There is Hope..  There is always Hope.  Hold on to Hope until there is no Hope left to hold on to.  Then, and only then, let go, with grace.  God's grace.

I don't believe in coincidences.  I believe that God is intricately involved in the little details of our lives, when He chooses to be.  I don't know why He doesn't seem to intervene in BIG ways sometimes, but that is why He is God and I am well, not.  And it is always quite possible that He intervenes in a lot more BIG ways than we give Him credit for, because we don't see what might have been...

I was searching the internet looking for a story about a little boy who had suddenly woken up from a coma after 2 years.  I couldn't find the story, but what I did stumble upon was fascinating.  Of course knowing the internet, you have to check the credibility of your sources carefully --I learned that from a good pastor friend who is famous for sending back those sensational emails and kindly pointing out that it was just an urban legend afterall!  Thank you, Craig! 

My initial source was the "Guardian" a reputable Left (my husband tells me) British Newspaper  (Those two words can go together can't they?  Reputable and Left?)  Anyway, more importantly let me tell you what I found....

In 1999 in South Africa, a family doctor was responding to a families concern about their comatose son.  They were worried that he was uncomfrotable and maybe in pain.  He perscribed a sleeping pill, which they disoved in some water and managed to give him by mouth.  He quieted down and within about 15 minutes he woke up and started to talk to his parents.  He had been in a coma for years.  He was awake and lucid and could even joke with them.  After the drug wore off, he slipped back into a coma again.  They repeated the sleeping pill the next day with identical results, except that he also remembered the previous days conversation.  Amazing.  This had been accidentally discovered several times under basically the same circumstances.  Once in Texas aonther time in Britan.  And apparently Dr. Nels, the Dr. in South Africa has repeated the phenomenon with about 60% of the 150 coma patients whom he has given this particular sleeping pill to.  This story was in the September 12, 2006 issue of the Guardian and is very long.  But if you go to their site you can read all the details.  Search Coma and Sleeping Pill or Zolpidem and It should bring it right up.  I'll try to add a link later.

Anyway, knowing dad's doctors I didn't think the Guardian would be a substantial enough resource for them to even consider trying this, so I decided to search the medical literature.  Well, it was there, documented in several Doctor type journals!!!  I couldn't believe it.  When I first read it, I think my jaw must have been hanging open, as I was thinking this is too good to be possible.  And too weird too.  What I can't figure out is why every doctor of neurology isn't looking into this if they have coma patients.  The sleeping pill in question is Zolpidem, or Ambien in the States.  It is rather common here and in Europe and is considered to be rather safe as far as sleeping pills go.  The Medical Documentation indicates that even a whole bottle of these won't kill you although it would make you feel plenty lousy! 

So, I have armed myself with articles and abstracts, and am trying to get in touch with this Dr. Nels to find out how many of the patients he has tried it with have been a. stroke victims and b. in a coma for less than a year.  This drug has returned sight to a lady, given physical movement to one person, improved cognition in semi-comatose patients and woken up cully comatose patients.  The effect is temporary as they will slip back into their previous state when the drug wears off, but it is repeatable on a daily basis.  One coma patient has been getting his wake up (I mean sleeping) pill every morning now for 6 years. 

All right, how wild and out there is that?  We are reservedly excited to check it out a little further and give it a try.  It can't hurt.  Our big dilemna now is that while it is common in the States it is not available in Canada where dad is.  I found out it is legal there, although it is governed by the controlled substance board, it is just not marketed in the country. 

I am working on contacting Health Canada (like our FDA) and getting special permission to have it supplied to him at least for a trial at first. 

Here's the theory of how Dr. Nels and a nuclear Medicine dr., Dr. Clauss think this is working.  When our bodies have a Traumatic Brain Injury, the brain has a chemical called GABA (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid) which closes down brain function to help the cells survive.  They think that after a long time the receptors in the brain become hypersensitive to GABA which is a depressent and they don't wake back up --thus a persistent vegetative state.  Zolpidem is a GABA antagonist and these drs. think that by temporarily shutting off the GABA it allows the person to wake up.  Incidentally they have done brain scans prior to the administration of Zolpidem and after and prior to the drug the brain cells look dormant or dead.  Doctors would say a persistent vegetative state and this patient is not going to wake up.  After Zolpidem the cells look totally different and active.  THis is very facinating to me and gives me someething to pursue and something to hope for.  It is not a complete cure, but it is better than where dad's at now!  What we are not sure about is how soon, is 6 weeks too soon to try this, does his brain need to be shut down longer to continue to heal before it is woken up? 

So if you wish to pray for dad and us, these are some specific things you can pray about.  And thank you for caring, thank you for reading and thank you for praying.  May God's blessings fill your heart and life. 

I will post if and when we get approval to try this.

P.S.  Oddly, there was an episode of House last week that was loosely based on this drug.  they even referred to South Africa.  But they put an "Awakenings" (the 60s movie) spin on it, where the patient could be woken up but only once and that was it.  It was not like the case studies for Zolpidem but it was interesting that it was this week when I had just discovered this information.