MEDIA RELEASE

From David Chen, husband of Theresa Wang, who is recovering from injuries sustained in the Nov. 19 car crash that also injured Colt Brennan:

Mele Kalikimaka to our Ohana near and far,

Five long weeks have come and gone since the day of the car accident when Theresa was med-flighted to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.

Looking back over this time, it still amazes me and reaffirms my faith in God for all of the small and large miracles that have taken place. From the coordinated efforts of the first responders to the North Hawaii ER staff to the helicopter and medflight crews right through to the talented professionals at Queen’s, everyone involved did their part in saving Theresa.

And in the ICU for the first 3 to 4 weeks as Theresa gained strength for the 8 individual surgeries or to recover from them, whenever complications arose and the men and women of science had no answer except to wait and see, our Lord’s healing power was clear as He helped Theresa to overcome each obstacle to her recovery. Theresa would not be here with us without the efforts of everyone involved, including the support and prayers of you, our Ohana in Hawaii and around the world.

For the past few days, the OT/PT sessions were scheduled earlier in the morning as the therapists caught on that Theresa is more alert first thing in the day. The result is that she has performed beyond their expectations and has steadily surpassed her record of sitting on the side of the bed from 5 to 10 and now to 17 minutes.

Theresa is also doing leg lifts on both sides and arm lifts on the right hand side without too much difficulty.

Even her left arm is beginning to come around as we’re seeing a small amount of elbow action in addition to the finger and shoulder movement. Theresa still prefers to keep her eyes closed most of the time even though I brought an older pair of glasses to aid her vision.

This has the therapists concerned but as I’ve mentioned before, Theresa is on God’s healing schedule and she’ll open her eyes when the rest of the healing is done; and when there’s something worth looking at besides a clock and a whiteboard.

Oh, and in today’s session, the therapists may have pushed Theresa a bit too far as she responded with a one finger salute to their question, and I don’t mean the thumbs-up either.

With this altered state of consciousness and the improved dexterity in her right arm, Theresa appears to be going through a period of resistance and denial. I’ve heard that some patients describe the critical care phase of the hospital stay as like being abducted by aliens, what with the various tubes sticking out of their body and the accompanying sights and sounds.

Sure enough, over the course of last night, Theresa was busy trying to escape the mothership by pulling out her cervical collar padding, loosening the foley catheter, adjusting the trachea breathing collar above her head, and removing her left wrist splint and using it as a noisemaker, the way a child would bang a spoon on a table.

At least she left the potentially injurious feeding tube and central IV lines alone for now so with some reluctance, I agreed to a wrist restraint for those times when no one is in her room. I hope and pray that our Lord Jesus Christ, watches over Theresa during this dark path along her healing journey and that soon, she will return to the light.

Tonight, a new found friend in Christ has invited me to attend the Christmas Eve midnight mass at their church. While it will be a new experience, I already know what and who to give thanks for. Spending our second Christmas in a hospital these past three years is not something I would wish upon anyone however given the miracles we’ve been blessed with, I would not have it any other way.

Please join me during this most miraculous time of the year in giving thanks to God for all He has done for us and everyone else.

Mahalo,
David

— Find out more:
www.hulaterri.blogspot.com