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.