Abe's Update

We have again seen much progress today with Abe in various ways.
Abe was being given 60 ml of nutrients into his stomach feed tube this morning and at 1:00 pm they increased it to 70 ml. As I said yesterday, this is the amount needed for him to become dependant on his stomach providing enough nutrients, so that the nutrients into his vein can be removed. Doctor expects this to happen tomorrow, but he first want to do blood test. He also said today evening his entire digestive system is functioning all the way thru. Thank you Jesus!

As of yesterday, Abe was at an 11 on the Glasgow coma scale. According to this, he is officially not in a coma anymore. Google the Glasgow coma scale for details. 3 to 8 is considered to be in a coma. Abe is rated at the top score for motor skills, as he obeys commands.

At 11:40 am, Abe started breathing again thru his nose and mouth for the first time, since his accident. They capped the inserted pipe entering his wind pipe, and after a few vigorous tries,he managed to pull air in thru his nose. Since breathing thru the pipe was much easier, it will take several days for his lungs to adjust. He has the pipe capped for 3 hours, then they remove it for 1 hour to give him a rest. Doctor says that if all goes well, they should be able to remove the pipe entirely in several days. He must first cough and swallow properly. Please pray for Abe to be at peace, as this is putting stress on him, as he clearly showed concern about this. He reached out his hand a number of times so we would hold it when he struggled with his breath. For this reason the doctor invited Hertha to stay with him all day. Doctor wants us to clearly communicate to Abe and keep talking about this to him as to why his breath is harder. Also, since his pipe is capped, he could talk if he wanted to. Doctor says Abe needs to discover his voice, and that we need to continually encourage him to make a sound. Once he discovers it, they will give voice therapy.

Abe's response to body therapy is great. As of some days ago, his both sides were responding similar, accept the left side was a bit more responsive. However, as of now, his left side is waking up much much faster than the right side. What I mean by this is that he is already building good resistance in his arm and leg, in that they are getting ready to walk. His right side has minor but some movement, but little resistance. Pray for his right side to "wake up".

Jacob Dueck