Max
05-16-2003, 11:51 AM
One miracle a year
By Marc Vieau, Sports Editor
The smile that has always been there went away for a little while, but now it's back.
For "Grinny," his family and his friends, the last 14 months have brought immense worry, feelings of not really knowing what's going on and ecstatic breakthroughs.
They've also brought plenty of tears and moments to truly appreciate life.
Those 14 months for Jim Agren, his wife Jane, and their three daughters have been - as one neurologist said - miraculous.
Jim Agren, a teacher and varsity football assistant coach at Cadillac High School, didn't wake up one morning.
The first couple months
The date of March 7, 2002 is one many people in the Cadillac community will never forget.
Jim Agren went to bed as normal the night before, yet when morning came, there was a problem. Agren didn't feel well and went to lie down on the couch. From there, the condition became life-threatening with Agren unconscious.
"I wasn't home that morning," Jane Agren said. "I guess he did go from the bed to the couch, that's what the kids told me. Our oldest had already left for school, so Janelle called a friend to get a ride to school because her dad wasn't getting up."
It so happened that the friend's mom is Sharon Badinovac, a registered nurse. Her daughter had already left for school and that sent up the red flags. Badinovac called the ambulance and Jim Agren was rushed to Mercy Hospital.
A family friend, Dr. Bill Grace, met the ambulance and took control of Agren while Jane was at a conference in Grand Rapids. Jane Agren, a librarian at Mackinaw Trail Middle School, waited in Grand Rapids for her husband to arrive.Was he taken to GR?
Tests were run on Agren to find out what was going on while they waited for a bed to open up at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. After eight hours and nothing opening up, the decision was made for Agren to go to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids.
Jim was in a coma through the whole thing, with everyone questioning what was going on.
The diagnosis took some time, but it has come back as viral encephalitis, a swelling of the brain. At the start, tests were done for a stroke and spinal meningitis, among other things.
"It's pretty vague Љ it's like you've got a cold," Jane Agren said. "It just kind of hits you. Something attacked Jim differently than other people."
Jim Agren spent three weeks in a coma at St. Mary's. He went from having oxygen to having a tracheotomy to help him breathe to having feeding tubes running in and out.
The first breakthrough for the Agrens came around Easter.
"Right before Easter, his eyes opened for the first time, but it wasn't just like a wakeup thing," Jane Agren said. "Then he slipped back into the coma. Then on Easter, or the day after, he woke up again and when he did, the only thing he could move were his eyes."
From St. Mary's, Jim was moved to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon for continued care and to rebuild his strength. It was there the first breakthrough movements came.
"He didn't move a finger until Hackley," Jane Agren said. "We were ecstatic because a finger had moved Љ that was in mid-April. He didn't eat on his own until mid-May. He's had to relearn everything."
On Mother's Day of 2002, Jim signed his name to a card for his mom for the first time, another breakthrough.
Signing a name to a card might sound trivial to most, but for the Agrens, everything has been a blessing.
"The bottom line is that Jim's not supposed to be alive Љ the neurologist said that," Jane said. "They can't believe he's alive. The hospital he was at said they have one miracle every year and they hadn't had one yet, so Jim must be the miracle."
The rehab picks up
At the end of May, Jim was sent to Mary Free Bed in Muskegon for the next step in the rehabilitation process.
From the end of May, through June and July and into August, he was there, going through physical and mental rehabilitation.
"At Mary Free Bed, they have a brain-injury side and a spinal-cord injury side," Jane said. "Jim was on the spinal-cord injury side. From that point on, the doctor said everything from here on in is gravy. We just want more gravy now."
The brain injury side is for psychiatric patients, while the spinal-cord injury side contains people who are working toward physical rehabilitation.
In August, Jim finally came home for good, yet his rehab continues three days a week at Cadillac Mercy Hospital.
"It felt good to come home," Jim said.
His sessions include speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
"They give me stuff to figure out like a sea lion and a whale," Jim said. "I name two ways they are different. I lift weights every day and I can transfer myself now as I get stronger. I've just got to keep working."
The therapy also includes a lot of cognitive sessions and work on Jim's memory. He keeps a diary now of what he does every day to work on short-term memory.
When it comes to long-term memory, there are gaps.
"His memory is hit and miss," Jane said. "If it has anything to do with sports, it's a hit, but with other things Љ he doesn't have a clue."
Agren vividly remembers playing football in his senior year of high school at Johannesburg-Lewiston.
"We were 9-0 and we played Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart and (Cadillac basketball coach) Jeff McDonald was the quarterback and we beat him 12-6," he said.
Jim has made strides when it comes to his memory and he's made strides when it comes to controlling the emotions.
Brain-injury patients seem to be very emotional and cry a lot, Jane said.
"It's very normal for someone who has had a brain injury to be emotional," Jane said. "Jim has gotten a lot better, but he still has a ways to go."
Jim knows he cries and carries his Kleenex with him, but it's his goal to keep working.
"I think if I can get away from the emotions, I can be a great inspiration for kids," he said. "I can show them that when times get tough, it takes a lot of hard work on your part and it's important to gain a lot of great family and friends so you'll have a lot of support if they get into a situation like mine."
The next step in the physical rehabilitation process is what the community has been talking about with posters up all over town.
Community involvement
On Saturday, a benefit basketball game will be held at Cadillac High School to help purchase a "Lite-Gait" machine and an FES Bicycle in conjunction with Mercy Rehab Services.
The Lite-Gait is a partial-weight supported walking unit used in conjunction with a treadmill. The device supports the weight of the patient as therapists work with their legs. An FES Bicycle is a computer-controlled electrical stimulation bicycle unit that sends low-level electrical impulses to the leg muscles, causing coordinated contractions and the pedaling motion.
Combined, the two items will cost nearly $20,000 - the goal of the fund-raiser.
Jim has been involved in some of the same therapies that Christopher Reeve, a quadriplegic, has been using.
The main one falls under neuroplasticity and it involves the brain reteaching the body how to walk by finding ways to get lost signals back to the spinal cord.
"When there is damage to the spinal cord, the brain sends messages, but they get lost somewhere (in the nervous system)," Jane said. "(Therapists) have Jim push his foot against their hand and have him try to visualize that movement. That's what the Lite-Gait is all about. It holds him up while the therapist works on his legs and he visualizes the movement. The hope is that the message can get rerouted another way to the spinal cord. We haven't plateaued yet. Our goal is to get his head talking to his legs again."
A couple of months ago, another one of those breakthroughs happened.
"They can feel a slight trace of muscle movement in his legs," Jane Agren said. "We've gotten this far, let's go further."
The Lite-Gait and FES Bicycle will be donated to Mercy Rehab Services in the name of Jim Agren for all to use. Jane Agren said the devices would be one of the few in the state of Michigan and can benefit orthopedic and stroke patients.
Saturday's event, called "Playing for Jim" will begin at 7 p.m. with several components. The first game - with a 30-minute running clock - will feature the junior high and high school staff, coached by Jim Agren, playing the kindergarten through seventh-grade staff, coached by Jane Agren.
After that game, an auction will be held and kids' drawings will take place. What kind of game?
The second part is a 40-minute game that involves alumni vs. alumni is separate 10-minute sessions with girls vs. girls and boys vs. boys.
All proceeds from the game and auctions will go to the Jim Agren Fund.
John Horrigan, Cadillac High School's athletic director and one of the event's coordinators with Bill Rzepka, said it has two purposes.
"The game is a fund-raiser and we've gotten a lot of donations, too," Horrigan said. "The second part is for the students and the community to show support for Jim and his family as they go through this. Jim has taught and coached here for many years and put in a lot of time after school to help people. He is a very popular coach and teacher and this is an opportunity to give back to Jim."
The Agrens are very appreciative of all that has gone on through the last 14 months as Jim recovers from the illness.
"I'm proud of all the work that has gone into this fund-raising," he said. "It's not only for me, but for all the people at rehabilitation that may benefit from it. I sure hope we prevail (in the game) and I hope a lot of students come out and root for their favorite teachers."
Through all of the last 14 months, Jim and Jane's friends and family have been there. The Agren's three daughters - Kristen, 13; Janelle, 10; and Katelyn, 7 - lived with their grandparents while Jim was in the hospital.
Last fall, the Cadillac football team put smiley stickers on the back of their helmets as a tribute to "Grinny" and he's been in the prayers of the community the whole time.
"Friends and family have been unbelievable Љ this community has been unbelievable," Jane Agren said.
The future
Jim has his goals and they are what he works toward all the time.
The first is to take driver's education this summer and get back to driving with hand controls.
The second is what his heart is set on and that's to return to teaching.
Agren is a computer-aided design and mechanical drawing teacher.
He's spending two days a week in the classroom now working toward that goal.
"I've been coming to school two days a week and I talk to the kids (Friday)," Jim said. "Last Wednesday, I was talking to a kid who is at the Wexford Career Technical Center now helping other kids out. He complimented me on helping him. That felt good. I believe I am getting very prepared to teach Computer Aided Design to 10th through 12th grades and Mechanical Drawing to ninth graders."
As far as getting out of the wheelchair and walking again, that would be a breakthrough to truly cry - for joy - over.
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2003/05/14/news/news02.txt
By Marc Vieau, Sports Editor
The smile that has always been there went away for a little while, but now it's back.
For "Grinny," his family and his friends, the last 14 months have brought immense worry, feelings of not really knowing what's going on and ecstatic breakthroughs.
They've also brought plenty of tears and moments to truly appreciate life.
Those 14 months for Jim Agren, his wife Jane, and their three daughters have been - as one neurologist said - miraculous.
Jim Agren, a teacher and varsity football assistant coach at Cadillac High School, didn't wake up one morning.
The first couple months
The date of March 7, 2002 is one many people in the Cadillac community will never forget.
Jim Agren went to bed as normal the night before, yet when morning came, there was a problem. Agren didn't feel well and went to lie down on the couch. From there, the condition became life-threatening with Agren unconscious.
"I wasn't home that morning," Jane Agren said. "I guess he did go from the bed to the couch, that's what the kids told me. Our oldest had already left for school, so Janelle called a friend to get a ride to school because her dad wasn't getting up."
It so happened that the friend's mom is Sharon Badinovac, a registered nurse. Her daughter had already left for school and that sent up the red flags. Badinovac called the ambulance and Jim Agren was rushed to Mercy Hospital.
A family friend, Dr. Bill Grace, met the ambulance and took control of Agren while Jane was at a conference in Grand Rapids. Jane Agren, a librarian at Mackinaw Trail Middle School, waited in Grand Rapids for her husband to arrive.Was he taken to GR?
Tests were run on Agren to find out what was going on while they waited for a bed to open up at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. After eight hours and nothing opening up, the decision was made for Agren to go to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids.
Jim was in a coma through the whole thing, with everyone questioning what was going on.
The diagnosis took some time, but it has come back as viral encephalitis, a swelling of the brain. At the start, tests were done for a stroke and spinal meningitis, among other things.
"It's pretty vague Љ it's like you've got a cold," Jane Agren said. "It just kind of hits you. Something attacked Jim differently than other people."
Jim Agren spent three weeks in a coma at St. Mary's. He went from having oxygen to having a tracheotomy to help him breathe to having feeding tubes running in and out.
The first breakthrough for the Agrens came around Easter.
"Right before Easter, his eyes opened for the first time, but it wasn't just like a wakeup thing," Jane Agren said. "Then he slipped back into the coma. Then on Easter, or the day after, he woke up again and when he did, the only thing he could move were his eyes."
From St. Mary's, Jim was moved to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon for continued care and to rebuild his strength. It was there the first breakthrough movements came.
"He didn't move a finger until Hackley," Jane Agren said. "We were ecstatic because a finger had moved Љ that was in mid-April. He didn't eat on his own until mid-May. He's had to relearn everything."
On Mother's Day of 2002, Jim signed his name to a card for his mom for the first time, another breakthrough.
Signing a name to a card might sound trivial to most, but for the Agrens, everything has been a blessing.
"The bottom line is that Jim's not supposed to be alive Љ the neurologist said that," Jane said. "They can't believe he's alive. The hospital he was at said they have one miracle every year and they hadn't had one yet, so Jim must be the miracle."
The rehab picks up
At the end of May, Jim was sent to Mary Free Bed in Muskegon for the next step in the rehabilitation process.
From the end of May, through June and July and into August, he was there, going through physical and mental rehabilitation.
"At Mary Free Bed, they have a brain-injury side and a spinal-cord injury side," Jane said. "Jim was on the spinal-cord injury side. From that point on, the doctor said everything from here on in is gravy. We just want more gravy now."
The brain injury side is for psychiatric patients, while the spinal-cord injury side contains people who are working toward physical rehabilitation.
In August, Jim finally came home for good, yet his rehab continues three days a week at Cadillac Mercy Hospital.
"It felt good to come home," Jim said.
His sessions include speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
"They give me stuff to figure out like a sea lion and a whale," Jim said. "I name two ways they are different. I lift weights every day and I can transfer myself now as I get stronger. I've just got to keep working."
The therapy also includes a lot of cognitive sessions and work on Jim's memory. He keeps a diary now of what he does every day to work on short-term memory.
When it comes to long-term memory, there are gaps.
"His memory is hit and miss," Jane said. "If it has anything to do with sports, it's a hit, but with other things Љ he doesn't have a clue."
Agren vividly remembers playing football in his senior year of high school at Johannesburg-Lewiston.
"We were 9-0 and we played Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart and (Cadillac basketball coach) Jeff McDonald was the quarterback and we beat him 12-6," he said.
Jim has made strides when it comes to his memory and he's made strides when it comes to controlling the emotions.
Brain-injury patients seem to be very emotional and cry a lot, Jane said.
"It's very normal for someone who has had a brain injury to be emotional," Jane said. "Jim has gotten a lot better, but he still has a ways to go."
Jim knows he cries and carries his Kleenex with him, but it's his goal to keep working.
"I think if I can get away from the emotions, I can be a great inspiration for kids," he said. "I can show them that when times get tough, it takes a lot of hard work on your part and it's important to gain a lot of great family and friends so you'll have a lot of support if they get into a situation like mine."
The next step in the physical rehabilitation process is what the community has been talking about with posters up all over town.
Community involvement
On Saturday, a benefit basketball game will be held at Cadillac High School to help purchase a "Lite-Gait" machine and an FES Bicycle in conjunction with Mercy Rehab Services.
The Lite-Gait is a partial-weight supported walking unit used in conjunction with a treadmill. The device supports the weight of the patient as therapists work with their legs. An FES Bicycle is a computer-controlled electrical stimulation bicycle unit that sends low-level electrical impulses to the leg muscles, causing coordinated contractions and the pedaling motion.
Combined, the two items will cost nearly $20,000 - the goal of the fund-raiser.
Jim has been involved in some of the same therapies that Christopher Reeve, a quadriplegic, has been using.
The main one falls under neuroplasticity and it involves the brain reteaching the body how to walk by finding ways to get lost signals back to the spinal cord.
"When there is damage to the spinal cord, the brain sends messages, but they get lost somewhere (in the nervous system)," Jane said. "(Therapists) have Jim push his foot against their hand and have him try to visualize that movement. That's what the Lite-Gait is all about. It holds him up while the therapist works on his legs and he visualizes the movement. The hope is that the message can get rerouted another way to the spinal cord. We haven't plateaued yet. Our goal is to get his head talking to his legs again."
A couple of months ago, another one of those breakthroughs happened.
"They can feel a slight trace of muscle movement in his legs," Jane Agren said. "We've gotten this far, let's go further."
The Lite-Gait and FES Bicycle will be donated to Mercy Rehab Services in the name of Jim Agren for all to use. Jane Agren said the devices would be one of the few in the state of Michigan and can benefit orthopedic and stroke patients.
Saturday's event, called "Playing for Jim" will begin at 7 p.m. with several components. The first game - with a 30-minute running clock - will feature the junior high and high school staff, coached by Jim Agren, playing the kindergarten through seventh-grade staff, coached by Jane Agren.
After that game, an auction will be held and kids' drawings will take place. What kind of game?
The second part is a 40-minute game that involves alumni vs. alumni is separate 10-minute sessions with girls vs. girls and boys vs. boys.
All proceeds from the game and auctions will go to the Jim Agren Fund.
John Horrigan, Cadillac High School's athletic director and one of the event's coordinators with Bill Rzepka, said it has two purposes.
"The game is a fund-raiser and we've gotten a lot of donations, too," Horrigan said. "The second part is for the students and the community to show support for Jim and his family as they go through this. Jim has taught and coached here for many years and put in a lot of time after school to help people. He is a very popular coach and teacher and this is an opportunity to give back to Jim."
The Agrens are very appreciative of all that has gone on through the last 14 months as Jim recovers from the illness.
"I'm proud of all the work that has gone into this fund-raising," he said. "It's not only for me, but for all the people at rehabilitation that may benefit from it. I sure hope we prevail (in the game) and I hope a lot of students come out and root for their favorite teachers."
Through all of the last 14 months, Jim and Jane's friends and family have been there. The Agren's three daughters - Kristen, 13; Janelle, 10; and Katelyn, 7 - lived with their grandparents while Jim was in the hospital.
Last fall, the Cadillac football team put smiley stickers on the back of their helmets as a tribute to "Grinny" and he's been in the prayers of the community the whole time.
"Friends and family have been unbelievable Љ this community has been unbelievable," Jane Agren said.
The future
Jim has his goals and they are what he works toward all the time.
The first is to take driver's education this summer and get back to driving with hand controls.
The second is what his heart is set on and that's to return to teaching.
Agren is a computer-aided design and mechanical drawing teacher.
He's spending two days a week in the classroom now working toward that goal.
"I've been coming to school two days a week and I talk to the kids (Friday)," Jim said. "Last Wednesday, I was talking to a kid who is at the Wexford Career Technical Center now helping other kids out. He complimented me on helping him. That felt good. I believe I am getting very prepared to teach Computer Aided Design to 10th through 12th grades and Mechanical Drawing to ninth graders."
As far as getting out of the wheelchair and walking again, that would be a breakthrough to truly cry - for joy - over.
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2003/05/14/news/news02.txt