They say, "It's About the Journey...."

How wonderful would it have been if Abi, would have only had minor injuries and then been released?!? She would have had a very quick recovery and it would have been awesome.  No frenzied prayers being sent up, no Camp Trauma Dragon in the waiting room, no bonding with friends new and old, no experiencing of the out pouring of love we received. We would not have experienced deep humbling fear, peace, love, joy. And we would not have been able to go on this journey.  A Long Journey for all of us, but mostly for lil' Abi.

 It is about the journey not the "getting there". 

We all learned things about ourselves. I won't speak for anyone else. But there were things that I learned along the way. Things I am still learning because of this accident. Faith and hope are real! I knew that, but sometimes you need a reminder. Sometimes we take life for granted and we live in the camp That-will-never-happen-to-my-family. Life can be so fragile, here one minute gone the next.

Something else I already knew but was really reminded of, We have a grand Designer! So many systems in the human body! And yet they all work together, wonderfully made. I was always amazed at the never ending tubes and needles, the monitors, the ventilator. The technology and the information we have to heal a human body, and yet we know so little about the brain. It amazes me that with all of the experts at hand, God still had this in hand and was working for His glory. Nothing was left to chance.

Remember the time they told us that Abi would be in a coma and not wake up for at least 4 weeks. Well they were wrong and she was awake on day 6. She was all hopped up on morphine and amnesia drugs but she was awake.  Then she got that horrible abdominal infection, she lost 30 lbs through out her hospital stay. But she is still here! She keeps on going. She is getting stronger too. Sure she might still run funny (don't tell her I said that) but she is running! She is motivated to eat, to get her butt back as well. Slowly she is gaining her weight back. It is amazing to me that she has not had any major setbacks or problems since she left the hospital. That is not Chance!

Before

 (taken July 18th)

 She has not caught a cold or the flu. And this is cold and flu season, and just try to keep Abi home! Not happening.  It is true that she gets really cold and has a hard time getting warmed up, but once she gets that butt back she won't have that problem any more.

Did any one notice that Abi's volume was affected? I thought that after being quiet for so many days she would have learned something about volume control. But I was wrong. I think they bumped up the volume in one of her surgeries or something.

On a more serious note. It is super hard to let Abi go off and be "Abi Before the Accident". I get upset and want to make her stay home. I don't want to see her do things that are dangerous, like walking across an icy sidewalk. Staying out late hanging out with her friends. Working. All those things are scary. We have had to learn again to let go! I witnessed a very fragile Abi. I don't think sometimes that she comprehends where she was at, and what happened to her. And yet I know she was the one that went through it. I don't know if she comprehends the severity of those first 12 days. She doesn't remember them. She has seen the pictures so she must know something. But we clearly had a more real, frightening experience those first days. She was asleep for most of it, For that I am very thankful!

As with any tragic event there have been so many lessons to learn, I just hope they stick! I don't imagine they will fade anytime soon. We have all been changed through this event. We have all had our eyes opened. Opened to our God, our mortality, our blessings, our strengths, our weaknesses, our hope!

After 

(Taken October 31st)

Halloween Alice in Wonderland

TWO MONTH UPDATE

Sorry that we haven't been keeping this updated every week or so, but we tried to get Abi to log on and post her own comments. She says she just doesn't know what to say. Now, if you know Abi, I know you find that hard to believe, as do we. I think she is just still overwelmed at the out pouring of Love and prayers that have gone out to her. Stacey has told me that she has started to read the comments here and on her e-mail account, and just starts to cry. So, lets just say that she is so very gratefull for all the prayers and thoughts of her over the past 4 months +.  Now for an Update.

November 16 she had an appointment with her back Doctor. He released her to go back to work, with a 25 lb lifting limit, the back brace is off, which she had only been using sparingly anyway. Now if I can just get her to take it out of my car and display it with all her plush animals or something. She is allowed to drive, again, she had been already. She also saw the pelvis Doctor and he said she  was doing great. She has a little lump in her stomach and needs to set up an appointment with the surgeon to see if it just a little hernia or what. Needless to say she didn't walk out of the office, she just kind of floated. When we left I was instructed to drive directly to JB's. When she walked through the door she started flashing her work release and said "let's get me on the Schedule". She started back to work on Saturday and Sunday and then again on Thanksgiving Day. Now, I have never in my $# year of life seen anyone that happy to be back to work. We have been able to spend a lot of time together at JB's and the customers have just enveloped her with their love and amazement of her healing. Oh, here release was just one day shy of 4 months from the date of her accident. Now, if you read the start of this Blog you will see that she was suppost to be in ICU for probably 6 weeks in and induced comma and would be in the hospital for 6 months. Truth was: out of ICU (both MICU and intermediat in a little over a week and out of the hospital in 35 days. Now, if that is not the power of God and prayer, I don't know what is. She is back to talking 90.5 miles per hour, holding two conversations at one time and texting. All I can say is "SHE'S BACK!!!" and Praise the Lord. When she forgets something, she says "remember I have a brain injury". Most everyone just tells her that it won't work, she was that way before her accident. I will get Stacey to post again as soon as she can, as Abi has been able to spend a lot of time with her and the kids and I'm sure she has some jucie tid bits that you would all love to hear.

As I end this, I sit here with big tears in my eyes sending a special pray out to each and everyone of you for the support you have been for Abi and all of her family and friends. It has indeed been a very humbleing experience for me and I'm sure all of you. How prescious life is and how soon things can change. We serve a living God and he is there for us when we ask. If you don't know the Lord Jesus as your personal saviour, he stands at the door and knocks, all you have to do is open the door and ask him into your life. If your not sure how to do this, feel free to call me, Charlette, Stacey or a born again believing church close to you. Don't ever think that you have to clean up some things in your life before you can come to Jesus. You come and he will clean you up. I did some twenty four years ago, and my life has never been the same God loves us all and wants us to end up in Heaven with him. Thank You again my brothers and sisters for the strength you have given Abi, her mother, brothers and sister and myself. God be with you all always.

In His Steps, Dave

Update from Abi's Facebook

Can't get Abi to keep up her blog, so I will just start to post from her facebook updates.

as of today, i can put FULL WEIGHT on my left leg!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) ahhh! its about time!!!! :) :) :) but i still have to walk with one crutch mostly for balance and stuff so i dont fall cuz apparently i walk with a limp! pfft. thats how gangstas walk dont you know doc!!!! :) hahahaha.

She has been doing really good and hopefully the clam shell cast will go away toward the middle of October. She has had a couple of emotional issues, but on one I took her to JB's and all was well. The other was a loss of one of her very good friends. She has visited the various churches that have been praying for her and they were blessed to see the miracle God has done with her. She came by my office yesterday and my fellow workers were so happy to see her.

We will keep trying to get her to post in her own words how she is doing.

Dave

ABI AT A LOSS FOR WORDS?????

Stacey and I have been trying to get Abi to post on her blog. She says she doesn't know what to say. Now, to me that is amazing. I didn't think I would ever hear that come from her. I have never knew her to be without words, especially the "last word".

She is doing well. Therapy is going good and she is progressing. She can get around on her crutches as long as she does not have a long way to go. If she is going to be going for a while she takes her wheelchair. She says she kind of likes the wheelchair, she is treated like a VIP, which if you know her, it fits right in. She has gone to a church every Sunday since she got out of the hospital. Different churches, but they have all been glad to see her and treat her as a VIP. She will have the clam shell for a least another month. The doctors seemed pretty pleased with her progress. She is eating better each day and Stacey has done a great job of caring for her while her mom is out of town. Tia and Ashton have been "baby sitting" her and keep reminding her that she used to baby sit them and now it is their turn.

Keep her in prayer as she continues to mend and get back to herself. She wants to really get back to JB's and they are looking forward to her return. She is trying to convince them that she can put a little table on her wheelchair and serve from there. We think that would be very interesting to watch.

Thank you all again for all your support. You have all been a blessing to all of us.

Dave

When the presure is on

When the presure is on, you will do whatever it takes. Abi is staying with Stacey while her mom is away. She has kinda her own room (Thank you Ashton). Stacey has her text her if she needs anything. Well, last night she needed to go to the restroom and sent a text to Stacey, but Stacey had put her phone on vibrate and didn't feel it and found out early this morning. Well, as the presure was on, Abi got her back brace on and was able to get the presure off. She says she didn't know how she did it, but the important thing is SHE DID IT. Way to go punkin, I knew you could do it. Abi is eating better, or at least she did yesterday. You keep going girl and you'll be slingin those vittles out to folks a JB's in no time.

Dave

Sorry it has been a while!

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post. I am not going to bore you with all the STUFF I have been doing lately to get ready for the school year! Not to mention that my garden is out of control. What does all this have to do with ABI?

Not 1 single thing.

Abi is still doing home therapy and resting alot. She still is not eating like she should but she is doing a little better.   She has to use her crutches to get around and uses her wheel chair in public. Or if she is going to be out for a while. On Tuesday we went to the mall for a good long walk. Then it was home to my house to take a shower and then we headed out to the Tuesday Farmer's Market. On the way home I narrowly avoided her puking in my car! We have got to get that under control!!! LOL
I told her it is a combination of the medication and her texting while I am driving.  duh! She does not buy it though.
While we were at the Farmer's Market, Abi was given a beautiful gift. It was a mirror made by Spin. It was really cool talking to Spin and then he offered Abi any thing in his booth that she wanted. He was extremely generous. If any of you all happen to be down at the market stop by and see Spin!

This week Abi will be moving in with me for 10 days while my mom goes to see her sister. I am so excited!!! It is going to make shower time so much easier. I won't have to go pick her up! And I will get to have a sleep over with her. I am going to feed that girl!!! We are going to put some meat back on her bones! Just wait and see.
Ok like I said before I am going to have Abi start posting but I am really going to push it this time! I Promise!!!

She does a ton of Facebook posting. I think she lives her life around facebook right now. She is one of those that posts anything and everything that is newsworthy, and not so newsworthy! Hahahaha. So let's see if I can get her to put some of that energy into the blog.

 Thats all for tonight, Every one of you have a great Labor Day weekend!!!
Stacey

We had a party! It's gonna' be a photo filled post!

The Invitation!

The Cake(s)

I thought I had pics of the other 2 cakes but I don't.

The Guest of Honor

The Guests 

Surprise guest... freaked Abi out! Mr. Losee. ( sorry Mr. Losee I know I spelled your name wrong)

 There were so many friends, family and restaurant regulars that came to see Abi last night, I had a hard time keeping up with everyone. The party was from 6-9 pm and they kept coming in waves. It was so cool to see all the love and support in physical human form. I also know that those who showed up last night were just a fraction of the support she has. 

 THANK YOU ALL!!!!


Stacey

Don't forget about Abi's Party! and general update...

Just a little reminder about Abi's party details are in the post below.

Today Abi has been quite tired and not eating as much as she should. She has had a busy few days. She went to church and lunch yesterday and then slept for 5 hours. Then went for a short visit and ended up staying the night at my house. She slept through the night and had a good morning. Although not pain free it was fairly good. Then she went home about 1 to meet her new home health care nurse and therapist. She will be having a lot of in home therapies. She was pretty wiped out by the time we got her home. And she was in a lot more pain. Tonight she has been ill again. She gets really depressed when she starts feeling that way. It is hard to see her feeling like that. Keep praying for her. I know it makes all the difference in the world! Thank You all For your support! We Thrive on it!!!

We're having a party!!!! Wanna come?

You Are Invited

Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm 

Place: JB's Family Restaurant on 

3500 south and 4800 west

West Valley City, Utah

Hosted by JB's and her family. 

 We wanted to make sure that Abi was installed at home comfortably and resting up from her move before we spring a welcome home party on her. 

If you know abi, love abi, been praying for abi, want to see how she is doing, or just in general want to stand around and gawk at her, this will be your opportunity! 

If you would like to have dinner at JB's, Kids eat free! 

Rumor has it JB's will be providing drinks and the family will be serving Happy Your Home Cake!

Please post a comment here if you think you might be attending so we have an idea of how much room we will need!

 thanks, 

Stacey

Bustin' out of this joint!

Abi gets released today!!!!! She is so excited she can barely contain herself!  These are some of her Facebook posts and comments!

Tomorrow is the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) i get to go home!!!!!!!!! 34 days i have been in this hospital!! and day 35 is my discharge day!!!! :) :) :) :)

 yes!! my doctors just came in a few minutes ago and said im going home tomorrow unless something completely unexpected happens!!!! :) :) :)

I also got a text from her this morning @ 8:30 am while I was soundly enjoying my Saturday Sleep In. 

It read

" Today is the day!!:) Next time I see you it wont be in this stupid place. You won't have to drive across Salt Lake just to see me! just down the street:) 

She forgot to mention it was the stupid place that saved her life! LOL

They took out her feeding tube yesterday and she was so happy about it. 

  She said her goodbyes to some of the patients that she has befriended. She said her goodbyes and thank yous to her nurses and favorite staff. My mom had 2 huge cakes made for the staff on the IMCU floor and the Rehab floor. Her friend Cathy made the full sheet size Pea Pickin' Cakes, and delivered them last night.

When Abi gets home today she is going to be exhausted. It makes her ill to travel, even in the hospital with her wheel chair.  Abi got a brand new wheel chair last night and new crutches, these will be her new wheels for a while.  She will want to have visitors but make sure you call first so that she is not away at a therapy session or a doctor's appt. 

Stacey

GETTING OUT

Abi is being discharged to home tomorrow. 35 Days. Please call her to see if she is up to visiters.

DAVE

A Field Trip

Abi got to go on a field trip today! Her occupational and recreational therapists took her out of the hospital for a field trip to Abi's work place. She was all smiles. It was really good to see her in a different environment. I am going to post 1 picture and then tomorrow Abi is going to help me blog post about this outing..... So until then enjoy this sneak peak.

Stacey

small as a wee lad!

I went up to give Abi her shower last night. While getting her dressed I noticed that the size of her work out shorts were really tiny. I looked again at the tag and it said L(10/12). I was confused for a half a second until I realized that these shorts were for a little boy! She wears  little boys shorts, and they fit her perfectly well. My son is 12 and he just outgrew that size.  Abi WAS a size 3 in womens. She is starting to eat more. Last night she ate 1/2 of her Wendy's crispy chicken sandwich.  She is definitely drinking a lot more, 44 ounces or more every day!

After her shower and we got her all prettied up, the guy visiting his dad in the next room came over and asked Abi if she wanted to go for a stroll on the patio. It was so cute! Abi even gets a date in rehab! OK so it wasn't a date it was just a bored teen asking another if she wanted to get some fresh air. But Abi was all too happy to go and get a change of scenery. We put her in her chair, gave her a Mt. Dew for the road, wheeled her over to the next room and let her go.  I did however make Shelton say he would protect Abi with his very life and he had to hold up his right hand and make a solemn oath.(ok not really but I would have had I thot of it)

That is all I have to report today. Other than, I know Abi is going on a field trip today with recreational therapy! I am not at liberty to say where she is going, but she will have a good time! And tomorrow I will tell you all about it!
Have a great day!!!
Stacey

Are you out of your mind?

I did not get to see Abi yesterday as I was sick and did not want to get her sick. But I did hear a few things.

Her Occupational therapist tried to insist that she put her brace on by herself! This is difficult to say the least because it is big and bulky. Also she is not allowed to lay higher than a 30 degree angle or sit up or stand up with out it on. She can only log roll and she is not allowed to bend or twist at the waist with out it on.  That presents a problem! All of the things she has been told she can not do would require being done to get it on. No worries though! Abi got her feisty on, and she let that therapist know exactly what she thought!!!

I also heard that she ate half of a chicken breast last night! I am so happy for her. She told me she drank a Carnation instant breakfast too!  Hopefully she is on her way to start feeling hungry. If she gets her appetite back that would be wonderful.

Saturday is the tentative discharge date! It is going to be a long hard day for her if that is the case but she is going to be so much more comfy at home!

I will keep you all posted!
Stacey

Tuesday 8/17

Abi had a pretty busy day yesterday. She walked 580 ft for her Physical Therapist. Occupational Therapy we a challenge and the Therapist found out that Abi wasn't afraid to voice her thoughts and that they really need to listen to her the 1st time she speaks. She was pretty warn out after the morning sessions and got a couple of hours rest until the afternoon. Overall she is doing well.  Caleb got her to eat a few bites of chicken last night and she has been doing well on her liquids. Charlette has given Caleb the assignment to come up every evening to get Abi to eat. Charlette said that she had a pretty good night. No nausia and she got a sleeping pill, so she slept well.

Stacey tells me that there is some confusion as to who is doing the blog posts. If it makes total sense, it is Stacey. If it is kinda rambling, it is me (Dave). When Stacey posts it shows her name at the end of the blog. When it shows "weloveyouabi" then it is mine. Stacey says there is a way for me to sign, so I will try it. Hopefully in the next day or two Abi will post on her blog.

The Point

Today I took my kids to see Aunt Abi. They decided it was time to take a game up and play with her. We took Apples to Apples, and had a great time. Then we took Abi for a ride in her wheel chair, to The Point Restaurant.  The Point is an amazing restaurant in the Huntsman Cancer Hospital. It looks out over the entire valley and has an incredible view.  The cool thing about University Hospital is that it is connected to the Primary Children's Hospital and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. There are indoor sky walks to take you where ever you want to go.

In other news, Abi had the desire to eat a bread roll today! She ate about half of it with a few strawberries. She also drank 44 ounces of fluids today. A lot of it was Mt. Dew, but she also had some OJ, and some water and lemonade. That was what she had before 6 pm. She was very nauseated when we left. They were about to turn on her feeding tube when they brought dinner in to her. I asked if they thought that she would want to try any of her dinner if her feeding tube was on and they told me no. So I convinced them to hold off for a bit so she might try her dinner.  It makes no sense to me that they would want to start her feeding tube right when they bring dinner in to her.

The Hendrin Family brought Abi a Photo of her Air Med Helicopter at Jordanelle Res. It is a photo that they got from the KSL.   They had it matted so that her friends and family could sign it.  They also brought a frame for it. It is really cool.

Oh and Abi won our game of Apples to Apples!

Abi walked 580 ft today and did about 20 steps. It was extremely hard work!!

They have brought in a heating pad for her lower back, it helps with the pain tremendously.

I guess that is all for now.
 Have a wonderful evening,
Stacey

4 Weeks

Today is the 4th week since Abi's accident. By all accounts she should be just coming out of an induced comma and moving to the ICMU. But our Lord is indeed the Master Mender, and here she is maybe a week away from discharge. When I got here this afternoon Josh and Caleb were here and they were trying to put in an IV. She has not been able to eat so they are giving her IV fluids and starting the feeding tube again. The nurse was unable to get a vain, due to dehydration, and stopped. They call for an Air Med nurse. Charlette and Bill came and Josh and Caleb left. Charlette and I went up and seen Terah. Please when you are praying for Abi also pray for her. She is a sister in the Lord and has been a friend or our family for many years. The Air Med nurse came and in no time and the pain was minmal. She slept of and on for several hours. The nurse came in and gave her meds through her feeding tube, but it really upset her stomach and she returned them to the little yellow bucket. They are giving her some nausia meds and will redo her meds that she return a little later. They are going to start her feeding at a low level and then ramp them up as she can handle it. She still needs to be eating before she can go home. She is really anxious to get out of this hospital, and she tries to eat a little, but I think the fear of throwing up makes her hesitant. They changed the dressing on her stomach and said it is really healing well. Charlette is staying with her tonight and Abi will be back at her therapy sessions tomorrow.

Saturday Night

Abi had a pretty good afternoon after her shower and having her hair done. She slept for part of the afternoon. I found out the one of our friends from Life Church was in the Emergency Room at the U, so I went there to see her family. Josh brought Abi down in her wheel chair, as most of them know her and have been praying for her. She was a very big inspiration to all of them as to the healing powers of our Lord. She was in pain, but came down anyway. She got a little sick going back up, but felt better after getting her pain meds on board. As I was leaving the hospital she ask me to come back up. She was feeling really blue that being in the hospital was such a disruption to peoples lives. I assured her that it was okay, that our are okay and that is a blessing to come and be with her. I know she is getting tired of being on her back all the time, as most of you know she has always been a social butterfly and was always on the go. We know that God will have her back on her feet in no time. Thank you all again for the prayers.

Saturday is Group Therapy Day

Today Abi had a physical therapy session and right after she had a occupational/recreational therapy session.
In PT she was learning to use crutches. They want her on crutches not on the walker. We know that she is not ready for the crutches yet. Her balance and muscle strength is not there yet. She is just too weak to keep herself upright and balanced. The walker is good for now. During OT/RT they lined up all of the patients on the back lawn for a game of Bocce Ball. Abi is the youngest patient and had a good time besting all the older folks.

She is eating a little bit, but not much. They have given her 2 nights break from her feeding tube hoping her appetite would pick up. She ate 1/5 of her chicken wrap for lunch today. She is drinking more, but not near enough. When I left Josh was trying to force her to eat a snickers bar. She had eaten a 1/4 of it. I told her she had to choose the highest calorie snack off the snack cart when it came around. She asked if that was a fat joke. I said "no it's a skinny joke!"

Abi weighed 125 pounds when she arrived at the hospital. She now weighs 97 pounds.  She really needs to eat some high calorie foods.  She was scared this morning and crying because of her weight.  The problem is that she really has no appetite to speak of. We have decided she just needs to eat regardless of whether she wants to or not, she is just going to have to do it and eventually her appetite will come back.
If the doctors are not satisfied with her caloric and fluid intake by morning they will be giving her an IV again and hooking her feeding tube up again.

Tonight Josh will be staying with her. It will be good for them to spend time together.
I promise to take up my camera and get more pics of Abi, just as soon as I remember!!!

catching up!

Wow if it weren't for Dave helping with this blog I don't think you would have any updates! It is a good thing we make a great team  LOL!

I got to stay the night with Abi last night and I forgot to take my camera. I was bummed about it. I really want some pictures of her walking. Even though she thinks she looks like a granny with a walker.

 Today I was able to get Abi to drink 7 ounces of a carnation instant breakfast. But it has to be chocolate or she won't touch it! I had to push it constantly, even in therapy, when she was taking breaks. She ate a few potato chips for me also. When I talked to her a few minutes ago she said she ate a few bites of her chicken at dinner. They finally have her feeding tube turned way down at night. Hopefully after a few nights of this she will start to get an appetite. She has no desire for any kind of food whatsoever, so we just have to force her to try a few bites. The problem with not taking in enough calories is that her body will start to consume itself with the energy it needs to recover from her therapies.

I am also hoping that she can start blogging just a bit every few days. I think it will be therapeutic for her. You can now catch her on facebook as well once or twice a day. She wears out extremely easily so she won't spend much time on it, mostly she wants to sleep more than anything.

Recreational and occupational therapy want to take her to the gateway shopping. She said it would ruin her reputation to be caught down there in a walker. Then they said they should go out to lunch at a restaurant and she said she wasn't hungry.  They suggested going for a ride on the Trax train but it seemed too overwhelming of a thought for her. Maybe next week some of these ideas will seem more appealing. Mostly I think her lack of energy eclipses everything else in her life!

Whoops

Sorry, my mind isn't what it used to be, or maybe never was. Abi was also visited by her sister Linda and family from Duchesne. That made her really happy as well as Linda.

A blessed afternoon

I took the day off yesterday to do some work on the church and spend the afternoon with Abi. It was a very blessed afternoon. She had a busy afternoon. They changed the dressing and filter on her incision. They thought about closing it up, but decided to wait an other day or two to allow it to come together a little more. That made her late for OT so they reschedule. Right after they finished the dressing, the Physical Therapist came in. It took her a little bit to get going, but then she walked quite a ways (using her walker) She had to stop and rest a couple of times. Occupational Therapy caught up with us in the hall, so it was strait to their treatment. She did very well with them. When we got back to the room she was really beat, but still had a smile. She slept for a while and Caleb and a friend came for a half hour or so. Josh came up and then Stacey came and spent the night with her. It was indeed a blessing to see may "baby girl" smiling. She still needs to start eating real food instead of those vanila shakes through the feeding tube.

rehab pictures

Rehab Rocks!

Rehab Rocks when you have a really nice therapist! Abi has 2 therapists who take great care of her. They push her but not too hard. I was going to post some pics but my internet is not cooperating.
Anyhow, Abi did so awesome today! She was given 2 goals for walking one was about 30 ft away and the other was about 60 ft. away. Abi surprised us all and walked about 150 ft. The greatest part is that she did it with the proper technique, not putting any weight on her left leg.

Earlier she walked herself to the restroom twice and also asked if she could get up and brush her teeth by herself. She has to use a walker, but it gets her mobile. I tell her baby steps when she gets frustrated and then when she is doing good I encourage her to do more.

Movement is difficult with the left leg. She has lost a lot of muscle mass in the right leg as well and can not lift her leg straight up. It goes to the inside and she can not control it. It will take some time to get her muscles back to normal.  Also it takes a ton of core muscles to lift legs and move them the way she is supposed to. And her core muscle in her abdomen has been cut through and is not healed yet. It makes things really difficult to deal with when you have spinal and pelvic injuries on the back and a large incision on the front.

No weight bearing on the left leg allowed. No moving with out a brace on. She must walk with a walker which requires her to bear weight on her arms in turn causing pain in her front incision. She really can't win either way she looks at it.

Today she did not eat much, by that I mean she ate 2 small potato chips. She has a feeding tube at night and they keep it turned up to 70. I am convinced that the feeding is what causes her vomiting at night. Which in turn causes her to be nauseated for most of the morning and not want to eat for the entire day. She has absolutely no appetite what so ever. We can not entice her with anything. She could care less. We have pretty much tried everything. I think if they let her go with out the tube for 1 night she would have the desire to try something. For all of her progress, I am most worried about the eating. I am worried that she will develop an eating disorder from this ordeal. When I say that she eats nothing I really mean nothing.
In the last 22 days she has had 6 bites of apple sauce ( weeks ago when they were doing speech therapy), 4 baby bites of chicken last night , 2 small potato chips today, and a bite of graham cracker last week. If there was anything else last week I was not made aware of it.
Physically she is coming along which is a huge praise! I just wish she would start to eat. She needs to eat in order to fully recover.

I promise more pics soon! Just as soon as my internet works properly!

Laughter Is Great Medicine!

Abi had some great visits today. The laughter was great and it kept abi in stitches... hahaha get it stitches???
I know that was cheesy, and lame. Forgive me.
It hurts for Abi to laugh but I think it is such great medicine. She was in such a great mood and her energy was great for the most part.

Josh stayed the night with Abi last night and it was a good break for my mom. I am sure having Josh stay over was a great thing for Abi as well.

 Her BFF came in to see her and have a sleep over tonight. Abi has not seen her in quite some time. Steph stayed with Abi in IMCU but Abi does not remember any of that. So to Abi it seems as if Steph has been away for a very long time.  Her BFF is called Right Brain and Abi is called Left Brain. Abi got fairly emotional seeing Steph.  Steph brought her a Crispy Chicken Sandwhich  from Wendy's and we got her to eat 4 bites of the chicken.  They currently have the feeding tube off during the day and turn it back on from 6pm to 6 am.  She has no appetite and refuses any food, so 4 bites of chicken was a good thing!  The nurse is pushing her to drink the gatorade, that they brought in to her. Now that her feeding tube is off during the day she is not getting any hydration and she needs to start getting some on her own.

Abi has a brain injury, and today that was a lot more apparent to me, than it has previously been, in her sleepy state. It is not something that is immediately noticeable, but if you talk with her long enough, say 1/2 an hour. You will notice she repeats her stories quite a few times with out realizing she has already told them. In the long run it is not something that is going to be life changing. And this is something we are hoping will just be temporary. But it is something that is more subtle.  It is funny to tease her about it and she takes it very well. tomorrow she will be so worn out that she won't know what hit her.  But it has been two steps forward 1 step back since the beginning.

Today I went to the hospital to help Abi shower. While getting her back into bed I noticed that her hematoma on her back was getting big again. The nurse made a note of it and they are going to have her doctors look at it in the morning. I am adamant that they not touch it with out first numbing her thoroughly. The last time they took care of it, they did it with out any pain relief. I told her she needed to use her words to make sure that they got the point! Please pray that she will not experience any discomfort during the treatment of this hematoma.

Just a reminder that visiting hours are from 4 pm to 8 pm. This ensures that you do not have to wait for her during one of her therapy sessions. They take therapy very serious in REHAB. Therapy takes precedence over everything else. Kids are allowed as long as they are not stressing out the other patients.  Her room number is 2616,  her phone number is 585-8066. It is a good thing to call before you come up. Especially if it is before visiting hours. She has a schedule and can tell you what time would be good.

Well that is all for tonight. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Have a great week. I will keep you updated if there is anything new to share.

FRIDAY NIGHT SATURDAY MORNING

Abi has had kind of a rough 24 hours. The therapy sessions have been rather strenous. The wear her out and then she sleeps. She has been in pain a lot today. They have had the brace off today as much as possible. They changed the charcoal filter in her incision. It was painful as the skin had adheared to the filter in a couple of spots. Also the tape was really stuck in a few spots. The nurses were very kind with her. She has been awake and talking with us and joking. It is so great to see her smiling and giving all of us crap. The crying when she is in pain is not nice at all. She has a corrset type thing around her middle. It is like a back brace the that contractors wear. We are very optomistic for her. God has bless us so much.

No news is good news?

I don't have a whole lot to report today. I was only able to see Abi for about and hour yesterday.

 Her friend Geri came up and stayed with her in the afternoon. Which gave us all a rest. 

The night before she was vomiting a lot and that put a damper on her therapy the next morning. If you don't sleep, you don't have the energy to do rehab. She sleeps a lot. Mostly her complaints consist of "I am tired" or " I want to sleep". 

I did hear that they cleared her to eat some food but for now the feeding tube is still in. I was told she tried mashed potatoes and roast beef, and broccoli. 

She also had a recreational therapist come in and play UNO with her and Geri. I think she won all 5 hands! 

She has had all of her meds readjusted to see if that helps with the nausea. 

 We heard a tentative release date for August 21. Obviously that will depend on her. But we do remember that time that they told us she would not wake up for weeks. She surprised them all by being awake 3 days later. 

This is what Abi thinks of this whole business!

pictures before and after and some inbetweeners

Ok these are not really before and after pictures more like first day pictures and nowish pictures.

 SICU

 IMCU

                                                                          IMCU

 Orthopedic Surgical Trauma floor (all of those dark spots are bruising)

 Orthopedic Surgical trauma floor (Caleb and Abi)

 Orthopedic Surgical trauma floor (Josh and Abi)

REHAB

This last picture of Abi is a rare one. She is only chipper for about an hour or two in a day, Then she flat wears out! 

Most of the time she sleeps. Sleeping is uncomfortable because she has to have her brace on at all times. She is not allowed to move with out it. She also has to sleep at a 30 degree angle due to the feeding tube. So she is never allowed to lay flat or any where near flat. 

Today she had 2 one hour sessions of Physical Therapy, 2 one hour sessions of Occupational Therapy, a one hour session of Speech Therapy, her first real shower since before the accident 17 days ago.  She has had her abdominal incision dressing changed twice. She was fitted with a new binder to wear under her brace to put pressure on her lower back to prevent another hematoma from forming. Took a ride in the wheel chair outside for fresh air.  All of this has put a huge drain on her and she slept most of the afternoon until I woke her for a shower. I bet she sleeps like a log tonight. 

She has also been experiencing a lot of nausea and vomiting today.  That also wears her out.  Hopefully she can rest and get re-energized for tomorrow. 

She is going to need it! 

Rehab rules and regulations etc...

Ok just another update on the rules of visiting Abi.
In rehab they tend to wear out their patients with Physical therapy, Occupational therapy and Speech therapy.
Abi will have 3 hours per day of therapy. She will get a schedule every morning of what her day will look like which will be nice and bring a sort of routine into her crazy little world. 

Visiting hours are from 4pm to 8pm. With Saturdays and Sundays a bit more flexible. Especially on Sundays.  She can also leave her room and take a ride in a wheel chair and even go outside.

It is encouraged that you call before coming up on any given day to make sure she is not in therapy when you get here. Even though it is during visiting hours she may be in a therapy session.
585-8066

Lastly we are back to 2 visitors at a time. Her new room is much smaller than before.
and you still need to wash upon entering and wash upon leaving the room, due to the nature of her infection being extremely contagious.

Abi was so much more active and even had some attitude today! Wide awake and talking!!!! But she is extremely exhausted now! she barely has any energy to stay awake or to talk.  So remember like her dad said "a good visit is a short visit"!   She wears out extremely fast.

Thank you all again for your love and support! It means the world to all of us.

Rehab and other updates

These 2 photos are from her last day in IMCU 

She still has her C-Collar on in the picture above. 

After her move to the orthopedic floor they removed everything except her IV and feeding tube. 

I am so sorry I did not get to post an update on Abi, yesterday. When I finally got home after the hospital and picking up the kids and softball practice, I went to my computer and I had Zero internet access so I did some trouble shooting to no avail. Then  I used my husbands laptop and he didn't have any access either. Ultimately I realized that the huge storm that blew over the mountains yesterday is what the problem was. So I decided to go to bed. I got up this morning and I have internet access again,  WOOO HOOOO!

Today Abi is being moved to rehab in the University hospital.  She will be going to a different wing of the second floor. Rehab is going to be super tough but she is a fighter and she can do this.

Yesterday my mom realized that the large mass on her lower back was really big. It just looked like her back was very swollen. After the doctor looked at it they realized it was a very big hematoma that could become very dangerous if not removed. This is essentially a bruise under the fatty layer. They ended up not numbing her at all. They used a 5 inch needle to stick her and drain it. It was excruciating for her and she screamed a lot. In the end they drained out 700 cc of blood. After a while she felt much better because that relieved a lot of the pressure on her spine and pelvis. She seemed to be in relatively good spirits.

After that I decided her hair needed a good washing. It had not been washed since the previous thursday. It was really hard washing her hair last week because of the c-collar she had worn for 12 days. It was removed on friday. The problem with having hair that is super thick and 44" long is that it gets really matted under the collar. So even with us washing and braiding her hair a few times a week, It was very tangled and a huge knotted mess in the back. I started washing her hair at around 1 pm yesterday. It took me about an hour to wash it. as soon as I was done with that part, Physical therapy came in and made her get up and walk from the side of her bed to the door and back. She was extremely agitated and frustrated. Part of it is the brain injury and not being able to process the emotions and frustrations and also be able to coordinate her body. The other part is the pain meds that make her a little fuzzy. Add into the mix the fact that she has been immobile and in bed for 15 days and you have an avalanche of emotions on your hands.

After Physical therapy was done with her, they put her back into bed and I again started on the process combing out her hair.  It took me till 5 pm to get her hair combed out and braided. Seriously the longest it has ever taken! The matting and knots were horrible on that back section. It was not all comb-able and I ended cutting some of it out in the back but only a small portion. I am sure she will love me and hate me for it, but it had to be done. I still am not happy with the end result so I am going to re-braid it  today.

During the time I was doing her hair, she also had some people come in to remove the sutures in her hip. Thankfully they weren't staples and it was a painless procedure.  She also was having an IV put in that had popped out earlier in the day.  Most of the time that I was doing her hair she slept right through it. even to the point of gently snoring, but if you ask her she would tell you I kept her awake the whole time.

She is also under the impression that she never gets to sleep before 4 am. For some reason she tells everyone that asks if she is tired the same thing.  For a few days in a row that has been the story. We know better. She does not remember any of her time in the IMCU. She only remembers things from the last few days in her newest room. We will see what she remembers when she is moved today.

Also a lot of people have asked if she remembers the accident.  She knows what happened to her because she has been told. But she does not even remember being at the lake that day.

Abi has some access to her phone. She has been texting a few people but she does not have her phone with her at all times. I think we are leaving that up to our discretion at this time. She wears out easily and she will need all of her strength for rehab.  She can also take phone calls on her hospital room phone as well. However we will limit those too. She is not going to be able to do all of her therapy and talk on the phone at the same time. She had a hard time getting off the phone yesterday so they could change her dressing on her abdomen.  Her Daddy finally had to threaten her with hanging  it up.  Typical teenage stuff!!!

Alright I will update more later. I am off to buy some new ribbons for her hair!

I can't wait!

Stacey here,

I have been out of town for the past 3 days, and in all that short while Abi has progressed tremendously from all reports. I can't wait to get to the hospital and see her!

 Dave thank you so much for taking over the blog while I was away!

Ok before I head up to the hospital, I need a quick shower to wash off all the dirty lake water, bug repellent, and the smell of the camp fire.
 Tootles

Beautiful Sunday

Here it is, almost a full two weeks since Abi's accident and God's miricles keep unfolding. She had surgery this morning (#6) to remove the filter in her vain to catch any blood clots. All went well. As usual the timing changed. She was scheduled for sometime around 11:30, they came and got her at 7:00 and she was back in her room and texting me at 9.  She is very up beat and smiling alot. She has had some visitors and more are coming up. She is excited to see how much everyone has cared about her. She is gaining strength every minute. When she needs to use the restroom she only needs help getting our of the bed and then to keep her steady. With the clam shell brace, she is a little top heavy.

She is indeed a miricle. Two weeks ago there was some doubt that she would make it at all. The next day or so we were told she would be in an induced coma for 2-4 weeks, maybe more. Then Friday she was moved to IMCU, then this past Friday to Ortho Trauma Unit where she was only on the feeding tube and a couple of IV's. Pain meds are at her request. When she gets to a pain level of 4, she will call the nurse and they will give her the meds. She says her pain level doesn't get up to more than a 5. Tomorrow she is moving again. This time to the Rehab unit. We are not sure how long she will be there, but my thoughts are not more than a week. When they feel like she can manage to get around by herself she will be discharged to home.

We can't express how blessed we have been by yur prayers.

Sorry

Abi's room is 6304 on the 6th floor. Elevators past the vending machines then right, through the doors.

SUPER SATURDAY

PRAISE THE LORD
Can you tell that I am excited? Abi has been resting on and off today, mostly off. She is on the Orthopedic floor, which is the 6th floor. She is off the morphine, so now she is makeing sense when she speaks, well as much sense as she normaly does. She had an Ultra Sound on her legs today and they were fine. The will do a minor surgery tomorrow to remove the filter that was placed to catch any clots. Her aunt and uncle came to visit her and gave Charlette a ride home. Hopefully she will get some rest before she comes back up tonight. Abi is in good hands, I'm here watching over my baby girl. Two of her fellow workers were also up and they had a good visit. Josie didn't even cry, although we thought she would a couple of times. The word is that she will be moved to Rehab on Monday. I am having a hard time fathoming the speed of her recovery. I just PTL for his healing hand on my Abi and his direction and guidance over the Medical Staff. The staff here at the U have treated us with the utmost respect and kindness. I would like to send each one of them a dozen or so roses.

Now, for visitation. There are no restrictions on visitation, as long as it doesn't affect the patient care. Any age can come and see her, which I know will thrill the children that she has taught and been with in the various churches that she has been at. There is an old addage that "a good visit is a short visit", but I don't know what kind of time that is refering too. I know a lot of you that come up will be coming across the valley, and we want everyone to get a chance to hug her and see her. The hospital staff will be monitoring her and will stop visits if it starts to affect Abi's care.

THE ABI GAME IS NEXT FRIDAY
Discovery won their game last night as the other team was afraid to show up and play them. Freedom lost their game, so that means Discovery and Freedom play next Friday at 6:30. The winner will go on to play at 8:30. Abi is a part of both churches, and said she will not predict a winner. This will be a LOVE GAME FOR ABI. We will have a t-shirt there for her friends to sign. Please plan to come to the game, sign a book for her, sign the shirt and get your picture taken that we give to her. The games are at the Redwood Rec Center at 3100 So. Redwood Road.

More later, Thank you all again for all your prayers.

GREATER NEWS

Abi is being moved from IMCU to the Orthopedics Floor as I write this. I don't have any details as to visitor restrictions and such, but will post when I have the info. WOW, I'd to a big dance if I could, but I'm sure I would hurt something.

GREAT NEWS

Charlette just notified me that Abi has made great strides today. They got her up on the side of the bed and told her not to put any weight on her left leg and they would help her to stand on her right. Before they could help her she stood up by her self. The neck brace has been removed as the C 7 vertibrae is not broken as originally thought. She has been sleeping of and on and is very cognisant of what is going on. She has been talking, which most of us figured that would be the 1st thing to come back. We should all be ready for non-stop chatter, and I'm really okay with that. All I can say is PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and your continued prayers. Thanks to everyone that has been such a blessing to the family. Most of all I want to thank Charlette, Stacey and Josh for making sure that someone was with her 24/7 for the past 12 days.

Please continue to pray that she will be moved to a medicin bad where we can get her some flowers and her friends can visit with her. There will probably be some restrictions on the amount of visitors she can have as she will still be on pain meds and can easily become agitated when things aren't going right. Wait a minute, that is the normal Abi, so may just sooner.

Our softball team will be playing tonight for a win in her honor.  Thanks again everyone.

more restful day!

Today has bee a more restful day for Abi they have changed her meds again. Finally they have gotten her to a point where her pain is manageable. I think we are just going to wait and see how long this works. HOPEFULLY FOR A WHILE!  Abi is coherent for the most part. Her meds are allowing her to be alert, she is not nearly as agitated. Her white blood count is starting to come down which is a huge praise! We are really seeing some progress now that she is able to rest. She is still in isolation, but she doesn't know any better. I don't think she really cares. As a matter of fact most of what she answers is I don't know or I don't care! She does know that she wants to go home. It is hard to tell her that she can't go home.

She can read and write also she can still do math. She has more issues with standing but she is getting stronger. It only takes a few minutes to wear her out, which is to be expected.  

All in all it has been a good day!

Isolation?

I stayed the night with Abi last night. It was a rough night for her. They have changed her meds, and she has a feeding tube. Because of the feeding tube they had to restrain her again. I was able to let her arms free as long as I was in the room with her. It was hard to rest because every time she moved her arms I wanted to know where her hands were and that she was not pulling on the feeding tube. Finally I got tired of her scaring the crap out of me and had them restrain her. It was the middle of the night. After about an hour they let 1 hand go so that she could move and turn. But the hand on the left where they had the feeding tube was still restrained.

Abi has a colitis, and infection in her colon. they are stopping the feeding with the tube and only using the tube to deliver antibiotics to the gut directly. Like I said she had a rough night and she only slept about 2-3 hours for the entire night. Yesterday was also rough.

They took off her morphine and are using other drugs that they thought would help control the pain better but they don't. She had a pain level of 8 all night long.  The good thing about this medication is that Abi knows where she is and what is going on. She knows everything about it. She remembers things from one minute to the next, and she was using the nurse call button on her own by 4 this morning. She was extremely agitated. By the time 5:30 am rolled around she was finally getting into a deep sleep so they decided it was time to come in and poke and prod and ask questions. And she slept through most of it.

Because of the infection, they have placed Abi on isolation. The nurses have made it clear to us that no one is going to be allowed to see her for a few days at the very least.  I was able to talk them into letting one immediate family member come in and sit with her during the day and another come in at night but that is all they will allow.
If the nurses would not have placed this restriction on Abi's visitor's we would have due to the nature of what is happening to her right now. She needs to keep all of the dignity she has intact. We want Abi's friends to see her as they know her and not have to experience anything gross. I know Abi would be highly embarrassed if anyone came in today or last night.   So for the next few days she is going to rest and keep getting better.

Last night to distract her from the pain I pulled out her notebook and started reading some of the things that people have written to her. She was shocked to hear that she had been in the hospital for 10 days and she had 5 surgeries. She was shocked at her injuries as well. Abi loved hearing some of the things her friends had written and she would smile or get all happy that someone had taken the time to come and see her. I asked who had come down and all she remembered was that Josh had been there as well as family but she knew that Steph had spent the day with her. She was bummed that she did not get to go to the Michael Franti Concert last night.  So as I read to her and showed her all the people who care for her she was brightened and also surprised by all the love.

PLEASE PRAY the doctors are very worried about her white blood count. It is TOO high, the doctor told me and he was very somber about it. He is worried about damage to her colon from the infection and does not want it to get to the point that it has to be removed.  please pray. I know GOD has worked many miracles on behalf of Abi. I know He will do more. I prayed with her last night for peace and comfort, and healing. She specifically asked if I would pray for her healing.  Mom is at the hospital today as well keep her in your prayers that she would be able to be strong for Abi and also a good distraction.

Thank you all for the wonderful encouragement from my post about CONCERNS.
It means alot!  We love all of you!

Josh has been at the hospital every night giving abi his attention and love!. Thanks Josh for being so amazing with her and showing her how much you want to be there with her. I love you and Happy birthday Sweet Heart!

concerns

I know that there are concerns for every one involved. I want to clarify any questions that we may have, on medicating others and Abi's morphine.  As for my mother she has had 3 nights that she has been medicated. Out of the 9 nights that Abi has been in the hospital we have only given mom medication for 3 of those nights and it is only when she is so exhausted that she has lost all common sense and concern for herself.  The first night it was a tylenol pm  the second and 3rd nights it was a valium. That is all she has had.

As for Abi she is on a morphine pump, she can have a bit of morphine every 10 minutes. We absolutely do not push it on her unless she is agitated and trying to move a lot (the doctors and nurses want her as still as possible because she is still on full spinal precautions) and is crying out that she is in pain, Please remember the doctors have set this up and she is trying to rest but is unable to due to the pain. She also has a head injury, that causes a lot of confusion.  If Abi is resting well we let her rest we don't care if she goes 10 minutes or 3 hours with out morphine as long as she is not suffering. Let's go over Abi's injuries again just so we can clarify why she would need a lot of pain meds.

L3 vertebrae fractured
Sacrum broken
12 inch incision on her abdomen left open
5 surgeries that she is recovering from
sutures in her hips and her head
Pins in her broken in 3 places pelvis.
spleen removal
head injury with a brain bleed

 not to mention that she has a really bad sore throat from her ventilator, and now has a feeding tube down her nose.

I hope this clarifies that we are not force feeding anyone medication on a daily basis and also that Abi is getting the utmost care. I know her doctors and nurses are working round the clock to get her better
Today they put in a feeding tube and also restrained her again.  The last thing they did was give her a shot for the pain that would last longer than the morphine, because it wasn't covering the pain for her.