Hi, I just wanted to thank everyone who responded and prayed for my brother before Christmas,it was truly a blessing and much appreciated. The doctors are still going with a diagnosis of transverse myelitis,but I think that's just because that's the closest fit. We found out the day after christmas that his upper body paralysis & weakness is due to a neck injury-2 patient transporters dropped him 6-8 inches when putting him from a chair back to bed & he snapped his neck(he was weak & had little muscle control). That was extremely upsetting for him,knowing that it's bad enough the cancer & treatment caused the lower body paralysis,but that because of carelessness-they didn't have a sheet pulled taught while transferring- is very upsetting,because it has just made his recovery that much longer and more difficult. I just want to sit down and cry,but I can't- I have to keep encouraging him to
move forward. Last week after 2 1/2 months at the clinic, we were able to transfer him to one of the best rehab facilities in the country-MetroHealth . Could I please ask another favor of you all? Could you please pray for Bob, that he will remain cured of the cancer(he's in remission) and regain his strength and ability to walk and function normally again. For those who are Catholic, I pray novenas to ST. Rita and St. Jude,but if others prayed them too, it would be tremendous. I know he's just so worried that he will go through all of this & the cancer will come back before we can do a 2nd transplant. I keep telling him I don't believe God would let him come through all that he has to not have him succeed. He has such a great spirit & though he gets down, he never gives up & tries so hard in his therapies- it's
heartwrenching to watch, but incredibly awe-inspiring. My deepest gratitude to all of you out there for being my shoulder & for your prayers & kindness.
Sincerely, Debbie

Thank you so much for the update. I was just wondering about him the other day. I'd written his name on a piece of paper and stuck it to the computer to remind me to pray for him. It fell off a couple of weeks ago and I came across it when I was cleaning.

I am so sorry to hear all that he has gone through. I re-stuck his name to my computer and will continue to pray for him!

Thank you for the update..I will keep praying for Bob...Bob sounds like a fighter I'm glad he is giving it his all in therpy and not giving up. No matter how hard it gets just keep the faith and remember "All things are possible with God! "

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

oh gosh, that just made me sick to my stomach, reading about the carelessness of the transporters-I hope you can find the strength to follow through w/ making sure they get the proper discipline they deserve. I will be sure to keep your brother in my prayers and hope for a good recovery. And he has got to know what a great sister he has in his court!

Thanks for the update Debbie. I have also been wondering how Bob was doing since your last post about him. It's so wonderful that he has family around to encourage him and help keep his spirits high. I'll continue to pray that he has a full recovery. It seems like it would be so hard not to get down or want to give up when things like that happen. Your brother sounds like an amazing man!

I know from experience that the power of prayer is very strong. About three years ago, someone that my mom used to work with had a vending machine fall on him (work accident). It fractured his skull and sent bone fragments into his brain. The bone fragments could not be removed because of where they were - they said he would bleed to death if they removed them. He was only given a 10% chance, at the most, to live. His family was called from all over the country to come say their goodbyes - his son was even brought home from Iraq. It's three years later and he is still living and enjoying life! He is still on a lot of medications and can't do a lot of simple things that he used to be able to do because of the risk of a head injury (doctor won't allow him to mow his lawn because something could fly up and hit him in the head), but he is alive and is able to work. It is truly amazing and I'm sure it had a lot to do with all of the people who were praying for him.