Daryl, Barbara and Rodney at one of the many churches where he spoke and gave his personal testimony about how Christ helped him recover from a traumatic brain injury.
Upon his arrival at Sioux Valley Hospital, Rod was already intubated and a machine was breathing for him. He had suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma. “He looked like he could wake up and start talking to you. He didn’t have any broken bones, he didn’t have any internal injuries, he just had a little scrape on his finger,” said Rod’s mother, Barbara.
When it’s your livelihood that counts … count on me.
“I spent 34 days in the ICU where I went code blue three times,” Rod said. On the evening of day 31 in the ICU, there were about 70 members of Hammerstrom’s rodeo family at the hospital to provide moral support to Rod’s parents and family. “In the waiting room, they all stood in circles, and, going from the outside to the inside back to the outside, they all said oneline prayers for Rod’s healing,” Daryl said. “That was on a Friday night. On Saturday morning, he started coming to.” He was a little more conscious on Sunday and, by Monday, they were moving him to the rehabilitation floor. Barbara said, “He didn’t all of sudden wake up and everything was fine. The pathways sending messages from the brain to the rest of his body needed a lengthy healing time.” When he first started therapy he wasn’t able to communicate any wants or needs, still had a trach in, couldn’t eat anything orally, and was very agitated. The first two weeks were tough and progress was slow. He had to work on just sitting up. He had to re-learn how to open his eyes and focus, move his mouth and move his tongue. Then he had to learn to walk again.
Mark Kasten, Agent 180 N Main Ave 180 N Main Ave. Parker, SD 57053 Parker, SD 57053 Bus: 605-297-4747 Bus: 605-297-4747 mark@markkasten.com 368 N Main St. Freeman, SD 57029 Bus: 605-925-7353 mark@markkasten.com
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November 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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