New video

A new video is in of Matt and Nora:

Nora and Matt Honson in Hong Kong Baptist Hospital - More bloopers are a click away

Matt on the news

From what we have heard, Matt seems to be doing quite well these days.  The other day he left the ICU and has actually gotten up and walked a bit!! The Dr's are absolutely amazed at his progress.  He has had a fever which means he is fighting an infection which he is on antibiotics for, so please continue to pray for his healing!  

It looks like the Honson's will have to pay ALL of the medical bills up front BEFORE Hong Kong will allow him to leave the country!  The plan was for him to leave in the next week and half and travel back to MN for the rest of his recovery.  With the financial burden, this will be difficult.  If you feel so led, please help contribute to the overwhelming medical bills the Honsons now face!

You can donate here:

http://supportthehonsons.chipin.com/matt-honson-general-fund-alpine-bank-rockford-il

Matt's story was on the news in the Twin Cities, MN on two different stations the other night.  Pretty amazing! Here are the links to the videos:

Kare 11

WCCO

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for the Honsons! Please, keep it up!

Matt Honson Video and Update

Hello, friends and family!
I've uploaded a video of Matt and his dad at Hong Kong Baptist Hospital below. We're so thankful that his surgery went well. As Matt says in the video, his recovery from such an injury really does defy the odds, especially considering where he was when it occurred, and gives us reason to thank God for his mercy! Please keep Matt's recovery in your prayers. From what we've heard only recently he has likely lost all vision in his right eye, which will be a difficult adjustment to say the least. However, in all other aspects his recovery continues to go well, which in itself is miraculous.



Below is a picture of Matt pre-accident:

We are also so thankful that my uncle's (Scott Torgerson's) surgery went well yesterday! God is good! We are doing well these days. I had a snow day yesterday and another one today, so I'm very much a happy camper! Teaching has been so fun this year - I really do enjoy teaching history and also really love the students that I'm teaching. Kim is doing well also, and is truly a wonderful mother, doing a really good job of balancing being a part-time nurse and a mom. Ellie is also doing well, despite her current cold (from day-care, of course). The main theme of her development lately is imitation as she tries to mimic what we say. Granted she doesn't imitate too precisely considering she's 14 months, but I'm still trying my very best to be careful with my word choices! We've also been building a lot of forts in the living room lately. That might be more of a me thing than an Ellie thing, as for some reason I feel like building forts every winter. I also eat a lot more, too, which probably isn't too uncommon I guess. It must be some kind of an underlying natural instinct. Either that or I'm part bear. Regardless, we have been constructing awesome (according to me, not Kim) forts to explore together. I say (in retrospect only) that it's good for Ellie's spatial reasoning and awareness of what's above her. Happy snow day, everyone!

Matt Honson update

For those of you who have been following our friend Matt's story and have been praying with us, here is an update from his Aunt:

Hi Everyone. I am Matt's Aunt.
Praise the Lord and Thank you for All your prayers.

Matt is out of surgery and Dr. Kan has met with Nora, Tanner, Jeff and Ann. The surgery seems like it was 11 hours, but Jeff said there was a lot of preparation time in there, and he thinks maybe 8+ hours.

Matt's neck is fixed. Matt will wear a neck brace for awhile until that is healed. 

Matt sustained a severe injury above the right eye that they had to reconstruct. The skull was broken in 3 pieces. They have removed part of the bone to let the brain breathe. 
They will have a plate or that part of skull put back in after 4-6 months. Matt should be fine with no damage to the brain. He has a great chance of full function in every way. 

Dr. Kan emphasized to them that with everything Matt has gone through - everything turned out to be the best case scenario. Nothing major was damaged that they could not fix. This has been an absolute miracle based on the impact Matt endured.

Matt and family will stay in hospital for at least 2 weeks before they can return to MN, where they will stay with Nora's parents. 

Please pray about Matt's continued strength and health. Pray about his health insurance and financial needs. 

Pray for Nora, Matt and his family emotionally. 

As I mentioned previously, we have set up a fund for expenses for Matthew and we are working on other fund raising ideas for the family and their expenses. I will update as we have things established better. 

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers and faith.

Love,

Lynnea and the Honson and Mattson Families

Please Keep Matt Honson in Your Prayers

Hello!  This is Joey.  As you know, my very dear friend, Matt Honson, has broken his neck, fractured his skull, and broken a bone in his face.  As I type this (it is 8:30pm CT) Matt is undergoing surgery at Baptist Hospital in Hong Kong to place a pin in his axis vertebra (C2).  This is a very tricky surgery.  If all goes well, they will also operate on his compound skull fracture and possibly his cheek bone.  In addition to the surgery, please pray that Matt's wounds do not become infected and cause swelling in his brain.  He is prophylactically on antibiotics; please pray that these are effective.  Matt's parents are now in Hong Kong and were able to speak with a cognizant Matt upon their arrival and prior to the surgery.  Praise God that Matt was flown to Hong Kong where Mom and Dad have been able to help them with food, housing, transportation, communication, and by simply being Jesus' hands and feet.  I'm so thankful for the willing support that Mom and Dad have shown the Honsons.

This is a news broadcast from a Rockford station.

Here is a site at which you can donate if you are so led.

Update on our friend

Matt, Nora (wife) and Tanner (friend) made it to Hong Kong this morning (midnight Friday night Hong Kong time).  Matt got a CT scan as soon as he got there.  We just got a letter update so I'll post it here.  PLEASE keep praying! God has definitely been watching out for them and providing for them which we are so thankful for!

1-23-09

11:42 a.m.

Dear Family and Friends:

We just spoke with our family in Hong Kong.  Matt is at the Baptist Hospital.  He arrived this morning, which was Friday night in Hong Kong.  Nora and Tanner were airlifted with him.  John Taylor (friend from Temple Baptist and was in Jeff’s youth group) and his wife, who is a nurse, are also there with them.  Matt’s roommate from Bethel, Joey Torgerson’s father, Steve, is also there with them.  Steve has arranged all logistics for Nora, Tanner, Jeff and Ann.  

Medical Update:

The broken neck is a major concern.  The vertebrate where the break is broken is at the base and has to heal and be stabilized.  The biggest concern here is it could pinch the spinal cord which could lead to paralysis.  They are creating a special cast to start the stabilization, and specialist will do that Saturday.  It is 2 a.m. there Saturday now.  The 2^nd major problem is with the head injury.  They are hoping to hold off infection which could appear in the next 2 days.  They are beginning antibiotic and other medications to reduce the brain swelling.  They cannot operate because they cannot risk moving Matt.  

The nurses said for everyone to pray that the medication for infection and swelling will take hold and that they can stabilize the broken bone in the neck.  We will know a lot more in 2 days.  Jeff and Ann arrive tomorrow morning (which is Saturday night in Hong Kong).

Matt:

Matt is awake and talks and responds.  He does not remember much and forgets things quickly.  We all love Matt and Nora – please get the prayer chains going.  

Thank you; we love you all,

The Honson and Mattson Family

Please pray!

A Good friend of ours, Matt Honson (Joey's roommate in college and a groomsman in our wedding) has been living in China since Sept '08 and was recently hiking and fell 20 ft. onto his head.  He broke his neck and cracked his skull.  He is stable now and able to move his extremeties.  He's awake but disoriented.  His wife and a friend have been at his bedside and unable to rest since this happened (a couple of days ago) because they need to make sure he doesn't move or touch his head.  They are currently at a small hospital in China waiting to obtain needed funds to airlift Matt to a bigger hospital in Hong Kong.  Joey's parents have been in contact with them and will be there to help them while they are in Hong Kong.  

Please pray for Matt and his wife Nora (as well as his friend Tanner who is also with them).  It is critical that Matt doesn't move his head! This transport is necessary but dangerous.  Please pray that they will receive the needed funds and that the transport will go smoothly.  Also pray for strength for Nora and Tanner who have not slept and are probably dealing with so many emotions and a language barrier on top of it.

Thank-you!

Two Big Things...

Ok so there are two major milestones Ellie has been walking through in the last few weeks that I have failed to mention (ok I think I mentioned them both in one way or another but they're more official now so it's time to announce):

1. Ellie is no longer nursing AT ALL! She had her last nursing session on Friday, Jan 9 and she was quite uninterested, wanting the milk to come faster like her juice comes from a sippy cup. I decided that was it, she no longer needs my milk for nutritional value, or emotional value and so...we're done.  It is with mixed emotions that I say goodbye to nursing my first child.  I do feel a little more free and now Joey can put Ellie to bed before I get home from work with a little less hostility from me. :) So everyone wins. Now if I could just get Ellie to drink Cow's milk....

2. Ellie has a third tooth! It is on the top row, the middle left one to be exact! :) The middle right one is coming soon.  She was a little crabby with this one coming in but we were on vacation at the same time, so I'm not sure if the crabbiness was just that or combined with lack of sleep. Here's the best picture I have of it. You can see it if you zoom in. :)

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I'm a little late on this post, but I've been a little distracted these days.  I've been reading the "Twilight Saga" and for some reason, I can't put it down! It's silly, I know.  But it's so interesting! I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I do think those are better, but I am still really into these books.  I'm on the last one, so don't tell me what happens! Ok anyway...

We spent New Years with Joey's parents this year! It was so wonderful to have them here! We did a lot of lounging around, it was so nice. 

I was also really glad they were able to see Ellie again and hang out with her as she is changing so much, so fast.  Ellie is now walking like crazy and has a third tooth!  She babbles all the time and sometimes sneaks in an actual word (Hi, done, shoe). :)  She's lots of fun! 

We went to a Vietnamese restaurant on New Years Day called Pho Long.  They specialize in Pho ("Fuh"), which is beef noodle soup! YUMM! (Don't know if you can tell but Joey, Ellie and I are wearing our Cambridge attire-we love it!)

We also had a really nice dinner at our favorite restaurant on The Hill called Favazza's.  Again, very yummy!!

Thank-you Torgersons for coming to visit us! We do hope you can come again soon, Ellie misses you guys! :)

Dominican Republic

We spent this Christmas in the Dominican Republic at an all-inclusive resort!  It was Ellie's first experience out of the country; yes, she even has her own passport! :)  I was a little worried about how Ellie would do on a 4 hour plane ride on our laps, but all for no reason.  Ellie did awesome thanks mostly to the fact that Joey and I had an open seat between us.  I was also very pleased that Ellie took a 45 minute nap on Joey's lap on the plane ride down. 

 After her nap she was pleasantly awake and enjoyed playing with her bear, eating from her snack trap and walking down the aisle of the plane a few times. :)

When we got there we were greeted by my entire family of brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents and 80 degree weather! It was late when we arrived, so we ate dinner and walked around a bit and retired to our rooms.  

The rooms were divided into little villas with a really pretty courtyard in the middle.  In this picture Ellie and I are standing just outside the door of our room.  The villas were colorful and each courtyard had lots of flowers and some had fountains. A very pretty view!

We ate lots and lots! This was the buffet where we ate most of our meals.  There were several restaurants that were included in the package, so we tried out some Italian, Mexican and Dominican food. YUMMY! :)

The resort had two huge pools plus access to the beach where there was sand volleyball! We definitely played a lot of sand v-ball and picked up some pretty bad habits, but it was worth it! :)

Ellie swam a little but the pool was actually quite cold, so we didn't spend too much time in the pool.

There was this awesome coffee shop at the resort where we could get all the caramal mocha frozens (or other coffee of choice) we wanted! It was awesome! :)

There were also all the treats you wanted as well!

And though I (Kim) only stepped foot in there once, there was a casino.  I spent the few coins I had acquired (thanks Matt) on this machine and won four bets and then immediately lost that and every coin I had, all in about five minutes!

Our trip was amazing to say the least! It was nice to get a break from the cold weather and lounge in the sun for a week.  Although we didn't get to see much of the Island at all, we still enjoyed the opportunity to relax in the sun!!

The plane ride home was as equally pleasant as the ride there and Ellie actually slept three out of the four hours.  Ellie even gave us a nice present that we discovered on the plane's descent into St. Louis, diarrhea!! Yay for traveling to other countries!