Golf Tournament Results

     Much thanks to all who helped with the recent benefit golf tournament for Walter at Kinderlou: Kim Goolsby, Kinderlou Golf Club, the players, the sponsors, whomever I'm missing. It was a success in every way. We netted about $10,400.00. These funds are very timely. Walter's insurance benefits for therapy are running out, and his doctors and therapists are recommending some aids and equipment that the insurance won't cover. So, thank you! As many of you witnessed, the tournament was an emotional time for Walter, seeing many of his friends for the first time since the stroke. It was also an emotional time for many of you. Thank you for your continuing prayers and encouragement.

 

There is now a new blog to follow Walter's progress: http://www.walterrominejr.blogspot.com. Walter also has a Facebook page. So, from here on I'll use this blog on a selective basis to update things like the golf tournament, other fundraisers, etc.

So, to summarize and update a couple of things:

1. Please send any contributions for Walter's trust account to John Romine at this address:

John Romine

702 Pine Circle

Quitman, GA 31643

 

Much thanks to Elaine Barton and Neal Bradley at Citizens National Bank of Quitman for kindly and patiently helping us get this account set up. Thanks also to those who have contributed so far. The gifts have been timely.

 

2. I understand that planning for the upcoming benefit golf tournament is going well. Here again are the details:

 

Where:            Kinderlou Golf Club, Valdosta, Georgia

When:            Saturday, August 22, 2009, beginning at 1:00 PM. Please inform all team members to be at Kinderlou at 11:30 AM to view "Silent Auction" items in the Club House. There will be food available there for everyone.

Format:        4-man scramble, flighted by team handicap

Gifts and

    Prizes:        1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in each flight. We expect there will be 3 or maybe 4 flights with 7 teams in each flight. Gift baggies will be given to all participants. Prizes for "closest to hole" on select par 3's; longest putt on a par 4; and a longest drive                 on #11. Unique flight prizes.

Mulligans:        Available to teams and individuals

Refreshments:        Cold drinks available at locations around the course during play.

Silent Auction:        Begins at 11:30 AM with finger food and will continue immediately following the tournament

Entry Fee:        $400/team

Sponsorships:        There are sponsorship opportunities available:

            -    Tournament Sponsorship - $125

                -    Name/Company printed on tournament sponsor board

            -    Hole Sponsorship -    $150

                -    Name/Company printed on tournament sponsor board

                -    Individual sign at one of the holes on the course

            -    Corporate Sponsorship - $1500

                -    Name/Company printed on tournament sponsor board

                -    Individual sign at one of the holes on the course

                -    1 team of 4 players

            -    Master Sponsorship - $3000

                -    Name/Company printed on tournament sponsor board

                -    Individual sign at one of the holes on the Course.

                -    Logo printed on all materials

                -    1 team of 4 players

            -    Grand Master Sponsorship -- $5,000

                -    Name/Company printed on tournament sponsor board

                -    Individual sign at one of the holes on the course

                -    Logo printed on all material

                -    Opportunity to distribute brochures or materials during registration and after play

                -    2 teams of 4 players each

            -    Team sponsor - $400

            -    Prize Sponsor -- donate to Silent Auction, Golfer's Goodie Bags and Team Awards

You may obtain team entry and sponsorship forms from Kim Goolsby, Holiday Inn, 1805 West Hill Avenue, Valdosta, GA 31601; cell number: 229-292-5710; email address: kgoolsby@hivaldosta.com. Please make all checks payable to Walter Romine Medical Trust.

 

Thanks to all.

 

    
 

 

 

A few strands to update . . .

First, and most importantly, Walter continues a slow but steady progress, with the various therapies increasingly bearing fruit. He pronounces a few more words, or at least syllables. His left leg continues to strengthen. Big news on that front occurred yesterday. Brenda, Jessica's mother, told me this morning that, at therapy yesterday, Walter, with the help of two therapists, "walked" 60 feet with the aid of parallel walking bars. That accomplishment impressed the therapists. One therapist also recently mentioned that she discovered more strength in his left arm than she knew was there. So, the left arm is also improving, although its progress seems to be behind that of his left leg. This lag is not surprising, we've learned. A therapist friend recently informed us that speech and the arm typically recover more slowly. Walter's right side is strong, which enables him to help much more now transporting from one place to another, such as between wheelchair and bed. I understand that he eats and drinks almost all his food and liquids now, so there is optimism that the peg will shortly be removed from his abdomen.

Walter continues therapies at Pathways, an affiliate of Shepherd Center, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Brenda, Jessica's mom, typically drives him. A team supports Walter at home. Jessica, Brenda (Jessica's mom) and Dad Romine bear the lion's share of the work. Samantha Peterson, a friend of Brenda's, is here this week and was also here earlier for a week to help out. Samantha, among other things, has attended family training at Pathways and helped Brenda in the yard, which, of course, has not been a priority. Mark and Katy Houseman, Jessica's aunt and uncle, have come several weekends to help out. Lyn and Pat, Walter's sisters, visit periodically. Pat recently took Lexi, her daughter, to visit Walter. Lexi helped Walter spell some words and otherwise had a good visit. Josh Romine has visited. John and Nancy Romine are visiting today.

Some have contributed funds to Walter's medical account, for which we are grateful. We anticipate that the first priority for the funds will be the continuation of Walter's therapy, to which he is responding so well. Brenda recently mentioned to me an article in the July 12 edition of the Atlanta Constitution regarding the recovery of Bob Woodruff from severe brain injuries he suffered while reporting from Iraq. He and his wife attribute his strong recovery largely to the therapy he received. I will try to find that article and upload it to this blog. Their story reemphasizes the importance of Walter's continuing therapy. We are hopeful that he will soon be eligible for the next level of therapy, which will be more time every week for only an incremental increase in cost. I recall that insurance coverage for the therapy is only one or two more weeks, so the influx of funds is timely.

As a reminder, any contributions may be mailed to this address:

Walter Romine Medical Fund

Citizens National Bank of Quitman

P. O. BOX 270

QUITMAN, GA 31643

 

Please make checks payable to "Special Needs Trust for Benefit of Benjamin Walter Romine, Jr." Or, just "Walter Romine Special Needs Trust". The documentation for the trust account is now completed so as to avoid gift tax surprises for anyone.

 

Plans for the benefit golf tournament continue. Here again are the details:

As a reminder, here are the current details for the golf tournament:

• When - August 22, 2009, at 1 PM
  
• Where - Kinderlou Golf Club, Valdosta, Georgia
  
• Format - 4-man scramble, flighted
  
• Fee - $400 per team; mulligans also available
  
• Prizes - 1^st and 2^nd in each flight; longest putt; closest to hole on part 3's
  

Kim Goolsby, the Catering Sales manager for the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center in Valdosta, has arranged for a block of rooms at the hotel at $79 per night for the tournament. Anyone wanting a room should call the hotel at 229-244-1111 and ask for a room in the block for the Walter Romine tournament. Ads have started to run on the local radio stations. I believe that 15 to 20 teams have committed so far. Hopefully the fees from those will shortly come in, and others will sign up. Members of the family are also working on another possible golf event. More on that as it develops.

Quick update in light of some exciting things happening:

THE GOLF TOURNAMENT

As a reminder, here are the current details for the golf tournament:

• When - August 22, 2009, at 1 PM
  
• Where - Kinderlou Golf Club, Valdosta, Georgia
  
• Format - 4-man scramble, flighted
  
• Fee - $400 per team; mulligans also available
  
• Prizes - 1^st and 2^nd in each flight; longest putt; closest to hole on part 3's
  

Kim Goolsby, the Catering Sales manager for the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center in Valdosta, has arranged for a block of rooms at the hotel at $79 per night for the tournament. Anyone wanting a room should call the hotel at 229-244-1111 and ask for a room in the block for the Walter Romine tournament. Kim also lined up some radio advertising. News/talk radio WVGA 105.9 has started talking up the tournament, and Kim tells me that ads should start running tomorrow on 99.5, 95.7, 108, 105.9, 102.7, 105.3 and 106.9. Kim also reports that the owner of those stations, Black Crow Media, will be giving away two free dinners to Charlie Trippers, four movie tickets and a $1,000.00 gift certificate for radio ads. Don't know the logistics on that yet, but will update as I know. The Citizens National Bank of Quitman plans to sponsor two teams in the tournament.

CONTRIBUTIONS

We are close to formalizing the arrangements and structure for the "Walter Romine Medical Trust" to, among other things, allow donors to qualify their gifts for the annual gift tax exclusion. We anticipate that the paperwork will be complete this next week. Anyone wishing to make contributions before all that is final, please make all checks payable to "Trustees of the 2009 Special Needs Trust for the Primary Benefit of Benjamin Walter Romine, Jr., U/A dated July __, 2009" AND LEAVE THE CHECKS UNDATED. Once the paperwork is finished, we'll date the checks as of that date. I'll update this blog once the paperwork is done and all the final dates are in place.

For the time being, please send all checks to one of the following addresses:

John Romine

702 Pine Circle

Quitman, GA 31643

Or

John Taylor

728 North River Forest Court

Marietta, GA 30068.

Once the final paperwork is done, I anticipate that checks may be sent directly to the bank; will confirm.

WALTER

Of course, this is the most important part: Walter's rehab. Pathways, the rehab center, has cleared him to ride in an automobile, so transportation expense is greatly reduced, which is a blessing. I am told that, with his eating and drinking more and more on his own, the doctors believe that they may remove the peg (i.e., line into his stomach through the abdomen wall) within the next couple of weeks. That will be another milestone.

More later as becomes available.

Happy 4^th to all.

Walter is heading to therapy at Pathways this afternoon. He has therapy Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. I'm not sure of the times, but I think it's something like 2 to 5:30. One of the issues has been transportation to and from therapy. Jessica lined up a company that provides a wheelchair-enabled van. That works but it is expensive. Hopefully Walter is only a couple of weeks away (may be longer, though) from being approved to ride in an automobile. Pathways is working with him to learn to transfer to and from a car. The Presbyterian Home in Quitman has offered up a wheelchair-friendly van to use in the interim. Much gratitude for that.

Jim Wahl from Tifton, Walter's partner in NameDroppers, sent a chair for Walter in which he can be in any position from lying down, to sitting up to being raised to a near-standing position. It is great now, but it will be even more so as Walter progresses to standing and walking. Jim also sent a seat for Walter to use in the shower, and Bill Dodd ingeniously assembled a shower for Walter on the back patio. I haven't seen it yet, but I hear that Bill connected a hose to the sink in the upstairs bathroom using valves that allow someone to get the right temperature and direct the water to the showerhead down on the patio. Walter now has an accessible shower, which is huge.

Brenda, Jessica's mother, has been here the past week or so, and is here again this week. She is of invaluable help. She and Dad are with Walter during the weekdays while Jessica is working, and Jessica takes over from Dad the other times. A routine seems slowly to be developing, which is helpful.

Here are the facts for the benefit golf tournament as we currently know them:

• When        -    August 22, 2009, at 1 PM
  
• Where         -    Kinderlou Golf Club
  
• Format        -    4-man scramble, flighted
  
• Fee        -    $400 per team; mulligans also available
  
• Prizes        -    1^st and 2^nd in each flight; longest putt; closest to hole on part 3's
  

More details may follow as the tournament plans solidify. For example, we've received a possible offer of special room rates for those coming out of town and some giveaways.

Anyone wishing to put a team in the tournament: Please send the name of the team captain plus handicaps for all 4 team members, together with the $400 check made payable to the Walter Romine Medical Trust, to either John Romine, 702 Pine Circle, Quitman, GA 31643, or John Taylor, 728 North River Forest Court, Marietta, GA 30068.

Thanks to all for your continuing prayers and support.

    

Going Home

Walter is home. He travelled by ambulance this past Wednesday. The next chapter of his recovery now begins and the transition, not unexpectedly, has had its bumps. His bed was not ready when he arrived at the townhouse, and the technician had a difficult time putting it together. Walter, as you might expect, was much fatigued by this point. We finally just helped him stretch out on the sofa, and he slept pretty well for a while. The bed was finally ready for him to go to sleep that night.

We are structuring a schedule for the various caretakers. Working out the bugs in that will likely take a little while. Brenda, Jessica's mother, is staying with Jessica and Walter this week. Huge help and blessing!

Walter's recovery continues, although incrementally. His speech is further improving. He moves his left leg some, which is encouraging. He eats well. His right side is strong. Today, he starts rehab at Pathways, an outpatient rehab facility affiliated with The Shepherd Center. Shepherd Center has not cleared Walter for travel by personal auto, so Jessica has been working to arrange third-party transportation. It is not cheap. We are finding out that nothing is. He is scheduled for three days of rehab per week; not sure for how long—driven by insurance coverages.

We increasingly realize the magnitude of the costs of Walter's care not covered by insurance, and we are grateful to those who have expressed an interest in helping financially. To facilitate both the giving and management of funds that anyone desires to contribute, an account has been established at Citizens National Bank of Quitman. The account will be utilized solely and directly to defray Walter's medical and rehab costs. Although we are only now learning what those costs may include, we anticipate that the funds will be used for things like transportation to and from rehab, qualified caretaking professionals (e.g., medical technicians), etc. Anyone desiring to help defray some of these costs may send contributions to the following address:

    Benjamin Walter Romine Medical Fund

    c/o Citizens National Bank of Quitman

    PO Box 270

    Quitman, GA 31643

 

Contributors will, upon request, receive periodic reports of the expenses paid.

 

Walter's dad is also planning a benefit golf tournament at Kinderlou Golf Club in Valdosta, Georgia. The format will probably be a 4-man scramble, the field will be flighted based on some type of team aggregate handicapping system and prizes will be awarded to at least the 1st and 2^nd lowest team scores in each flight. Team entry fees and other details will be determined within the next week or so and posted on this blog. The date, hopefully within the next 4 to 6 weeks, will shortly be set as well.

 

Anyone interested in getting together a foursome for the tournament, or perhaps otherwise participating in some way, please send your email address to john@taylorlegal.net . We will distribute all of the information as soon as it is available.

 

 

 

Been a while since last update. Apologies for that. I'll do my best to catch up.

Dad took some notes during his day with Walter back on June 5. Some highlights from that day:

    -    Walter tires at the end of the day from his therapies and the muscle relaxant that the doctors currently have him on.

    -    The assistant to the three doctors was effusive with her praise of Walter's progress since he arrived at Shepherd. His movement is so much better, and he is much more alert. He played a form of racquetball in therapy and handed out "high fives" when         he made a good shot. The assistant ended by saying that in reality things move very slowly, but through the eyes of those who see the patients when they are first admitted, his progress is "remarkable—I'm impressed."

    -    At around 5 PM Walter was content to watch a college baseball game.

Things have continued to improve steadily since then. Walter is increasingly eating solid food. On a diet scale of 1 to 5, he is at "2". As he eats more food, the doctors cut back on his artificial nourishment. He's also saying more and more words and is trying to ask more and more questions. He's become aware enough to start wondering about longer term issues, like whether or not he'll be able to play golf again. Those discussions have been tough, trying to balance encouragement with honesty about future unknowns. He continues to work on moving between bed and chair. Jessica, Mom and Dad have been in family training this week to learn things like how to help him move back and forth. Pray, please, for strength of all sorts, including physical. Helping Walter move around is not easy.

He is scheduled to go home on June 17. Again, we're not certain of what that will look like, as far as schedules and living arrangements. We do know that Walter will continue therapy on an outpatient basis. Jessica is working on all the various logistics. I'll fill in details as we go.

A recent experience with Walter illustrates to some extent the communication frustrations we are all experiencing right now. Lyn and I spent about three hours with him this past Saturday evening, from about 6 to 9. We watched Blue Collar Comedy tour on the Comedy Channel for a while, and Walter visibly chuckled at a few lines. As we got closer to 8:30 and 9:00 (remember that visiting hours end at 9), he appeared to get sleepy, so we tried to help him get comfortable and go to sleep, but instead he became increasingly agitated. He motioned with his right hand toward the ceiling several times to communicate something but finally gave up. A few minutes later, Lyn guessed "You want the lights out?" to which he responded with an enthusiastic thumbs up. So far so good. He raised his hand up toward a clock on the wall opposite his bed and clenched his fist; we decided he was just stretching. He repeatedly pointed toward the door, so I closed it, assuming that he wanted it shut to keep out the light from the hall: all this making sense from someone who obviously wanted to sleep. But then he only got more agitated, pulling on his t-shirt, taking the cover off and on, etc. The more we tried to help him get comfortable the worse it got. Finally, Lyn called the attendant to ask for help. He shortly arrived and told us that, as was the routine, he would get Walter ready for bed as soon as we left. At this Walter whipped around to shake my hand to let me know it was time to go. He'd been trying for 30 or 45 minutes to tell us it was time for us to go so he could get ready to go to sleep. He had raised a fist to the clock to say "times up". He had repeatedly pointed to the door, not to get us to shut it, but to get us to leave out of it. Next time we'll know.

 

 

The medical professionals at Emory told us that Walter's improvement would become much more noticeable once he got to rehab. That has indeed been the case. In fact, his progress over the past week or so has been such that Shepherd has decided to extend his stay for two weeks, to mid-June. A brief synopsis of the past week:

Walter daily has become more aware of his surroundings. He is trying to sit up on his own and can pull himself up. The staff is working with him to learn how to transfer back and forth between bed and wheelchair, and they say he is doing well with that. He is saying more and more words: "yes", "no", "I love you", "lay down", for example. Watching ESPN, he asked Jessica to turn "vooloom uuuup", which means "volume up". Jessica said that she never thought she could get so excited over ESPN.

He does not like any restraint. Shepherd has had casts on his legs and feet for a while now, stretching out his Achilles tendon preparing him to stand. Those are to come off today. The therapists plan to put one on his left arm to start working to straighten it out. He has occasionally removed the straps off his wheelchair and almost fallen out. He has removed his catheter a few times, raising the ire of one of the more, let us say, authoritative nurses, one that knows how to get his attention.

Walter increasingly recognizes people when they enter the room. When Jessica came in the other night, the door barely creaked but he immediately opened his eyes and looked over at her. He recognized her, put his arm out and wanted a hug. I visited this past Sunday, and he, without any direction or encouragement, reached out and shook my hand. He is more and more engaged. His eyes still continue to struggle somewhat with focusing and tracking, though, but that is improving.

Yesterday was a red letter day. He ate chocolate pudding and wanted more! I cannot imagine what that must have tasted like after tasting nothing for six weeks. The doctors plan a swallow test later this week. Hopefully Walter will move increasingly toward eating and drinking instead of being fed everything through the peg to his stomach.

Also yesterday, the Shepherd patients received visits from the Falcons rookie team and cheerleaders. Walter, Dad and Mom met several: John Parker Wilson, Garrett Reynolds, Peria Jerry, Vance Walker, Rashad Bobino, William Moore. Dad was extremely impressed with their friendliness. Several of them took a special interest in Walter, due in part to his flawless execution of certain "ethnic handshakes", I'll call them. Dad tells me that the African-American players were extremely impressed. Dad set one or two of them up by asking them to come over and shake Walter's hand and telling them to go slow with him due to his condition. Dad loved watching the surprise on their faces when Walter moved through the progressions with such ease.

We recognize progress because we are starting to think about "what next", in terms of living arrangements, etc. Please pray for guidance, wisdom and patience as we work through that. And, as always, please continue to pray for Walter's continuing healing, with thanks for the journey to this point.

 

Blog posts, as you've likely noticed, are not as frequent as formerly. The medical professionals suggested that we would settle into a routine, although a new one, in which things occur gradually, and they were right. Noticeable progress is now best described in terms of at least weeks instead of days.

Tuesday evening was a highlight this week. Jessica, Mom, Dad and Lyn were with him, talking and joking about various things. Walter joined in, silently laughing and chuckling and making jokes with his eyes. At one point he seemed to be asleep but threw his eyes open when Jessica said something about going out to buy shoes. With some encouragement, he responded with "Nnnnooooo". Jessica is really good with Walter. She's innately knows how to "be" with him, what to say and do and when to say and do it.

Wednesday was somewhat of a downer after Tuesday. Walter was not as engaged and seemed frustrated. The good side of that is that his frustration seems to result at least in part from his desire to get out of bed. He tries to get up periodically, even after a full day of therapy. Last night, Mom and Lyn helped him sit up, and he helped by pulling pretty strongly with his right hand.

The physical therapy has him noticeably stronger. He can hold his head up longer while sitting up. The therapists recently placed boot casts on his feet and lower legs to stretch out his Achilles tendons in preparation for standing up. He sometimes beats the casts against the bed railing. He appears annoyed by them. The speech therapist is working on simple words and phrases right now, like "no" and "yes".

So, Walter is improving, but the progress often seems glacial. The doctor at Shepherd this week confirmed from his perspective what the doctors at Emory said earlier: the bleed in Walter's head was big and in a bad spot. Recovery will be slow and uncertain. A year continues to be a threshold date. By then we may have an idea of the extent of ultimate recovery. A friend of mine recently gave me additional perspective. He had a severe stroke 16 years ago, at the same age at which Walter had his. Stephen walks with a noticeable limp, and his left hand remains much compromised, but his spirits are uniformly high. He says that he expects to be fully recovered tomorrow. Patience and hope going hand-in-hand. Please pray that for Walter, the family and all who minister.

A couple of notes from Jessica:

Anyone wishing to speak to or see the family may email her at jess3ck@yahoo.com or post a comment on this blog.

Again, you may also send cards to the hospital. The hospital address again is:

Walter Romine
Room 240, Marcus Building
Shepherd Center
2020 Peachtree Road, NW
Atlanta, GA 30309

Some have asked about contributing to help out with Walter's medical and rehab costs. Jessica's parents' church in Valdosta, Grace Bible Church, has established a fund to accept contributions. Any wishing to do so may make send checks or money orders payable to Grace Bible Church, designated to Samaritan Fund, and mail to this address:

401 East Park Avenue

Valdosta, GA 31602

Time to reflect . . .

Walter and the family are settling into something resembling a routine. It's certainly not what we would have called a routine a couple of months ago, but much about life is now different. Visitation, even by family, is limited to between 4 and 9 on weekdays, which is understandable considering the therapy schedule that Walter is on. So, life is somewhat less frenetic for the time being. Less physical and time stress, perhaps, but with the freer time comes time to think, which, while good, has its own challenges.

One good thing about it, though, is more leisure to slow down, remember and thank. The last five or six weeks have been a whirlwind, with grace timely sufficient for each day. That grace has manifested itself in many ways—the incredible endurance of Jessica, Mom and Dad; the delicious food prepared by the "Act 3 girls" and folks in the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Choir, which allowed Lyn and Pat, Walter's sisters, time both to care for family and take shifts with Walter at the hospital; prayer meetings at Quitman First Baptist Church; prayers from countless people extending from family in Anchorage, Alaska, to a priest in California to faithful friends in Budapest, Hungary; and thoughts and concern from loving friends who, while not believing in prayer as I speak of it, have sought to encourage and minister.

The path, in retrospect, was laid out, with the right people strategically placed. For example, Bill Dodd, Jessica's brother-in-law and the president and CEO of Direcpath, Jessica's employer, doggedly pushed the health insurance company to agree to cover the medivac move from Thomasville to Emory and then the move to the Shepherd Clinic. The insurance company approved coverage of Shepherd only after Bill worked the phones through to the president of the company. Shortly after that discussion, the medical director of the insurance company called Emory and spoke with Walter's doctor. The doctor stayed on the phone for at least thirty minutes, finally convincing the medical director that Walter needed to go to Shepherd and that the insurance company should approve it. Bill was strategically placed, and determined, to see that the insurance company did the right thing. We are grateful for that, as we are for the expertise and persistence of Dr. Owen Samuels, Dr. Adam Webb and the entire Emory staff. The initial contact with Dr. Samuels was through Jeff Levy, Bill's business partner. Shortly after Walter's stroke, Bill called Jeff, who promptly called his neighbor Dr. Samuels. That introduction ultimately led to Walter's move to Emory.

To all – thank you.

As for Walter, his therapists each Friday write reports detailing his status and setting goals for the upcoming week. The reports describe where he is in various aspects of his rehab with numbers from 1 to 7. They want him at least at 3 on everything when he leaves the facility. As of this past Friday, he was a 1 on everything, reminding us that he has a ways to go. At the same time, we are encouraged by things like the increasing movement of especially his right side, which had weakened; his laughing—or at least chuckling—at things people say; and the continuing improvement in the tracking and focus of his eyes. Overall, a sense of increased relaxation and comfort.

Shepherd has Walter on quite a schedule, roughly like this:

7:30 AM - out of bed, bath and dressed

9:30 AM - therapy (speech, occupational or physical; order may vary from day to day)

10:30 AM - therapy

11:00 AM - therapy

11:30 AM - therapy

12:00 Noon - Back to Bed

12:30 PM - out of bed

1:00 PM - therapy

1:30 PM - therapy

2:00 PM - therapy

2:30 PM - therapy

3:00 PM - neuropsychologist session

3:30 PM - back to bed


The Saturday schedule is more relaxed. There's no therapy on Sunday, so Mom and Dad had time this afternoon to roll Walter in his wheelchair to the garden. Walter reached up and took Mom's hand on the way down the hall. So, Mom got her lift for the day.

Other encouraging signs today: Walter sat up in a chair for about 2 1/2 hours and took a good nap. His eyes continue to improve their "tracking." He moved his right arm a lot and had an easier time holding his head up. We don't take seemingly simple things like this for granted like we may once have. Increasingly, it's the "little" things, like putting your arm around your dad, or holding your mom's hand. We are also increasingly aware that this will be a long haul, and we don't know what the next several months--or tomorrow--hold. We would like to know what the end will look like--what Walter will regain, how his rehab will progess-- but we don't. A new understanding of "cautious optimism," and a disciplining in faith - hope in the unseen.

Walter has received emails from some of you. Here is the address for regular mail:

Walter Romine
Room 240, Marcus Building
Shepherd Center
2020 Peachtree Road, NW
Atlanta, GA 30309

Next Steps

It's been a productive few days. Walter was moved to Shepherd's Clinic today to start his rehab in earnest. We had to wait for the insurance company to agree to cover it, and that agreement finally came yesterday. There's a story there, too; let's just say that the family has worked together well to get things done. Everyone finds roles and jobs as we go. Walter has strong advocates working on his behalf.

That includes spiritual advocates. Several met at Quitman Baptist Church this morning to hold a special prayer time for Walter and the family. What a blessing and privilege! Thank you to all who participated in that. Jessica's parents' church is working to set up a fund to accept contributions to help out with medical costs; more details on that as they develop. Thank you to all who continue to "stand in the gap" in so many ways.

Now that Walter is at Shepherd's, schedules will change. Family is welcome, and invited, to stay with him 24/7 for the first couple of days. After that, we will be limited to visiting hours of 4 to 9 on weekdays and then extended times on the weekend. That will be a transition for everyone, Walter and family included; hard, in some ways, but necessary. We expect that Mom and Dad will soon take the opportunity to go back to Quitman for a few days to catch up on some things.

The focus will now turn especially to Walter's rehab. Jessica is bringing some clothes from home. The staff will increasingly push him. They measured him today for his wheelchair, which he hopefully will have soon. The Falcons team will visit tomorrow, and the staff wants Walter to participate in that.

More detail on Shepherd's as we go. In the meantime, prayer concerns remain constant: healing, encouragement, direction, wisdom, determination, perseverance; that God will continue to make paths straight, to give strength to the weary. He continues to prove Himself faithful.

I'll communicate as soon as I know the address to send letters, etc., to Walter at Shepherd's. In the meantime, this link should get you to the webpage for sending emails (you may need to copy the link and paste into your browser):

http://www.shepherd.org/about/reach.asp

Thursday, May 7, 2009

    Just got report from Lyn at the hospital. Walter had a good night, sleeping well. He had a bad migraine headache yesterday, apparently due to removal of the EVD; according to the nurses, not unusual. Lyn said that he seems very comfortable today. He is still on percoset, but they'll start cutting that back if he continues without pain. Big news: yesterday's CT scan showed that the ventricles are normal (confirming the decision to remove the "brain drain" and not insert a shunt) and that the brain swelling has further reduced. All this is very encouraging in terms of his rehabilitation and recovery.

    With the continuing reduction in swelling comes visible improvement. His eyes are tracking much better, Lyn says, and he is turning his head from side to side. Until recently, his head pretty much stayed over to the left, his impaired side. One of the therapists said that the goal for today is to work to establish "eye-to-eye" contact. So for those seeking prayer direction, there's one. He is moving his left leg and foot a good bit. Moving the left arm and hand is more difficult for him, although he does move his fingers some and has squeezed with his left hand. He's keeping his mouth closed more and breathing out of his nose. Apparently aware of the paralysis of his left side, he sometimes lifts and works his left arm with his right. He worked well with the physical therapist yesterday.

    We expect that he will move today into "intermediate ICU" at Emory, which, again, is a major step. The next step is a bit uncertain; again, point for prayer. The next "goal", if you will, is for Walter to get to Shepherds for "acute rehab", the program that I mentioned before. Walter, to enter that, must be able to tolerate 3 hours per day of rehab. One way they determine if he is ready is to see if he responds to direction from a therapist. Until he responds appropriately to 90% of these directions, he is not eligible. So, until then, there are a couple of options. The one (which to us is preferred) is to enter the "pre-rehab" program at Shepherds. This is just what the name implies— "rehab lite"—a program to prepare him for the full acute rehab. The immediate hindrance to moving him into that is lack of a bed, since Shepherds has only seven or eight beds designated for this program. Pre-rehab can last initially up to three weeks. If within the three weeks he shows progress, but is not ready for acute rehab, then he may continue in pre-rehab for a longer period. Other alternatives, depending on how it all goes, are for him during the interim to go into another facility (such as nursing home providing the required services) or home care. This decision would be driven largely by insurance requirements.

    Lyn has started to play old Seinfeld episodes for him, and he sometimes smiles and laughs best he can. So, we have both the music and the laughter going—both healing.

    Continuing, sincere thanks to all for everything—prayer, encouragement, food, offers of help . . . . We appreciate you all.

 

    

Two in a Row

    Today's news calls for an early post.

    Lyn went in early this morning to be with Walter while Jessica went to work. She called with wonderful news! First, the doctors have decided to remove the EVD. Second, Walter will not need a shunt. Dad said last night that the possible need for a shunt was foremost in his concerns. With those decisions made, the hospital plans to move Walter, perhaps today, to another floor of the hospital. We don't know yet if he's moving to what I believe is called "intermediate ICU" or to a regular room. In any event, out of critical care ICU. I recall that the lead doctors earlier said that he would want Walter to say in the hospital for a day or two after the EVD was removed to give them time to run another scan and make sure one last time that the ventricles continue to be OK. Assuming that all that progresses as hoped, then it is possible that Walter will transfer to Shepherds by the end of this week.

    "They call it Monday morning, but Tuesday's just as bad . . . . " Not this week, thank God!

 

We’ll Take it: A Good Day

    Everyone returned from the hospital today with a bit more energy in their step. Walter cooperated with the therapists more than in the past. He squeezed Dad's hand with his left—this, I have learned, is major. It shows that his left side has neural connections that rehab can focus on. His eyes continue to improve. For several days his left eye was constantly floating down around the bottom. Now it's lining up better and he seems able to focus better on things like television. He is not coughing like he was. His coughing a few days ago was frequent and deep. Now it's much less frequent and, as Lyn says, "it sounds like Walter's cough". We now focus on things that once we would not have, like what an individual's cough sounds like. Well, Lyn now recognizes Walter's. He is finally getting some good sleep, and it shows in his face and his eyes. Yesterday he began to look like himself.

    The EVD remains clamped off, but the doctors want to make sure that the ventricles are regulating themselves before they remove it. They want neither to have to reinsert it later or insert a permanent shunt. Resolution of this issue appears to be our next threshold event. Once the EVD is removed, Walter will be eligible for evaluation to move to Shepherd's to start rehab. That transition will start the next chapter.

    The doctors and other professionals uniformly, though cautiously, express optimism that Walter will recover most, if not nearly all, of his functions. One experienced nurse observed that he would be surprised by a lack of substantial recovery. A doctor predicted that, in a year, Walter will walk down the street without anyone but him recognizing any lingering effects of the stroke. One of the lead doctors encouraged Mom and Dad not to be overly discouraged by how Walter appears now, that we should see much improvement within three months. So, we persevere in light of hope.

    

Reality Check

Walter's progress encourages us, and I try to emphasize that in this blog. We continue to pray and hope for a miraculous (by which, in our minds, we often tend to mean "fast" and "complete") healing. Circumstances, though, remind us that we are now in a new reality, one in which we must seek the miraculous in the otherwise seemingly incremental and mundane.

A doctor in the northeast, experienced in neurological issues associated with strokes, follows this blog and very graciously offers her insights from time to time. I share portions of her most recent email here to give you a sense of what this reality may look like in part:

"About the speech:

"It will be frustrating at times to get the words out. Depending on the bleed and size the speech center is most likely involved [note – Walter's doctors tell us that this is not the case with him]. . . . The brain is a funny thing. People can have strokes in their language center which may not affect their 'singing' or 'cursing' center. I will have some of my stroke patients with aphasias sing out what they want. Sounds silly but sometimes it works. You will also notice that when Walt gets extremely frustrated or upset that you will understand all of the profanity that comes out of his mouth crystal-clear.

"He is going to be confused for a while. Electrolyte (ie. sodium) abnormalities and blood in the head can make you lethargic and may take longer than you like to recover. Because of his stroke, I would like to inform you all that in the future that he most likely will take longer to bounce back from even simple things like a cold, flu or an urinary tract infection. His brain is not 100% from here on out. I also have some patients that recover well from their strokes and when they get a cold, flu or UTI their old stroke 'talks' because the cells that were involved with the previous stroke are vulnerable to simple electrolyte changes or infections. It may look like he had another stroke or worsening of his stroke symptoms, but it could be that the brain cells are irritated and once they calm down so will his symptoms.

"He is not used to being down. I know that he is aware of the long road ahead, but you will have to remind him again and again of it and what progress that he has made. There is a high incidence of depression in stroke patients. If he needs chemical help through that, remind him that it is normal.

"Sleep is a restorative process for the body. If he is sleeping a lot, let him. I have to remind my families of this. They are at times too concerned that they are sleeping too much. They want to make sure that they are not too lethargic or getting worse. I have had some families continue to wake up the patient to make sure that they were not rebleeding. ICUs are noisy and sometimes it is not until they get to the regular hospital room where it can be more quiet for quality sleep that they start perking up.

"Reinforce over and over again that blood pressure management is key for the next several years. Emphasize that you do not want to revisit this nightmare again in the future.

"I am glad that he is doing better. Remember a young brain is better than an old brain."

We will learn Walter's specific issues as we go, but these observations give us some idea of what we may expect.

The report from the last couple of days is that Walter seems to be sleeping much better since removal of the NG tube. The doctors continue to monitor the ventricular pressure with the EVD closed off; so far, so good. The various therapies continue and will get more rigourous. Again, the doctors and nurses remind us not to expect dramatic improvement while he is in the hospital. The noticeable improvements should come once he gets into rehab.

Jessica's mother Brenda is here this weekend, allowing some of the others some down time. Jessica is still pretty much at the hospital when she's not working, with some small breaks here and there. Good friends provide food. A day at a time . . . .

Thursday PM, April 30

Apologies for the delayed update; busy couple of days.

Walter is responding well to the various therapists. He's receiving physical, occupational and speech therapy and likes to show off for his favorites. The doctors removed the NG-tube from his nose and throat and put in the "peg", which will deliver nutritition directly to his stomach. Dad noticed him swallowing today, which is a wonderful sign. Removal of the tube likely made it easier for him to swallow and allowed his throat to recover from being raw from the tube.

At around 6 AM yesterday, the doctors clamped of the "external ventricular drain", or "EVD", the tube that is in place to relieve excess pressure from the ventricles within the brain. The pressure has since then maintained itself within a normal range. If it continues to do that through this weekend, the doctors will remove the EVD and Walter likely will not require a permanent shunt to relieve pressure. Also, once that drain is removed, someone from Shepherd's Spinal Center will evaluate him to determine if he's ready for acute in-patient rehabilitation, lovingly referred to as "bootcamp": 3 hours per day, consisting of 1 1/2 hours in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon; 1/2 hour each of occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy.

The most recent CT scans indicate a significant decrease in swelling, so the doctors have stopped the concentrated saline.

Bottom line of all this: the various systems of Walter's body are increasingly working on their own again. His left side continues to be weak, but Lyn even got him to squeeze her hand lightly with his left one today.

Lyn and I recently read about the benefits of music for stroke victims, so Lyn has been playing music for Walter the last couple of days. Lyn says that, in addition to some of the more recent music, he enjoys some Mozart.

As prayer suggestions, please continue to pray for complete healing for Walter; for strength, rest, patience and perseverance for the family and others who are with him; wisdom for the doctors, nurses, therapists and other professionals; and that God be glorified in all.

Love to all.

Wednesday AM, April 29

Walter's CATscan yesterday showed substantial reduction in the brain swelling. The doctors plan to try to wean him off the drain (which relieves pressure around the brain) and see if he can tolerate being totally off of it in the next day or two. They also plan to put the "peg" in his abdomen today, which will allow introduction of nutrition directly into the stomach and removal of the NG tube from his nose. Two intravenous lines were removed from his left arm yesterday, so the peg will be the only external connection. Assuming all continues to go well, the doctors want to move him to Shepherd's as soon as possible; possibly this weekend. Then will start what the doctors call "bootcamp". The prayer there will be for strength and perseverence.

All say that Walter's eyes were much improved yesterday. They seemed more engaged, and, at least at times, tracking better. He's not speaking yet (although, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the speech therapist did get a "yes" out of him), but he increasingly grunts, perhaps (this is just a guess) indicating that, with the reduced brain swelling, he's becoming more aware and trying to communicate.

As a suggestion, pray that the pressure around the brain will moderate itself once the drain is clamped off. If it does not, the doctors will likely implant a shunt to relieve the pressure on an ongoing basis. A shunt would be permanent and would require ongoing maintenance.

Also continue to pray for encouragement and strength for Jessica, Mom, Dad, Lyn and Pat. They have been working the schedule to keep someone with Walter 24/7, and it makes for quite a tiring schedule. Some folks have offered to pitch in on that, and we may very well take you up on it.

Thanks to all.

Tuesday, April 28

A few have asked about visiting Walter. Visitors are pretty much limited to family while he's in acute intensive care. Hopefully he'll move to intermediate care within the next couple of weeks, at which point that may change. I'll keep everyone updated.


Therapy picked up yesterday. Occupational, physical and speech therapists evaluated him. I did not hear any feedback from the occupational and physical therapists, but the speech therapist was encouraged. She said his tongue movement is good and she got him to say "yes". Again, a suggestion for prayer direction: pray that Walter will not succumb to discouragement. Lyn sensed yesterday that he stopped responding after a while with the speech therapist, as if he became frustrated at his inability to do formerly simple things. Or it may just be that he gets tired.

The speech therapist recommended that the doctors remove the nasogastric tube from his nose and throat and install a "peg" directly into his stomach for nourishment. Removing the NG tube should make speaking easier and allow his throat to recover; he has indicated that his throat is sore. We expect that to happen today. The doctors are also beginning to wean him off the tube that relieves that vetricle pressure in the brain. That process takes a few days. Again, one of the current goals is to remove all tubes and get his body working on its own again.

Several people have asked about bringing food. Some wonderful friends have us covered for about the next week-and-a-half, I believe. I'll update as we go.

Best to all.

Sunday PM, April 26

The routine is beginning to come together. We've worked out schedules for folks to stay at the hospital. Everyone is having to fold, drape and bend. For example, it looks like Lyn will initially take the early shift that starts at 5:30 or 6 in the morning. Those of you who know her understand the irony of that. Lyn's "musical girls" -- the team that she works with producing musicals in our area-- are scheduled to bring meals over the next couple of weeks, bless them. We're settlin' in.

Walter had the hiccups today, sometimes for extended periods. Mom and Dad were with him much of today. Jessica's parents, Brenda and Bobby, are here through tomorrow. They will spend the night at the hospital with Jessica tonight. Jessica finally took some time today to leave the hospital, go to her and Walter's townhouse and take care of things like washing some clothes. etc. She has to go back to work tomorrow, so the next stage of our routine will kick in then. Life continues.

Here's the address for cards (I recall that flowers are prohibited):

Walter Romine, Patient

Emory University Hospital

Neuro ICU

1364 Clifton Road

Atlanta, GA 30322

Remember Jessica's earlier suggestion about contributions to Shepherd's Center. You can check out the earlier post with the information on that.

A visual

I thought you might like to get a view of the set-up at Emory. Here's are a picture of Dad and Walter watching the NFL draft yesterday.

John Taylor

Settlin' into Patience

The title of this post comes from the book "Jayber Crow" by Wendell Berry. Wonderful book, in many ways. Highly recommend it.

We seem be moving from constant drama into a routine, however long it might last. The medical staff tells us that the goal for the stay at Emory is to stabilize, to gradually wean Walter from the various tubes and get his body to working on its own. More visible progress should come once he moves to Shepherd's and begins the various therapies. We are prayerfully settlin' in.

The staff encourages us that Walter is not evidencing anything right now that is out of the ordinary under these circumstances. His eyes are open much more, but he does not seem to have control over them and they're not tracking. He indicates in answer to questions that he's seeing double. He has a patch over his right eye right now, in an effort to strengthen the left one. A nurse said that the eye situation may also be addressed later, if needed, by surgery. In a swallow test last night he was unable to fully swallow ice chips, so he's not at the point of handling real food yet. Since he still needs nourishment through a tube for now, the plan is to remove the tube from his nose and install a tube directly into the stomach. That arrangement should be more comfortable; Walter has indicated that his throat is sore.

Dad shaved him again this morning and massaged his feet. We received an email earlier suggesting that stroke patients enjoy having their feet held; gives them a sense of grounding. Walter's response seems to bear that out.

Love to all.

What a Day!

The day started in the wee hours getting Walter to Emory via helicopter and ambulance. It ends with much-needed encouragement.

Two developments today, both the subject of much prayer. First, Walter had an angiogram (a test that uses a special dye and camera to take pictures of the blood flow in the blood vessels of, in this case, the brain). Dad explained to me that an angiogram can discern things like aneurysms, tumors or narrowing or blockage in blood vessels. Walter's angiogram showed no such thing! It was normal. All the doctors detected was high blood pressure.

Second, the doctors discovered that Walter's sodium level was low, so they've started to treat that. The nurses told Lyn and Pat today that they have seen this treatment work extremely well in reducing swelling. Let me know if you want an explanation of the chemistry behind it and I'll have Dad write a guest post. In any event, once the swelling is reduced sufficiently the doctors will then be able to get a better look at the source of the bleeding. It is possible that the bleeding resulted from a leak from a blood vessel caused by, or at least exacerbated by, high blood pressure. If that's the case, then the only thing to treat is the high blood pressure, although physical therapy will still be required. This may be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but the prognosis may be much better than feared. Not out of the woods, but grateful for answered prayer and good news!

Transition

As it turned out, the call from Emory was the beginning of a dramatic night. No ambulance service was available--or willing-- to take him to Emory, but Emory said that he'd lose the bed if he did not arrive shortly. We were finally able to engage a medical air service to take him by helicopter. Weather forced a landing in Columbus. An ambulance took him the rest of the way to Emory. Allow me to say that's the short version.

By the time Walter arrived, his ventricular pressure had elevated again and he was not responsive, so the doctors have reinserted the bolt, or valve, to relieve pressure. Lyn just told me that he has now begun to open his eyes again. The doctors continue to evaluate him. I will update as we go.

Wednesday Night, April 22

We just got word that Walter is being transferred to Emory tonight. Wonderful news! Will update as learn more. Thank for continuing prayers!

Wednesday, April 22

Following up on the determination that the pressure within the brain ventricles is regulating itself, the doctors on Tuesday removed the drain (called a "bolt") from Walter's right frontal lobe and replaced it with two staples. That is good news. He sat up in a chair for a couple of hours to give his back a rest from lying down. He received acute therapy on his left side and a little speech therapy. He enjoyed the massage of the acute therapy. He moved his left shoulder a lot and his left leg some. He got pretty frustrated with the speech part because he couldn't do a lot of what the therapist asked him to do; e.g., moving his tongue around, saying "mmmm", etc.

He has tried to communicate by pointing to things and by writing. The writing is illegible. The doctor says that the remaining swelling in the applicable parts of the brain make these attempts at communication difficult. Walter kept his eyes open most of Tuesday but was very agitated, perhaps because he's probably seeing multiples. Therapists administer respiratory therapy every four hours, including through the night. Despite the exhausting day, he had difficulty sleeping last night.

Today, the doctors plan to remove the NG-tube from his nose and throat, through which he's been receiving medication and nourishment, and replace it as a longer-term solution with a gastric feeding tube ("G-tube") that will provide access directly to the stomach. He will be sedated for that procedure, which should take thirty minutes at the most. Removal of the bolt and the NG-tube will remove two connections from his head. If he keeps breathing well and the respiratory treatments do what they're supposed to do, perhaps he can soon come off his oxygen as well. The fewer connections the better. He tried to pull one or two out before and must sometimes be restrained to prevent that.

He has a CT scan scheduled this morning. We believe that the swelling may be continuing to go down because he is becoming more aware of what's going on around him.

His color looks great and of course Walter, Sr. is keeping him well groomed. J

We are doing what we can to expedite Walter's transfer to Emory. The consensus is that it's time to go.

As a suggested point of prayer, please pray that Walter will not be afraid. Jessica senses fear in his eyes as he becomes more aware. Those around him constantly seek to encourage and calm him, but his inability to communicate renders it difficult to know what he's feeling. Jessica prays with him every night and he squeezes her hand to acknowledge "amen".

Monday Evening, April 20

Some progress today on a couple of fronts. First, it appears that Walter will not need a shunt inserted long-term to control the pressure around the brain. His body is handling it. Second, he's keeping his eyes open more and seems to be trying to focus. Third, he's keeping nourishment down and his digestive system is working. All that is progress.

The doctor reports, however, that today's scan, while it showed somewhat of a dissipation of the blood around the brain, did not indicate a reduction in swelling.

We're waiting to receive word that Emory has a bed for him. Hopefully that call will come in the next day or two.

In response to the question of some regarding what they can do, Jessica suggests that anyone desiring to do so may make a contribution on Walter's behalf to The Shepherd Center, where he will be doing his rehab once we get to that point. Below is the link for contributions, which are most appreciated:

http://www.shepherd.org/giving/ways.asp

More later.

John Taylor

Sunday Morning, April 19, 2009

Quick update for this morning: Walter had good night. He's opening his eyes a bit more. The doctors have ordered respiratory therapy to work to keep the lungs clear.



For those of of you who may feel the need for prayer focus, Lyn says that she's praying right now that (1) his eyes will open and be conjugate (which I think means to track together like they're supposed to; they haven't been doing that the little bit that his eyes have been open); (2) he be able to tolerate nourishment; and (3) he speak. May the Spirit otherwise lead.



Here are some emails that we received before the blog went online (I have done some editing on them):



"Thank you for sharing this with us. Will start praying this morning-we have such a mighty God. We have had some dealings with the Shepard Center. As you know, it is an outstanding place-we were very impressed with the staff especially. Please keep us posted-if there is anything else I can do-please holler! Love you all"



"We are praying constantly. The other day a woodworking acquaintance was over to pick up some wood, and it turns out he's a part-time preacher at a little church. A prayer meeting of sorts broke out in the workshop! Another friend who is a very intuitive, alternative 'healer' suggested that someone (jessica?) hold his feet from time to time. Her rationale was that many times people who have had strokes sense a lack of grounding (that part seems reasonable) and contact with the feet apparently helps with this."



"Thanks John for the update. We will continue to pray and seek God's face about this."



"I am shocked and so sorry to hear this. We will pray for a full recovery. When I see patients in or facility after a neurological event, it is tough. The patients I feel have the greatest struggles are those without faith and those without family. Walter has both. Walter is surrounded by those that believe and those that love him. I will refrain from calling for a few days until you might know more. I know the calls are steady. As you know, Emory and the Sheperd center are the absolute best facilites for him. Please give Walter a hug and love from Alaska. We'll be praying for Walter, Jessica and the family. Thanks for letting us know. If there is thing we can do, we'll do it."



"Thank you so much for including us in these communications. As I've often said when my friends of all religions offer their prayers for my family.... I'll take them and hope someone or everyone has a direct line! I believe you know how much we love your family and hope that this difficult period is as short as possible."



"Yes, I will pray for Walter. There are no coincidences with the Lord. He is in our midst and cares so much for our well being. Emory and Shepherd are wonderful places for him. Let me know what I can do."

Beginning of a Long Road

Walter Romine, 38 years old, had a stroke early Friday morning of last week (a week ago yesterday). He had been exhibiting concerning symptoms (e.g., a drawing up of the fingers on his left hand; numbness on his left side) for some time. He had visited two neurologists and had an MRI scheduled for this past Tuesday. He picked up his wife Jessica (26 years old) at the Atlanta Airport late Thursday evening to drive down to Quitman for the Easter weekend. The stroke occurred on the trip down. They went initially to the emergency room in the Valdosta, GA hospital but shortly transferred to Archbold Hospital in Thomasville. Archbold is a wonderful medical facility, with a strong staff. Walter, Sr., Walter’s father, has strong connections there from his own days of medical practice.

The doctors shortly diagnosed Walter’s condition as resulting from a hemorrhaging hemangioma located in the thalamus, a part of the brain down near the brainstem. They have not been able to discern the precise scope of the lesion because of brain swelling (which has been going down), but they have observed that the lesion is unusually large. They have told us that such a lesion in this part of the brain, especially a bleeding one, is unusual.

Walter has spoken and opened his eyes little since the first few hours after the stroke. He responds readily to requests such as “squeeze my hand” and he can answer questions with hand signals, using his right hand. His left side is compromised. He is receiving nourishment intravenously and through a tube into the stomach. The nourishment directly into the stomach has occasionally caused nausea and vomiting, so the nutrition is being supplemented intravenously.

Peggy (Walter’s mother) called this morning with encouraging news: Walter moved his left arm and left leg for the first time.

For those of you who believe that God cares about, and is involved with, his people (although we do not understand the how or why of things), and that he sometimes speaks in very direct ways from Scripture, I offer this from my discussion with Peggy this morning: This morning she read the prayer of Nehemiah in the face of opposition to his leading the people in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem: “Oh God, strengthen my hands”. (Nehemiah 6:9). On the way to the hospital this morning, she told Walter Sr. about it. When they got to the hospital, the doctor told them that Walter had moved his left arm and left leg, for the first time. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

Walter is on the waiting list for transfer to Emory. The doctors estimate that the transfer will occur early next week. If things progress as expected (although, of course, nothing is certain), that timing should line up well with the resolution of the brain swelling. Emory, as a teaching and academic hospital, appears to be well-equipped to take the lead in the next step of the process, which is determine treatment of the lesion itself. For example, we are told that Emory has an MRI that delivers more detailed imaging. This should enable to doctors to fine-tune prognosis and treatment. We understand that there are various options, all the way from doing nothing to computerized laser procedures.

Longer term, it appears likely that Walter is looking at an extended period of physical therapy and rehabilitation. The Shepherd Center in Atlanta will likely be the provider of those services.

So, it appears that Peggy and Walter, Sr. will pretty much be living here in Atlanta for a prolonged period of time once Walter gets up here.

As you can tell, much is uncertain.

Again, for those of you who believe in prayer, please pray.

John Taylor