Help Pranav!

Word from Pranav

Dear Friends and Family,

Namaste and Hello,

This is Pranav writing to you from Kansas City, KS. It has already been a while since I was sick, and the joy of being able to make it through this deadly infection runs in my heart everyday.

It was very confusing for me during the 35 days of sleep, what actually was going on. The day I woke up, April 7, 2006, everything was crystal clear to me. I don't remember anything when I went to the hospital or even what happened to me. I was in my own dream world during that time. I felt like that I went somewhere and I was lost and I wasn't able to come back from there. I was then just wandering about in that mere dreamland and suddenly I started hearing voices from my loved ones and the people closest to me. It would really confuse me and each time they called to me I would see them in my dream. At that time I was in the ICU of Overland Park Regional Hospital; doctors, nurses, and people would come to visit me and I could hear them talking and praying. I would hear my parents and my Uncle talking to me and I would wander where I was, what's really going on. Obviously I was in my sleep and the subconscious mind didn't have logic, therefore, I would see everybody in my dream. Sometimes I tried to move in my sleep and I wouldn't be able to do so, due to the paralytic medicine, and I would feel myself trapped in my dream world and I would be more confused what was going on.

This happened throughout the 35 days of my sleep and the day I woke up I saw my family members in front of my eyes which made me shed into tears. It was a very joyous moment for me but still I wasn't able to talk due to the tracheotomy done to feed my lungs with the oxygen with the ventilator. I was then briefed by the nurses what had happened to me and I was really happy that I had made it and that my family and friends were beside me. My living in the ICU continued for five months. I wasn't able to talk, therefore, I had to use like a sign language to communicate with everybody. The hardest thing in the ICU was not being able to drink water through mouth. I used to think, just let me get better and I would drink gallons and gallons of water. I had a feeding tube in my stomach so all the food, medicine, and, water went through that tube. My body was very weak due to the infection and to regain my strength and mobility I had to exercise with the help of occupational and physical therapist. This how I spent my five months in the ICU, until August 4, 2006.

After that my ventilator was taken out and I went to the general patient room and I spent one of my life's memorable days there. It was on my birthday when all the Therapists and Nurses in the ICU and even the busy doctors and my family and friends celebrated that day. There I also had my first normal meal, with the aid of speech therapists, after a long time.

I went to Mid America Rehabilitation Hospital on August 11th. There I spent the next four months exercising and bringing my strength back. It is just like the saying 'Use it or lose it'. I had to learn how to breathe, speak, walk, talk, and eat since I hadn't used it for a long time. I would even forget to breathe in the ICU and when the respirator pushed air in my lungs, I would suddenly be conscious about it and start breathing. I really had to learn a lot of things in the rehab hospital. Regaining mobility after five months of sleep was obviously challenging. Sleeping in the ICU was easy but the real hard work started when I started moving.

With the help of doctors, nurses, therapists, and many other people I am now able to walk with a walker. I have regained most of my mobility except for my hips which has HO (heterotopic ossification). HO occurs due to neurological lesions and conditions of prolonged functional immobilization. Bones have formed around my hip joints which have limited my range of motion, therefore, I can walk with the walker but climbing the stairs is a challenge to me. With the help of orthopedic doctors and more therapy I will be walking normally by next year. I am going for a hip surgery after couple of months, which the doctors believe will give me more mobility.

This is the summary of my story friends and family. I know that lot of people who helped and prayed for me didn't even know me and yet they did it. I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. There are also people who know me who has prayed and helped me. I would also like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Friends and family in Nepal, I would also like to thank you for your help and prayers. I would also like to thank friends in Wichita and Kansas City who has done a lot for me and my family. I would also like to thank the Social workers, doctors, nurses, therapists, and everybody who was there for me in the Overland Park and Mid America hospitals for their wonderful work to keep me alive and mobile. Namely I would like to thank Jay Ji and Sav dai, A.K.A. Bijulee, for creating this website and keeping it alive; and I would also like to thank Darla Matney for taking care of the finances in the hospital. I would also like to thank the affiliate websites for their help.

I would also like to thank the Spin Pizza restaurant family for their love and support. I would also like to thank the families in Kansas City for making our life manageable. I would also like to thank the Sai Ashram and Olathe prayer group for your prayer and support. I would also like to thank my parents and my uncle for being there for me when I need them the most. I would like to thank the people who took me to the hospital and staying beside me when there was nobody available. I would like to thank the friends who prayed for me in the ICU and gave me a lot of strength. There are lots of people I would like to thank and if I have missed, please consider this as a thank you from me and my family.

Overall, I would like to thank the Almighty God for listening to the prayers of everybody and creating a miracle and giving me a new life. I can't be more thankful to the Lord than that. This is something the Lord has done for me that I cannot just thank with my words. He has given me an inspiration to help more and more people and I am all ready for that.

Thank you

Pranav

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Health Updates (August 6^th, 2006)

Pranav is now released from the ICU.
Pranav is off the ventilator.
Pranav can speak now.

hear Pranav talk

PRANAV'S BIRTHDAY IS AUGUST 9th.
If you want to send a card or gift for Pranav please mail it to:

PRANAV DHAKAL
10514 Garnett St.
Apt# 21
Overland Park, KS 66214

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Videos from 27th May, 2006

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Pranav	Pranav	Pranav	Pranav	Pranav & Sarita

Pranav & Group	Pranav & Group	Pranav, Sarita & Aunti	Group	Group

These are the pictures from May 16th, 2006. This is what Pranav looks like now after going through two and half months of treatment. He is doing unimaginably better compared to his condition even a month ago. The doctors are calling his improvement a miracle. He breathes about 8 hours a day on his own, he sits up on his bed (for about 10 minutes with support) and he faintly smiles occasionally. He communicates with lip movements and has retrieved limited movement of his arms. This miracle is credited to the thousands around the globe who prayed for Pranav, the hundreds of donors who showed their un-altruistic support for Pranav, his family and friends who never left his bedside and most importantly to the doctors and nurses who provided unrelenting EXCELLENT care for Pranav. The hospital, doctors, nurses, social worker and even the visitors have treated Pranav and his family like their own and never for a moment have they felt uninformed, uncared, or deprived of any of their needs inside or outside of the hospital. The doctors, nurses, social worker and Pranav's friends, including those at SPiN Pizza, have gone out of their way to ensure comfort for Pranav's family. The International Student Advisors at Park University have also been alongside with Pranav and his family through out this entire ordeal.
We are extremely impressed by the quality of service offered at Overland Park Regional Hospital. We are even more impressed by the dedication of the staff members who go beyond what is required of them. Two and half months ago we surrendered our hopes at Overland Park Regional Hospital; in return they have given us a miracle. This hospital is always going to remind me of a place that flowers hopes into miracles.

On behalf of Pranav and his family, we thank everyone for their prayers and support. This indeed is an exemplary episode where an entire community has come together with such dedication to help an individual in need. We will never forget it, and neither will Pranav.

May 17th, 2006.
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This is the right time to revamp our fundraising efforts. We have received funds from only 29 states and from 281 individuals. But I am NOT ready to believe that there are ONLY 281 big-hearted individuals wanting to help Pranav. Pranav's condition warrants a unified support from every Nepali here and elsewhere. It warrants sprouting a sense of responsibility in EVERY ONE of us to help someone who has always believed in altruistically helping those in need. Pranav is putting up a fight against this infection and it is my belief that he is going to come out a winner. But I do not believe that we are going to let him fight alone. We are going to help him in every possible way we can and we are not going to let a friend down, we are not going to let a fellow Nepali in need down. So here is how you can help:

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Pranav Dhakal (student from Kansas, USA) is our wonderful friend and it is on his behalf we are making this appeal. It is unfortunate that we could not introduce a person so cheerful, optimistic and compassionate in a better circumstance.

Throughout these many years of friendship he has endlessly won our hearts with his witty "shayaris", empathetic spirit, and has personally impressed me with his enduring optimism. His motivation to help fellow Nepalese is unequaled. There are many of us whose memories with Pranav began at the airport, where he volunteered to pick up new Nepali students with that big smile on his face.

On March 4th, Pranav was admitted to Overland Park Regional Medical Center in Kansas City to get treated for a sudden and rare case of cavernous sinus thrombosis. He went into septic shock soon after admittance and then later into coma. He recently came out of coma but is quadriplegic (paralytic from neck down). His internal organs have suffered extensive damage, especially his lungs and his heart and his neurological status is still unknown.

We feel helpless to see a person as enthusiastic and as motivated as Pranav lying on the hospital bed fighting for his life. This is an appeal on his behalf to pray for him and for his family during this difficult time. This is also an appeal to you and your organization to donate whatever amount you can to help him cover the medical expenses (post ICU recovery costs) but more importantly to keep his family members by his bedside to care for him.

We thank you in advance for all your prayers and support.
You can send your prayers and notes to Pranav and his family by writing to: help_pranav@yahoo.com