Never give up hope (10)

'Miracles' do happen.

Man wakes after 19 years in coma to find radically altered Poland
Sun Jun 3, 3:42 PM



WARSAW, Poland (AP) - A railway worker who emerged from a 19-year coma woke to a radically altered Poland and is learning to adapt to his new life, Polish media reported.


"I wake up at 7 a.m. and I watch TV," Jan Grzebski, 65, told TVN24 Television over the weekend, smiling slightly as he lay in bed at his home in the northern city of Dzialdowo.


"I could not talk or do anything, now it's much better," he said in a weak but clear voice, some two months emerging from his coma.


Wojciech Pstragowski, a rehabilitation specialist, said Grzebski was shocked at the changes in Poland's economy - especially its stores: "He remembered shelves filled with mustard and vinegar only" under communism.


Poland shed communism in 1989 and has developed democracy and a market economy.


In 1988, Grzebski fell into a coma after he was injured attaching two train carriages. Doctors also found cancer in his brain and said he would not live, according to the local daily Gazeta Dzialdowska.


When doctors could do no more, Grzebski's wife Gertruda took him home and cared for him, Gazeta said.


"I would fly into a rage every time someone would say that people like him should be euthanized, so they don't suffer," she told Gazeta. "I believed Janek would recover," she said, using an affectionate version of his name.


Last year, she noticed that he was trying to speak, Gazeta said. He returned to the hospital and came out of the coma some two months ago.


"At the start, his speech was very unclear, now it is improving daily," Pstragowski said. "If he continues to make such progress, he will soon be able to walk."


"I am sure that without the dedication of his wife, the patient would not have reached us in the (good) shape that he did," Pstragowski said.

Morning Curly,
Great story! I'm weeping, such dedication to a partner should be cheered!

Morning Muse

At least it shows some people can stick it out and makes u wonder about other coma patients.

Wow that is inspirational.

I myself was in a coma...not that duration...But two months of my life a few years back...then rehab..cost me a year...
So i have witnessed miracles too. Do i believe in God oh ya.

Glad to see you made it back.

I have observed similar, less dramatic moments in my professional career..even patients with advanced dementia I think can process in someway how they are spoken to or treated......that is why I think we should never ever speak OVER someone ...thanks for posting this sweetie!!!! LOVE this!!!!!

Curly, touching everyones heart today!

Hockey 'Pucks' rule!
They are the real tough guys, always coming back into play...
Happy u came back!
especially for the "play-offs" LOL - C U tonite?

The true living Angels of today are the people in the medical fields...especially Nurses ! C Y Later tonite Jayne?

A different kind of miracle.....something we don't often see today:

Maine couple to celebrate 80th wedding anniversary at nursing home

LUBEC, Maine (AP) - Kathleen Tarbell "fell head over my stomach" for her husband Waldo when they met at a dance. They married in 1927, during Calvin Coolidge's presidency. This weekend, they'll celebrate their 80th anniversary.
Waldo is 101 and Kathleen will turn 100 in June. The anniversary party will be Saturday afternoon at Oceanview Nursing Home, where the couple shares a large room.
Maine's Office of Vital Records could not immediately determine if the Tarbells' marriage is the longest in the state. The 2007 Guinness Book of World Records lists a Rhode Island couple wed for 83 years as having the longest marriage among living people.
Kathleen, a native of Pembroke, moved to Waldo's hometown of Meddybemps after they married. Two years later, they moved to Pembroke, where their two children, Helen Brown and Elliot Tarbell, were born.
Waldo and Kathleen lived in their home in Pembroke until a few weeks ago.
"I had to go to the hospital to have some X-rays taken. My back was killing me," Kathleen told the Bangor Daily News. After she was hospitalized, Waldo was moved to the nursing home and she later joined him.
For 37 years, Waldo worked for Maine Central Railroad, at a starting wage of 37 cents an hour. After their children were raised, Kathleen worked for 32 years as a "herring choker and wrapper" at sardine factories.
Sometimes it'd be 10 o'clock at night before we'd get done. We'd go into work at eight in the morning. By the time we got home and got turned over in bed it was time to get up again," she recalled.
Kathleen has been a Democrat her entire adult life. Waldo, originally a Republican, turned Democrat. "She converted me," he said.
They remain up to speed on current events. Kathleen reads the newspaper every day, and she thinks the war in Iraq is "scandalous."
"Somebody ought to take Bush and wring his neck, and I might be the one to do it," she said with a sparkle in her eye.

I always really like hearing stories about couples like that. But coming home smelling like a sardine every night? There's true love.