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!