Dieter Zander Update

Thank you to the people of BayMarin for leading the Zander
Initiative.  Thank you to all of you who contributed.  We are amazed
at the creativity, friendship, kindness, and generosity you have
shown us.  Knowing what our financial future looks like helps us plan
Dieter’s therapy and when we each might return to work, whatever that
may be.

Dieter’s progress continues, but at a slow rate.  He structures his
day around physical exercise, vocal exercises, practicing words and
phrases, challenging his right hand to do more, attempting to stay in
touch with people, seeing his rehab therapists, and more enjoyable
activities like photography.  This is slow, small-scale, repetitive
work, which we hope will yield good results in the future.

We will be away on vacation until after the 4th of July.  When we
return, we will continue to use this blog as a way of communicating
with you and hearing from you.  I won’t post as frequently as in the
past, because changes are small and come week-by-week, rather than
daily.  Thank you to so many of you who continue to pray for our family.

Dear Friends,

I am excited to announce that as of today we have met and exceeded our goal of providing support for the Zanders for both 2008 and 2009!  For all those who have and continue to support the Zanders, on behalf of the Zander family and myself, I want to express a heartfelt “Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you!!”  What an amazing expression of the Body of Christ we have seen over the past few months.  From the expressions of care and concern for Dieter immediately following his stroke exemplified by the hundreds who gathered to pray for him, to the dozens of meals provided by friends and supporters, to the thousands of people who have visited the websites and left messages, given gifts, and have continued to express concern for Dieter, to the amazing night that culminated our campaign at the Zander Arts Event.  All we can say is “Wow!” and “Praise God!!”

Please continue to pray for Dieter as he continues to recover.  This is still a long and challenging road and he will continue to need our support and encouragement.  The website will continue to run so that you can receive updates (although they may be less often) and can leave messages of encouragement for Dieter, Valerie and the boys.  If you have made financial commitments, we will continue to accept donations either by mail or through the website (online until September 1).  Again, I want to express our thanks to all of you who have prayed, given, encouraged, and made this portion of the journey for the Zanders easier to travel because, they didn’t do it alone!

Serving Christ together,

Eric

Eric Nyberg

Director of Outreach

BayMarin Community Church

Dear Friends of the Zanders,

We’re just over halfway through the Zander Initiative campaign! Thank you for your faithful support of the Zander family. God is definitely at work and His Faithfulness is evident in what we’ve seen this week! As of today we have raised about 50% of our goal to help support the Zanders for both 2008 and 2009. Our desire is to keep the family whole, covering both Dieter and Valerie’s salary and benefits, so that they can focus their energies on helping Dieter get better. We realize that this is an uphill climb and with your help we can help make it easier for them. Please also continue to pray and ask God to bring full recovery for Dieter!

Blessings,
Eric Nyberg
Director of Outreach
BayMarin Community Church

For additional information on the campaign, visit the Zander Initiative campaign website (dieterzander.wordpress.com).

Dieter asked that this photo from May 7 be posted; I would never allow a photo of myself in the blue hat to be out in public! On May 7, doctors removed a filter that had been placed in Dieter’s abdomen as protection against the blood clot he used to have in his leg. Since the clot is gone, the filter had become unnecessary. We have been lobbying for over a month to have it removed, and last week we got 24 hours’ notice of a chance to have it come out. Everything went well, and we are so glad to have one item crossed off the list.

A new item on the list of medical questions that need attention is the chance for Dieter to participate in a clinical trial of a device that would move his right wrist and fingers while vibrating the muscles. The idea is that the combination of assisted movement and vibration will help the brain to re-engage with the hand. Dieter has decided to go ahead with participation in this trial, which will last about 2 months. He’ll go to San Francisco 2 or 3 times a week for the treatments.

Finally, we aren’t seeking any more opinions on whether to put a stent in Dieter’s carotid artery or not. It’s clear that, no matter how many doctors we ask, they are going to divide 50% for and 50% against, and, in the end, the decision is Dieter’s. This week and next, Dieter will have some tests to measure blood flow and oxygen delivery in his brain, and we are hoping the results of those tests will bring clarity to this decision.

Thank you for hanging in there with us. Val

From April 19th. Dieter running the slopes of Mount Burdell near his home in Novato, CA.

Well, we just don’t have a clear way forward with this stenting procedure.  In the effort to find the most experienced doctor to do the procedure, we have received additional opinions urging us to wait.  The hope with waiting is that the artery lining might heal on its own.  This is not wishful thinking, but the standard protocol for many carotid dissections.  At the same time, about half of the doctors we’ve consulted advise placing the stent.

So we still need clarity and wisdom to make the best decision.  I’m not sure why this one is so hard.

Dieter has developed pain in his right shoulder and needs to go back to a physical therapist for help, rather than relying on home exercises.  I get anxious about problems like this, because I feel too much responsibility was left on us at home.  Please pray for us to get good help in solving this problem.

Many of you, like us, have been waiting for news about the procedure to place another stent in Dieter’s artery. I thought we would have all the opinions a week and a half ago, but different doctors have been on vacation or out sick. Just today, we got the final opinion we had requested.

Although the doctors offered differing opinions, we have decided that the benefits of this procedure outweigh the risks, and we’re going ahead. This surgery will not correct anything that has already happened nor repair any damage from the first stroke. It will, though, restore the currently slowed blood flow in Dieter’s brain to his normal levels and protect him from future strokes. We hope Dieter can go in for the procedure in about 2 weeks and not more than 4 weeks from now. He’ll stay in the hospital 24-48 hours.

When we have a date, I’ll post it here.

Dieter continues to work on daily exercise, therapy for his arm and hand, and speech therapy. His right shoulder started hurting, so he’ll be meeting one-on-one with a physical therapist to address the pain and regain full range of motion. The physical therapist will also help with a bit of a limp that has started. We’ve realized that, without the help of a professional, we don’t know how to help Dieter do his exercises correctly, and then problems develop.

Last Sunday, we went back to church. To all of you at BayMarin, it was really good to be with you again.

This is Dieter writing, with Valerie’s help.  I wanted to give you this update.

Thank you for all the prayers for me and all the encouragement from cards and emails and phone calls.  I always read the blog and all the responses you post here.  Thank you for all the grand dinners and support.  Today some friends came to our house for spring cleaning, and we cleaned out the garage and tool shed together.

My exercise is hiking, a little jogging, calisthenics, a yoga class, and exercises for my right hand and arm.  I’m also doing some therapy that involves motions set to music.

My speech therapy, or “vocal” as I call it, is frustrating.  I’ve been working hard to say the following:  Dieter, Valerie, Kyle, Conrad, and Christopher; the days of the week; counting from 1 to 20.

I am supported by so many and my family.

I would like to expand on the news from Monday’s angiogram, especially after talking to a friend who is a doctor who clarified for me what the situation is.  Of course, we hoped for great results from the angiogram, and we didn’t get them.   But, at the same time, the angiogram revealed that Dieter has a fixable problem, rather than a rare and unfixable problem, which was one of the possibilities.

Dieter has a pseudo-aneurysm in his carotid artery.  It can be fixed.  The procedure for fixing it is, in itself, risky, so we are weighing the decision.  One team of doctors meets this Friday, and we are getting a second opinion from another team that meets next Monday.  Both teams have nurses that return calls quickly, for which I am grateful!  So I hope that we will have all the information we need by next Tuesday and can make a wise decision.