Re: [TMIC] My brother
THous65004(AT)aol.com
Mon, 28 Jun 1999 13:38:20 EDT
Debby,
Your family has suffered a very traumatic experience. My 17 yr old
daughter's experience sounds much like your brothers. She was paralyzed from
the chest down within 24 hours. That was April 1998. She had experienced
excruciating pain in her chest the week before. I think the most important
part of this is attitude. We would take one day at a time, and celebrate
each sign of improvement. At first, she was unable to sit up in bed for very
long, she would get dizzy and nauseaus. She did that a little longer each day
and then she went to a wheel chair. After about a week of trying, she began
to wiggle her big toe, then her foot, ankle and so on. She had excellent care
in the hospital where they really focused on physical therapy. I stayed with
her 24/7 while recovering. I did not want her to be alone to think of all
the possibilities and get depressed. She eventually improved and returned (5
months later)to her cheerleading squad in high school. There is alot more to
her story, but too long to go into now. The most important thing is you need
to load your brother with praise and encouragement at every possible sign of
improvement. Sometimes, it is just a flicker of movement. He can get better,
and he needs to believe that. It sounds like he got good early treatment and
there is no reason to believe that he will not recover. It has been a long
ordeal for our family, but Tera's attitude has been such an inspiration to
us. Take care, you are all in our prayers.
Stacey :)