web page consultants:
|11-29-02: One step at a time
|By SHELLEY GRIESHOP
The Daily Standard
Standing doesn't seem like such a big feat unless you haven't done it
for nearly 2-1/2 years.
So with a video camera rolling, Christina Bryan became vertical two
months ago, standing on her own two feet. It was the first time she was able to plant her
toes flat on the ground since lightning robbed her body of its most critical functions in
"I've got a video of you standing, don't I?" her father, Kent
Bryan asked, as he smiled at his daughter.
Christina Bryan, now 19, smiled back. But she hasn't been all smiles
the last two years. After about eight months in area hospitals, she arrived home in time
for Christmas 2000, and continued therapy treatments. In order for the young Celina woman
to become upright, she had to wear leg and feet braces from March through August this
year, to pull the muscles in her calves back where they belong.
"Her muscles became so tight when she laid so long in a horizontal
position that her feet started to point straight out," Christina's mother, Ginny
Christina Bryan also underwent a hip surgery a year ago to remove a
bone-like mass that had deposited between her leg and pelvic bone. The excess accumulation
was causing her considerable pain, which led to frequent wakings in the night.
With both her feet and hip repaired, Christina Bryan is now able to
sleep through the night, and move on to more challenging, therapy including learning to
walk again. She recently began taking several dozen steps with minimal support from
physical and occupational therapists during sessions three times a week.
Her nightmare began June 13, 2000, while she was working on the golf
course at the Fox's Den in Celina. At the time, she was an honor roll student at the top
of her junior class and involved in numerous activities at Celina High School.
No one saw the lightning bolt strike her down and no one knows exactly
how long she lay there unconscious before golfers began cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR). She was in cardiac arrest with no pulse when she was found that evening.
Lightning kills 73 people in the United States each year and injures
more than 300, according to the National Weather Service. Victims of lightning strikes
suffer a wide array of injuries from burns to loss of brain function from lack of oxygen.
"There's not much information out there on how to treat victims
like Christina who have suffered a direct (lightning) hit," Kent Bryan said.
Doctors are not about to give a long-term diagnosis in a case like
Christina's, he said, because they just don't know.
"Slow and steady, we use those words constantly to describe her
overall progress," he added.
The Bryans agreed once again to be interviewed by The Daily Standard to
update those who are curious about their daughter's progress but are afraid to ask, and to
give hope to other families who are dealing with critically injured loved ones.
Speech therapist, Andrea Hawkins of the Community Sports and Therapy
Center in Celina, has worked with Christina Bryan for more than a year. Hawkins is
teaching her how to eat again, how to turn sounds into words, how to increase memory
skills and think through story problems.
"She loves math, she's very good at it, better than me,"
Hawkins joked, as Christina Bryan giggled in her chair.
Ginny Bryan said they use "Thicken Right" to bring all
of Christina's food to a pudding consistency so she can swallow it. She is still on a
feeding tube but therapists hope that will not be necessary for too much longer.
"She has chewing motion, I've seen it several times," Hawkins
Christina Bryan balances herself when sitting up and can raise her arms
and legs by herself, but slowly. Her physical therapist, Heidi Lemmerman, is working on
range of motion and strengthening the muscles in her tall, slender body.
"As long as Christina keeps making progress, we're going to keep
shooting for whatever she can do," Lemmerman said during a recent session.
"Something's healing in there, Ocause she's doing so much more now."
Everything Christina Bryan does takes time and sometimes she cries out
from pure frustration, her mother said. Her brain functions well, it just takes a while
for her muscles to get the message and react, Ginny Bryan added.
The Bryan family is currently trying out a computer program called
"Tracker 2000" to help Christina communicate better. A silver dot is placed on
her glasses or forehead and through an infrared ray she is able to activate the cursor by
moving her head. She is also able to hold a pen and can use it to move the cursor, too.
Among other things, the computer allows Christina Bryan to retrieve and
send e-mails from her friends who are away at college. Her contact with her friends helps
keep her focused, her mother said.
"Her friends just keep coming around," Ginny Bryan said.
"They've learned how to take her out in our van. They've taken her to Mariners games,
camp fires. It does a lot for Christina's mental state."
Kent Bryan said people ask him how the family copes with all the
changes they've endured the last two years.
"We're in a routine now," he said. "During Christina's
treatment we've seen so many people dealing with tough situations. It's hard to explain,
but in the end, you just do it."
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY STANDARD
(419)586-2371, Fax: (419)586-6271
All content copyright 2002
The Standard Printing
P.O. Box 140, Celina, OH