Happy Holidays to All!

It's hard to believe that a whole month has passed since our last update! Time certainly is quickly passing us by. Charbel's routine has been basically the same as always with little, but important improvements from the month before.

The two main areas of Charbel's progress this month have been in eating and vision. Charbel's control of his mouth and tongue has been steadily improving - so much so that he can now eat solid food! This is a HUGE deal to us and him because he has been on mashed up and liquid foods since he started eating last year. He can now bite and chew! An awesome improvement for Charb who has been able to enjoy real food, finally! A couple weeks ago Charbel, Chantal, Mom and Rachel went out to A&W and Charb ate a hamburger - the whole thing, all by himself and he enjoyed every minute of it! He has since been eating a variety of food, from rice and beans, to eggs, and cake.

Charb's vision has also shown signs of improvement this month. He is able to see smaller letters now, and read short words. The fact that he can read is a very exciting development! His vision is not perfect and he sometimes mixes up his letters because he doesn't always see the full form of the letter clearly, but usually he can read short words, and he can see the letters and spell out longer words. He has a long way to go before he's back to seeing normally, but he has shown tremendous development in this area and we are very hopeful that he will be able to fully re-develop his vision. Reading was never one of Charb's favourite things to do, and he's just happy that he can read movie titles to pick out which DVD to watch!

We had a lot of fun decorating the Christmas tree together and you can check out the pictures in the Photo Album.

Last year at Christmas Charbel began to talk and we were blessed with the miracle of his recovery. Since Charb started talking we have spent so much time laughing and enjoying our time together - we laugh more now than we ever did! We are very blessed to have been given the chance to be a family again after such a devastating accident.

Christmas is a time of miracles and also a time to think of those in need. Our condolences go out to the Smith family for the loss of their son Brandon. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and Jared during this difficult time. May God bless you and help Jared recover from his injuries.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that the New Year brings love and peace in your lives.

Charbel's Birthday Party a Great Success!

Thanks to everyone who came out last Saturday to wish Charb a happy birthday, we had a great time! It was wonderful to see all of you there and catch up on what's new with everyone.

What a difference a year makes, last year at Charbel's party in November he still wasn't talking, this time he was laughing and joking and chatting with all his friends!

We hope to see you all again around Chrismas time, feel free to stop in any time you are in town, Charb loves the company and reminiscing about the good old days.

Check out the photo album for pictures of the party!

Charbel's Birthday Invitation!

" To all my friends
You are invited to my Birthday
Nov10/07
Please show up... with lots of gifts
CR"
Yes, Nov 10th instead of 8th, since it is a long weekend and on Saturday you may have more time! Please do not miss out! Most of you came last year when Charb was starting to " come back"... A year later it will be interesting to see his reaction to your gathering! We appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment! Hope to see you all, between 2pm and 7pm!
Thanks.

Charbel writing his Invitation!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Two years after the tragic accident, Charb is working hard to regain range of motion, strength and mobility. It is a very long, slow and exhausting process, but no one is giving up!
I posted some photos of Charb workout with Ellen and friends, you can check them out!

Finally, Charb is having a taste of "real" food! With friend Adam, Charb and Norma visited "Amou Farid", Fred's Pizza! First time Charb goes out for lunch... but not the last! Guys watch out! After two years long hunger, well...

In another occasion, Charb had a great time at a small gathering of Lebanese friends in Habbards. We came all to celebrate Abouna's 40th Anniversary into priesthood! Everything was perfect, from the good weather to the Mass outdoors, to the banquet… and Charb was jubilant!
He wanted to stay with his friends and Abouna overnight! “ I refuse to go!’ he kept saying. Unfortunately, we had to bring him back home.
Lets hope that by next year he could be able to go back, walk on the beach, climb the rocks and stay overnight like he did many times years ago!
You can check some photos of that happy day!

2nd Anniversary of Charbel’s Accident

September 27th 2006 will forever remain the most tragic day of our lives, but two years later, we are blessed to be able to say that Charbel has made remarkable progress and continues to improve.

This past year Charbel has gone from a minimally conscious state, unable to do anything other than open his eyes, to being fully aware, speaking and full of life! Throughout the first 14 months after his accident we heard again and again that he would never wake up. We heard that his little movements were simply coincidence and that there was no sighn of functioning brain activity. But we believed in Charbel – we never gave up hope. Deep down, all of us knew that he was fighting to come back, deep down we all knew that if anyone could do it, it would be Charbel – so we waited for a sign.

That sign came in early November when Charbel started deliberately turning his head to familiar sounds and smiling at mom and dad. That month, the changes were so rapid it was unbelievable. From simply smiling to clearly understanding what he was hearing and following directions, Charbel progressed enough to prove to everyone that he was indeed awake and aware of his surroundings. The biggest miracle of all was just after Christmas when Charbel said his first word 15 months! It came out as a whisper, but as the months progressed, he is now talking in full sentences and has a full vocabulary. He still has trouble with his tongue movement but even this has improved in the past month and his pronunciation is better than ever.

In the last couple of weeks Charbel has taken many steps forward on his long road to recovery. He has become more animated and full of life, spend 5 minutes with him and I guarantee he’ll have you laughing and having a great time. He’s constantly making jokes, participating in family conversations, and watching television (especially sports). And that’s in his free time. Charbel’s days are filled with physical and mental exercises to help him recovery all that he lost during the accident.

Physically he continues to improve – especially his core muscles which were incredibly weak before. He can now sit on his own and hold himself up for a few minutes at a time. He can roll over on his own when placed on a mat and can bend and lift his legs.

Charbel’s vision has improved incredibly over the past couple of months. He can clearly make out faces and objects and has begun to be able to see smaller images such as details in pictures and large letters and numbers.

Verbally Charbel has full command of both Arabic and English – in fact he speaks more Arabic than he ever did before in his life. His tongue movements have improved and his speaking is much clearer than before. He is also taking the initiative to engage in conversation more than before and he rarely spends days without talking as he used to only three or four months ago.

Eating continues to pose a challenge for Charbel. He has come a long way from the feeding tube that kept him alive for over a year, but continues to be able to only eat mushy foods. He has trouble with chewing, although this is improving slowly, which makes it difficult for him to eat solid foods. He has made progress in his ability to bite however, so you have to be very careful what you place in front of him – guaranteed he’ll snatch it up and take a bite! His appetite has never changed – he’s always hungry and still loves to eat!

Charbel has made so much progress in the past few months that it’s difficult even to imagine the way he was before. Those memories will always be deeply ingrained in us but we have chosen to focus on the positive and focus on the second chance at life that we have all been given. Charbel’s accident has taught us so much about ourselves, about life, and about the importance of family. His sheer willingness to live has taught us to never take for granted all of the blessings we have in our lives. Whenever I feel like I am having a bad day or something has be down, I just think about Charbel and all of the struggles he has gone through and my difficulties seem small. He is truly an inspiration to us all and he has brought such happiness back into our lives. We are very blessed to have him in our lives.

Two years later, on the anniversary of Charbel’s accident, we are celebrating all that we have been through together and all that he has overcome. We are so thankful for all that we have been given and for those who have helped us through these difficult times.

Today we are celebrating the miracles that allowed us to be a family again.

Oh, No! Summer is over!

Charb was lucky this summer meeting with family!
In July and August, there came Uncles & Aunts from France, Detroit, Vancouver and Calgary! Adults and kids- kids specially!- hung around Charb for long hours, talking, laughing, kissing, arm wrestling, challenging, drawing (reproducing Charb's drawings from before the accident!)...
And Charb had an "awsome" time, "exciting" and "splendid" moments with family.... He was talking more. He was laughing more. He was a lot more alert!
He did not want to leave "home above the store" to go to his apartement across the parking lot!
He did not want to go to sleep eventhough it was way past his bed time! " I am enjoying myself with my family!"
In short, it was the best rehab time Charb had since the accident, since he started to come back awakening last November 2006...

Adventually, Charb went back to his apartement, his Uncles and Aunts and their families went back to their homes all over the world, and a more routinely life took shape!...

But another surprise was waiting to happen! On September the 8th, Norma's Aunt, Juliette, and her two daughters, Bassi and Daad, came to visit from LA. Charb had met them in LA when he was 5yrs old... We do not remember a lot from the age of 5, do we? Neverthless, it was an instant succes!
Charb was all smiles, laughs and talks! Bassi was his favourite... and he managed to get a lot of kisses!
As all watched the daily exercises we do with Charb, encouraging him, exorting him, Charb started to do more than ever done before, giving it a 100% effort! In the 10 days of their visit, we saw improvement in his speecH ( using more and more Arabic words!), in his posture while sitting him up on the edge of the massage table, in keeping his head up longer and straighter, and in his general attitude: more talkative, interactive and happy!... To every one who asked " What are you doing, Charb?" he answered clearly: "Enjoying my family!"

The family was enjoying him too! Long hours daily around him in the apartement, in the store or in the garden , or long walks around ( like the one to Haward dill's home!)... Still even longer hours of prayers and "tahaleel" asking the LORD for a complete miracle!

Charb seemed to profit to a high degree from all that attention, care and love! Please look at some pics I posted and notice the improvement in all areas...
The Terry Fox Run was another exciting moment with friends from KES! (Photo album).
Also I promise another update for the workout and daily exercices involving Ellen and AJ... A bientot!

A late update!

All good things end quickly!
The fun filled days with all the family members came to an abrupt finish! Every one seemed to pack to go back! "Mofasa" left For Calgary on Sunday, Aug 5th. The following day, George, Elisson and kids headed to Vancouver... On Tuesday, Toni & Janette, Elie & Manu and their kids went back to France! On August 8th, we said Goodbye to Amo Zouzou, Jano, Hiba & Abir leaving for Detroit!...

With every one going away a part of us seemed deeply affected, and by the end of the week it was terribly sad! On Saturday, Rita and kids, Samer & Yasmine, waved BYE! Charbel (and all of us!) were now back to the daily quiet routine! The pics posted on the album can tell thousand stories about how Charbel's days were filled with... kids! laughing with him, huging him, playing arm wrestling with him, singing in many languages, many notes, many cords!

But there was another exciting event waiting for Charb!

Thanks to the Mayor, Anna Allen, to the Warden Richard Dauphinee, to the Commity members, Charbel was chosen to be the Guest of Honor at the RCMP Musical Ride! An event that none of us had witnessed before...
When we got to the Windsor arena, the Mayor greeted us and we made our way to a fully filled arena .... Charbel was excited and saluting people! He shook hands with Officer Bouchard, many times in fact! He laughed when he heard his name announced to the crowd... He enjoyed the first show and followed well the dog running and jumping!

Than came the actual and amazing Musical Ride! Charbel was all smiles and his hand went up saluting many many times! He watched with great interest... but toward the end he was getting stiff and a bit tired! All that excitement!

All said it was a great day! It will live long in our memories and sure Charb will always be happy to be reminded of!

Week filled with fun...

Charb has been enjoying all the company and all the craziness around him! Yesterday, we went on our first outing with the entire family. We all took a drive down to Graves Island near Chester and spent the afternoon picnicking near the ocean. It's the first time Charb has been on a trip that far from home. He did so well, he was happy, laughing, and enjoying the sunshine! We all felt so blessed that Charbel was with us and that we could all enjoy each other.

Charb also went to Smiley's park with the kids earlier this week and had a great time watching them running around and playing. When we're at home, we make the most of the backyard by bringing Charb outside and eating our meals there with him.

Tonight, Charbie took a trip down to our friend Mark's new house and spent the evening with Mark and the family lighting fireworks and enjoying a BBQ.

All in all, it's been a busy week full of good times and great memories. Charb has been soaking it all in and lovin all the family around him.

Check out the album for new pictures of Charbel and the family!

New Photos of Fun with the Family :-)

Check the Photo Album for new pics of Charb and family. New videos will be added in a couple days.

Here's a really sweet pic of Charbel and his cousin Samer!

Family Reunion!!!!

We are lucky enough this summer to have a whole bunch of family members coming to visit us from around the world! Many of them have not seen Charbel since before he 'woke up' last summer, and some have not seen him since before the accident. None the less, everyone is amazed and overjoyed by the progress he has made so far. We have aunts, uncles and cousins galore...in all there will be 32 people at our house this summer...for almost a month!

Charbie has been really happy to see everyone. We thought that he'd be overwhelmed by all the noise, but Charbie is taking it in stride, in fact he's enjoying all the attention! He loves arm wrestling and playing thumb wars with the kids and relaxes to the massages of Tante Janet. It's fun and exciting to see everyone together, thankfully, this summer Charb can interact with everyone and share in all the fun and laughter!

Introducing Ellen!

Since Charb will be home full time now, we hired Ellen to come help mom with Charb's daily routine, and to help Charb with his exercises and speech. Ellen has a very interesting background and has a great deal of expereince in the health care industry. She and Charb get along really well - when he doesn't want to do something he let's her know with a big loud 'NO!' And when she talks to much Charbie just tells her to be quiet, it's pretty funny :-)

Ellen super enthusiastic and loud and does well motivating Charbie and explaining to him why he has to do all kinds of vocal and physical exercises. We look forward to working with Ellen and Charbie looks forward to her cheerful voice every day!

Welcome on board Ellen!

Here's a pic of Charb greeting Ellen...

Picture of Charb and the great guys that brought him home!

Home Sweet Home

Well, Charb has been home for over a week now, and it's been awesome having him here! Getting him upstairs was actually pretty easy thanks to some friends at EHS. Two strong guys brought him up in a special chair, the whole thing takes about 5 minutes. He's been in the living room since! It's so nice having him around when we are all having lunch and dinner, just hanging out watching TV. His apartment is about a week or two away from completion. Although it will be sad to see him go (even if it is only across the driveway) it's good for him to have a little space of his own. There's a lot more room there for him to do his exercises and he'll have a special bathroom so that he can take real showers.


Charb got upstairs with the help of MLA Chuck Porter and Ryan and Jerry -they were the two medics on the scene of Charbel's accident and stopped by to see him whenever they get a chance ever since. When they heard that a stretcher was needed to get Charbel upstairs, they were really happy to volunteer! Thanks guys, and thank you to Chuck Porter and Richard Dauphinee who organized everything.

NEWS FLASH!!!

Charbie is finally coming home for good! He's finished two months at rehab (more about that in a later post) and he's coming home today! Everyone is excited, especially Charb, who can't wait to be home. Charb's apartment has been under renovations for the past month or so, and things are moving along. It should be ready for him to live in by the end of next week.

In the meantime....

Charb has been telling us all the time that he wants to go to his "real" house, the house he grew up in. Unfortunately, because it on the second storey, it was too steep to build a ramp and we haven't been able to bring him up. But, thanks to some wonderful friends, we have found a way to bring Charb upstairs, and he'll be home with us for the whole weekend! This will be the first time he's been at his family house since the accident. It will be great to be in familiar surroundings once again.

I promise to update more about this weekend and Charb's progress soon, and look out for some new pics and videos!

First Month at Rehab

It has been one month since Charbel went to the Rehab Center in Halifax. We haven’t been updating much, largely due to the fact that progress has been SLOW. There are very few, if any changes from day to day or week to week.

Looking back, the last month has been full of meetings, assessments, tests, and scans. But there has been very little progress.

Charb met with his neurologist and had an MRI done. The MRI showed a couple of good things. One, that the shunt is working, and two that the clot that he once had is now gone. This is great news. Physically, the brain has not changed, meaning that the damaged areas are still damaged. This was expected. From the MRI we have no way of knowing how Charbel’s neurological pathways are being reconnected. All we know is what we see him do, which is pretty amazing.

He also met with a vision specialist. But there was nothing special about his prognosis. He believes that Charbel can see (we knew this all along) but he doesn’t know to what extent (that’s what we were hoping to find out). He believes that Charbel has nerve damage as a result of the accident, which would explain why he cannot move his eyes. He doesn’t think that there is anything that we can do to help correct his vision (i.e. surgery to straighten his eyes would not necessarily be helpful, neither would glasses). Our position has always been that with work anything can improve. So we move forward by working with Charbel on moving his eyes up, down, left and right. So far, he cannot do this, but who’s to say that with time and effort it cannot be done.

On a physical level, Charbel’s ankles have seen some improvement due to some interesting machinery at the Rehab Center. Basically Charbel lies down and is attached to a series of pulleys and ropes that are tightened in order to stretch his ankles. This week his left ankle looks a little more straight, but it still has a LONG way to go before he can put any pressure on it to be able to stand.

The physical therapists and doctors are pessimistic about Charbel’s ability to regain a ‘normal’ position in his feet without surgery. Go figure. While we are not ruling surgery out as an option, for us it is the LAST option, and we will trying everything we can think of before considering tendon release surgery. For now, stretching and physical therapy seems to be making small but consistent gains.

Besides his ankles, Charbel has been working remaining in a sitting position by holding his upper body upright. He has been making some gains in this area. Both at the rehab center and at home we are sitting him up on the edge of a table and letting him use his hands for support to hold himself up. It’s a lot of work, but its very satisfying to see Charbel sitting unassisted for a few minutes at a time.

Finally, we are working on getting Charbel a new wheel chair that will allow him to be in a fully upright position. He will also be able to wheel himself around in the chair. This is the next big step for Charbel. Once he can sit upright and use his arms to move the chair he find a lot more freedom and independence. This will allow him to do more things on his own while working on being able to stand and walk in the future.

Charb certainly hasn't lost his passion for Rugby!

Thanks Ms. Zimmer for sending us this great photo!

1st Meeting with the Neurologist

This past week Charbel met with his neurologist for the first time since October. The last time Dr. W saw him, Charbel wasn't doing well. He had recently had his bone flap replaced and had fluid build up in his head. In October the doctors thought he might not make it much longer...

This time, their meeting was much different! Dr. W was so excited to see Charb. When he came in the office, Charb went to shake is hand and Dr. W told him, "You made my year!" Needless to say, he was amazed at the progress that Charbel has made so far. He told us that he has no medical or scientific explanation as to why Charbel is aware, is talking, and is able to do what he's doing. He said it's due to our hard work and the work of God (and all of your prayers!). It was a very emotional meeting, and the first time we have met with doctors since Charbel's accident that we actually left smiling and feeling good about the situation.

We asked him several questions about Charbel's recovery and his possible limitations. Dr. W had no idea - Charbel obviously is a fighter and he has unlimited potential - if he's made it this far, he can go a lot further. In the words of Dr. W, we "won the lottery." Indeed, we are very lucky. Charbel will be going back to get an MRI. Although the doctor doesn't think that it will show anything different than the MRI taken before he began to talk, it will be interesting to see if there are any visible changes.

Charbel's old nurses on the 7th floor on the QEII were all talking about his recovery. One of the head nurses came down to see him and was totally amazed that he could talk to her! Charb has proven a lot of people wrong and we know that with hard work he will continue to amaze us all!

New Photos

Check out the web album to see some new pics of Charb and family!

Visiting Charb at the Rehab Center

As always, Charb looks forward to visits from his friends. Although his mornings are usually busy with therapy, he has some down time between 3pm-5pm and also 6pm-8pm, which would be a great time to come see him. On the weekends (Friday night to Sunday) he will be back in Windsor. If you would like to come see him at the rehab center, give mom a call on her cell phone (902)791-0982 she can tell you the best time to come visit when Charb is free from other commitments. We look forward to seeing you soon!

First days at rehab

Hi everyone, I'm sure you are all waiting to hear what happened with Charb and the rehab saga this past week...

He was admitted Friday and spent most of the day getting settled. He is in a room with 4 other people who all seem really nice, and can tell the nurses if he is calling for anything at night. All of the nurses and staff who had seen Charbel at the rehab center last year were surprised and truly amazed that he is doing as well as he is. Friday night, mom brought Charb home and he spent the weekend with us. We took him back on Sunday night. That was his first night at rehab, and according to the nurses and his roommates, he slept really well, which is always good to hear.

Monday and Tuesday he met with the physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and others. They are in the process of working out a program for him. Meanwhile, he has done well with the PT and speech so far. We are determined that his program should be extensive in order provide him with best chance at a full recovery.

Charb has also undergone a series of tests this week. On Monday he took the swallow test. In this test they use and x-ray and dye while he is eating and drinking to make sure that the food is going down the right way. They found that while eating soft/pureed food he had no problem. Unfortunately, while drinking juice/water some of the liquid was going into the airways and possibly into his lungs. So he is no longer allowed to have regular liquids, only thickened juice and water. They will be working with him on proper swallowing over the coming weeks so that he will be able to drink all liquids eventually. At least he can still eat, imagine telling him that he's not allowed to have food!

Charb had an ultrasound to check his kidneys. He also had an x-ray done on his left shoulder and knee, both of which really bother him. We haven't yet received the results from the doctors.

Rehab Friday

We got a call this morning that the NS Rehab Center is ready to admit Charbel tomorrow (Friday) morning. He will be going back to the hospital in Windsor tonight and then leaving in the morning from there. We'll let you know how the first day goes!

Latest Rehab News

Mom got a call on Monday morning from the NS Rehab Center telling her that Charb would be admitted by 10am Tuesday morning. Mom was excited, so after she hung up the phone, she turned to Charb and said, "hurray, you're going to rehab!", Charb looked at her, gave her a thumbs down, and said "BOO!" Well, Charb got his way, because just a couple of hours later they called and said that they have to put off his admission until Thursday or Friday of this week because there are still no free beds. Mom is supposed to hear back from them today as to when he will be going, but it should be late this week or early next week, AT THE LATEST (or at least we will hope). I thought I'd give you all a heads up in case you are planning on visiting Charb, he may be in Halifax by then. I'll update as soon as we know exactly when he's going.

On another note, Charb surprised us yesterday by answering mom's cell phone twice! Mom called the first time to see if he would answer. He picked up the phone, flipped it open, and pressed the talk button! Not bad, that takes a lot of coordination. Then another time dad called and mom didn't hear the phone so Charb picked it up and answered. Way to go Charbie!

Good weekend

Charb has been a lot happier the last few days which is great because it lifts all of our moods. He's back to talking and smiling - and I can see some improvement in his speech this week. Not only is he making more effort to communicate by talking, he is pronouncing much better. There's still a long way to go, but its good to hear him talking and laughing again! I guess everyone has their ups and downs!

Today the weather was nice so we took Charbel for a walk to Windsor Elementary School. There we ran into Charbel's friends walking their dogs. Charb was really happy to see them and he was petting their huge German Shepard and telling it to 'calm down' it was pretty funny. The best part is, he remembered it even after a couple of hours. I think his short term memory has improved SLIGHTLY (there are other things that he seems to remember for longer periods of time now).

Later on in the day, Mom and Dad took Charbel to the driving range where dad got some practice as Charb looked on, he even practiced a couple of swings himself by holding the club. As the weather gets better we are able to take Charbel outside and do some more interesting things with him, which we are all looking forward to. The daily routine was getting pretty boring for all of us.

The latest rehab news is that mom called Charb's neurologist and the director of the rehab center on Friday. She only got their secretaries, but she left them both stern messages that we are sick of waiting for them to get their act together - we want Charbel in rehab NOW! So she got an appointment with the neurologist on April 25th and a promise from the rehab centre that 90% he'll be there next week, 100% the week after. Well, we've heard that before, so we'll see. If we don't hear anything by the end of the week mom might have to drive to Halifax and make them talk to her face to face. For their sake, I hope it doesn't come to that!

That's all the news for now, we'll keep you posted on any developments. Charb is looking forward to seeing his friends after they have finished exams!

Guestbook

If you would like to write a comment to Charb, here is a place to do it!
Thanks!
View my guestbook

Quiet Weekend

Charbie had a quiet weekend, just the basic humdrum routine. He's been really quiet himself lately, hardly talking. He usually now just points to the things he wants. He's made up some distinctive signals that tell us either: I want to eat, I want to drink, I'm watching, I can't see, Give me Kleenex, and Come Here! It's been hard to get him to engage in any kind of conversation - quite a contrast to a couple of months ago when he was so eager to talk and express himself. It's hard to figure out why this is happening. We think it is in part that he is pretty bored and possibly depressed/lonely, the other reason (which is what he says) is that he doesn't seem to have the energy - perhaps all the physical work is taking a lot out of him - hard to say. That's why he needs to see a neuropsychologist or cognitive specialist (whatever they are called) they know more about recovering mentally fron brain injury than we do. Unfortunately, the NS Rehab Centre is in absolutely no rush to admit him, saying that they are short of staff, etc. So we are still waiting for ANY brain specialist to see Charbel, be it neurologist, neuropsychologist or otherwise.

Until then, we are continuing to give it our best. Robert and Dad continue their intensive routine, and on the physical side, Charbel is making gains. It is on the mental/emotional/cognitive side of things that we are at a loss (and seeking professional help) and worried about not getting him the support he needs soon. We have started to look into other options in other provinces and in the US that can offer the cognitive and physical rehabilitation that Charbel needs, in addition to waiting for him to admitted to the NS Rehab Center.

If anyone has any information about successful rehabilitation programs, anywhere in North America, please send us an email at omelia@ns.sympatico.ca. We have just started our research and would welcome any information.

Website Difficulties & Blog Updates

We are experiencing some difficulties with the website, specifically with the Guest Book page. It seems that the Guest Book is being attacked by spam so we have taken it down until we can figure out a way to block the spam. We are also currently working on some updates for the website, as some of the pages are now out of date. We will continue to update the blog as much as possible to keep you all informed as to Charbel's news and progress.

Take a look at the new pictures and videos for March - they highlight much of the hard work that Charb is doing with the help of Robert and his friend Natasha who is volunteering her time. You will also see some videos of Charb and Dale. Dale is a deep tissue massuse who comes from Amherst once a month to give Charbel a 1.5 hour deep tissue massage, which must be heavenly for Charb's tight muscles. As Dale only sees him about once a month, he always is amazed at the progress Charbel is making. And indeed Robert and Dad have a pretty agressive routine in place, and Charb's stregth and coordination are improving greatly.

Please feel free to leave comments on the blog if you wish to send Charbel a message or just want to say hello while the Guest Book is being re-worked.

Feeding Tube Removed

Exactly 18 months after his accident, Charbel had his G-Tube removed on Tuesday March 27th. The procedure didn't take very long, only a couple of minutes, and Charb was hungry and ready to eat right afterwards! We had been holding off on removing the tube, even though Charb hasn't used it in over a month. We had expected that he would be going to Halifax to have a swallow test done, to ensure that his food was going down properly, but the doctors in Halifax are not overly anxious to see him, and we didn't want to wait any longer to have it removed. It was starting to bother him recently, he was sensitive around the area in his stomach, and also it was hard for him to lie flat on his stomach for exercises because of it. Although we were anxious at first about the procedure, it was quick and painless, and now we are one step closer to the full recovery that we are all hoping and working for.

As for Charb, his appetite never ceases, and its sometimes difficult to know what to feed him to give him enough variety since he's still pretty much eating only mashed up food. His chewing is slowly improving...but we have to remind him all the time to chew once the food is in his mouth. It seems that sometimes he forgets how to chew harder foods. Bit by bit we are teaching him to use his tongue and lips, and how to use his back teeth to properly chew more solid foods. For now, the mashed up variety seems to suit him fine, although if he doesn't like it, he lets mom know by asking her if she has some better food for him. If all else fails, he has no problems licking ice cream cones!

By Chantal, Charb’s little sister

Now that I am on March break, I have had a lot of time to spend with Charb. He is doing really well with Robert and his range of movement is improving at a fast rate! The left side is doing better, but it is still a lot slower than his right side.

Charbel’s appetite is even bigger than before…if that’s possible! He is constantly asking for food or drinks, and when we give it to him, he never wants to stop! I’m even surprised at how much he eats now and I like to tease him about the double chin he is getting. ;)

You can tell this Charb is very much like the old Charb in many ways. When he first started talking, he talked constantly, and we were very delighted to hear his voice again. But now he is not talking much at all (at least not with me) and the only times you hear him talk is when he is asking for food or asking for a drink! I think many of us are used to the old Charb not talking, but it’s kind of depressing for me… I like it when we talk to each other and joke around. Hopefully his ‘winter blues’ will lift soon!

Charbel’s writing has improved too! He writes us notes like “I’m hungry, feed me” or “Mom, I love you. Can you give me better food?” (As you can see, everything is related with food!) He writes really fast now, and he’s beginning to draw us pictures like sharks and orcs. When he gets frustrated or doesn’t like what the picture looks like, he begins to scribble all over the picture. We try to assure him its good, but he doesn’t listen to us and keeps scribbling away. Even now, Charbel strives to do his best.

Updates to the Photo Album

Today we posted some new pictures and videos of Charbel. In the videos you can see how hard he is working at building his strength and how far he has come physically in the past little while. Enjoy!

No more tube feed

For about a week now, Charbel has been eating only 'real' food, instead of his protein shake that was fed to him by the feeding tube. Since December mom has been feeding Charbel mashed and pureed food, as well as his tube feed. Now he can eat enough varieties of food in the mashed up and pureed form, that he no longer needs to be fed through the feeding tube at all! The feeding tube has not been removed yet, as we are still waiting for an extensive swallow test to be performed once he goes to rehab. I'm not exactly sure what the point is, since he can obviously swallow, and LOVES to eat, but the doctors want to make sure that everything is working properly before the tube is removed. Charb is still not able to eat solid foods, as his ability to chew is not great yet. Hopefully that will return with more practice.

On another equally important note: Charbel is 100% off all medications! Actually, he has been since late November, but for some reason we forgot to write about it. In November, he was only on one type of medication - to help with his spacticity and prevent seizures - but he was taken off this, and he has been taking absolutely no medication for the past 3 1/2 months. Once he is at rehab we will discuss with the doctors the possibility of medications that will help him concentrate better, but right now we are all very hesitant to start him on anything at this point.

Awaiting Rehab

Charb continues to progress slowly and steadily in many areas. But as the time goes on, it becomes more apparent that he needs more professional assessments and we need help to establish a more rigorous physical and cognitive routine. After Charbel's improvements in November, we sent word to rehab and have been waiting since January to get him a place at the NS Rehab Centre in Halifax - needless to say, the wait has been frustrating. We finally got word this month that he could be going later on this month, or in April. We have a lot of goals for the rehab center and we are ready to get started!

Along the same lines, Charb has been showing signs of boredom lately. He's used to the usual routine now, and he's much less talkative than he used to be. We are trying to come up with things that will be more fun and interesting for him to do on a daily basis until he goes to the rehab center. This weekend we are planning on taking him to Empire Theatres in New Minas to see the movie '300'. He saw the preview on TV the other day and was intently listening/watching, it's totally his type of film. We'll probably go to that on Sat afternoon. It will be his first trip to the movie theatre since the accident, so hopefully all goes well!

Once the weather gets a little better, we are planning on doing more 'normal' activities such as going for walks, taking Charbel shopping, and going to Hubbards to visit Abbouna at the beach. I think its high time Charb gets to see more than just the house and the hospital. More updates/photos soon (I promise)!

Charbel's Writing

I posted some pictures of sentences that Charbel wrote over the weekend on his white board. His writing has improved a lot over the past couple of weeks. One reason is because his right hand does not shake nearly as much anymore so he has more control. Another reason is that he can see a little better now.

The funniest thing he wrote came after Chantal told him a short story and asked him to write down a sentence about the story (to test his memory). Well, Charbel wrote something about the story all right, he wrote, "That story sucked" If anyone has ever heard Chantal's stories, they know what he's talking about. Anyway, we all had a good laugh about that one!

Routine

Wow, it has been way too long since I last updated. Our lives have settled in to a routine now, albeit a very hectic one. Charbel continues to progress, but much more slowly than the rapid improvements of late December. In his own words, “I’m stronger.”

I thought that many of you would be interested to know what kinds of things we are working on with Charbel at the moment, and what a typical day for him looks like. We hope this blog is reaching other families in similar situations, and hopefully we can give them some insight into what has worked in our case.

Charb’s Typical Week

Charbel comes home everyday from 12-6pm on the weekdays and stays home all day/night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

1 hour of daily physiotherapy at the hospital in the mornings (Monday – Friday)
- working on rolling in bed (which he can do from the right side to the left side)
- sitting up on the edge of the bed (he can hold himself unsupported for a few seconds)
- range of motion exercises

Afternoons at home:

1-2 hours of aggressive physical rehab with Robert and dad
- starts off by stretching the major muscles
- sitting on the edge of the massage table / or getting up on the tilt table
- working on upper body strength by using the hand bicycle
- using major muscles by lifting, kicking, flexing and pointing arms, legs, and feet
- working with the left side of his body to balance with the right (asking him to move the left hand, foot, knee and ankle) – we have seen significant improvement on the left side of his body this past two weeks!
- working on neck control and movement (Charbel leans his head toward the right and down, and we are constantly telling him to put his up and to the center) – small improvements this week on his neck control

3 times per week
- 1 hour massage for neck, shoulders, and ankles and knees (Charb enjoys this greatly and is always very relaxed after the massage)

1-2 hours of speech/memory and visual stimulation (we don’t do all of these every day, but we try to focus on a couple of different ‘games’)
- giving Charbel words to make into sentences
- asking Charbel to pronounce certain letters/sounds clearly (repeating several times)
- asking questions about the past to work on long term memory
- playing guessing games: giving Charbel everyday objects that he must tell us what they are, asking him trivia questions about sports, world capitals, math, and general knowledge to work on memory/recognition
-writing words and sentences on the white board
- moving his tongue around and his lips
-looking at pictures and letters to see if he can recognize the objects and words (so far his vision is still quite impaired and he cannot recognize small letters or pictures)
-asking Charbel to move his eyes and track objects (up until Charbel cannot move his eyes. To follow an object, he must move his entire head)

Areas that need more work:
-Speech: Charbel’s pronunciation has not improved much since he first started talking. We are finding it difficult to understand him because he does not move his lips and it is becoming frustrating for all of us.
-Shot-term memory: it has become evident that Charbel has difficulties recalling information from his working and short term memory. We would like to work on this, but we don’t have many techniques in this area (if anyone has any suggestions, please email omelia@ns.sympatico.ca)
-Vision: we need to get to the point where Charbel can move his eyes and not only his head to track objects. We also need further diagnosis about his vision, which he admits is blurry.

Eating:
-Charbel is ALWAYS hungry and thirsty, and he never fails to let us know!
- Charbie signals to us with his hand when he is thirsty, he has made up a cute signal that he uses often
- Charbel has progressed from eating very mushy foods, to slightly more solid foods that are blended but not liquid.
- Charbel is now drinking on his own with or without a straw and he can also feed himself but he tends to eat VERY quickly so we have to watch him closely!

These are some of the activities that make up Charbel’s day. Keep in mind, that other than Robert, we have no help on a daily basis when Charbel is at home. Mom is responsible for all of the daily grooming and care that goes into keeping Charbel clean and healthy. Dad and Robert work Charbel physically and challenge him on a daily basis to keep on improving. Chantal and I work on Charbel’s speech, vision and memory when we get home from school/work and on the weekends. In the down time (which is rare), Charbel watches movies or hangs out with us at the store and is quite happy to see familiar customers and friends.

We are all very much involved with Charbel’s rehab process, but it is too much for a family to do alone, and without professional guidance. During this integral phase of cognitive and physical rehabilitation, we have come to see some of our limitations, and we are hoping that by going to the NS Rehabilitation Center next month, Charbel will receive extensive treatment.

Posture

This week has been all about posture and core body control for Charbel. As those of you who have visited Charbel recently will know, he has trouble keeping his head/neck up straight. He has a tendency to pull his head to the right. We are constantly telling him to pick up his head and turn it to the left, which he can do, but it takes consistent reminding on our part. As a result of leaning his head/neck over to the right most of the time, his entire posture is affected, and of course, his neck is stiff and sore.

We’ve been trying very hard to get him to stretch out his neck and hold his head in a straight position for more than a few seconds…it has been very challenging so far. To make matters more complicated, his seating in the chair is all wrong, and we are constantly pulling and pushing and lifting him up. It is obvious that he is not comfortable in it, just by looking at him. He also lets us know by constantly complaining!

Yesterday the people that built his custom chair were in to take a look at it and see if any changes can be made to make it more comfortable. We are also trying to make it more vertical so that he is not always leaning backwards, which at this point is counter productive for him.

The good news is that his upper body is gaining strength. Dad and Robert have been sitting him on the table, and he can now hold is own body weight and sit almost straight! (A video of Charb sitting on the table is posted in February Videos). In another development, Robert brought Charbel a ‘regular’ wheel chair, and he can sit upright in it (although again, his posture is not great) and he can even use his hands to wheel himself around (see video in album). We were all very excited about this development, that is to say all of us except Charb who didn’t think that it a great accomplishment at all! He wants to walk, which we all believe in time he will be able to do…

Charb’s legs are getting stronger by the day. The left is still MUCH weaker than the right, but we have seen some improvement in the last week. He has been moving his ankle more, and he is now able to lift his left leg if it is hanging off the side of the bed.

Take care everyone…hard work and miracles!

Feeling better

Charb is feeling much better now and is in good spirits. He's been laughing quite a lot this week, which is wonderful to see and hear. He is also a lot more conversational lately, and it is truly amazing how sharp he is! No joke, or comment slips by him!

He's still working hard on physio, but we're hoping to up the intensity now since he is feeling better...

I hope to have some new pictures and videos up by Sunday night.

Cold and flu season...

Charb has had a cold for the last couple of days, complete with coughing stuffy nose and a temperature - so he's been taking it easy. He has been drinking a lot of fluid, water, juice etc, and he hasn't lost his appetite, so that's a good thing! Hopefully it will pass in a couple days and we can get back to his rigorous daily routine!

Slow but steady progress

Charb did well this week. On Wednesday he visited the eye specialist in Kentville who confirmed that Charbel can see (although the clarity of his vision remains uncertain). He says that since Charbel is still in a phase of recovery, nothing needs to be done with his eyes right now. Eventually he may need surgery to realign his eyes, but he thinks we should wait and see if this can correct itself in time.

Charbel is still having trouble with reading letters and seeing small objects. It is difficult to know whether his inability to read is because his vision is blurry, or because his brain cannot recognize the symbols. We’re hoping that more extensive professional testing can be done to determine the extent of his ability to recognize visual stimulus (hopefully this will be part of the rehab plan in Halifax).

Despite questions about his vision, Charbel has made strides this week in his ability to write. It seems that he is gaining greater control over his right hand and as a result, his writing is much clearer. Over the weekend he wrote several words, such as our names and small messages such as “hello” etc. His writing is improving greatly, which is very exciting. Still, Charb finds writing rather frustrating, and he tends to have trouble with certain letters such as “h” so he just starts scribbling on the board – other letters he doesn’t seem to have problems with.

This weekend Charbel also started doing more things on his own, such as brushing his hair and holding a cup to drink on his own. Charb also started drinking from a straw this week! (videos in the photo album) He’s always thirsty and tells us this by pointing to his throat and making a sign with his hand as if he is taking a drink. Today he had some chocolate milk for the first time and loved it!

We have seen a little progress this week with the left arm and leg (and my little, I mean little) but still it’s progress. He is starting to move the left foot more, and can slightly move the left leg, but still cannot bend the knee or push down with the left foot. The left hand/arm has been improving also, but it is still very slow, and he cannot extend his left elbow so that it is straight. Working on the left side will be important in the coming weeks of rehab so that it continues to get stronger in preparation to stand. The right leg is doing really well, and Charb can bend the right knee, push down with the right foot, and move the right leg up and down.

We tried to help Charbel stand the other day, but it took four people to help him up and have him (almost) standing upright. His core body is still not strong enough to be able to hold himself up, so this is the most important thing (in addition to straightening his angles/feet) in order to start standing and eventually walking. Right now, Charbel experiences some pain when we try to stand him up, because his muscles are very tight in some parts of his body. But we continue to try and sit him up and stand him up so that he can get used to that sensation again and start reusing those muscles.

We have a long road of hard work and recovery ahead but we’re all up to the challenge!

Great weekend

Charb had an action packed weekend. He had many friends come to visit, and as always was very happy to see them, and sad to see them go! Charb has been home since Friday, and won't be going back to the hospital until tomorrow afternoon. This weekend, in addition to his usual activities, we took Charbel up to KES (his old high school) to watch his sister, Chantal, wrestle in her first tournament of the season. Charb was definitely in his element there! He had a great time. He had the chance to see some of the wrestling coaches and players that he knew from his days as a wrestler – which meant a lot to him. Plus, he brought some good luck (and good advice) to Chantal who won a very exciting match!

In terms of improvements, Charbel is steadily getting more alert and active every day. This weekend, he was a lot more expressive, and we were able to have normal conversations with him - with a great deal of interaction on his part. It's amazing to know that he understands 100% of what is said to him and around him. For him to be able to ask questions and carry on a conversation is an absolute miracle. On top of all that, he is absolutely hilarious, and we're always laughing. Sometimes it’s difficult to even remember how hard and desperate our lives were only a couple short months ago. We are very, very fortunate.

Please check the photo album link for new photos (Jan07) and videos (Videos January) from this weekend!

Working on speech

The past couple of days I've been working with Charbel on speech by giving him a word and asking him to make a sentence out of it. He always has a relevant sentence, and most of the time they are hilarious!

A couple of examples:
I gave him the word 'tax' -he said, "Rachel, pay my taxes!"
I gave him the word 'clean' - he said "I am very clean"
I gave him the word 'dirty' - he said, "Rachel is very dirty"
I gave him the word 'write' - he said, "Write me a book" I asked him a book about what, he said - "A book about sex"

I posted a couple of videos of him saying sentences. In one I gave him the word 'road' and he says, "The road is very dangerous"
In the other video, I gave him the word 'sand' - he says, "Give me all the sand in the ocean."
You can watch them for yourself in the January video's in the Photo Album

On another note, Charbel's appetite is back to its pre-accident levels! Last night around 2am, he woke up and called the nurses to tell them that he was hungry. They gave him a pudding, and when he was done, he said "I'm very hungry, I want more" so they brought him another. Charbel fed himself, and when he was done, he said he was still hungry! So they brought him a rice pudding, and he ate that too...and of course he asked for more! But that was all they could give him, so soon enough he was sleeping again, thanks to a happy stomach!

That's all for now, keep up the prayers for a full recovery!

Overall, a great week

First of all, my apologies for being slow on the updates this week. Since starting a new job a couple of weeks ago, my time with Charb has been limited except for on the weekends, so here’s an update about the major events of this week:

Exercise:
Charbel’s right side is continuing to get stronger and more coordinated and he is able to use his hand for actions such as feeding himself with a spoon, holding a cup, holding a pencil and scratching his nose, ears, eyes, head etc. (which he does a lot of). Unfortunately, the left side is still really slow compared to the right, with the left hand showing more signs of movement than the left leg. For example, Charbel can bend his right leg at the knee and kick his foot forward, but with the left leg, he can hardly move his foot off the foot rest. We are working with him constantly to use his left hand/arm more as well as to gain enough strength to pick up his foot/leg. Robert brought him a small bicycle that he uses to strengthen both his arms and legs (video on this in the photo album in January photos)

Also this week, Charb’s neck strength has improved dramatically, and he is able to hold his head up and move it around from side to side with more ease. This being said, he still has a pull to the right, and we have to constantly remind him to keep his head up and to the left. Today mom and dad sat him up on the edge of the tilt table and he was able to lift his head up and hold it for several seconds. More exercises for core strength are integral for beginning to sit in regular chairs and beginning to walk - lifting and holding his head up are the first steps in the long process of being able to walk and sit independently.

Eating:
In my last update I mentioned that Charbel is keen on feeding himself. Well this week, his appetite is back with a vengeance and he constantly tells us, “I’m hungry, give me more food.” Charb has been eating the usual ice cream (which he loves) and pudding, as well as some food that mom puts in the blender to feed him (such as meat, potatoes and vegetables). What he used to eat in one or two bites now takes him an hour to eat, but he really loves the taste and the novelty of eating again. Yesterday, after his third serving of ice cream, he said to me: “Rachel, I want a lot more food” and I said, “OK, when mom comes back” Charb said: “I want more food now, hurry up!” I had a really good laugh about that! Today I fed him a tiny piece of pancake mashed up with syrup – he loved it, he said, “This is awesome!” That one piece took about a half hour to eat, so it takes a lot of patience, and he’s never satisfied, he always wants more!

Vision:
Charbel’s vision seems to be improving but he still has difficulty moving his eyes to follow objects. For example, he cannot track objects with his eyes, instead he moves his whole head toward an object. If we tell him to move his eyes left or right, he moves his head and his eyes stay stationary. But, we know that Charbel can see, because we have tested him by holding up fingers and he tells us how many we are hold up. Or, for example, mom does something with her mouth or tongue and tells Charb to copy her, and he can do it. The extent of his ability to see clearly, or see colours is still very questionable, as is his ability to see numbers and letters. We are hoping that we will be able to have tests done on his vision in order to asses how much he can see.

Memory:
Charb’s memory of the past is pretty amazing. For example, we have been singing with him the lyrics of some of our favorite childhood songs and he remembers almost all the words! Also, the other day, I was asking him questions about exercising, for example, I would say, “What exercise should I do if I want to work out my biceps” and Charb would say, “Bicep curls” then I’d say, “Abs” and he’d say “Sit-ups.” It’s pretty amazing how much he remembers, we quizzed him about everything from wrestling, to animals, to world capitals, and his responses were 95% correct (100% correct on questions related to sports – go figure).

Today was a really good day for Charb. He was extra talkative and loving, I can’t even remember how many times he told everyone that he loved them today. He was super happy and used the word ‘awesome’ about 100 times. Today he also discovered his laugh! Chantal said something funny and we were all laughing and then Charb opened his mouth, showed us a huge smile and started laughing – it sounded hilarious – so of course we all started laughing harder, which made him laugh more.

It’s the best thing in the world to know that Charbel’s sense of humor is still intact. He was also very interactive today, listening intently and asking questions and making comments when appropriate. Unfortunately, he is getting a little lazy when talking, so it is sometimes difficult to understand what he is saying. Usually, we have to remind him to speak slowly, one word at a time, and then it is easier to know what he says. Otherwise, he keeps repeating it until we understand. Hopefully his speech will become clearer as time goes on and he regains full motor control over his mouth and tongue.

New pictures and videos will be posted by morning so check the photo album for updates!

Becoming more independent

Charbel's drive for independence is back! He's starting to take the initiative to do things on his own now. For example, yesterday mom had a cup in her hand and was giving Charbel water with a spoon. Charb grabbed the cup, brought it to his mouth and tried to take a drink. Now, he can hold the cup and take a drink all on his own! He also started to feed himself with a spoon yesterday! The first time he did this he was eating ice cream with mom and he grabbed the spoon to eat. Then later on that day, I was feeding him lemon pie and he took the spoon from my hand and fed himself until all the pie was gone! (Then of course he asked for more)
This is a great improvement from a couple of weeks ago when he tried to feed himself but he didn't have the coordination or strength to reach his mouth. He can also reach to the back of his head - yesterday I saw him reaching back to scratch his neck, I was very impressed! Today he also tried to put his shirt on by himself without anyone telling him...he grabbed the neck and tried to pull it over his head. Charb's determination continues to amaze me!

I promise to upload some videos of Charb talking and eating tonight so check the photo album for updates.

Charb's talking continues!

Charb is doing very well with his talking. His voice is getting stronger and louder everyday. He is also starting to become more interactive and responds by talking even when talked to indirectly (ie, without being asked a question). The speech therapist at the hospital in Windsor is very happy with his progress so far. Charbel has problems pronouncing certain letters such as ‘b’ ‘g’ (its hard for him to say good, go and great, for example) and ‘d’, so his speech therapist has given him ‘homework’ to practice making various sounds and saying certain words.

Here are some funny stories to show how much personality Charbel has retained:
Yesterday Robert came to work with him as usual. Mom asked Charb if he wanted to work with Robert and he said “no.” When mom asked him why, he said, “I don’t feel good.” When mom asked him what was wrong he said, “I feel sick.” There was nothing wrong with him, he was perfectly fine before Robert came, but he just didn’t feel like exercising that day, so he was making up excuses! We thought it was pretty funny!

Today dad was talking to Anthony, a friend of Charbel’s about coming over to play the guitar some night. Dad said “Anthony will play, and I’ll sing for you Charb” – Charb’s response was “Oh NO!” with a huge grin on his face.

We laugh a lot now with Charb which is wonderful…the joy is back in everyone’s lives. The important thing is that he seems to be happy and prepared to overcome all the challenges that face him, and we’ll be supporting him all the way.