Julie Comes Home

After being hospitalized since February 19, Julie has started a new chapter in her rehabilitation. She was discharged from St. Jude’s last week and is continuing her recovery at home surrounded by her family.

The insurance company is working out the details of her continued therapy as she still has a lot of work to do, but she’s doing amazing things each day. Last week she typed a text message to a friend and she’s working on strengthening her muscles so she can walk again.

Thank you for your prayers over the last seven months. Your support has been a blessing. My hope is that Julie will be able to personally thank you one day.

Sandy

Julie is getting stronger each day as she continues her therapy, here are a few highlights:

High School Days: Julie was asked where she went to high school and clearly said Corona Del Mar High. She is gaining strength, and is much more willing to work hard in PT. She was in the standing frame for over 10 minutes today which is great since it’s not her favorite thing to do.

It’s a dog’s life: After her therapy sessions, Julie sometimes has a visit from Beau the therapy dog. She called Beau up on her bed and he curled up with her and cuddled for about 45 minutes while she petted him and just relaxed.

Reaching new heights: Today she sat up in bed without prompting to grab something, threw a ball at a basketball hoop, used a new machine to strengthen her legs, stood several times in the standing frame, and followed some complicated instructions involving a shower chair to get into the shower in her own hospital room, instead of being wheeled into a shower down the hall. All pretty amazing.

Please pray for:
-Strength and steadfastness for Julie.
-Continued insurance coverage of the intensive rehab program. (If she stays and continues to improve at her current rate she will be able to do many more things for herself when she gets home than she can now.)
-Perseverance for Jen and Lee and her brothers Jason and Jonathan

I pray that one day you’ll be able to meet Julie and she will be able to give you her testimony on how God took her through this incredible journey with your prayers.

It’s official ... Julie is no longer in a coma

Julie was officially declared out of a coma late last week. I apologize for the delay, but I’ve been without a computer to spread the news. It hasn’t progressed the way movies portray a coma where someone looks sleepy and then they wake up and they’re all better. This is not typical. Julie has been in a very minimally conscious state for a long time, but has now progressed to a point where she has been declared out of coma.

She still has a long path towards her recovery, and it will continue to take hard work on her part, as well as her therapists to regain many of the skills she had before her accident. Nobody knows how long this will take, nor exactly how far she will come, but we have faith in her abilities and there have been sparks her personality coming out.

She is making progress and is doing more each day. It is awesome to watch God work. Thank you for your continued prayers during this journey. Please pray for Julie to remain healthy and pray for Lee and Jen as they encourage their daughter.

Prayer requests:

Feeding tube: The nursing staff is working hard on feeding Julie by mouth. She is doing remarkably well learning how to eat again

Standing up: Julie is also working hard on standing up with the ultimate goal of being able to walk again.

Health: Julie got sick a couple of days ago and swallowed some fluid. This caused her to get pneumonia so she is now on antibiotics.

Next steps: Please pray for Lee and Jen to stay well, have strength and get rest as they plan for the next phase in Julie’s care.

Fun Stories:

Doggie Days: Julie requires lots of rest and naps each day, as even the simple act of concentrating to put on her shoes tires her out. During one such nap today she was visited by a therapy dog named Annie, a sweet yellow lab. When she woke up and saw the dog there, she got the sweetest smile on her face, and gently and calmly reached out with her arm to touch the velvety softness that was the dog’s ear. It was sweet and peaceful, and what could give anyone more contentment than the softness of a dog's ear.

A Phone Call Away: Julie still whispers when she tries to speak, but she is getting better on the phone. She has real conversations with the person on the other end, instead of just listening; she replies and responds to their comments. She has also been making more audible noises ... another step in the right direction for her to regain her ability to be heard when she speaks.

Arm wrestling: I saw Julie on Wednesday and was amazed by the progress she has made. She likes to hold your hand and arm wrestle. I was amazed with her grip, she’s getting incredibly strong. We laughed as she continued to beat me.

Julie had an incredible week. I’ve included more details on her progress here and for those just checking in, prayer requests are at the bottom.

During one of her assessments, her speech therapist asked her to say "Hi", and she did! Then the therapist asked her if her name is Mary, and she said "no!" Thank you for your prayers in this area as she’s making progress with her speech and this is first word after 21 weeks of being silent.

Other areas:

And the answer is: Julie answered many questions with the appropriate verbal response this week. Her voice does not have any volume, so she basically whispers her replies. She answered one question with a two word response saying "I‘m done."

More ice cream please: Julie ate almost two ounces of chocolate ice cream, without any problems swallowing. She remembers to show her mouth after each bite to the therapists so they can give her more after ascertaining that it was safely swallowed.

One step for Julie: She was put into a gait trainer, which holds her in a harness over the ground in a walking position, and she used her legs to move around. She was not bearing full weight, and it helps her with balance, but she took probably 40 steps with it.

Got mail? A family friend read her a two-page letter and when I paused to give her a break half-way through and asked if she wanted me to continue, she said "yes."

Please pray for:

Health: Please pray she continues to stay healthy and that Julie can straighten up her neck. She has been bent over looking down this whole time so neck needs strengthening.

Insurance coverage: Please pray that her insurance coverage will continue.

Lastly, thank you for being a part of the prayer family in Julie Grace's life. This is a long road and Julie will need each and every one of you to stay on her team and pray for a complete recovery. She needs lots of encouragement as she realizes all that she faces in her recovery, and you can help by being her cheerleaders.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you and God bless!

Sandy

Julie is continuing to make small gradual progress. Here are a few highlights of her activities since the last post:

Recent accomplishments: Julie painted for the first time since her accident, and she propelled herself in her wheelchair using her legs and feet.

More food please: With her swallow therapy, she has tried Jello, pudding and some frozen lemonade. She’s still being feed by a tube, but hopefully she’ll progress in this area.

Laughter is contagious: Julie was listening to a story that her roommate from APU told, and it was very funny. Everyone started laughing, and she joined in. We laughed together for about a minute. Amazing.

Your thoughts and prayers are really helping her! Thank you all for your loving and active support. Please keep praying for her to communicate and keep any infections at bay.

Update #40

Hope this finds you well. Julie is holding her own during the different rehab programs that she goes to each day. She had another evaluation this week and she’s making progress. Last night Julie’s dad was with her and he asked her to hold his hand. She moved her left hand from behind her head and brought it forward and put her hand on his.

Please keep praying for two specific requests.

Ability to Communicate: Julie would have a breakthrough and be able to communicate.

Continuation of program: That God would make a way for Julie to stay in the brain injury program. She’s half way through the number of days her insurance will allow.

Lee and Jenny would like me to thank you for being faithful for all this time in your prayers for Julie. We have seen God do miracles over the course of time with Julie and we are hopeful that he is not done yet.

God bless,

Update #39

Julie is out of the ICU and back in rehab. The doctors decided to wait a month without the internal shunt and reevaluate how she does in that time. They will do another CT scan in one month and then make a decision about installing a new shunt. This is an amazing praise.

In addition, Julie made four sounds today during her occupational therapy session. She also sat in her wheel chair today, which is good for her to get out of bed.

Please pray for:

Healing: We’re hoping she won’t need a shunt long-term and her body will keep working and absorbing the fluid in her brain.

Longer period of wakefulness: Julie has had focused periods of being “alert.” She has been moving her arms and legs so much it’s hard to believe she is still in a coma.

No Infections: Please pray Julie stays strong and fights off any new infections.

Thank you all for your support, e-mails, prayer and your faithfulness through this very hard and long road.

Update #38

Just a quick update, Julie is healing from her infections and is still in ICU. The doctors will decide if Julie has to have another shunt to carry the fluid away from her brain or is her own body working and she will not need the shunt.

Please pray for healing for Julie so she will not need another operation. Also keep Lee and Jenny in your prayers for rest and strength. Lastly, thank you for each of you for your prayers. We see answers to prayer every day with Julie. It’s a long road, thank you for walking it with Julie.

Update #37

Hope this finds you well and you are enjoying the cool weekend. Just a quick update. Julie had surgery yesterday to remove the shunt that drains the fluid from her brain. There was infection and pressure so it’s possible that the shunt was not working correctly. Julie is back in ICU and they will keep running tests to make sure the infection goes away and she heals up.

Prayer requests:

Her body takes over: Please pray for Julie not to have to have another shunt and that her body would work correctly.

End of infection: Please pray that Julie would not have any more infection.

Farris Family: Please keep Lee, Jen, Jason and Jon Jon in your prayers.

Thank you all for your support and prayers for this family. I know some of you have not met Julie, but continue to pray for her. We appreciate your outpouring of love. It means the world to them.

Praises and prayer requests

Julie enters her fourth week of the brain injury program and is still moving forward with her rehabilitation. A team of specialists is working with her every day and she is making small steps. It’s a slow road to recovery, but she is making progress.

Praises:

Moving up the scale: Julie came up a notch on the coma scale last week and it’s been determined that she’s not in as deep of coma as before.

Responding to commands: Julie was wearing her glasses and they were slipping of her nose; someone in the room said “fix your glasses” and she did!

Prayer:

More X-rays: Another X-ray was taken again last week, we’re not sure what they’re looking for, but please pray it’s nothing.

Speech: Please continue to pray that Julie can communicate in some way soon.

For the Family: Please pray for Lee and Jen to have strength and the energy to meet the demands of caring for Julie’s needs and that of their two boys Jason and Jon Jon.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Praise

Hope you are well. Just a quick note to share the latest in Julie's journey. First, thank you again for your continued prayers. Julie is still in a coma, but she is moving forward each day which is a big praise. She has completed the first two weeks of the brain injury program and has shown enough progress that the hospital has extended her for another two weeks of therapy.
She has a team of physical, occupational and speech therapists that are stretching her muscles and working with her on ways to communicate.

We have seen her start to move her lips and we feel she is getting closer to communicating. Also, there are times during physical therapy this she is grimacing or crying because of the pain. Although it's hard to see her upset, we're excited she's showing a response.
The doctors took an X-ray of her spine. We're not sure why, but please pray that the results come back OK. Also, please pray that Julie will be able to communicate soon.

She's making baby steps towards recovering and they're in the right direction. I'm constantly reminding myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint and things aren't going to happen in our timing.

Thank you again for your continued support.

Quick Update

Hope this finds you well. Thank you for your cards, drawings and prayers. Just a quick update since my last report. After Julie entered the brain injury program at St. Jude, they determined she needed a few more surgeries before beginning the program.

So the last couple of weeks she's been recovering and healing. With that behind her, she has now re-entered the program today.

Please continue to pray that Julie responds well to the program and shows progress. Also, please pray for continued healing and to keep any infections at bay.

Thank you for continuing to lift this family in prayer.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Phil 1:6

Prayer update

Hello Friends and Family,
It's hard to believe today marks 7 weeks in Julie's road to recovery. I wanted to bring you up-to-date and thank you all so much for your prayers and phone calls over the last couple of months. It has meant so much to my family and my sister's. It has kept us going and given us all strength. Below is a quick update from my sister's neighbor. She has been gracious enough to write periodic updates. Many of you have inquired about Julie so I thought I'd pass this on. We are excited about Julie's participation in this intensive brain injury therapy program as it offers us hope. It also signifies a new chapter in her recovery. Most of her physical injuries and surgeries are behind us, enabling us to focus on the next phase of her recovery.

The program is two weeks and Julie needs to show signs of response to continue with the program. We are praying that she responds well and makes progress. Please also pray for my sister's two sons Jonathan and Jason, this has been a challenging time for them as well.

I hope this finds you and your family well. We'd love to hear from you and catch up on what's happening.

Thank you again for your words of encouragement.

Julie is a graphics art major and appreciates all forms of art -- so if your kiddos like to draw, color, paint etc. their masterpieces would make wonderful art for her walls. The brighter the better.

Urgent update

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. They have been a tremendous source of comfort to the family.

Julie is still unconscious and in critical condition, but her vital signs are stable. We are praying that her vitals will continue to improve and she will regain consciousness.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support.

Urgent prayer request

Friends,

Sandy's niece, Julie, has been in a tragic accident. Julie was riding her bike at Azusa Pacific University and was struck by a campus trolley. She was airlifted to USC Medical Center and is in critical condition. Julie suffered serious head trauma and is currently in a coma. She is in very bad shape and needs a miracle.

Please pray for Julie, her parents, Jennifer (Sandy's sister) her husband Lee and her two brothers, Jason,16, and Jonathan,10.

Thank you,

Chris and Sandy