New Years Eve!

The last few days have been good for Bill. He is sitting up in his wheelchair for over an hour at a time now. He is putting some weight back on, I can see it in his face already, although I haven’t heard from the nurse the actual numbers!! He shaved his own face with an electric razor today and yesterday, my sweet friend Rosemary Lopez came and gave him a haircut!! (Thanks Rosemary, he looks so handsome). Grace said he looks more like daddy now!! He’s learning to do more and more each day by himself. He’s been texting me and calling me from his iphone which has been a real treat!!
Bill had an ENT look at his vocal cords the other day. One is working and one is not. It is possible that it could have been damaged when he extubated himself. His nurse told him there is a bubble that they inflate while the tubes are in that they usually deflate before extubating. That could have damaged one of his vocal cords or it could be from the anterior surgery. Either way, Bill has just chosen to wait and see which is one of the options the doc gave him. He continues to pass all the swallow tests so there is no emergent reason to do anything about it right now, he just talks softly and a little raspy!!
Bill’s Mom, his sister Mary and niece Kassidy were here for 4 days and left this morning. The kids really enjoyed having all of them here and Bill enjoyed getting to visit with them as well. It has been such a blessing to me to have this time to get to know my sister in law better…I love her so much, she has been amazing!! Bill’s Mom is an amazing help around the house and with the kids!! And of course Kassidy was a huge hit with the kids, as always!! (So glad you guys came to visit and help again…love you all so much!!!)
So it is New Year’s Eve about 8:20pm and Bill is taking a nap. His fellow chiropractor and friend, Aaron Kenna, just adjusted him a bit with an activator and it made him so relaxed he dosed off with all the bright lights on!! Bill joked with me earlier that it is unheard of for us to get to be “out” for New Year’s Eve!! My Mom is at the house with the kids and they will celebrate “New York New Years” as will Bill and I (if he wakes up) at 9pm. Then I will head home and maybe attempt to stay awake long enough to ring in the actual New Year. I have never been more excited to ring in a New Year…so excited for what God is going to do in our lives in 2012!!
Continue to pray for Bill to get stronger everyday, for sensation and movement to continue to return and for patience as this is a difficult journey that can get frustrating at times! Also pray for our office, Breath of Life Chiropractic, that God would continue to be glorified in the midst of this trial. Pray that the enemy would never gain a foothold and that in every possible way, Jesus would shine from our office, through the doctors and staff that are serving our patients while Bill is away.

Happy New Year to all of you, thank you for all you have done to bless our family in 2011…we are excited for the opportunity to give back and bless others in 2012!!

Rehab

Bill is working hard at rehab. He has 3 hours of therapy a day right now and it is wiping him out, but it is good!! He has an hour of speech (usually broken up between breakfast and lunch), an hour of Occupational Therapy (OT) and one hour of Physical Therapy (PT). Yesterday afternoon the social worker came in while Mary and I were there to give Bill the results of the initial meeting his team had that day. She gave us the plan for the next week as far as how much he could do on his own in each area and how much help he will need. She also told us that the team had given him an expected departure date of January 23rd which would be 4 weeks total in the rehab hospital.
Bill saw himself in the mirror of his bathroom yesterday for the first time since the accident. He was a little shocked to see how skinny he looked. He has lost nearly 30 lbs. so his goal right now is to eat as many calories as he can and get some weight back on his bones so he has the energy and strength to do his best during his therapies.
He keeps calling the rehab hospital a “Spa” because it’s so much less like a hospital than the ICU. He even signed up for some “Healing Touch” massage last night and he can do that everyday to add to his “spa” experience!!
The kids had a great visit yesterday with Daddy. Mary and Bill’s Mom sat in the waiting room and I brough in one kiddo at a time. They enjoyed about 10 minutes each sitting next to Daddy on his bed. Grace sang songs and prayed with Daddy, Isaac told Daddy what a good helper he has been at home, and Ethan told Daddy about the present he is going to give away to a kiddo that didn’t get much for Christmas. Bill and the kids enjoyed this visit much more than the day before when they were all in there together for the first time. I think it was a little overwhelming for all of us!! It really seems to be helping the kids behavior to get to see Daddy everyday now!!
Bill’s docs and therapists all agree that he is looking at about a year to get all the way through the recovery process. We are ready for a marathon recovery…we will go one day at a time and let the Lord guide us through each phase of recovery.
Pray that Bill would be patient with his body and the recovery process. Also pray for his voice, it’s still very raspy since the last extubation. He is having an ENT come hopefully today to take a look and see if there is any damage to his larynx. Pray that it will just be a minor irritation and it will get better soon.
Bill is getting much more independent now and more concerned with his privacy during certain procedures he has to do each day. If you want to visit, it is best to call the Scripps Encinitas Rehabilitation Center first and have them check to see if he is up for visits. It can change daily so call before you head out there to be sure he is ready for you!! He’s in room 155B.

First Full Day in Rehab

We got tot he rehab hospital around 5pm last night (12/26/11). I asked the paramedics that transported him to drive along the coast and they agreed!! It was so beautiful, the sun was going down and the ocean looked amazing!! As they headed up Santa Fe towards the hospital the sun was just setting and the sky was the most beautiful shade of pink above the ocean!! Bill was so grateful to have the gorgeous view from out the back of the ambulance!!
We got settled into his new room and what we noticed first was how quiet it was!! No beeps, dings, buzzing or whatever the noises were we heard in the ICU. It was the polar opposite of being in the ICU. No one comes in the room unless you ask them to or if they need to bring you something. Bill had a hard time settling in at first. Finally we got him in a comfy position, the room was nice and dark and after praying for him, he finally let me leave around 10:15pm.
Bill called me this morning from his cell phone which was such a treat for me. It’s been over a month since I have seen his smiling face pop up on my phone when he is calling!! He said he had slept great from midnight to 8am, only waking for a few moments every two hours when they needed to turn him. He ate really well last night for dinner and for breakfast this morning. He is eating more at each meal and being less particular about what he will and won’t eat. He is realizing that he needs to get some calories in him so he has energy to do his therapies.
This morning I brought the kids over to visit with him for about 15 minutes. Then his occupational therapist came in and needed to assess him so we left. It was good because the kids were restless in there and it was a little stressful for Bill to have them in there.
Bill had an hour with the occupational therapist, an hour with the speech therapist, and an hour with the physical therapist today. They all did their initial assessments of his condition and gave him some basic things to work on.
Bill called me this afternoon and said he was sitting up in a wheel chair and wanted me to come see him!! So his big sister Mary, his Mom and I all went over and spent about an hour with him. Then he sent his Mom and I home and asked Mary to stay with him and watch a movie after dinner!! Bill really wants me to be home for dinner with the kids as much as possible. He told me he is doing his job of getting better and wants me to be home more and more to get the kids into a more normal routine again.
It is so great to know he is in the rehab hospital. God is doing such a mighty work in my husband. I am so proud of how hard he is fighting and anxious to see all the progress he is going to make over the next couple days, weeks, and months!! We know it is a marathon and not a sprint.

We are out of here!

Just got the final word…out of here at 4pm!!! Hoping to enjoy the sunset as we drive to the rehab hospital!!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!! He has been so faithful to us every step of this journey!! Pray for a smooth ride and transition into the new place. Pray Bill will get a really great nights rest tonight as well so he’ll be ready to go in the morning for his first full day of rehabilitation!!! WHOOOHOOOO!!!!! YIPPEEEEE!!!!

Day 31 in ICU: the last day!

I have great news to share…we are getting out of here today (most likely, because nothing is for sure around here until it actually happens)!! Bill’s MD, Dr. Schwendig already signed his release papers. Speech and PT have put in their orders for his move to rehab as well. Right now, we are just waiting on a nuero-surgeon to come and make the final release to get us out of here!! Rehab has a bed ready for him so it is just a matter of waiting now on the neurologist to get here. We are trying to be patient but we are so ready to go.
Bill didn’t sleep well last night. His tummy is a bit “backed up” and that is making it hard to want to eat because it makes him a little nauseous. Dr. Jack was able to work on some trigger points in his neck last night while he visited and that nearly eliminated Bill’s headache, praise God for that. The nurse just gave Bill some prune juice and milk of magnesia mixed together (yummy!) to help get things moving.
I was informed this morning that he has a small open sore on his tailbone. I am almost certain it happened yesterday when they were transferring him from the cardiac chair to his bed after he went outside to visit with the kids. There was another nurse helping Mary Kate and she pulled out the wrap that Bill wears around his core to hold him up while he is sitting. Normally they roll him to the side and roll up the wrap half way, then roll him to the other side and take it out from under him. Well this nurse that was helping decided she could just pull it out from under him. I remember watching her do that and thinking that doesn’t seem like a good way to remove that. Thankfully it happened at the end of his ICU stay and he will be moving much more regularly at rehab so it should heal as long as they keep an eye on it and he gets lots of good protein in him.
I already started packing up his stuff in his room in anticipation of leaving. Even if, for some reason, we don’t leave today…it will be tomorrow for sure. So if you are reading this around noon on the 26th….pray we get to leave today!! The kids and I are so excited to get him to a place where they can come inside and visit everyday!!!
Bill and I are so thankful to every single person who has blessed our family through this process, our family, friends, the body of Christ, doctors, nurses, therapists, and distant prayer warriors that don’t even know us. We can’t begin to tell you how much you have blessed us. The messages on Carepages and facebook, the cards with well wishes and encouragement, the gifts of all sorts, the meals, gas cards, visits….all of it has touched our hearts so deeply. There is no possible way I will remember to thank each of you individually but please know how much we appreciate you and what you have done to bless our family!!!
We serve an awesome and mighty God…Praise be to His name for He is worthy of all honor and glory!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas from the ICU!! Bill enjoyed another trip outside yesterday. His Dad and Jill were outside with us as well as my Grandpa Royce and Grandma Billie so we all got to enjoy some sunshine with Bill which beats the noisy hospital room any day!! My grandparents stayed with Bill until after the change of nurses last night. Bill used Gramms’ phone to call me and the kids last night to tell us he loved us and to wish us an early Merry Christmas. He got some really good sleep last night, even slept for 3 hours straight at one point!!
My Mom and I took the kids to Christmas Eve service last night. It was nice, but not the same without my honey next to me singing!! It did feel good to be at church and singing worship, not to mention some great hugs from my good friends!! The amazing ladies from the MOMS group at church brought over all the makings of a wonderful Christmas dinner. After dinner each kiddo got to open one gift which was fun as always. Mom and I got the kids to bed and then made some fudge for the nurses and staff in the SICU, stuffed some stockings and wrapped a few of the last minute gifts. I am so thankful that my Mom has been with us so much over the past week. She comforts me and helps me so much, if I can’t have my husband there, she’s the next best thing!!
Christmas morning was very exciting with 3 little kids anxious to open presents. They dove into their stockings first. They were thrilled with all the goodies they found. I had them put those aside and I read them the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke. Bill and I always want to keep them grounded so they remember the real reason for this season!! After that they took turns opening gifts, with lots of smiles and screams of joy as they saw the treasures they had been blessed with. The MOMS group also blessed our kiddos with gifts as well as Olive Crest, the foster agency we foster through. It was a blessed morning for sure. Then daddy called to set up a date to see his kids outside (thanks Aaron Kenna for helping with that and being here with Bill first thing on Christmas morning).
When I got to the hospital at 11am, our good friends Ben and Amy were here as well. Bill told me that Dr. Schwendig told him he will definitely be going to rehab on Tuesday and in fact they are trying to work it out for him to go tomorrow!! The only thing is they aren’t sure if the rehab hospital will take a new patient on Monday because that is their “holiday” day for Christmas. But either way, we are thrilled to know we are getting out of here very soon!!! Bill has also moved his left toes a little which is of course wonderful!!
Bill got to outside and visit with the kids. Grace was all about daddy and wanted to sit in his lap as much as possible. She loves standing next to his chair also so he can rub her back!! Isaac’s tummy wasn’t feeling the best so he just gave dad some fist bumps. Ethan wanted to tell daddy all about the toys he got!! The weather was so amazingly warm. Bill has been able to be in the sun for 20 minutes 3 days in a row now!!
Pray for the nausea to get better and his headaches to subside. He is so ready to get a NUCCA correction but he’ll have to wait until he’s out of rehab to get the x-rays needed to get a good correction. He knows that when his head is on straight, he’ll feel so much better!!

There is a good NUCCA doctor friend of Bill’s (Dr. Jack and his wife Barbara) coming tonight at 5pm to visit until 9pm so I can go home and spend Christmas evening with the kids!! I was dreading Christmas this year because I wasn’t sure I would even enjoy it. But no matter what, it is a day to celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior and that is always a blessing. God blessed us with a memorable Christmas for sure, one I will never forget. My heart will always be more sensitive to people who are hurting during the holidays…I never understood that before this year. God is teaching me new things every day, every moment of this journey. More than ever my heart longs for heaven!!

Merry Christmas Eve

The kids got to come out and visit Bill yesterday!! Praise the Lord, I will get the picture that one of the nurses took uploaded to this site later on this evening but it is on facebook if you want to see it!!
I got here this morning around 11am and Bill had just got back from MRI. They wanted to see how his spinal fusion was healing before they let him take off his collar. It looked good so now his collar is off. Last night he had a really bad headache and a bit of a fever. They were very concerned about meningitis. They took him for a brain scan and he had a spinal tap. The preliminary results show no concern but they will continue to grow the culture for 24, 48, and 72 hours just to be 100% sure. They did put him on an antibiotic just in case it turns out to be that. The worst part was they made Bill lay flat for 8 hours and it wasn’t helping his headache. I talked with Dr. Coufal this morning and together Bill and I convinced him to let Bill sit up. Once he was up at 32 degrees and his collar was off he started to feel better and the headache was less painful. I then talked Dr. Coufal into letting him sit up and eat!! He ate a banana around 11:30am and will eat his lunch when he wakes up from the nap he is trying to take right now.
Bill’s dad and Jill are here to visit today which was a nice surprise. My grandparents are also going to come out this afternoon so I can take the kids to Christmas Eve service at church. Doc said Bill can still go outside today but we aren’t going to have kids visit today. Tomorrow, as long as everything continues to look good the kids will visit daddy on Christmas!!
There is a chance he might not go to rehab on Tuesday if anything shows up in the cultures. But I am just hopeful to leave before the new year!! I told Bill that what I would like for my birthday is for him to be in rehab so we can all celebrate together!!
Dr. Coufal pulled me aside outside Bill’s room today and told me again how good it is that he is moving his toes!! Oh, he moved his toes for his nurse this morning and for his Dad and Jill!!
One little step at a time…this too shall pass and we will be out of the ICU before we know it!!!
God bless you all…enjoy your family this blessed Christmas weekend…hug them extra tight and count your blessings!!
Merry Christmas!!!

Day 28 in ICU

I can’t believe it is just 2 days until Christmas, where have the last 4 weeks gone? It seems like we have been in a time warp stuck inside an ICU bubble. Four weeks ago I was shopping Black Friday sales and enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers. It is still hard to believe what we have been through the past month, and in some ways it feels like it has been an eternity.
Well, we are at day 28, the end of the 4th full week in the ICU. Bill is now off all iv meds, he is only receiving a low rate iv fluid and some potassium. He is getting breathing treatments every 4 hours that are helping to keep his lungs clear. He had some mucus in the left side of the lung on Wednesday that they saw during his last bronch. They are just being aggressive with helping him to get that stuff out so he doesn’t have to fight another round of pneumonia. He isn’t complaining of pain, but he is getting nauseous. He is also still having some positional headaches which he feels are contributing to the nausea. He had ultrasound on his legs this morning where they discovered a blood clot, so he was taken in to have a filter put in his leg so that if and when that clot moves, the filter will break it up so it doesn’t get to the heart. We were thankful they found it, but they came to take him for the procedure earlier than scheduled (a very rare occurance around here!!) and the kids were on the way out here to see daddy outside for a visit. Bill was in tears because he didn’t want to tell his 3 year old she couldn’t see daddy today. The good news is they can very possibly come out this afternoon at 3pm to visit, and if not then, tomorrow for sure!!!
I have many good things to share today. His swelling is almost completely gone from the fluids so that is great. His chest x-ray looked good today. He is starting to have some movement in the fingers in his right hand!! He is eating real food again, still on a limited diet, but eating on his own!! The greatest thing that happened today was he moved his right big toe!!!!! This is the first movement we have seen lower than his chest since the accident. He and I both had huge tears of joy!! The best Christmas present in the world!!! The last bit of good news is that Dr. Schwendig gave him a possible discharge date of Tuesday, December 27th!!! As long as his lungs continue to do well and his voice gets nice and strong because right now he has sort of a sexy raspy voice from so many days of intubation. So that is a day we would like you to pray for, pray for continued progress, healing, strength, etc.

It’s hard to get too excited about things sometimes because we have had so many major setbacks, but we trust God’s timing is perfect. We will be cautiously excited about the possibility of leaving this hospital and going to rehab on Tuesday!!!
Have a very blessed and Merry CHRISTmas and may you know the true meaning of Christmas and the amazing grace that comes with it!!

Speech is There!

More great news…speech is there already today to do some swallow tests with Bill. He has to pass these to be allowed to eat real food again. (Just got a text from Mike that they approved him to eat thick liquids!!) God just keeps blessing me today with all this good news. I don’t want to get too excited because it seems like when I get my hopes to high…things come crashing down again. But I am rejoicing with one small miracle at a time today!!
It’s amazing that the things I use to complain about suddenly become so trivial in the light of a trial like this. Sometimes it’s hard to read facebook because everyone’s lives are so normal and mine isn’t right now. I haven’t enjoyed this season much at all and I am the biggest Christmas Nut around. God is teaching me how to appreciate every little blessing in my life. This year at Christmas, I am so thankful that my husband is breathing, talking, smiling and laughing with me. That seems so basic, but when I consider that this accident could have taken him away from me, I am grateful for every moment I have with him.
I pray that each of you reading this knows Jesus this Christmas…
The angel said to the shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”. (Luke 2:10-11)
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!” (1 Timothy 1:15)
May each of us know this glorious Savior personally, having been forgiven of our debot of sin, and rejoicing today and forevermore that “Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost” (Matthew 18:11)
It isn’t just a good story, He isn’t just a good man, He is God’s only Son sent to die for our sins and to offer us His free gift of Grace and eternal salvation!!

Breathing Tubes are Out!

Bill had wonderful folks come stay with him last night…Randy and Wendy Ide took the 5pm to 9pm shift and then Matt and Julie Calfin took the 9pm to 12:30pm shift. After that Bill was on his own with his nurse Sylvia. I am home this morning so I am relaying all info I get from Bill’s brother Mike who is with him today. Apparently when Mike got there, they were turning Bill and cleaning him up so Mike waited outside his room. He could hear him talking…that means the tubes are out. I texted Mike and asked if the docs pulled Bill’s breathing tubes out or if Bill did. It seemed to be very early to me to have had the docs pull them. Mike said Bill told him he took them out but Mike wasn’t sure if that was true because he was very groggy. But I suspect Bill took them out himself!! The good news is his swelling seems to be way down so they are obviously okay with him not being intubated. I guess God had a reason for having no one with him last night!!!
I will keep you posted as Mike updates me through out the day. So far he is still off blood pressure meds which is still just such a miracle to me. Keep praying for good days…it would be so wonderful if he was able to see the kids for Christmas…trying not to get my hopes up for that because I don’t want to be disappointed if it doesn’t happen. Please pray that our family would get to be all together…even if it’s just for an hour on Christmas day!!
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!!