Dec 21, 2010

Check this out!http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/article_6fcf4b0c-0b86-11e0-b121-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story

I'm really happy with how it turned out! One correction is that we had fellowships, not scholarships. Minor detail. And mine was only a 2-year fellowship; Jimmy's is a full fellowship.

The folks in the first picture are Jeremy and Renee. Jeremy is Jimmy's mentor and is super duper nice. Renee was Jimmy's primary nurse at UW Hospital. Since she is also married to a quadriplegic, Renee was a HUGE source of knowledge for me! I'm so lucky to know her!

Dec 18, 2010

I can hardly believe it, but Jimmy has been home for a month now! Crazy! We are doing really really well, and are so excited for Christmas!

Jimmy got his permanent wheelchair today! It's super awesome and shiny and new!

Also, Jimmy has been interviewed by the Wisconsin State Journal about the mentoring program at UW Hospital. We had a photographer stop by our house and he stayed for about an hour and a half. He kept telling us to act natural, but it's hard to do that when a stranger is snapping pictures of you while you are trying to cook dinner. haha! The photos might make it in the paper, but might not. It should be printed on Sunday!

Nov 26, 2010

Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Jimmy has been out for over a week now! It feels so so good to have him home. Here is a quick run-down of how everything went. You all know how I love to make lists!

1. First night was a disaster. No exaggeration. Disaster. We hit a major speed-bump and had to call the hospital and ask for help. A nurses's assistant from the hospital was nice enough to come over our house at midnight after her shift ended to help us out. Since then, everything has been going ridiculously smooth! It has been great!

2. Nick and Jessica came to visit us! It was great having them with us for 5 whole days and we miss them already! Familiar faces made this unfamiliar apartment really feel like home. Not to mention that they cooked us wonderful meals and took charge of a lot of errands! Jimmy and I are both so thankful to have such fantastic friends!

3. All our pets are back under one roof! We started out with the cat, then the bunny, then finally the dog. Seeing the pets crawl onto Jimmy's lap and lay with them is sooo cute. He loves that they don't treat him any differently after his accident. They don't stare or get uncomfortable like many people do. They just want to snuggle him as usual.

4. Thanksgiving! I think it's obvious what I am thankful for this year. I get more time with my best friend in the whole world, I really can't ask for anything more than that! He made it, he's happy, and we're slowly getting back to normal.
Hopefully everyone is having a great holiday!

Nov 16, 2010

Jimmy is being released today and I am so nervous! I hope I do a good job and take really good care of him. I feel experienced enough, the hospital did a great job teaching me all about spinal cord injuries. For those of you that are friends with Jimmy and saw his Facebook post last night, YES that was really him! He has a sweet program on his laptop now called Dragon Speak. It types whatever he says; so of course he got on Facebook to say hello to everyone! Okay, I'm rambling now. It's only because I'm nervous!

Nov 9, 2010

 If all goes according to plan, Jimmy comes home in a week! I've got my to-do list about halfway checked off and I feel like I'm scrambling!

Nov 8, 2010

Hey folks!

Thanks to some wonderful folks at the law school our apartment is now full of our stuff and live-able! It is such a strange feeling to unpack boxes of your stuff that you haven't seen in months. I about had a heart attack when I came across my Uggs! It has been way too long since I've worn them! And all my favorite beanies! And when I get tired of unpacking I can lay down on our bed! I am so over the bed in the hospital. Only 8 days until our release date! YAY!!!!!

Oct 29, 2010

Great news! We are officially no longer homeless!!!!!!!! I am standing inside out new apartment! It is wonderful and beautiful and great and super duper. Maybe I'll put up some photos soon!

Jimmy got his trach out yesterday!!! It is wonderful to see him without the nose tube and without the trach! He looks great, and he feels great too!

No trach, beautiful apartment, end of homelessness, plus Halloween! This may just be the best weekend ever!

Oct 25, 2010

Lots of news! On Friday all of Jimmy's food and drink restrictions were lifted! He can now eat and drink whatever he wants! He has really been enjoying diet pepsi, diet coke, and pickles!

This went really smoothly over the weekend, and the nurses were able to convince him to take his pills by mouth instead of through his nose tube. Now that he can consistently take them by mouth, they are going to go ahead and pull out the nose tube! Whooooo!

He has been doing okay with the new trach tube, but he still needs them to suction out his lungs occasionally. It will all get better, and I am sure the trach tube will come out soon!

Oct 19, 2010

Yesterday when I got to the hospital after work Jimmy had his new trach in! It's all metal, and looks super crazy! It stays plugged so Jimmy has to breathe through his nose and mouth instead of breathing through his nose, mouth, and throat too. He says it's like breathing through a straw, but that he's starting to get used to it. He had the nurses save the old trach in a jar so I could look at it when I got there. Crazy! As I said before, when people get the metal trach put in it only stays in for about a week! So excited!

Oct 16, 2010

Hey everybody this is Jimmy. Ashley's typing for me. I want to thank everyone for their well wishes, it's helping me get stronger everyday. Miss everyone back in California, and looking forward to more visits from my Wisconsin friends. Hope everyone's doing well! Getting sleepy....bye!

Oct 15, 2010

Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything new in a while. We've just kinda been hanging out. If anyone wants to visit, please just contact me to set up a time!

Jimmy's arms are getting stronger, and he worked on feeding himself yesterday. He was able to eat some lunch with just a bit of help from his occupational therapist. Yes!

His breathing is also improving so they are going to be putting in a new trach tube called a "Jackson" on Monday. Usually when the Jackson gets put in, it only stays in for a week and then they go ahead and pull everything out and let it heal. It's the last trach tube step, so that's a really good thing!

Next Thursday the College of Engineering is holding a demo of cool adaptive technologies that have built for people with disabilities. Jimmy's physical therapist is going to drive him over, and I will leave work and meet them there. It should be cool! Can't wait to see all the vendors, all their gadgets and doo-dads, and what we can look forward to!

Oct 8, 2010

Jimmy took another swallow test today and he did pretty well! He is still not allowed to drink thin liquids, but he can have normal food now (with the exception of raw fruits/veggies and nuts). Today when I got to the hospital he had already ordered and nibbled on a burger, fries, and a slice of cheesecake! And for dinner he ate some pizza and lemon meringue pie. You should have seen the smile on his face when his pizza arrived...priceless!

In other news, I went to visit the apartment we will most likely be moving into. The landlord is SUPER sweet, and had the place completely gutted. The last tenants were pretty hard on the place so we are getting: all new carpet, new vinyl flooring, new kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, a new stove, new light fixtures, and they are remodeling the bathroom for us to make it 100% wheelchair accessible. It's going to look ridiculously awesome! She also gave me a whole bunch of ideas on how to use our space well and "make it look really cute". It's in a quiet neighborhood, and there is a community garden that no one uses (that means I can take over it, right?) Such an awesome apartment and it's super duper wheelchair friendly! Yay!

Oct 6, 2010

Yesterday Jimmy's physical therapist got him into his wheelchair and took him outside. He then proceeded to have Jimmy navigate the wheelchair in the dirt and on a little hill. Totally went off-roading!

The physical therapist is trying to demonstrate the difference between front-wheel-drive and mid-wheel-drive wheelchairs. They'll go off-roading again today in a mid-wheel-drive wheelchair so Jimmy can feel the difference. I looked up the differences between the two and we have discussed them extensively. Jimmy's pretty sure that he's going to go for the front-wheel-drive, but of course he wants to go off-roading again!

Oct 5, 2010

Today they let me put Jimmy's wedding ring back on him! Whoo! I have been wearing it on a necklace for a month now, so I'm probably going to have at least 5 moments over the course of the day where I'll think I have lost it.

Oct 3, 2010

Hi everyone! It's been a couple of days since my last post! Things are going about the same over here. Jimmy still has the sore throat, but an Ear/Nose/Throat doctor came in to look at him. Everything down there looks pretty normal, but they are thinking that it's a viral infection. Looks like we are just going to have to wait it out. They have this numbing medicine that they give him just before he eats to allow him to eat much easier. Today he ate a whole bowl of cream of wheat for breakfast, and a whole little bowl called a "Magic Cup" for lunch (Magic cup= ice cream packed with nutrients and protein). When he first started eating, he'd take like 4 bites of Magic Cup and be totally stuffed. He has come a long way!

They get him into his power wheelchair everyday. They usually do this during the day, so by the time I get here in the evening, he is back in bed. The last time I saw him in the wheelchair was on Wednesday afternoon, the day he got it. Since it's the weekend, I have been with him constantly and could see him and his chair in action. He's SO GOOD at driving it! I am amazed! When I get in that thing, I hit every wall in sight. It's actually much much harder than it looks. He's getting a lot more adventurous and wants to go for walks around the hospital. Today we went and visited the Neuro ICU and got to reunite with our nurses there. They were all so happy to see him! Then we puttered around the lobby and looked at the paintings, the sculptures, and this cool area with a glass ceiling. After that, we laid down in his bed and watched Date Night. It has been a great weekend!

Sept 30, 2010

Jimmy is about the same as the last few times that I have posted. Still hanging in there! He tried out a practice wheelchair yesterday and it was awesome. He even drove it for a bit. After the nurses put him back in bed, me and his physical therapist decided to crank up the speed on the wheelchair and see how fast it can go. Oh my goodness, it was scary fast!
We got moved to another room, and it's much bigger. We are in the same area of the building as before, but 3 rooms down (room 460). It's super awesome!

Also, Jimmy has a really awful sore throat that is preventing him
from eating anything. The sad thing is that his appetite is back and he
actually wants to eat! It turns out that he never had pneumonia, and he
definitely doesn't have strep, so the doctors are confused at what is
going on back there. It may be the trach tube, but he's not ready to
have that pulled out yet. They are giving him lozenges, spraying numbing
stuff, and next on the list is to try gargling with lidocaine jelly. I
hope it works!

Sept 27, 2010

President Obama is visiting campus tomorrow!!! Who thinks I should storm the stage and give him a big hug for health care reform? Can you imagine Jimmy's nurses walking in and saying "Sorry Mr. Anderson, your wife can't be with you tonight because she was arrested." HA!

Sept 25, 2010

Today is one of those days when you wake up and decide to wear your FINEST cat shirt just to make someone you love laugh. We've been watching movies for the majority of the day: the 40-year old virgin, Juno, Legally Blonde 1 and 2, and now The Proposal. Jimmy's laugh is hilarious!!! It doesn't even sound like him! He'll laugh at the movie, but then start laughing at the way he is laughing, and then I'll laugh, and then we'll just keep laughing and laughing and laughing.

They let me take him outside today! It was chilly, so I'm going to go to the yarn store and get crackin' on a scarf/hat/mitten set for him.

Sept 24, 2010

Oh man, that Trazadone makes him sleep like a baby! So awesome! I woke up a couple times last night and peeked over at him, and he was totally out! Thank goodness, he needs all the energy that he can get for rehab. Yesterday he sat all the way up in his wheelchair during the whole rehab session (about 6-7 hours). A couple days ago he could only sit in a wheelchair for about an hour IF the wheelchair was tilted back 30 degrees. He is doing a great job!

Today is September 24th and I can't believe that we have been in the hospital for a whole month now. And with our discharge date planned for Nov 16, we will be in the hospital just shy of two more months. When all of this is done, we'll have spent one-quarter of 2010 in the hospital...but at least he'll be home for theholidays! Thanksgiving and Christmas...so excited! We are missing Halloween though, and I'm sad because we've always done couple's costumes since we were like 17 or 18. Hmmmm, maybe the hospital will let me dress him up anyway... If so, I better start thinking of something good!

Just wanted to say that President Obama is my hero. Jimmy has a lifetime health insurance maximum of $2 million. That sounds like A LOT, but we are close to reaching it. After 3 weeks in the ICU in California and getting neck surgery, we were already at $1 million. Then we had to get on a private flight to Wisconsin. Then we were in the ICU for another week. His rehab is about $3,000 per day, and this doesn't include wheelchair and all the adaptive equipment that we'll need. We'll be in rehab until November 16th.

Thanks to healthcare reform, I'm no longer worried about Jimmy reaching a stupid lifetime maximum! And in 2014 we'll be free to switch insurance companies without worrying about all that "pre-existing condition" BS. Thanks, Obama! You totally saved us from riiiiiiiiidiculous amounts of medical bills.

Even if you aren't a fan of health care reform or Obama in general, you gotta admit, this is pretty freaking awesome!!!

Sept 23, 2010

Jimmy didn't sleep at all on Tuesday night because of all the disruptions involved in hospital stays. Tonight, they brought in the big guns: Trazodone! He's sleeping like a baby, and even fell asleep during his breathing treatment (a very noisy procedure!)

It's SO nice to see him resting! He hardly ever sleeps!

This morning before I left Jimmy said, "Don't forget tonight is The Office and 30 Rock". YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I'm glad he's keeping track of these things because my brain is totally fried!

Okay, so it may be a bit longer than 3-4 weeks... Our planned discharge date is november 16th! Applied for an apartment yesterday and am waiting to hear back. Wheelchair accessible places are hard to find, and are a hot commodity!

Sept 22, 2010

We got moved to rehab yesterday! They let him rest for the remainder of the evening, so today was his first full day of rehab. He is pretty darn tired! It's 6 hours per day of re-learning how to do stuff, and he even lifted some weights today. They put a speaking valve on his trach tube, so when I got to the hospital we were able to talk! He also sat in a wheelchair for an hour. I come back from work and he was in normal clothes, sitting up, AND talking. I was soooo excited!

He's eating real food now too! No thin liquids like water and regular juice, but things that are thicker are just fine. They add thickener to juice and lemonade so that he can have "beverages". I tried some of his thickened orange juice today and it sucked! Today for dinner he had some minced carrots, mashed potatoes & gravy, and pudding. He did not want the hospital meatloaf (it definitely looked sketchy!)

I talked to his doctor today and found out that we'll probably be in rehab for 3-4 weeks. Now to find an apartment!

Sept 21, 2010

Jimmy has pneumonia! Yucky! He feels pretty sick, but it still in such good spirits! It is not surprising that he has pneumonia though, since he was on a ventilator for so long, his cough is still pretty weak, and he has tubes leading straight down into his lungs. He's on broad spectrum IV antibiotics and hopefully he'll
start feeling better soon!

His respiratory therapist put a speaking valve on his trach tube. This morning, she woke me up and said
"Jimmy has something to tell you". Usually they wake me up so that I can help them lip-read what Jimmy is saying. I sat up in bed fully prepared to lip-read, but he actually said "I love you" with his voice! It was
pretty much the best thing ever! ♥

Sept 20, 2010

Just got off the phone with Jimmy's nurse!

Poopy news: no beds available in rehab yet, but maybe tomorrow!

Great news: they deflated the cuff on his trach tube and he's talking! they also let him eat some pudding and drink some grape juice! Tomorrow they'll send him down and make him swallow something with contrast dye or barium, and then look to make sure that the food and liquids are going to his stomach, and not anywhere where they don't belong.

Please lord, let him pass this test! He's been craving gatorade for a week, and I would really love to go buy him a whole case of it!!!!

Can't wait to get back to the hospital and hear his voice again! Is work over yet?

Sept 19, 2010

It's no surprise that all the nurses and respiratory therapists at the hospital love Jimmy. He has been called "the ideal patient", "the perfect patient", "rockstar", and other fantastic things on more than one occasion. He's so motivated to heal, even when his respiratory therapists do really uncomfortable things to him. He wants to breathe just a couple more reps, and tries really hard to improve to improve his breathing stats from the day before. When his physical therapists leave, he rests, and then all the sudden I look up and he's doing more reps of his arm exercises. He is working so hard; he wants to get the heck out of here!

Put engine coolant into the car all by myself! Go me! I went to target and bought the coolant (pre-diluted, anti-freeze already added) and bought a funnel. I was so proud of myself. Kate and I has previously looked at the car manual, opened up the hood, and found the right place to add the coolant. We are very talented ladies! I treated myself to two scoops of ice cream for a job well done.

Jimmy wants me back at work ASAP, so I'm going back tomorrow! I'm hoping that he gets moved to the rehab wing tomorrow while I am at work!

Dangit, his respiratory therapist just walked in and woke him. He JUST fell asleep. I hate the fact that he can never get more than an hour of sleep because folks are always coming in to mess with him. Grrrrrrrr......

Sept 18, 2010

Hey folks, great news! Jimmy is ready to step down from the neuro ICU to a normal neuro room! YES! After watching so many patients (in California and here) come to the ICU and then leave, it is finally our turn! We're on a waiting list of 5 people, and they discharge a lot of patients on the weekends, so hopefully by Monday we'll be in a new room.

And they want him to start rehabilitation on Monday!

And he's been breathing on his own for a whole day now!

So much good news!

Sept 16, 2010

Yesterday was good and not so good (I refuse to say "bad").

The not so good: they pulled his breathing tube out because he was doing very very well, and he had it out for a few hours, but then they had to put it back in again because he got really really really tired from breathing on his own. Normally, we all breathe with 2 sets of muscles, our diaphragm, and other muscles in our ribs. Jimmy's paralysis has limited him to his diaphragm, and just like any muscle, it needs to be worked out to get stronger and stronger.

The good: he has some sensation in his hands and fingers! He could feel me holding his hand! The sensation is like pins and needles he says, but at least he feels something there! Yay!

I have been kicked out of Jimmy's room for the moment because Jimmy is receiving a tracheostomy. The doctors and nurses gave us all the pros and cons before letting Jimmy decide:

The cons: It's ANOTHER procedure, and he would have to be under general anesthesia. It will leave a scar on his neck (he already has two large scars from his neck surgery last week). It could be painful after he wakes up.

The pros: He will have that dang tube out of his mouth. I'll be able to understand him when he mouths his words/sentences. They can add a speaking attachment thingy to the new trach tube to let him talk. Once they evaluate his ability to eat real food, he'll be able to eat while the trach is in. He will be at a lower risk of pneumonia. And the most promising part is that transitioning from a trach tube to breathing on your own is a lot easier than getting extubated to start breathing on your own.

Jimmy refused the trach at first, but when he found out he could be closer to eating real food he changed his mind. Poor guy hasn't had real food in over 3 weeks now!

The trach tube is in, and Jimmy is doing fine. The nurses and his respiratory therapist commented on how smoothly it went. I can totally read his lips now, and it feels really nice! He is experiencing some discomfort, but it should pass soon.

In other news, I found out that there is a place in the hospital that sells Babcock ice cream that is open 24 hours a day. Two scoops for $3! And they take VISA giftcard! YESSSSSS!

Sept 14, 2010

In madison! This hospital is very swanky! I even have a bed right next to jimmy so I can finally stop sleeping in chairs! He is excited to be here, and he is excited for me to begin the apartment hunt and bring back lots of brochures for him to look at. I'll ask the nurse our address and post it!

Top 10 things about this hospital in no particular order:

1. It's on the UW campus; everyone we know in Madison is right here in town.

2. Hospital is newer and super updated.

3. Everyone here is super friendly, I love his doctors and nurses already.

4. The waiting room has a computer with internet (using it right now), a refrigerator, a vending machine, and a sweet fish tank.

5. The doctors and nurses here are keeping me really informed, I don't feel like i have to chase anyone down and pester them for information.

6. I have a bed in Jimmy's room!!! Best sleep I've had in weeks!

7. They let me use my phone in his room. Makes it easier to keep in contact with everyone and keep the facebook updated.

8. The room has a big window, and there is a ton of natural light! Excited to reduce use of those flickery fluorescent lights.

9. Rehabilitation is here in the hospital so we will not need to be transferred anywhere.

10. And the BEST thing about this hospital is that Jimmy likes it and feels comfortable here.

Sept 13, 2010

Today is the day! We're flying out this evening. We'll be on a crazy fast jet so our flight time will be only 3 hours! See you later central valley, hello madison!

This is the craziest facebook update I have ever done! I am riding in the front seat of an ambulance on route to the stockton airport! Jimmy is in the back with our flight crew...they are very skilled nurses!!

They gave jimmy some zofran into his IV to prevent nausea. I was like, "can I get some of that?" And they gave me a pill. Anyone who knows me well knows that I get car-sick a lot, and I always feel icky on planes. We are flying to madison on a leer jet, so we will be going ultra fast! They also offered me some anti-anxiety meds, but I want to be alert. They hooked jimmy up with some good stuff so he'll be nice and comfy during the flight. I'll do enough worrying for the both of us!

Sept 12, 2010

Hey everyone! The neuro unit at UW hospital is full, so we won't be leaving California until a space for Jimmy opens up. Maybe Monday, maybe later than that. All of our stuff is packed up, so it feels like we are on-call. Crazy stuff!

Sept 11, 2010

Medical flight will most likely be tomorrow (sunday) at 9AM. Jimmy is excited to get back to wisconsin! His doctor says we're ready for transport, and she sees him everyday. I'm confident in her assessment, and I know that the medical flight is super safe, but I've always been scared of change. But this is what Jimmy wants, so we're going to go for it!

Sept 10, 2010

Not 100% sure when we'll be making our way back to Wisconsin. The insurance company is pushing for today, but his doctors here in California think he needs a couple more days to heal. So it probably won't be today, but it could be tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day... I hate not knowing...

Jimmy was also much more awake last night. He is mouthing his words again, and I was able to talk to him a little bit more about our upcoming flight back to Wisconsin. He is excited to get back, we both consider it home. As soon as I find out when we're headed back, I'll let you all know!

Yesterday was so overwhelming since I found out that we had to come back to Madison. Don't get me wrong! I love Madison and all of our friends there, but it is hard to leave our family and friends here. I was really freaking out, and upset that the insurance company was just now letting me know this information. I talked with Jimmy about the medical flight, everything that is going on, asked him if he was okay with these decisions, etc. I think he realized that I was pretty upset with all this insurance company BS. He looked right at me, and mouthed "I'm alive". I was like WHOOOOOOOOOOA! All morning I had been so wrapped up in my frustrations with insurance that I had temporarily forgotten what really really mattered. He put me back in the right frame of mind, like he ALWAYS does! He's such a great guy!

Sept 9, 2010

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since the last update! Jimmy is still doing just fine. He is catching up on rest. He was unable to sleep for a couple days before the surgery, so he is pretty exhausted.

We literally JUST found out that we need to move back to Wisconsin to get back into our insurance coverage area. I have talked to a couple of attorneys about this, and there's really nothing we can do about the situation. We can go and be covered, or stay and deal with the bills ourselves (Medicare cannot guarantee that they will pay for all of it). Jimmy's medical bill as of yesterday was $750,000, and thank God our insurance is paying 100% of that. We have no deductible, and no co-pay, so that's a very good thing.

He'll go through rehab in Wisconsin and we'll go from there! We will be on an ultra fancy medical flight and Jimmy will have 3 specialists watching his every breath. This flight is equipped with everything you would find in an ICU. I can fly over with him, and we'll be going straight to UW Hospital. His doctors want to keep him and get him more stabilized for just a couple more days. It's all happening so fast my head is spinning. Jimmy was awake for a while today and I let him know the whole situation. He agreed that this is the best decision we could make at this time, so it made me feel better that he's okay with it.

Wisconsin folks, we'll see you soon! Thanks to all who helped with the house packing, and will be helping with the move tomorrow! The house is 2-story, so we'd ultimately have to move out of it anyway....just going to be moving our stuff into storage, and when Jimmy is going through rehab I can start looking for apartments. And don't worry about me being homeless...Kate Frigo is very nicely going to let me stay with her in her awesome new apartment.

Sept 8, 2010

6 hour surgery complete!!! Went without a hitch, and he remained stable the whole time! Now that his neck is stabilized, they'll be able to sit him up and get going on physical therapy! So happy!

Sept 6, 2010

Jimmy is still progressing! His oxygen is at 35%, so we are getting there! They also changed the mode on his ventilator so that he is doing all his breathing on his own. They have to get his muscles strong again, and then they'll be able to take that dang tube out! He's REALLY over the tube, he wants to talk!

...

Breathing tube is out!!! He can finally talk! I spoke to his doctor today before the took the tube out, and he told me that if Jimmy asks about his family I should just be honest. He is taking it surprisingly well, and he's also taking the paralysis well too. It may take quite a while for all of this to sink in... I'm just so happy to hear his voice again!

Sept 5, 2010

Jimmy is at 40% oxygen, and they have turned off his sedation completely! His shoulder muscles are very tense, so they have him on a muscle relaxer. He is still doing the majority of his breathing on his own! His arms are still pretty darn strong for laying still for a week and a half. His nurse extends his arms and holds onto his wrists, and he then does a bicep curl and pulls her in. She had me do it so I could see how strong his biceps are and he yanked me so hard I lost my footing. Wasn't expecting that! His right arm is weaker than his left arm, but of course he's going to be getting even stronger when he gets to rehab!

He is also back to his old self! Even though he can only answer yes or no questions by shaking his head, he's still very sarcastic! He rolls his eyes, and is being very sassy.

The two of us had a dance party last night! He wanted his music on, and a song that he really liked came on. All the sudden he starts moving his arms and shoulders. I was about to sprint out the room and get his nurse, but his facial expression looked really calm. Then I asked him, "Are you dancing?" and he shook his head yes. So we had a little dance party for 2 songs, and then he took a nap. The nurses probably thought that we were insane, but mini dance parties are a part of our normal lives at least weekly!

This morning I came in to check on him and he winked at me. Very sassy! ;)

Funniest moment of the day yesterday, "Blink once if you want to listen to Britney Spears" and then he blinks like 20 times really fast. HILARIOUS!

Sept 4, 2010

Hi everyone, Jimmy is doing so well today! His oxygen was taken down to 50%!!! And he's looking great. They showed me his chest x-rays today and they look so much better! He is still wide awake, and is starting to smile and he has been mouthing words. Today he mouthed "I love you" which was wonderful! He also mouthed "Corey" (his bff). You should have seen Corey strutting around the hospital, so proud that Jimmy asked for him! Today was awesome, we just need to break that fever!

Jimmy is still wide awake, and we can ask him lots of yes-or-no questions. Last night he wanted me to stay with him while he fell asleep. Stood for an hour, in flip flops, at midnight! My feet were all swollen and red from standing still for so long. He kept waking back up, and eventually, he was okay with me going to lie down. I think he saw that I couldn't keep my eyes open. Got some good sleep in the waiting room (you can only sleep in the room if the patient is under 18...whatever). Came back in to check on him this morning, and his oxygen had been taken down to 45%! YES!!! So happy!

Jimmy is still looking awesome! Oxygen still at 45%, and still very awake. He's taking a lot of breaths on his own, hopefully they'll take that tube out of his mouth soon!

Sept 3, 2010

Jimmy did awesome yesterday. His blood pressure was right around 120/70...a lot of healthy people WISH their blood pressure was that good! His oxygen was taken down to 70% over the course of the day, and last night around 9 or so, it was down to 65%. I slept in his room last night, and when I left this morning at 6:20, it was still at 65%. He's breathing great! He's also wide awake, looking around, making eye contact! He can reply to yes or no questions by shaking his head, I always feel so much better when I ask if he's in pain and she shakes his head "no". Feels so look into his eyes again, and we can kinda have conversations!

Sleeping in chairs sucks! But it feels nice to come home, shower, and update facebook on a nice comfy bed. Will be leaving for the hospital again in just a few minutes!

Sept 1, 2010

Jimmy still looked good when I left he hospital tonight! He is still at 65% oxygen, and his blood is nicely saturated! Whooo hoo! I talked with his nurse about today's chest x-ray, and the bruising in his lungs is starting to clear up a little bit! The collapsed lung looks better, and the pneumothorax (air pocket between the lungs and the chest wall) that formed when his lung collapsed is gone. All good news!

He is a strong guy and he has so much going for him. His age, he doesn't drink much, he doesn't smoke, and he very very rarely gets sick. We had a pretty darn good day today. Keep the thoughts and prayers coming!

Jimmy's surgery is going to have to be pushed back. The neurosurgeon said maybe Friday, but we'll have to wait to see if his lungs improve. Let's hope the surgery is soon!

Aug 31, 2010

First, the not-so-good news: Jimmy's lungs are still in pretty bad shape. He's fighting really hard, though! The bruising in the lungs will need time to heal, and then hopefully it will be much easier for him to keep his oxygen saturation up.

Second, the good news: They took him off his final blood pressure medication today! His blood pressure looks great! AND he actually does not have pneumonia! They will keep checking him for pneumonia tomorrow and the next day just to be on the safe side. They were able to turn his oxygen down so that the machine is giving him 80% oxygen instead of 100% oxygen. The air we breathe is like 21% oxygen, so the goal is to get his machine giving him less and less oxygen. He was able to keep his blood saturated while being given 80% oxygen, so that is definitely better.

Although his lungs look pretty bad still, there were a LOT of high fives today. Me, the families, and our nurse are all pretty excited about his progress today!

Jimmy is looking really good right now. Blood pressure still looks great and they were able to lower him to 65% oxygen and he's still keeping the amount of oxygen in his blood looking really good. Yay!

Aug 30, 2010

Jimmy got pneumonia today, which he is already predisposed to since he is on a ventilator. Right now he can't cough the bacteria out of his lungs, so that's why he got the pneumonia. They have him on a course of antibiotics, and we should start to see improvement in about 1-2 days, and they expect his chest x-rays to clear up 1-2 days after that.

Today I asked to sit down with his doctor, his PA, and his nurse. They let me see all his x-rays and CT scans. It was really scary to actually see his fractured bones, but I think it's better for me to be fully aware of every single injury. He gets a chest x-ray everyday, so I had them go through all his chest x-rays and explain to me how things in his lungs have been progressing. I will definitely be keeping an eye on all the CT scans and x-rays they do in the future, and having someone explain to me what's going on.

Whenever I'm in the room with him, I'm keeping an eye on his blood pressure. I went in to his room after a late dinner at about 8:15PM and his systolic blood pressure reading was about 130. I started talking to him and giving him lots of kisses and it shot up to 152, and the machine started to beep because it was getting so high. I backed off him and let him settle back down to about 130 and then I started talking to him again. It went back up to 150, and again, the machine started to beep. I went out to talk to his nurse to ask if maybe I should leave him alone and just sit in there quietly and not touch him. She explained to me that his blood pressure is going up because he realizes that I'm there, and that I should touch and talk to him as much as I want. She also explained that everyone's blood pressure fluctuates naturally, and it always changes when we are interacting with others.

Before I said goodnight I asked Jimmy to blink for me (even though his eyes were still closed). He totally blinked! I kept on asking and asking and he kept doing it! Then I started to tell him how much I love him, and I asked him to blink if I could give him some kisses. He blinked, and then I went to town smooching his forehead.

Oh, and a very interesting tidbit of info that I learned today! An orthopedic nurse came in today to check on his broken foot, and she told me she was there when he was first brought in. She said "You must be Ashley" and I was thinking she must have just read his paperwork and seen my name somewhere. She then mentioned that he was very talkative when he was first brought in to the ER, and she told me that he actually gave them my name and phone number when he came in. He actually gave her a couple of phone numbers of people to call. The fact that he was so aware that he could recall multiple phone numbers is amazing! I am so amazed by him!

Aug 29, 2010

Hi everyone. Jimmy's left lung collapsed early this morning, but they fixed it, and he's back to where he was yesterday. The lung collapse sucks, but his lungs suffered a lot of bruising, which I've been told is probably because of the seat belts. This is just a setback, and we'll get through it. His lungs had been looking and sounding pretty strong for the last couple days, but a lot of times things get worse before they get better. It's hard to accept that, but it's something that I will work on coping with.

Jimmy and I have a friend who is a really amazing trauma nurse. She cares about Jimmy very much, and she took it upon herself to call me and get my permission to call and his nurses and doctors. She explained a lot of things for me very well, and I really appreciated it! She also recommended that I start keeping a journal and include things like which medications he's on, what that particular medication treats, how much he's getting, how his breathing is doing, etc. It will be nice to keep track of those things for myself. She also gave me a list of questions that I should ask his doctors and nurses every single day, and I will start keeping track of their answers. I'm so happy to have her be able to think of these kinds of things for me. My brain is a wreck, and she helped me get some things on track today. I am so thankful for her!

Today my sister met me at the AT&T store near the hospital. She bought me a Blackberry so that I can have internet access at the hospital. (The hospital does not have wifi). She's added my phone to her account, so she's very nicely paying for not only the phone, but the bill too. Right now, I spend about 1 hour when I wake up and about 1.5-2 hours before I go to sleep to check and respond to e-mails and do facebook updates about Jimmy's recovery. I have only been sleeping about 4 hours per night and it's been really exhausting. She got me the phone so that I can keep people updated during the day, and try to get a bit more sleep at night. The more sleep I get, the stronger I will be for Jimmy!

Once I get this internet-on-the-phone thing figured out, you guys can look forward to daytime updates instead of middle of the night ones! I think that's it for now! I will talk to you guys tomorrow!

Aug 28, 2010

Hey everyone! Jimmy had a wonderful day at the hospital today! He was still being kept sedated and he is on a lot of pain meds, but he was opening his eyes when he heard voices around him! He is still very stable, and his neurologist is thinking that he will be able to have his neck surgery late next week. After his neck surgery, we'll be in the ICU for 4-5 days, and then they'll move him straight to a rehabilitation facility. It's all moving so quickly, but this is how they always do it. They sooner we get his muscles moving, the better! He is also kicking butt and doing a lot of breathing on his own!

Thanks for your thoughts and well wishes, everyone!

Aug 27, 2010

Hi guys, thanks for the messages! It is nice to know that we have our friends behind us. Today, Jimmy breathed on his own for an hour and a half! I was so proud of him. They also took him off of one of his blood pressure medications and he remained stable. They are starting to wean him off his final blood pressure medication, and he is still doing great.

I asked the nurses to teach me what all the numbers on his monitors mean, and what is the target number for each thing. I'll bet they regret teaching me, because if something starts to get too low or too high I am in the hallway grabbing whichever nurse is closest so they can check on him.

He had a 5-10 minute procedure done today that placed filters in veins just in case he is forming clots in his legs. He stayed completely stable during the procedure, and the nurses were all super proud of him!

Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers guys. Keep em comin'!

Jimmy's Recovery (copied from the Facebook group)

Hello everyone, thanks for joining the group! I will try to keep it updated as often as possible! Thank you for the calls and texts, and I'm sorry if I haven't been able to get back to everyone. I thought this page would help keep you all notified. Right now, Jimmy is surrounded by my family and Corey's family, and his aunt and uncles are on the way!

He's at Doctor's Medical Center in Modesto, CA on the neurology floor in the ICU. He is able to respond to yes or no questions, and for the time being does not want any visitors in the room beside me. I ask him every few hours if he wants to see anyone, and he says no. The ICU is also for family only, but given his circumstances with the loss of his parents and brother, they are being a bit more lenient with who can come in. Feel free to come down to Doctors between 8AM and 7PM to hang out with my parents in the waiting room, I'll be there from time to time and can update you directly.

Jimmy is awake now, he can open his eyes, and he recognizes our faces. He can shake his head yes or no, and the nurses say that it's fine to ask him questions. Right now, he doesn't want any visitors except for me, but feel free to come hang in the hospital with my family. Doctor's Medical Center, Modesto CA, 3rd floor, neurology. I am in the waiting room from time to time, and I'd love to see anyone who is able to come visit!

New Chocolates!

Someone on Etsy bought one of my custom chocolates! She told me that she likes chocolate buttercreams and chocolates with raspberry filling. She said she likes sprinkles, but that drizzle would be fine too...

This is what I came up with:

I wonder which one she will like the best!



Here is a photo of all the chocolates that I currently have. They make me hungry!

Luna!

Here is a photo that Pete and Lea sent of baby Luna wearing her bear stuff! She's so cute!!!! I can't wait to meet her!

Hat and Cowl for the Fall!

I made these for myself a couple of months ago when I started missing the snow. I can't wait for it to get cold so I can wear them! I absolutely love the yarn that I used on these...they are super soft and warm!

I am going to put these up on my Etsy!

Hats!

New hat photos! I decided that maybe these things may sell better if there were pictures on a real human rather than just my creepy mannequin head. We'll see how this goes!

I made a dress!

I got a new sewing machine off of Freecycle, and it runs extremely well! After getting it, I started working on this: 

I think it came out pretty well! I made a headband to match, but I forgot to take a picture with it on...oh well!