fact, soon after i got back, he went to sleep. it was after he went to sleep that gloria shared with me another first. she said that earlier in the day, when asher was with one of his therapists, the therapist had been able to get him to raise both of his hands on command several times in a row. the therapist went on to explained to her that what this meant was that asher would no longer be classified as a quadrapalegic with the ablilty for this kind of voluntary motion in his hands. his hands, we found out are controlled by the C7 vertebrae which is below his C5 injury. which means that coming down from his brain signals are making it down his spinal cord past this injury. i was really speechless when gloria told me this, yet again, news of miraculous proportions. thanksgiving continues to be the order of the day as well as for eternity.
gloria also told me that asher is now officially advanced to the status of being in rehab therapy rather than still having medical care status. when asher first came to shepherd, almost 2 weeks ago, he came as a medical care patient in order to get him ready for rehab therapy. at some point they will be moving him to the spinal rehab unit, but for now he will remain in the acquired brain injury unit. i am honestly not certain what will determine the move.
asher was also able to go downstairs and visit the garden yesterday. the weather finally cleared up enough for him to be able to do that. it was so wonderful to hear all of this great news and to be back with asher. i miss him so much every time i have to be away for a few days to travel back to chattanooga. i think he was as glad to see me as i was to see him. it is so incredible knowing that he knows when any of us are gone from him and that he seems to miss us as much as we miss him.
i have gotten to be with him for most of the day today by myself. gloria and hadrienne had to go out and do some shopping. asher needed a few things and so did hadrienne. while we have been together today we have been down to the secret garden (that's what they call it) and i got to feed him for the first time. he didn't eat too much for me, though, hopefully it was because he wasn't hungry and not because i just wasn't persistent enough. it is still hard for me to believe that he is actually eating 3 meals a day, now and only getting a small supplemental amount of his over all carlorie intake through his feeding tube in his stomach. i honestly don't think that he will have that too much longer either.
asher also had some movement in his legs yesterday. he pulled them together several times when he was sitting in his wheel chair. these are not voluntary movements, though, at least not at this time. this can, and is probably happening as a result of muscle spasms connected with his T5 spinal injury. whatever is causing it, though, at this point doesn't even matter to me. it is just so wonderful to see them move. i know that the commands coming from his brain for the areas along his spine below his thorasic injury will come, it is just a matter of time.
as i mentioned a couple of days ago the young man in the bed next to asher, kel, who is in a coma, is starting to wake up a little bit more. thank you all so much for praying for him. please keep praying for him to not only wake up, but for his brain to be restored to the place that it was before the injuries he sustain in an automobile accident about a month ago. i have to tell you, his mother is an amazing woman. he is so fortunate to have a mother with such great faith and determination for his full recovery. just in the brief conversations that i have been able to have with her since last night, after i got back, i have found that we are also very fortunate to be sharing a room with her and her son for the very same reasons. she also reminds me a lot of one of the widows back in chattanooga who has been a part of the widow's prayer ministry there for quite a number of years. not being able to be with the widows every week has been one of the most difficult things about being in atlanta. kelvin's mother, in an amazing way, though, has truly been a gift from God in filling that hole. of course, she is not aware of that at all, and it is exactly that kind of humilty that makes her all the more endearing.
i also want to say to all of you, again, today that it is because of all of you and your amazing faithfulness to continue to pray for asher and all of my family that i am able to keep these updates coming each day and that we can all continue to rejoice together and to give thanks to God for miraculously continuing to answer our prayers. i truly continue praise God for all of you. thank you so much.
continuing to give thanks to the the giver of all good gifts,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 2:16 PM
