Live the Lion was created in an attempt to keep everyone up to date on Lance O'Cull and his road to recovery.

Lance was involved in a car accident near Morehead, Kentucky about 30 miles from where we grew up Thanksgiving weekend of 2010. He was airlifted from the scene of the accident to UK Medical Center in Lexington. The doctors told us that they could fix everything below the neck, but his brain was in God's hands. On December 22, after multiple surgeries, Lance was transferred to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for an intense rehabilitation program.

It was there that Lance began to gradually emerge from a coma. Lance was discharged to home, in Vanceburg on February 17th, to continue his therapy with family.

On March 10th, Lance's 25th birthday, he stood on his feet for the first time in 103 days, with lots of help. On May 11th, Lance was accepted into Cardinal Hill's brain injury unit. There he impressed and amazed our family and friends, as well as his therapists through the progress he made everyday.

Between September 2011 and April of 2012, Lance was back and forth between Cardinal Hill's inpatient program and Shepherd Center's inpatient and outpatient program. He has had a couple minor surgeries to enhance his healing and a baclofen pump inserted to help with the tone in his body.

For the past year, Lance is back in Lewis County splitting his time with both parents. He continues to travel to Ashland 3 times a week and Lexington once a week. He is learning to walk again and we couldn't be more thrilled.

It hasn't been easy, Lance has had some setbacks and tears still fall. But he is up and running this marathon. And we are all running right along beside him.

Most of the blog entries have been made by myself, Chelcee, the big sister, Brock, our baby brother, and Dr. Johnny, our dad. Our goal is for Lance to finish this blog as soon as he is able.

God has been with Lance and our entire family, giving us strength. We give Him the Glory. He is the God of Miracles.



~Chelcee




Monday, January 3, 2011

Monday, January 3rd 2011

The Shepherd Center is an amazing place. We are continuously encouraged by the therapists, doctors and nurses. As well, as the other patients and their success stories.
The speech therapist was in earlier this morning, she said Lance's swallowing reflex was excellent. He is up in the wheelchair right now, and went out for a spin with physical therapy.

Brock was given the opportunity to attend the PASSION conference here in Atlanta. You can watch the live feeds here...
www.268generation.com

My dad is on the phone with Ted right now, getting an update on Shannon. They have removed all chemical sedation and she has been fluttering her eyes a little bit.
If you are on facebook, you can search for Shannon Gilbert. The updates on a page created about Shannon. Not her actual facebook page.
If you aren't on Facebook, I will try to post updates on this blog. Here is Sunday's update:


Shannon's condition is the same as yesterday, meaning her vital signs have continued to be stable.  We had some small encouragements yesterday and today.  She is completely off any blood pressure regulating medicine, and she also had a CT Scan this morning that indicated there was no regression in her condition.  They also removed the IV that was taking continuous blood pressure measurements.  These are small things, but we see them all as positive steps forward.  Unless there is a change, the medical staff has said they will begin the process of waking her up on Monday.  We don't know exactly when they will begin removing the sedation medications, but we do know that no one can predict how long it will take for her to wake up.  As incredibly difficult as everything has been up to now, this next step will be even more so.  We ask for your continued prayers for our precious Shannon.  We appreciate all the prayers and support, which have come from so many people we can't even begin to count the number.  We have heard about churches and prayer groups from hundreds and even thousands of miles away who have been praying for her recovery.  It is a humbling experience for us to know that so many people are going to God in prayer, many of them people who have never even met Shannon. 

We placed several photographs of Shannon in her room today, just so the medical staff can maybe get a glimpse into the personality of the beautiful, loving girl that we know.  Many, many times these people never get to see the patient they are caring for in the same way that their families see them.   We also wrote them a note of appreciation for all they have done and continue to do to help bring Shannon back to us. 

Please continue to pray for Shannon, and please continue praying for Lance O'Cull.   Lance is showing improvement every day, and we give the praise and glory to God for all these miracles.

-Ted



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1 comment:

  1. UnknownJanuary 3, 2011 at 6:17 PM

    Glad to hear that Lance is progressing each day. I pray for him daily. I also wanted to tell you that one of our local policeman is there at the center. He was in two freak wrecks in one day. I know he has lost an arm and a leg. He is Corporal Brown. I do not know him personally. Love,Martha( your cousin in Montgomery,Al.)My mother was Christine.

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