Charbel’s update:

Finally a Breakthrough!

For many long months Charbel remained in a minimally conscious state where it was difficult to determine whether or not he recognized his family or friends or understood what they were saying to him. It now seems that Charbel is conscious for much of his day.

Shortly after his birthday Charbel started showing significant signs of improvement…

On Tuesday, November 21st, Charb’s physiotherapist was working with him when he gave her a smile! She has been working with him on blinking once for ‘no’, and twice for ‘yes’, and on that day, she asked him questions and he blinked appropriately! When the nurses came to check on him, he smiled for everyone that walked in, and he answered their questions with blinks. Everyone was very excited and tears were flowing.

When mom arrived, all of the nurses on duty were in the room with Charb ~ waiting to tell her the good news. From that time, we have been noticing that Charb is more aware of his surrounding and is reacting more clearly to certain requests. With this in mind, we have been challenging Charb to gain more control over his movements, and he has been able to give us a ‘thumbs up’ when asked! He has also started to lift up his hand and to turn his head on his own.

To our surprise, he has been moving the right side of his body, which before this week had shown absolutely no movement. The tremor is still evident, however, it doesn’t seem to impair his movement. He is now able to squeeze and release someone’s hand on command. One of the best moments came after a relaxing massage, when Charb flashed us a huge smile and showed off his teeth!

Lately we have had the feeling that Charb is really working hard and is trying with all his strength to gain control of his motions. He is also showing more clear signs that he is able to comprehend and follow directions. For example, last week, a friend was helping him stretch and gain awareness of his ability to straighten his arms out. His friend mentioned that his good left arm had no problem straightening out, but his tight, contracted right arm did. After several assisted stretches on both sides, especially to warm up the tight side, Charbel was asked to try to straighten out his tight, contracted right elbow. Charbel did follow those directions with obvious effort showing on his face. He straightened out his elbow by several inches. Charbel enjoys stretching, for remember, he is a superb athlete who is used to challenging himself physically.

The most recent miracle is that Charbel is now giving kisses! On Wednesday (Nov 29) Charb surprised mom by giving her a kiss on the cheek, and the smacking sound could be heard in the next room! Since then, he has been giving kisses and smiles to his family regularly.

We strongly believe that all of your prayers and well wishes for Charb are working…and he has made some amazing progress over the past couple of weeks. Please keep praying for his continual recovery, and stop by to see him when you can…hopefully he will give you a beautiful smile, and who knows, maybe even a kiss!