July 14, 2011

Great Night

Last night Garren had one of the best nights he's had since he got the trach out. His body needs rest, and last night he got good solid sleep. When we spoke to the pulmonologist earlier this week, he told us to just go ahead and put Garren on oxygen for the entire night. This will give his body an extra boost of oxygen, allowing his body to get some good rest. Last night was the second night doing that.

Garren also started seeing his chiropractor this week. She is working on his neck and spine, focusing on those parts of the spine that effect the nerves that control swallowing and breathing.

And finally, Garren has started speech therapy again, this time at the outpatient rehab facility at CMC-Union. Yesterday he did VitalStim for 55 minutes, and did several execises during that time. The speech therapist fed Garren ice chips, and asked him to try to swallow them. About half the time he successfully swallowed the ice! She was very excited about what she saw. She wants to work with him for about a week or two, and then repeat the swallow test.

All of these components, working together, seem to have had a positive effect on Garren. It's nice to see improvement.

As you pray for Garren, here are a couple of things you can pray for specifically. Pray that he will continue to have great nights like last night, so that his body can rest and continue to heal.

In about a month we are planning to travel to Colorado for a wedding. Right now we have night nursing, but it would be ideal if we didn't have to worry about having a nurse when we travel. Pray that we will no longer need nursing when it comes time to travel.

10 comments:

wendypoovey said...

Praise God! This is wonderful news. I am continued to be amazed by Garren's healing. God is working through him. Our children never forget to pray for Garren. What an incredible impact Garren has had on the children!

Anonymous said...

Yipee!! Wonderful, wonderful...sigh....the more you trust God, the more you realize that you can trust God, which makes you trust God even more!! Keep trusting...we will keep praying...love and prayers, Sandy & Russ

Anonymous said...

Garren's progress is an anwser to prayers. We all continue to lift you all up to God everyday.
The Grotophorst

tammywingate said...

yeah Garren!!! we will pray for these request and then give our Heavenly Father praise for the answered prayers!!! keep up the great work, we are soooo proud of you!!!
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Anonymous said...

Father in Heaven,

We praise and thank You so much for the improvement Garren has seen lately. We want to pray specifically that Garren would continue to have restful, solid nights of sleep and we are also asking that when the time comes to travel to Colorado for the wedding Garren will not need a nurse to accompany him. All the glory goes to You for the healing and improvements thus far in Garren's recovery. In Christ alone we pray, Amen. Donna Lochridge

Kitty @ Four Toms and a Mom said...

This is sooooo amazing..... no. God is soooo amazing! Garren has never left this family's prayer list... every meal, every bedtime, every prayer huddle... the Hinkle boys keep lifting Garren up. Joe and Brian aren't home this week but Carter and Christian are thrilled because the vitalstem thingy has been something they don't understand but keep repeating in prayer. We'll pray now for no need for a nurse next month while he travels. We'll pray knowing God listens!

Anonymous said...

How's it going? We continue to pray for all of you! Can you guys come swim one day?

Love,
The Tripps

Dory said...

So glad to hear about all the great progress Garren is making! It is such a lesson to all of us who "want what we want, right now!" to know that if we just persevere and take steps little by little, we can reach our goals! So excited to hear about Garren's improvement in walking and talking and especially swallowing! We will continue to pray and look forward to hearing many more great improvements!

Anonymous said...

Hey guys!! How is eveyone doing? So glad to see you Garren in the car at church...you look great! I just want you to know that we are still praying, and still trusting God in all this...hope the heat is not too much for all of you...love, Sandy & Russ

Anonymous said...

I was wondering how Garren is doing since you haven't updated in a while.
Thank you.