Abe's Birthday

It's Abe 42nd birthday today.Hertha and I went to sing happy birthday to him, and he lifted his left hand. We are very happy that the Dr gave us permission to take him in the beautiful garden behind the hospital later on. It has to be sunny tho. I believe it would do Abe very good to get some fresh air for a change.

We are so happy and excited for every little thing he has accomplish so far,they are the big thing for us.
It's my privilege to be here in Guatemala with Hertha.she is one of the strongest person I've ever known. She is courageous, filled with joy, and most of all her super natural faith in almighty God. I thank you all for praying for her. I've witness what the power of prayers can do in a time of uncertainty.
We would like a prayer request for Abe for the following :
1) For the right side of his body to be more flexible,so far it's only his left side that has a lot more movements than the right side.
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Abe's update

Hi family and friends, as of 11:00 this morning Dr Matteo ordered the monitors from Abe to be removed.And that means good news.!
Abe has been coughing well. It is important for him to do so in order for him to be able to clear his throat.
The tube is still in his throat. Dr Matteo says Abe is ready to be transported back to Belize by air ambulance directly to a hospital,or we have an option of staying several days more in order for his tube to be remove, and then he will be able to go directly home.
Thanks for your prayers! We appreciate it!
Elda

Abe's recovery

Hello everyone, today is a new day. We are still waiting for Abe's doctors to give a full update on how he is progressing. This morning hertha and Otto went to visit him and he propped up his head several times with his left hand.
He had cough easily this morning with no signs of nervousness,and also brought out his first word and it sounded like (Bo) . Also the expensive feeding bag has been taken off.so he no longer consumes the nutrients that goes directly to his veins. He is only taking his supplements that goes direct to his stomach. Please continue to pray and keep believing with us for complete restoration."Jesus christ the same yesterday,and to day,and for ever"
Elda

First good cough with sound. Major breakthrough

After lung exercise. This is NO fun

Exercising the lungs

Abe is focusing in

One of Abe's first sounds

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

Abe is constantly improving. 3 days ago when they started giving Abe supplements, he was only absorbing 30 ml of supplements per hour. Yesterday he was able to absorb 40 ml per hour and today he was at 50 ml. He needs to be at 60 to 70, in order to be receiving enough nutrients, so they can stop giving him the expensive nutrients directly into his veins. Doctor expect this to be tomorrow or Saturday.
Abe is doing more movements. All his movements are in slow motion. Today he lifted his hand up high to grasp Otto's hand upon his request. While Hertha was holding his hand, I was praying and making declarations, he reached over with his hand to grasp my arm.
Abe seems to try to communicate with his body. His lips move slightly, but there is no sound whatsoever. He started to point with his index finger, and do various motion with his fingers and hand. He only does this with left hand. At one time he pointed his finger into his ear, as if to scratch or possibly show us something. He also lifted his arm, opened his hand as if to reach over and touch Hertha's cheek. When we talked to him about going home he got more active and lifted his head and shoulder and moved his legs.
Please continue to pray for a full recovery of his brain injury, and that he will quickly become aware of things so that tubes can be removed. Doctors are mentioning that he may move out of ICU soon.

Jacob Dueck

Abe's update
Abe is showing constant progress in his recovery from his brain and back injury. We are very happy Ben Barkman came for the day, and has helped us with much insight into getting an in-depth knowledge of how Abe was hurt and what the recovery process may look like. However we plan and prepare to walk this out, we are always open for, and expecting a full recovery miracle to happen.

Hertha is an amazing wife to Abe, having an endless optimism, that no doubt adds greatly to the speed of Abe's recovery. She faithfully makes full use of every visiting opportunity. She tirelessly speaks joy and life to him, encouraging him in thousands of ways. Abe has constant worship music going non stop, and with the amazing team of nurses and doctors, the ICU room seems to have a continual presence of God and optimism.

We have had a good in-depth discussion on 2 occasions with doctor Mateo, and doctor Antonio, who will be in care of Abe after today for a while, as doctor Mateo will be out for several days. Following are notes from our discussions with the doctors.

Abe's primary injuries happened to his head, back and right shoulder.

Head,
Abe's brain was hurt by the sever impact and lack of oxygen. An MRI was done on Sunday, which revealed the blood clot was still present, but was receding satisfactorily, and is posing no immediate concern. There were no dark spots found. Doctor showed us details from the MRI, to demonstrate no dark spots. Hallelujah!
Doctor is happy he had decided not to do surgery on Abe's arrival, as it would have added extra stress and complications. The clot was in front which did not pose the immediate threat. If the clot had been a little further back, he would have done surgery immediately.

Back,
Doctor carefully showed us full MRI details of before and after the surgery. We clearly saw how the broken vertebrae was compressing the spinal cord. The after pictures revealed the inserted screws and support brackets, fusing the L1 with T2 and L2, and the now unobstructed spinal cord. Doctor is expecting no paralysis, as was the danger.

Shoulder,
Abe's shoulder was hurt, and at first it was expected that ligaments were torn and some dislocation of bones. However new reports from the MRI reveal only stretched ligament. It is not expected that surgery will be needed on his shoulder.

Abe's stomach and intestines had slowed down as part of the brain trauma. Last week when he was given supplements, he vomited it out. The stomach drain has receded much in the last few days, indicating that he is getting ready to receive supplements. Yesterday morning they gave it another try, and he is taking it well this time, and has not vomited. They feed him regular food like fruit juice and jello thru the tube into his stomach 3 to 4 times a day. The nutrition specialist is happy how Abe's system now takes food, and he says there is no bloating and apparent complications. To "wake up" the intestines is a process, that takes time. As soon as he is ready to eat with his mouth, the air tube will be removed. For the time being he needs the air tube to avoid infections. He will be unable to talk until it is removed.
As soon as Abe's intestines are stable, he can move out of ICU. They expect this to take another 4 to 8 days, after which he will be ready to come home to Belize.

Abe's brain recovery process status is unknown at this time, and only time will tell what it will be like. The doctors cannot know nor test the extent of the damage. However, progress is seen every day, at a fairly decent rate considering the injury he suffered. Doctor Mateo is optimistic with the way he responds to various things and the way he focuses with his eyes and moves his limbs.

Abe sleeps the majority of the time. In the morning it takes strenuous coaxing to wake him up. Later in the day, he is awake more, and responds quicker and more. Abe moves all limbs. He carefully scratches his nose, rubs his eyes, and strokes his lower lip. Therapy is done twice a day. Hertha is being taught to do this, as well as feeding thru the tube, to prepare for going home. Abe focuses on a person and make short expressions. He moves his lips, as if he is wanting to speak. He swallows his saliva well.

Continue with us to declare life and joy over Abe and Hertha.

Jacob Dueck

Hi family and friends!
We Jacob and Lilly, along with Otto and Elda are very excited to be here with Abe and Hertha now, to see the progress that's happening. It definitely looked like he got excited about seeing Jacob. He looked and looked at him for a long time, trying to talk with moving his lips. Abe constantly puts his hand up to rub his right eye, and his lower lips. When he yawns saliva may drip and he wipes it with his hand. Generally he will swallow when needed.
Dr. Matteo came in and said he was very happy with Abe's progress today. They started to feed him supplements today, and he's doing great! His intestines are starting to work. No throwing up at all. He says if he'll keep doing fine with this he'll soon teach Hertha (family), how to tube feed him and we can go home to Belize with Abe. Hertha asks you though, to keep believing for a miracle of not needing any tubes to go home.
Dr says, they did catscan yesterday and the test looks beautiful, better than expected. He says there's no dark spots on his brain. Abe shows strong emotions, if Dr. pinches him. Dr. says he definitely hears us talking. The blood clot is nicely disappearing.
By looking at the eyes/pupils, the Dr. measures Abe's brain awareness. Abe is currently at 2. A healthy normal person is at 1. The first three days after the accident, Abe was at 4 which is the worst stage, or no response/unconscious stage.
Looking forward to another great day, where we expect to see Gods goodness!

Written by Lilly

 

Here I am to report back to you all on the good things that are taking place out here. A few days ago Abe wanted to help me with my tablet when I tried to take a picture with it and it didn't work right away. I was sitting right beside him while trying to make it work when He brought his hand close to the tablet. The liquid that comes out of his stomach has a normal color now also it is a lot les

s from a few days ago when it was 1500cc to today 300cc. Soon you will hear that he is getting his supplements I expect. Last night he had tried to take off his tube in his throat so now his hand is tied down. He was lifting up one of his knees today . And plus I got A few kisses from him of course he got some from me too. Ha ha. This is indeed a God day.

Hertha

This is an update that you all would have liked to receive yesterday but because I was quite busy getting ready to go home it did not get done before, now. Stanley and Tina and Hertha had a chat with Doctor Matteo yesterday at 6:30. Later during our 7:30 visit with Abe, a specialist for shoulder injuries, Dr. Aldana, came in to explain Abe’s shoulder injury.  He said it is not necessary to do a surgery on the arm, only some therapy. Abe has been improving a lot since Friday. It was a thrill to see him wake up more. He has greeted Mom and Dad and Stanley and Tina and the doctor with a smile. His eyes are open more than half of the time we were in his room. He wrinkles his forehead to open his eyes really wide, rubs his eyes and scratches his nose, turns his head a lot , to change position and  toward noises. Hertha was sitting close to him trying to make her tablet take a picture of him and he made an effort to reach toward the tablet.

  The main concern at this point is that his brain, stomach and intestines are slow in functioning together. Yet , he says that his brain waking up more the way it is doing now will speed up this function as well. Let us pray urgently for this area to function well. This is the only thing that stands in the way of his moving out of the ICU and start giving him supplements again.

   Other than that the news is very encouraging. The doctor talked of doing a catscan on Friday, which has not happened possibly because the doctor was kind of busy, and an EEG early this week. Doctor Matteo says the EEG is  now a waste of money because the visible progress Abe is making is a far better test than the EEG would be. He says Abe is doing very good and he especially mentioned  the facial expressions Abe is making are a very good sign. The catscan sounds like the doctor will do early in the week.

    There is so much to praise God for but we also need to pray for more healing.

                                                                                                                               Betty   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 God is working His healing in Abe’s body. It was very hard to leave him tonight. He had his eyes open the whole time and seemed uncomfortable. We tried to guess what was bothering him but could’nt quite figure it out. We read Psalm 91 to him and prayed with him and he became peaceful, focusing   and listening  intently on the reading and he became peaceful again. When we left his room he followed Hertha’s every move it looked as if he did not want her to leave.

                                     Betty

 

 

 

      I need to mention a few more exciting things Abe did today. As we have said before, we are praising  the Lord for every sign of improvement.

After lunch he scratched his nose and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his left hand. His eyes are open  a lot of times. One time when he had his eyes open and Mom and Dad were in there, he looked at them and smiled. God is good. He is in control and we stand amazed. The catscan they talked of doing has not happened yet. Next week probably. They have not started his supplements either as yet. We hope to speak to the doctor yet today.

                                                                                                                                                  Betty                                                                                                                               

 

 

  Because he loves me,” says the Lord,” I will rescue him; I will protect him for he acknowledges my name. Psalm 91:14

The Bible is full of promises for God’s  children. Last night we read this verse to Abe and I thought of what Doctor Matheau said to Abe a couple hours before, that Abe is a man who loves God but God loves him even more. So true. When we visited Abe this morning he was sleepy but later in the morning he responds again pretty much the same as yesterday. It is so good to see him getting better. Thank you so much for praying just keep on praying for his full recovery.  We were surprised this morning to find visitors waiting at the hospital for us, Abe and Elizabeth Klassen. Thank you so much for coming. We are expecting Stanley and Tina to arrive in a few hours. Tomorrow morning I leave for home. So you will have to bear with us and see how the updates will come through in the coming days.

                                                                Betty