URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED FOR MATT CARROLL

[skajerk]

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010 12:32 PM, PDT

A morning update from Mike:

Good Morning Matty's friends and family.

I called the ICU this morning and Matty's nurse told me that he had another restless night. This is often the case with patients with brain injuries. Despite his stressful sleep, his brain continued to absorb its complement of cerebral fluid. Therefore, this morning the drain was empty! A cause for great joy for us.

As I read the psalms today, I thank God for the candor and transarancy that I see in David, its author. He expresses fear, and uncertainty about his life. He is much like you and me. Perhaps, Matty has these fears during these night times.

Yet, here in Psalm 31 David shares himself with us, once more to encourage and sustain us for today. May we all be blessed by his words found in Psalm 31:21-22,24.

"Praise be the Lord for He showed His wonderful love to me when I was in a besiiged city(Matty's injured brain). In my alarm I said, 'I am cutoff off from your sight!' Yet you heard me cry for mercy when I called to you for help..... Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord."

Be encouraged today for God is still answering prayer!

Love you,

Mike and Joy Carroll

[skajerk]

Great news!!!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010 4:29 PM, CDT

Good Afternoon!

Great news! Matt's CT scan went well and they are going to remove the drainage tube from his head!

This is wonderful news, and Matt is headed in the right direction! I will hopefully bring you more updates later today!

Thank you, keep praying and sending love!

[hockeygirlzmom]

Sending more prayers to Matt's family and friends.....keep up the good fight!

[skajerk]

I know things are getting busy here in the middle of the season but I've got some great news!

Here's the latest:

FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2010 7:04 PM, CDT

Another Great Day For Matt!

Matt is making amazing progress! Sometime within the next 24 hours Matt will moved to ACMU, Which the medical staff is referring to as "step down". As soon as a bed becomes available, Matt will be moved there from ICU and began acute rehab. Eventually when Matt is ready, he will be transferred to a rehabilitation center, and when that time comes, we will let you know of the plans. For now, he is on a great step by being moved from the ICU!

Even members of the medical staff are pleasantly surprised with his progress!

Matt also stood up today and had a couple bites of clam chowder! He is still not ready to have the feeding tube removed, but this is still great progress for him!

Also, Matt recognized Noah [his son] in a picture today with tears in his eyes. Matt also recognized that the tune Mike was playing on his harmonica was in the key of C.

He's really fighting to come back to us!

I will keep you posted with as much progress as I can, as it comes.

Thank you again, we are ALL helping him make this miraculous strides with love, thought, prayers, and visits with the family. Keep it coming!

Edited July 24, 2010 by skajerk

[Newseditor44]

I know things are getting busy here in the middle of the season but I've got some great news!

Here's the latest:

Randy, this is GREAT news!!!!! We will continue to Keep Matt and Laura in our prayers. Please give him our love when you see him and keep the updates coming. God bless you for keeping us all updated brother!

[Plan9]

What a classy way to start back on solid food.....Clam Chowder! Yum!

Among the things Matt is recognizing I hope he recognizes the amount of love and prayer being sent his way from his drum corps family.

Edited July 24, 2010 by Plan9

[skajerk]

Thanks, Jason.

I think he's going to be amazed at what has been going on while he's been on his little adventure. And Clam chowder sounds kinda good right now!

Another great update:

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010 3:44 PM, CDT

Good Afternoon!

Matt is still doing well. He ate most of his breakfast and even drank some coffee. They also removed his feeding tube!

He is still experiencing agitation and is at that low level of awareness which I have explained earlier in my entries. This is getting better, he is taking small steps daily to come back and beginning to make some recognitions. He is able to put words together and his communication skills are improving. And, he of course is still very medicated.

Matt will most likely be discharged to a rehab facility on Monday! When we have more details about that, we will let you know.

Today in therapy, Matt was able to stand on both legs as opposed to favoring his weak side, as he did yesterday.

He is making great strides, but we are still on a road of recovery. We still need your thoughts and prayers for the very best for Matt.

[skajerk]

Here's the latest:

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010 12:22 AM, CDT

Hi,

Matt had a quieter day today [sunday], and less agitation which is good.

He is enjoying his purée food believe it or not, and the goal while he is here is to have him sitting up and about for at least 3 hours of the day. This will hopefully assist in a nice transition to rehab.

The highlight of today, was Noah's visit to see his daddy. It was a very endearing moment. We all believe that Matt is going to fight to recover for his son.

We are waiting for processing and approval for Matt to be transferred to a rehabilitation center in Santa Clara. We hope he can make this transfer in the next couple of days. We understand that this is THE best place for Matt to recover, so please pray that this transition goes well, and soon.

Matt's progress is nothing short of a miracle, and we are all looking forward to his next great strides! Thank you for your continued support and assistance, Matt and family still need it, so keep it coming!

Edited July 26, 2010 by skajerk

[skajerk]

A couple updates.

1st, Matt is having a CT scan while I type this. Please pray that it comes out clear

2nd, THIS NEXT UPDATE IS A MUST READ! It's from his dad:

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010 12:02 PM, CDT

From Mike Carroll this morning: =)

Good Morning family and friends,

Another day, another opportunity to trust God for Matty healing. Yesterday, Matty got to see his Noah. Tears flowed from everyone there. Matty knows who Noah is, Praise the Lord. We are so grateful for Matty's dear friends who stay close to him and us through Matty's journey. They kept the vigil last night almost to 11pm. One of Matty's students came up to see him. His dad drove Matty's "big blue", Bullards band equipment trailer. They love him as you all do.

Today, we hope to get marching orders for Matty to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. It is deja vue. In the mid 90's Matty and a number of his Riverbank buddies were accepted into the SCV Drum and Bugle Corps. This memory has always been a real milestone for us. Like many families, we followed our kids as they performed and grew together to make extraordinary music and build friendshps that have stood the test of time.

The preparation efforts in drum corps are extraoordinarily challenging. All of you who have participated are saying amen to that statement. Well, here we go again! Matty is heading back to SCV. The venue is profoundly different. But the analogy is a good one. Take a moment and, for Matty's sake, picture yourselves with him, practicing, marching, sweating, pushing beyond to the next level. It is grueling, isn't it. Now, visualize SCV and Matty on the field of competition. All of those paininful practice sessions are over. Now its time to show your stuff!

Stay close to us. Keep praying. The coming practice sessions will be very tough. But many of you know the drill. It's prayer and trust in God that will get Matty back on the field.

[skajerk]

Two more updates:

#1

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010 10:16 PM, CDT

CT scan was clear, thank you for your prayers!

Matt will hopefully be transferred sometime tomorrow [7/27]. I'll update more soon!

#2

MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010 10:49 PM, PDT

Hello All,

As I mentioned, Matt's CT scan today went well, and he will be ready for transport to Santa Clara for rehab tomorrow [7/27]. We do not yet know what time.

Just some other updates about the day today [7/26]:

Early this morning Matt seemed to be a little more lucid. He was experiencing quite a bit of emotion, and it seems as if though he is coming to understand a little more, what has happened. We believe that he is at least becoming aware of the fact that he is in the hospital.

His family told him how much everyone, all of you, care about his progress, and he seemed to be emotional over this. Rather than his day being full of agitation, it was more emotional with some tears. His nurse told us that we can expect a wide spectrum of emotion over the coming days. Although it is difficult to understand what he must be going through, and sometimes hard on those by his side... it is a blessing. A blessing first, that he is here, and awake, but also that he is starting to put the pieces together, and come back to his awareness. We can only imagine how it feels to be on the journey he is on. But as I said, it is both a blessing and miracle for him to be on that journey at all!

Matt has a long road ahead of him. He has come this far, and we fully expect him to arrive at his destination. He and his family still need all of your support and prayers. Words cannot express how much you have aided in all of their strength this past few weeks, and I know it will continue. THANK YOU!

We will get info to you tomorrow as soon as we can. As I mentioned, we are unsure of when he will be traveling, and this is new to all of us. When we have the information to update you on, we will. I know you are all very interested in the details, facts and logistics of his rehabilitation and rehabilitation hospital. We will get it to you as soon as we can!

In the mean time, keep sending love, thoughts, and prayer!

Go Matt!