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!

Tutus look better on my cat.

Human sized tutu NUMERO UNO!

PS: I had on shorts underneath!

New Stuff

New stuff! WHOOOOO!!!

Peas on Earth; inspired by Matt and Dana!

Tasty Pincushions!