They took the collar off of Ian’s neck today. It will be eight weeks on Saturday since the wreck; I guess a standard amount of time to have a collar on for a fracture of the kind Ian had is 6-8 weeks. Happy Thanksgiving, Ian. We’ll take any small improvement and be thankful.

Ian seems to be looking at us more and more. His extended family came in Wednesday night, and we’ve been visiting in shifts. Several of them expressed how they visited Ian with their own private suspicions about whether Ian was really conscious of our presence, but each came away convinced for different reasons that Ian is really with us. One common thread in their reports was that he really seems to be looking right at us and apparently wanting very much to communicate with us.

The sodium levels are slowly getting under control; when it’s under control he can begin rehab. The goal is to transport Ian back to The Children’s Institute for rehab on Monday. For your information, our visiting hours there will be limited to the evenings. He’ll be so busy there that they don’t want guests slowing him down. Our family and Larissa will be able to visit but only to participate in the rehab.

Please keep praying. We really want him back.

Steve

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Ian has something called diabetes insipidus. The trauma to his brain has led to this condition, and it’s why he’s in the hospital and not in rehab. One medical staff member said that even though his organs are fully capable of doing what they’re supposed to do, his brain isn’t controlling those functions properly. He’s had this since the wreck. It’s the reason for the elevated sodium levels, and it’s the reason the rehab staff were concerned. It’s something that needs to be more stable before he can begin rehab. Please pray that his brain would take proper control of those functions.

Thanks for praying…

Steve

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Jenn Grover was in to visit Ian tonight. She called me to report her experience with him. She said that at one point his eyes were open, but he was blinking a lot. He was moving his jaw a lot, too, and his heart rate was way up. She thought he might be uncomfortable, so she asked him if he was. She said, “Ian if you’re uncomfortable squeeze my hand.” She happened to have her hand on his right hand when she said it. He moved his left hand across his body to get her hand, and he took it and squeezed it. She asked him to squeeze again if he wanted to lay flat on the bed. Again, he squeezed her hand. She reported her experience to the nursing staff, so they came in and moved him to his back. He stopped blinking so rapidly and moving his jaw and his heart rate went way down. Pretty cool, huh?

Steve

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I was really encouraged by this passage from Andrew Murray. The passage is a little bit long but very encouraging:

“Of all the mysteries of the prayer world, the need of persevering prayer is one of the greatest. That the Lord, who is so loving and longing to bless, should have to be supplicated time after time, sometimes year after year, before the answer comes, we cannot easily understand. It is also one of the greatest practical difficulties in the exercise of believing prayer. When after persevering supplication, our prayer remains unanswered, it is often easiest for our slothful flesh, and it has the appearance of pious submission, to think that we must now cease praying, because God may have His secret reason for withholding His answer to our request. It is by faith alone that the difficulty is overcome. When once faith has taken its stand upon God’s word, and the Name of Jesus, and has yielded itself to the leading of the Spirit to seek God’s will and honour alone in its prayer, it need not be discouraged by delay. It knows from Scripture that the power of believing prayer is simply irresistible; real faith can never be disappointed. It knows how, just as water, to exercise the irresistible power it can have, must be gathered up and accumulated, until the stream can come down in full force, there must often be a heaping up of prayer, until God sees that the measure is full, and the answer comes.”

Let’s continue to ‘heap’ up our prayers for Ian’s miraculous healing! We serve a loving and tender God who is eager to bless. Continue to ask for His mercy. For His glory alone…

-Stephen A

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Mary and I arrived at Life Care at 9:00 this morning and were really excited that Ian was packed up and ready to be moved to Children’s. After a short ambulance ride, we got to Children’s Institute where the nurses started checking him out. After about an hour, the doctor came in and told us that because of Ian’s fluctuating sodium levels, she was not confident that she could meet his medical needs right now. She suggested that he be transferred back to Life Care or to UPMC under his original doctor.

So that brought another ambulance ride and four hours in the UPMC ER. But being back at Presby almost felt like being at home, and we were (and still are) confident of the care that he receives there.

Now Ian is in Montefiore, just across the street from Presby. The endocrinologists are working to balance out his sodium levels so that he can return to Children’s. There are tons of doctors and nurses checking up on Ian and, God willing, it will be a short stay at UPMC.

For those of you that want to visit Ian, please call the Murphys first. Ian’s new room is 1044 South, Montefiore.

I was reminded again today that God knows what is best for Ian and He knows exactly what Ian’s body needs and where the best place is for him to be.

Thank you for your prayers.

-Larissa

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Ian was scheduled to go to The Children’s Institute this morning, and he made it there without any problems. Once he got there, though, the staff reviewed his chart and discovered that his knee was swollen and that he had a little bit of a fever. So, they contacted Ian’s original doctor at UPMC and made arrangements to send him back there to UPMC. He’s in the emergency room at UPMC as I write this waiting to see the doctor. What an emotional roller coaster ride. The Children’s Institute still wants him there when the knee is more stable medically; in fact, we left his suitcase filled with clothes there. They said he shouldn’t be more than a couple days at UPMC. Thank you for staying with us in prayer…

CORRECTION: IT WASN’T HIS KNEE THAT WAS AT ISSUE. HIS SODIUM WAS TOO HIGH. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT OBVIOUSLY IT’S A PROBLEM.

Steve (the medical genius)

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I had the privilege of visiting Ian today along with his brother Caleb, Maureen Bourke, and Sarah Kearney. Ian was “awake” for the entire visit, although for much of the visit we were working hard to keep him awake. I hadn’t seen Ian since three days after the accident. He had his eyes opened for most of the visit and was looking at us. He held one of our hands the entire visit. He moved his fingers a lot and has a very tight grip. He was holding Caleb’s hand so tight at one point that Caleb’s hand was all red when he was finally able to get his hand loose.

Steve had told us that when Ian’s heart rate goes below 90 that he is entering into a sleep stage and it is hard to wake him. At one point his heart rate was about 88 and Maureen pulled out some chocolate chips. She took one chocolate chip and let it melt between her fingers and kept waving her fingers back and forth under his nose. Ian’s heart rate went up to 103 and he even made the “ahhh” sound pretty loud (see gizmo noise 11/9/06) like he was trying to tell us, “Stop teasing me and let me have the chocolate!” Ian started to “convulse” a little and Maureen got some on his lips. Maureen wiped it off. Ian started moving his tongue in and out like he was desperately trying to lick his lips. Poor guy – he never got any chocolate. I don’t think he could have opened his eyes anymore if he tried. He was really responding to the chocolate. A little later Sarah pulled out the chocolate covered coffee beans and he had a similar response.

I saw Ian holding our hands with a tight grip. I saw Ian “come alive” when smelling the chocolate. I was encouraged that Ian is still very much with us. He is trying to communicate with us, and he is trying very hard to come back to us. Please continue to pray for Ian. Everyday the Lord answers another prayer for Ian. So many prayer requests have already been answered. Everyday he is a step closer to waking up. Do not grow weary praying for his healing. The Lord hears our every prayer.

Vicki

Sing to the Lord; bless His name. Tell everyone about the amazing things He does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! Psalm 96:2a,3b

Thanks for visiting Vicki!
Steve

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The signs that led the medical staff to be concerned about an infection in Ian’s knee are no longer present. The doctor was not able to examine him until this morning, and when he did he was not concerned at all. As for the fever, that hasn’t been uncommon throughout his trauma.

Did God heal him? I don’t know, and I guess I’ll never know until I can ask Him face to face. If He didn’t, He’s the One who provided this scare to keep Ian right where he is until his transfer to rehab. So, I’m grateful either way.

Thank you for your prayers…

Steve

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An infection was found in Ian’s right knee this afternoon. He also has a fever which is most likely being caused by the infection. Please pray that the infection would not be anything too serious and that the antibiotics would start working quickly.

Ian has been approved by the insurance company to stay at Life Care until Monday. However, there could be complications getting into Children’s with an infection and fever. Please pray that God would continue to heal Ian and take away the infection.

“He who did not spare His own son but graciously gave Him up for us all, how will he not also along with Him graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32

Thank you.

-Larissa

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It appears that Ian will be beginning rehab on Monday morning at The Children’s Institute in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. This is a very good place for Ian to be. How this happened is too long of a long story to report here, and it’s not a guarantee. Everything seems to be falling into place, though. Pray that this actually happens. There are still some hurdles we need to get over first. Pray, also, that he could stay where he is until Monday.

Ian continues to do well physically. They removed the giant “external fixator” or brace from his leg. They also removed the brace from his wrist. He continues to breathe very well, and it looks as though sometime in the next week his trach will first be downsized and then removed altogether.

He also continues to take baby steps to cognitive recovery. Once again, he removed the little oxygen sensor that’s clipped to his finger today. Larissa moved it to another finger, and he removed it from that finger, too. When he was done, he curled his fingers as if to say, “you’re not getting that thing back on me.” Last night, when Larissa came in the room and started talking to him and holding his hand, I thought he was going to jump out of his bed. He was almost convulsing. He’s also beginning to move his right hand more and more, since the cast and brace are off. When the speech therapist was in to work with him today, she noticed that Ian was really trying hard to make sounds, and he did succeed.

Pray that Ian wakes up. If this is to be a long process of rehab, he needs to be fully awake to be able to participate. Pray most of all for a miracle. Thank you…

Steve Murphy

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