jmcgready’s misc universe

From emily’s care page

Emily is hard at work in therapy again after a couple of days off because of her fever.
My mom and aunt were able to attend one of her physical therapy sessions this afternoon
and got to witness Emily respond to a command from her doctor for the first time!

The doctor was working with Emily’s hands showing her how a “thumbs up” sign is made.
She then asked Emily to hold her thumb still which Emily did.
And then she asked her if she could lift up her thumb…
and very slowly her thumb went up.

The doctor then asked her to lift it up a second time.
And again very slowly Emily got her thumb up in the air!

Her doctor is thrilled and we’re rejoicing
while praying that the healing process will continue.

A well known verse from Psalm 139,
which Emily memorized as a little girl, says,
“All the days ordained for me where written in your book
before one of them came to be.”

And as a family we continue to hold onto that truth for Emily.
Her future days - both their number and their contents - are already known to God.

Despite today’s achievement it is going to be slow process.
She is still technically considered to be in a minimally conscious state
and the doctor has stressed that she won’t necessarily
be able to repeat this same feat tomorrow,
but we are encouraged by another small step forward.

Please pray that response on Emily’s part will not only increase
but become consistent. And continue to pray that she will remain healthy
while her brain function is slowly regained.

Technorati Tags: brain function, conscious state, emily, healing process, physical therapy, psalm 139, therapy sessions

Emily Updates

Emily is doing very well at Moss - -
it’s nice to be able to visit with her in her own room.

The nurses on her floor and all of the doctors on her team
have been very encouraging as well.

Since the accident she has had so many wonderful caregivers -
we can’t thank these people enough for their dedication.

We’d like as a family to ask people to pray earnestly this week
that progress on Emily’s part would be steady and consistent.

We’ve been told it is very normal for responses to be inconsistent,
but we are praying that hers will at least occur frequently
when the doctors are working with her so that they can see first hand
things that the nurses and family members report.

My parents have asked me to share Luke 11:2-13
a passage that they have been reading regularly since the accident.
In it Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray
telling them in verse nine,
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Many people have also been asking if Emily
is allowed to have visitors at Moss.

She is and we’d be happy to provide directions to Moss
and the times that she can have visitors.
Just let just know if you’d like to go see her.

Technorati Tags: caregivers, emily, family members, jesus, luke 11, moss, nurses

July 01, 2008 at 09:29 PM EDT
Tonight at 7pm marked 3 weeks since the accident on June 10th. Emily remains stable but is still unconscious. My parents, Jody and I were excited to see her yawning for the first time today. There is also still some very slight movement of the head and her eyes are wide open most of the time that we visit with her.

My parents have begun to meet with representatives from two rehab facilities and are hoping to reach a decision within the next week about where to take Emily. Please pray that they would have wisdom in this decision.

We continue to pray for her full recovery. Tonight my parents read Romans 15:13 and found it extremely comforting during this time of transition (we move tomorrow) and waiting for Emily. They would like me to share it with all of you and thank you for the overwhelming support you have shown to our entire family.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him and may you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Please continue to pray and hope with us that Emily will be restored.

Technorati Tags: emily, god, joy and peace, overwhelming support, parents, power of the holy spirit, rehab facilities, wisdom

June 29, 2008 at 06:46 PM EDT
Emily looks wonderful without all of the tubes in her mouth and seems to be much more alert at times.

All of us went to the hospital this afternoon after church and were able to visit with her - Nathan and Stephen are still not allowed in to the trama unit but the nurses did let Peter come in today for a brief period of time although he hasn’t been permitted to go in and see her since she passed the 72 hour mark.

Jody and I were by her bed talking to her when my Dad came in with Peter, and his entrance (Peter) seemed to generate a real response from Emily. I leaned over when I saw him coming around the corner and said, “Emily, guess who’s here?” He walked up and said hi and her eyes opened wide and she lifted her head up and to the side.

She seemed to stay alert for a little longer and moved her head and mouth one other time while we were in there, but then seemed to grow very tired again.

It was wonderful to see some movement again although she is still in a coma and it gave us great hope that healing is occuring in Emily’s body as she lies there.

It has been a great blessing to our family to know that so many people around the world - many of whom we have never even met - have been lifting Emily up in prayer.

Please continue to pray with us that she will begin to gradually wake up and that we would remain faithful as we wait for her to be restored.

Technorati Tags: emily, nurses, pray for emily, prayer, struck by lightning

The latest from the Pray for Emily Facebook Group -
now at 1,624 members strong!

NEW UPDATE!!!
The results of Emily’s brain scans are in
and the doctors said that the results are “guardedly hopeful”.

They said that a normal person would score
somewhere between 8-12 and Emily scored a 6.

This seems low, but there is room for improvement
and this is not her final score.

So again, she is not out of the woods yet
but the doctors seem optimistic that
she could move up her score
and possibly recover or at least improve.

Emily has always been a fighter.
I have never known her to give up,
so lets keep praying that she stays strong
and continues to fight. - Wednesday June 18 (4:00pm)

*also, as of today they are starting
to wean her off of the ventilator,
today it was put on a much lower setting,
her breathing looks much more peaceful

Technorati Tags: brain scans, doctors, emily, facebook, possibilities, struck by lightning, ventilator

from Pray for Emily Facebook group

Today things seemed to be a little better with Emily.

She woke up today when the nurse came in
without even being prompted to do so.

She is more “awake” now then she was
and the doctors think she is realizing what is going on.

When people come in her heart rate goes up
and the doctors think that she is realizing where she is
and what is going on because she seems scared.

Please pray that Emily is at ease
and that she doesn’t get too scared,
and keep praying that she will wake up soon.

Technorati Tags: doctors, emily, facebook, heart rate, nurse, stable condition

From the Pray for Emily Facebook Group:

June 14, 2:40am
NEW UPDATE!!!
OK, I’m sorry to be getting back to you guys so late but here it is…
The scans that the doctors are doing of her brain are not looking good.
However, her responses have been very good.

She is able to be woken up and she responds to stimuli well.
The doctor said that Emily is definitely “in there”
meaning she is not just staring blankly,
she knows people are there and what is going on.

Tonight was also the end of the 72 hours
and tonight is the first time the whole family will be home.

Her heart is exactly where they want it to be
and she can breathe on her own.

She is in stable condition
and is in no danger of dying, PRAISE THE LORD!!!

The family is in better spirits
and can smile and laugh about memories together.

They also have taken her off the morphine
so she is in no pain.

Now it is a waiting game to see how the brain reacts.

The good thing about the scans was that
instead of one area of the brain being in very bad shape,
it looked like it may be minimal damage
to a few different parts of the brain.

The doctor said that there is definite possibility for improvement.

It could be days or weeks,
but Emily will wake up!

So now we just have to pray that her brain recovers
and that when she wakes up
she is the same Emily we know and love.

Technorati Tags: definite possibility, different parts of the brain, emily, facebook, lightning, minimal damage, morphine, struck by lightning, waiting game

Reading: “Pray for Emily | Facebook” ( http://tinyurl.com/4gfcu7 )

So these next eight or so hours
are what will decide how much her brain will recover.
Please Please PLEASE focus your mind on Emily
in continual prayer that her brain will
turn and corner and recover in these next few hours.

You guys have all been great so far,
all 706 of you.
Now we just need to lift her up
down the home stretch.

Technorati Tags: continual prayer, emily, facebook, home stretch, pray for emily, struck by lightning

TV news story on Emily (struck by lightning)

Technorati Tags: emily, lightning, struck by lightning

Emily update - she is alive - in hospital - burn unit - critical condition - keep praying, it’s working

Technorati Tags: emily, hospital, struck by lightning