Friday, October 20, 2006

It's late and I'm tired, but I've got good news to share. But first, a recap of Thursday. I didn't see Jesse on Thursday, but I heard he got his cervical collar off (the neck brace) after an MRI confirmed his neck was OK. I also heard he was kind of agitated and frustrated because he couldn't remember why he was at the hospital or why he had braces on his arm and leg.

Now on to the good news. As of today, Jesse is doing much better mentally - he acts more like how he used to be and he seems more "there". Today he did much better at the cognitive test. It contains several categories like fruits, vegetables, and transportation, and Jesse was able to remember items from most of these categories (unlike two days ago or even yesterday).

Jesse's spoken sentences made sense, and he seemed to understand more of what we were saying than before. Steve (his dad) showed me some words Jesse had written on paper: he hasn't lost his fine motor skills, which he'll need later for the guitar :-). Jesse also remembered for the first time why he had the arm brace and that he had been in an accident. He laughed at something funny, and he also had some good humor of his own. Steve (his dad) told him with a grin, "It's really good to see you laugh again, Jess." All the talking and thinking really tires him out, though, and his vision gets blurry sometimes. But I felt really encouraged after visiting him.

I heard today that Traumatic Brain Injury patients who are Christians tend to recover much more effectively than non-Christians. Overall, less than 10% of brain-dead TBI patients heal as quickly as Jesse has. A soul made alive and whole by the Holy Spirit really makes a difference as the brain heals.

I'm also convinced that all of your prayers have made a huge difference. Thank you so much for praying! God hears and answers -- glory to Him! Jesse's survival of the crash and subsequent coming out of the coma and regaining brain function has been nothing short of a miracle by the power of God. Please continue to pray for his recovery... he's got quite a road ahead of him. But no matter where it goes, we know it ends in an eternity of glorious joy.

...And if the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you (from Romans 8, NIV).