"Update" Tim (Yancy) Derringer

On the afternoon of December 10, Tim fell in the bathroom and hit his head on the shower door stall (I think) resulting in a huge and deep cut along the line of his biopsy surgery 5 years ago, plus a cut on his lower lip and other small places. By the time I ran to the room, blood was already pooled around him. He was face down and stopped breathing three times before EMS arrived. I could lift his shoulder up, and he began breathing again the first two times. His heart had also stopped when they arrived. We had almost zero hope of survival. We learned in addition to the cuts, he had a mild heart attack, a stroke, and he developed pneumonia--unsure on the sequence of events, except the pneumonia, of course. However, when they removed the ventilator Friday afternoon, December 11, he continued to breathe on his own. On December 12 he was sitting up, talking and making jokes. He was moved out of intensive care December 16. On December 21 he was transferred to Jewish Hospital where he had two stents placed in his front artery and balloon angioplasty in a smaller artery in the back. He was transferred to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Elizabethtown on December 23, as he was a prime candidate for stroke victim rehabilitation. Medical staff in all three hospitals refer to him as “the miracle man”. Our church calls him “our Christmas miracle”. A cardiologist, Dr. Prince, said he had only seen one other case like his; a nurse said Dr. Prince put in his notes, “Wow!” We returned home on January 5, and he began outpatient rehabilitation on January 8, primarily for continued improvement in memory and balance. After his first trip as an outpatient, he no longer requires occupational therapy. He will continue speech and physical therapy three times a week. So we have had our second miracle (the first almost six years ago following his brain tumor diagnosis)! Tim joked and said, "And that's enough."

We are so thankful and wish all of you a Happy New Year and God’s blessings.

Diana