Our family has been blessed beyond measure with loving friends. One of my dearesst and most precious friends, Kelly Hall, suffered a tragic accident on Thursday night. She was mixing pool chemicals to get her above ground pool ready for the season. A freak accident occurred and a chemical explosion resulted. She was home alone with her two sweet children who ran to a neighbor's house to get help. Kelly was rushed to ER at a local hospital and then life-flighted to Vanderbilt Burn and Trauma unit. She has severe burns and her vision has been greatly compromised in her right eye and her left eye has a poor prognosis at this point. Please pray incessantly for her and her wonderful family!!! Prayers work!!!
You can find updates on Kelly's healing at the CaringBridge.org website under the name kellyhall.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Jordan's First Day of School
Jordan did actually go to school even before his twin. He attends Beech Elementary School. His classmates are both handicapped and non-handicapped children. His nurse, Patti, went with him since Jordan still has very real medical concerns. Some of which are a pre-disposition for seizures, sleep apnea, cardiac and respiratory irregularities, a tracheostomy, and a "mickey button" style feeding tube. I firmly believe that all these medical concerns are temporary and that he will continue to heal as he shows us daily. At this time, however Jordan still requires additional medical equipment and emergency supplies to be with him at all times. He cannot even maneuver his own wheel chair yet, so going to school was a huge endeavor and a breakthough for Jordan's recovery.
Jordan was very comfortable at school. He was able to use the computer to play learning games himself. He was able to discern colors at group time and to know which color that he had. He participated in story-time by making eye contact with the teacher and then using his eyes to indicate answers by looking at the card with the correct answer. He even spontaneously raised his own hand slightly to show that he wanted to answer the question, as in a regular classroom setting. The teacher knew that Jordan loves Barney, the purple dinosaur, so she found dinosaurs for him to use during playtime. He was able to hold the dinosaurs and to let go of them on command. I know all this may sound like small accomplishments, but for Jordan these are huge feats. Please remember that a very short time ago, Jordan was predicted to be "in a permanent vegetative state" that would most likely proceed to "brain death".
As Jordan's Granny, I was apprehensive about Jordan going to school. Jordan far exceeded my expectations for the first day. I believe tht he actually enjoyed it. I was also concerned about him being too tired for his therapy session afterward. He was a little tired, but he still had an awesome day at therapy as well. He not only was able to accomplish his usual goals but to add new accomplishments as well. I am sure that he will build up his strength and rise to meet all the new challenges before him. Jordan has always had a fighting spirit. He continues to exhibit that quality every day.
Jordan was very comfortable at school. He was able to use the computer to play learning games himself. He was able to discern colors at group time and to know which color that he had. He participated in story-time by making eye contact with the teacher and then using his eyes to indicate answers by looking at the card with the correct answer. He even spontaneously raised his own hand slightly to show that he wanted to answer the question, as in a regular classroom setting. The teacher knew that Jordan loves Barney, the purple dinosaur, so she found dinosaurs for him to use during playtime. He was able to hold the dinosaurs and to let go of them on command. I know all this may sound like small accomplishments, but for Jordan these are huge feats. Please remember that a very short time ago, Jordan was predicted to be "in a permanent vegetative state" that would most likely proceed to "brain death".
As Jordan's Granny, I was apprehensive about Jordan going to school. Jordan far exceeded my expectations for the first day. I believe tht he actually enjoyed it. I was also concerned about him being too tired for his therapy session afterward. He was a little tired, but he still had an awesome day at therapy as well. He not only was able to accomplish his usual goals but to add new accomplishments as well. I am sure that he will build up his strength and rise to meet all the new challenges before him. Jordan has always had a fighting spirit. He continues to exhibit that quality every day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
