I visited Chase at lunchtime today.  He is doing really well.  He got really frustrated sitting upright in his back-brace, but lying in bed, he’s just fine.  He is talking a lot and much better.  He is singing along to worship songs.  He played some catch with Chase Patton today, a Tiger quarterback, who is his friend.  I’m really encouraged!

I’ll go over to see Chase a bit later this morning.  But last night, I took Amy and the kids over.  Chase is doing so much better.  He totally recognized the whole family.  He remembers things from the past.  He talked to us, and a whole group of people, for some time.  He played catch some with Hadley.  He has come so far in just a few days!  He even seemed like he was further along than just yesterday morning.

Dude!  I saw Chase.  I heard Chase!  Hooray!  His first words to me were: “I can’t wait to be back in your small group.”  Now Chase has a long way to go.  His speech is slow.  His body movements are awkward.  But he has made so much progress that I am so encouraged!  I can’t wait to take the wife and kids back tonight!  Keep praying and praise the Lord.

From Chase’s care page!!!

Hey guys, Today was an amazing day!! Chase is now talking to us! We had full conversations with him and he is fully coherent and fully Chase! Praise The Lord! He is able to recall events and is functioning wonderfully. They have been working with him walking and speaking. He is progressing in both. Thank you guys for praying so hard for Chase and continue to as he is getting a little frustrated that he is still not able to do a lot of things. Love you guys!

In His Grace,
Josh Blackman

It’s hard to believe we’re moving into the Missouri Theatre on Aug. 24.  Last night we went in for some preliminary sound training.  Check out these pictures Janelle took (click on thumbnails):

Just got back from seeing Chase at Rusk Rehabilitation.  He is so much better.  He is sitting up and trying to mouth words.  The occupational therapist was working with him on sorting playing cards and change, and he was doing great.  It is a bit hard to see him struggle at times with those types of things, but the amazing thing is to see the huge steps he has made since last week.  The people I have talked to expect a full recovery.  This is great news.

From Chase’s Care Page:

Hey guys, I know it has been a while since there has an update posted and I am sorry for that. Although there have been a lot of amazing things that have been happening with Chase. On monday Chase was moved from University Hospital to Rusk Rehab Center. This is a great place for him and we have already seen amazing improvement just over the past two days. Chase is no longer relying on supplemental oxygen and is breathing on his own. He is also becoming more and more alert to everything around him each and every day. At rusk he has busy days. He meets with speech therapists, OT’s, and PT’s everyday. Yesterday I was able to go with him to his speech therapist and it was such a blessing. They test Chase’s brain a lot with different test that Chase did really well with. They also tried to get him to talk, He tried really hard but just is not quite there yet. He continues to impress us each and everyday and become more like Chase each and everyday. Thank you all for continuing to pray for Chase and his family. Keep his family in your prayers as both his parents had to return to work and his sister is now there all the time, she is doing amazing! Thank you for loving and caring for Chase and his family!

In His Grace,
Josh Blackman

Because of a stomach virus, it had been about a week since I had seen Chase.  Wow!  I went in tonight, and he is so much better.  He is up and alert and watching TV and shaking hands and everything.  He still has brain swelling, so he’s not fully back to normal.  But the nurses expect him to get that way soon.  Tomorrow he’s going to the Rusk Rehabilitation Center.  So amazing.  Praise God.

The Columbia Missourian recently visited my son’s summer-school kindergarten class.  Check out the article here, and the slideshow (with pictures of Hadley) here.

Good news.  I talked for some time tonight with Chase’s mom, Rhonda.  He continues to improve, and tomorrow he will move into rehab.  He’ll be in the Rusk Rehabilitation Center near my home!

From Chase’s care page (carepages.com):

Hey guys it has been an up and down last 4 or 5 days but an amazing blessing to see where God has brought Chase! Today they have tried to leave him off his ventilator all day and so far so good. He has also had a lot of activity over the past few days. He has had his eyes open for a good amount of the days and has been not only responding to commands but also responding to what people are saying to him. He is looking more like Chase each day and we are so amazed to see his progress. Continue to pray for Chase to be healed and also pray that he will be comforted, as he is still in a lot of pain. Continue to pray for Chases family, his Mom is going to have to go back to Kirksville soon and this is going to be so hard for her. There will be a lot of people around helping, but 5 people could not do half as amazing as this one woman is doing. Thank you for continuing to care for and pray for Chase. We tell him each and every day that every one of you is praying for him and love him!

In His Grace,
Josh Blackman

And from Karis member Janelle Blair:

I went to see Chase’s family again this evening.  They said that he had been doing well the last few days.  They had him sitting up in his bed today and the occupational therapist had been in with him too.  They took the tube out of his nose and they hope to start feeding him through the tube in his stomach tomorrow.  His dad said that he is pretty much breathing on his own now.  His dad said that if he kept improving like he is that they move him to rehab next week.  They are still tying his hands down because he wants to tear out the tubes and take the wires off.  That’s about all I know for now!