Who’s the Giant?

Last Monday, our good friend, Elke, from Canada arrived to spend several days with me. It is such a joy to have her here. Mike and I first met Elke and her husband, Gert, in Palau so we have a fairly long history together. Being missionaries on small islands in the Pacific tends to closely connect the foreigners (aliens). We actually had to register as aliens while living there. Doesn’t that sound funny? We’ve enjoyed visits to Canada and they have visited us in the states throughout the years. Elke has jumped right in and helped with whatever is going on. We’ve painted the front of the rusted refrigerator, made home-made ice-cream for the church lawn supper which is tonight, planted flowers, hung clothes on the line, and even started scraping/power washing the barn, etc. With my nephew, T.R.’s, wedding coming up in mid-October, there is lots to do.

On Wednesday, we left at 5:45 a.m. in order to meet Mike and the NR staff at the neuro-surgeon’s office in Roanoke. On Sunday night, Mike fell and hit his head, leaving a laceration just above his right eye on the brow. Sunday night he was taken to the emergency room and received a few stitches and staples. He seemed fine otherwise, so he returned to NR where they checked him every 3-4 hours to be sure he was alright. On Monday, Mike had an appointment to have his right pinkie finger x-rayed due to swelling. The previous Friday, Dr. McCrady had written an order for a CT scan. He felt that the CT scan would show whether Mike had normal-pressure hydrocephalus and he did not want to put Mike through sedation and the possibility that he would have to spend a night in the hospital in order to get an MRI. While at the pinkie appointment, the nurse noticed the order for the CT. Since Mike was being very cooperative, approval was given to go ahead with the scan right then also. The pinkie x-ray revealed no break.

The CT scan ruled out hydrocephalus, but did show a small amount of blood in the subarachnoid space at the spot where Mike had hit his head the previous evening. The radiologist or doctor who read the scan did not think it was significant, but Dr. McCrady wanted to be sure; therefore the appointment with the neuro-surgeon, Dr. Frasier, on Wednesday. Dr. Frasier confirmed that it was insignificant and quite normal for the type of injury Mike had received from his fall on Sunday. I tried to ask the doctor some other questions and see if he would read the scan to me, but he was rather blunt and only wanted to deal with the reason Mike was there. At least I have all of the scans/MRIs on disk now and hope to get an appointment with Tracey’s friend to read them to me.  Everyone who has reviewed the scans has mentioned the atrophy (shrinkage) in Mike’s frontal lobe. This means, at least in part, that there is a loss of neurons and the connections between them. (You’ll have to Google it for more details.)

Mike was very calm Wednesday morning at the doctor’s office. After the appointment, we all returned to NR, minus the calmness. Mike was quite agitated the rest of the morning. We figured he was probably tired since he had to be up and out so early. I tried to help him eat something, and he ate a little, but couldn’t be still and was in the grabbing mode. Dr. Rooker, the psychiatrist, came by and I was able to talk with him briefly. He said Mike’s case is a bit unusual in that nothing in particular seems to make a lasting difference. After thinking it over, the next day Srdj, RN, told me that Dr. Rooker decided to taper off the Klonopin and start Depakote. Depakote was tried about a year ago, but Mike was on so many medications at the time that we could not tell if it helped or made things worse or was interacting with something else. It is mainly used for seizures, but also for manic episodes or bi-polar disorders. It takes a few weeks to get into the system.

Elke and I left soon after, in hopes that Mike would settle down and rest.  We had planned to return later, but he stayed much the same the rest of the day so we did not return. We walked around downtown Blacksburg, ate lunch, went shopping for some things for Mike, and then went to Silvia’s and worked on making a photo album for Mike. The Speech Therapist wanted photos with names on the back to use in working with his memory.

Wednesday evening, Elke, Silvia, and I enjoyed eating out and just talking together. Thursday morning, Silvia put out a wonderful breakfast which we leisurely enjoyed together. I called NR and was told Mike was having a fantastic morning. The staff said he woke up happy, smiling, and laughing. Somehow he got stuck on saying “I’m the giant.” Tina would jump in front of him and say “Who’s the giant?” and Mike would smile, chuckle, and say “I’m the giant.” He thought it was funny also, when I would stomp toward him saying “Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum.” We spent several hours with him and he was like that the whole time. We really were interacting with him as if he was a child, but that is what made him laugh, and it was a joy to see. We walked, went to the park and tossed the football around a lot. I was trying to help Elke with her throwing technique and at one point said “Am I teaching her all wrong, Mike?” and he smiled and said “Yes.”  When I asked him to teach her, all that would come out was “I like football” which is what he had been repeating previously. Is hard to know if he was thinking something else and that’s all that would come out, but he did not seemed distressed in any way. I was going to try to give Elke a break from tossing with him, but at that point he only wanted to throw to her.  He still throws a beautiful spiral and usually catches the ball if not thrown too hard. Later, at the park, I acted like a center, and told Mike to do the count. He did, ending in "hike". One time, instead of throwing the ball to anyone, he came slowly over to me, got real close, and said “You go out.” How fun – a huddle! Elke noted that the more we played, the more stable he seemed on his feet.  Now he was turning from me to her to throw or catch. Mike enjoyed swinging, went down one slide, and then was ready to go back and rest. What a delightful time with him. 

I just started 2 Corinthians this week and want to leave you with the following verses:

2 Cor. 1:10 & 11

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

You are all such an important part of this continuing adventure in our lives. Without the prayers of many, I know this would be so much harder. Thank you for your perseverance in prayers and love to us. It means so very much.