Charbel’s October update:

Today (Oct 18) it has been exactly one month since Charbel went to the QEII in Halifax to have an acrylic bone flap placed in his skull to replace the bone that was taken out after his accident. The doctors believed that the operation was successful, and Charbel was sent home 4 days after the operation. We were told that swelling is normal for about 6 weeks after the operation, but that the swelling should gradually come down until the head has returned to normal.

However, by closely examining Charbel’s head every day, two weeks after the operation, we noticed that instead of gradually decreasing, the swelling was actually increasing. So, on October 5, the decision was made by the doctors in Windsor, to send Charbel back to Halifax so that his neurosurgeon could have a look at his head. Back at the QEII, a CTSCAN showed that blood and fluid were accumulating between the skull and Charbel’s skin. The doctor decided to remove the blood and fluid by using a needle, and had hoped to remove all of the fluid using this method. Unfortunately, he could not get all of the blood and fluid out, and was not happy about this. He gave mom two choices about future action for Charbel. Choice one was to undergo another operation to place a drain that would remove the buildup. Choice two, was to remove the bone flap altogether, and leave it out, in case the drain did not work properly. Then he sentimentally told mom, that if it was his son, he wouldn’t perform any more surgeries, he would just let him go.

So, discouraged and confused with no idea what to do, mom brought Charbel back to Windsor that evening and with dad, they contemplated their options. In the meantime, Charbel’s fever was still high, he was sweating profusely, and he had high tone and spasticity. For the next few days, his head showed no sign of improvement, in fact, at times it looked even bigger than before. On Thanksgiving day, Charbel went home for the afternoon, and was fine until about 6pm back at the hospital. Once again he was running a fever and was very uncomfortable and sweaty. Miraculously, on Tuesday morning (Oct 10th) Charbel showed signs of improvement, no sweating, no fever, and the swelling was down – he looked much better! Since then, the swelling has gone down dramatically, and although he’s not back to normal yet, each day we are seeing some improvement, and he did not have to go back to Halifax for more surgery. Our prayers were answered.

Several factors helped to improve Charbel’s condition. We are sure that all the people involved in praying for Charbel have made a great difference in his recovery from the bone flap operation. They have continuously prayed for him and our family not to give up and to believe in God’s healing. Secondly, the homeopathic medicine that Charbel receives seems to be helping the swelling in his head go down. We are using a medicine called Arnica that is believed to help decrease swelling. Also, Charbel received acupuncture sessions to encourage the swelling in his head to go down.

Thankfully, Charbel is better now. He isn’t suffering from any of the symptoms that he had after the operation. We continue to bring him home every day, and each day we notice that his face looks a little brighter and more relaxed. Robert continues to come and work with Charbel every day on his range of motion and other issues. Within the next couple of weeks, we hope that Charbel’s swelling will be completely gone and we will begin more rigorous efforts to help him regain consciousness.

Please stay tuned, hopefully we’ll have better news next month!