1 Year and Going Strong!

Well, it has been 1 full year (to the day) since that horrific snowy evening when JoDee was so badly hurt. Just thought we would post some pictures of our family, and let everyone know that we are happy and well. JoDee seems to be making a great recovery with just a few symptoms yet to overcome. Our life has returned to normal (mostly chaos) and we are grateful for her and all she means to all of us in our lives. --Bryan

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your continued love and support and for all you have done for me over this past year. Thanks to all of you! Here are some family pictures we had taken this summer, enjoy! -- JoDee

Better each day...

Sorry, it has been a while since my last post; we have been very busy as life is slowly getting back to normal. JoDee is doing fantastic, and continues to make excellent progress. We are able to enjoy time together with the kids more and more each day as JoDee’s mobility and spirits continue to improve. She is able to do most all day-to-day tasks ranging from getting herself ready, to helping the kids in the morning and during the day, to even making meals and helping in the kitchen. Her lung capacity is getting better and she is now at about 50%, and she isn't as winded as she gets to the top of the stairs. She commented to me just the other day that she is able to actually take a “deep” breath, and yawning is not as painful, though sneezing is still a thing of the past…

We feel very blessed given her tremendous progress and the continued love and support of all of our family and friends. This is a great time of year and it is even more special for us this year as we reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and the truly important aspects of our lives, each other.

Merry Christmas!

Steady progress

JoDee's progress continues to amaze all of us. Each day brings new blessings and gratitude for her improvements. We have been able to enjoy her spirit and personality a bit more every day as she returns more to her healthy self. It is nice to have more laughter in our lives again, and it is great to see her smile.

Her days are filled with walks and naps. She has been able to spend more time with the kids, and has even helped get the kids ready for bed a few times. Believe it or not, JoDee is able to cut back drastically on the pain pills, and usually only takes one prior to bed. She tried sleeping with a few less pillows last night, but woke up quite sore and need to be propped up a bit again. She is able to do the stairs in our house by herself and really has no problem getting around. The scars on her left temple from the stitches are fading rapidly. She often comments that the incision for the chest tube feels like it is "reopening" but it appears to be healing quite well. Not sure why they don't use stitches on those large incisions, but they don't.

Mom and Dad have continued to make life here at home much better for all of us with all of their help. I don't know where we would be without them. Likewise, I don't know how we would have made it through this chapter in our lives without the love, support and prayers of all of our friends and family. Once again, thank you to all of you who have shared of your time and resources to help our family. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Check Up

On Tuesday we took JoDee in for follow-up chest x-rays prior to her check up on Wednesday. JoDee is doing very well at being able to get in and out of the car. We had no problems getting her to and from the hospital for the x-rays, which is great. The x-rays themselves were pretty uneventful except for the technician who started to panic, upon seeing the pictures, that JoDee had swallowed some metal. He was quite worried and kept asking her if she was ok, and if her doctor knew of anything or was concerned in anyway. Obviously the palladium coils that the interventional radiologist inserted into the arteries feeding her hemorrhaging spleen gave this technician a reason for concern. The “metal pieces” appear to be in or near the stomach area on the x-ray. We couldn’t help but laugh, and JoDee just told the guy to relax.

Wednesday was our follow-up visit. It went well and JoDee is healing. Dr. Platnik (trauma surgeon) was impressed with her mobility and overall condition. He examined her abdomen, which was quite painful for JoDee, as he pushed and prodded on her stomach area. There is obviously a lot of damage done to the internal organs, not to mention the shattered spleen, which is still causing a lot of pain. The x-rays didn’t show any further fluid build up, which is great. The doctors feel like we are getting past the risky stage of internal infection etc. and there isn’t really anything at this point that concerns them. They told us that it will be a good 6 to 8 months before the ribs are feeling “normal” and quite a few months until she will feel like her lungs are “normal”. Our next check-up is in a few weeks, so we are glad to be done with doctors’ offices and hospitals for a while.

Overall we are doing well, and JoDee has made tremendous progress since her return home. The kids are managing better each day, and, as I have said before, it is nice to have all of my family in one place. JoDee’s parents are here until next Tuesday, December 8th at which point we will see how we can manage with out their tremendous help. We continue to be blessed by great friends who care and support us so well. We thank all of you, and truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Here’s to a better tomorrow…

Nice chair

JoDee invited Sadie to sit in the recliner with her today and Sadie made a funny comment…”mom, you are lucky to be able to sit in a nice chair like this all day!” Obviously kids have an interesting and refreshing perspective. For those of you who know JoDee, sitting anywhere for more than five minutes is agonizing torture. Speaking of torture, she is noticing that the pain meds are making her really itchy and this is really starting to annoy her (her words, not mine).

Today has been a quite day for JoDee while mom and dad and I spent time with the kids, and took them to church. I think JoDee is playing catch up a bit today given how much she did on Friday and Saturday. She has a bit more pain today than she has had the past few days, but overall she is doing well. We are looking forward to this week as she has follow-up x-rays on Tuesday and appointments on Wednesday. Hopefully these will show no more fluid buildup in her abdomen, and decreased fluid in her lungs.

A step at a time

Thanksgiving was a peaceful day at home. We spent the day with the kids going for walks, bike rides, and playing at the park. JoDee was able to get out and walk about a block to the local park, rest for a while and then walk home. The whole trip took us about 45 minutes. It was excellent for her to get outside in the sunshine and take in some fresh air. We had a wonderful meal delivered from local friends which allowed us to spend quality time together as a family, something we hadn’t been able to do for quite a while. Thanks to all of those who helped make our day a little brighter. We are truly grateful for wonderful friends.

Friday was another great day for our family. JoDee directed as we began to decorate for Christmas. It is great to see her more active and able to be up and about. She is not able to move very fast, but can actually manage quite well on her own. She is able to do stairs slowly by herself now, which is amazing progress in the four short days she has been home. All of her walking along with practice on the incentive spirometer is paying off and her lung capacity has increased by about fifty percent since she has been home. She is now able to use about a total of thirty five percent of her total capacity.

In general JoDee is feeling much better. The pain is still quite intense and we have to manage it so she can get through the day and rest at night. She’s getting back to her sarcastic and humorous self more and more each day. It is painful for her to laugh, but we are laughing more every day. Laughter is good medicine for the soul. JoDee has mom help her with her hair most every morning now, and she is able to wear something other than pajamas. We had to change the dressing on her incision for the chest tube yesterday. I got about half way through and about tossed my cookies, so I had to go get mom to help finish it up. JoDee has a waterproof dressing so that she can shower daily, which is a good thing.

We have had a wonderful thanksgiving together as a family. As I stated, this has been due to our great friends who have taken such good care of us. We thank all of you for your love and support and join you in having so much to be thankful for. Happy thanksgiving and Merry Christmas…more tomorrow.

A day at home

It has been great to have JoDee home. She has done very well at making her way around the house and spending time with the kids. She has actually been able to manage the stairs quite well. I find it amazing how quickly you can forget how crazy three kids can be. I guess our time in the hospital was a lot quieter than I realized. Today has been full of errands and to-do lists which have been neglected for nearly two weeks and needed to be done prior to the thanksgiving break.

JoDee was able to shower and put something on other than a hospital gown, which I think helps her feel a lot better - we’ll cut her some slack for wearing pajamas all day. She has been able to sit and watch the kids play, and it has been funny to see her try and get after them if they do something wrong. She obviously can’t move very fast or talk very loud, so it is really quite funny for us, but frustrating for her. We have been able to spend some good time together as a family and we look forward to enjoying Thanksgiving together. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

Home at last

JoDee was finally able to come home today. Her chest tube was removed this morning at about 11AM, we had follow-up x-rays this afternoon along with some more discussions with the doctors and nurses, and she was home for supper at about 5:30PM. Though we are nervous on how to tend to all of her needs at home, it is truly a relief to have come to this result. As you can imagine, there were many times on that cold and snowy Saturday night when I did not know what the morning would bring. It is a great feeling to have my family safely in one place, a feeling I hope to never take for granted again.

JoDee seems to be handling the oral pain medication better than we thought. She was quite nervous that the medication would make her nauseated, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem right now. It does make her quite sleepy. It has been great for the kids to see her back at home, I think it gives them a sense of relief too as it has been difficult for them to grasp the gravity of her situation. She's now relaxed and sleeping in her own bed...with about a thousand pillows.

With JoDee home we now have a different set of challenges and needs, so it will be interesting to see what this next chapter in our experience brings us. I cannot say thank you enough to all those who have shared, offered or given of their time and resources to help our family. We truly appreciate all that has been done for us, and I’m sure there will continue to be more opportunities to help as we move forward. Today has truly been a great day for our family. Thanks again to all who have made it a little easier for us to get here. More tomorrow…

Slow but good

Today has been a slow but good day. JoDee was finally able to get the stitches removed from her head injury. Mom was able to bathe JoDee and wash her hair again. All of the walking is paying off as it is allowed JoDee to finally get off the oxygen which has been driving her crazy. She is progressing well enough that they have stopped her IV pain medication and have resorted to oral pain meds, which is obviously a necessary step in our preparation to get her home. Unfortunately these orals cause her to feel quite nauseated and dizzy, which makes going for our nightly walks a bit difficult…or at least interesting. We were only able to do three quarters of a lap tonight (had to take the short cut back to the room). I know these drugs are designed to help with pain, but they sure have a lot of other undesirable side effects.

JoDee is resting now, and my only hope is that she can have a restful night. It’s amazing how difficult the daytime can be for her if the night is rough. She is in pretty good spirits and, like I said before, it is great that she can recognize her own progress. There is a pretty good chance that she will be able to get the chest tube out tomorrow, it has already helped drain about 1800 cc of fluid. I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been for her body to rid that much fluid, I’m sure it would have caused a lot of problems. I think she will feel much better after the tube comes out; it causes quite a bit of pain in her chest and actually up in her left shoulder. We will be happy to get rid of the “garden hose”. Here’s to tonight…and tomorrow.

Epidural troubles

We had another rough night as JoDee’s pain started to drastically increase around 2AM or so. We had just spoken with the anesthesiologist prior to JoDee going to bed at about 9:30PM. He looked at her back and the epidural and mentioned everything looked great. He saw no problem with leaving it in until after the chest tube was removed in a day or two. Needless to say, we were a bit confused why she was so uncomfortable last night.

At about 9:30AM we were able to finally get another anesthesiologist to come and discuss JoDee’s condition with us. This doctor was concerned about the mild fever JoDee had developed and actually wanted to take the epidural out as early as tomorrow. Upon inspection of the insertion point, she (the doctor) had found that the epidural was no longer in the correct position and had all but been pulled out. This explained the pain JoDee had all night. In short, they had to remove the epidural and resort to IV-administered pain control. JoDee is now resting again and able to relax a little. The systemic nature of the IV-administered drugs makes her quite sleepy, which is good, as she needs all the rest she can get.

Up and about...again

After a rough and painful day yesterday, JoDee has done a lot better today. Thanks to skilled anesthesiologists, her pain is under control and she is able to breathe much better. The “garden hose”, as we call it, seems to be doing its job as it has aided in the draining of about 1300 cc of fluid (I still can’t figure out how they put this thing in her side… I get the willies just thinking about it). So, with less fluid around her damaged left lung we are hoping she will be able to open that lung with deeper breaths and avoid pneumonia.

We were getting used to walks with fewer hoses, cables and wires, but with the chest tube in we now have more gear again to walk with. JoDee made it out for a walk three times today. She is now resting very well and will hopefully be able to sleep well given the exhausting day she has had. Her drive and motivation to get better continues to amaze me. In fact one of the nurses mentioned to us while walking in the hall this evening…”didn’t you just get that tube in yesterday, how can you be up walking?!”….she doesn’t know JoDee!

We brought the kids in to see her, one at a time, as it has been a week since she had seen or talked to them. Needless to say, it was a bit emotional but much needed. I think it really helped the kids to see her and realize her situation. Sadie and mom stayed with JoDee while dad, Zack, Halle and I ran errands and hung out. It was good for me to spend some time with the kids. It’s amazing the zest for life kids have, and their sincere optimism is contagious. Zack made the comment to me today, after visiting with JoDee, “dad, I didn’t know mommy could still talk….that’s awesome!” Sometimes I really wonder what they are thinking. I think JoDee’s visit with the kids was quite refreshing, I know it was for me. JoDee’s spirits are up today, and she is feeling like the chest tube is worth it. It is good to see her noticing her own progress, and I think it builds her confidence. Her goal for tomorrow is to, once again, get rid of the oxygen tube. It’s been a great day.

The ebb and flow

So, as I posted earlier, JoDee had a chest tube inserted to help drain the fluid that is putting pressure on her damaged lung. A few quick and interesting items of note:

1) the doctor had to insert the tube (~3/4 of an inch in diameter) between two cracked ribs on her left side…ouch is an understatement

2) it was the biggest tube possible for use in this application

3) almost 900 cc (or mL) of fluid has already drained

4) chest tubes are extremely painful and it has literally taken two anesthesiologists to be able to get her pain under control so that she could stand to take a breath, oh and 7.5 hours of trying this drug and that drug, relocating her epidural, drugs via IV…you name it

5) drugs are good (the legal kind of course)

Today has been one of those days that the doctors warned us about. But in the long run, a day that was necessary for JoDee’s recovery. Unfortunately, it has set us back two or three days in the near term. Yesterday was a great day and she was actually able to visit with some friends. It will be a while until she has that sort of energy and stamina again. However, getting that fluid out of her body has now become essential to her overall well being. The risk of inflammation and even infection, along with added pressure on her lungs, was approaching dangerous levels. Fortunately, I now think we have her pain under control, and she is relaxing a bit more. I can tell when she is more relaxed by the fact that she is able to take deeper breaths, and not the short “panting-like” little breaths. Hopefully, we can get more sleep than last night.

It has been a bit emotional for mom and dad and I to watch her endure such high levels of pain after all she has gone through. I am so thankful that mom and dad are here, as it has been great to have someone to go through this process with.

I also have to say thanks to Zach and Kristy for being such great friends and for helping us in so many ways. This experience has not been easy on them nor on their family. It has been great to talk with them and to share the emotions of that cold and snowy Saturday night that didn’t end the way we expected. JoDee has been an inspiration to me personally and even after being married now for nine years, I am continually amazed by her drive and determination. The world is a better place because of her.

Chest Tube

Well, today JoDee had a small set back and had to have a tube placed in her chest (between broken ribs) to help drain the fluid (blood and other) that has collected in her abdomen. The tube is located on her left side under her harm and is actually much larger than what I expected. The volume of fluid has been monitored by the x-rays and CAT scans, and has gotten to the point where it is inhibiting her damaged lung from being able to expand properly. At this point she is only able to use about 25% of her lung capacity, and this must be increased asap. All this happened and was completed by about 1PM today. Draining is occurring and she will have to be closely monitored for the next two or three days. She is resting now, and unfortunately will be quite uncomfortable while this tube is in place.

Clean Hair

Mom was able to wash JoDee's hair today, and JoDee mentioned to me that she has never been more grateful for clean hair than she was today. Not to be too gross, but let’s just say there was a lot of junk in that do. (dirt from the road, a lot of blood from her head injury, and other stuff). Along with clean hair she was able to have a bit of a sponge bath, both of which have helped to feel a little more like herself. No showers yet primarily due to the epidural and some of the other tubes etc…

Today she also did a lot more walking. She is doing a great job at getting out and doing laps around the nurse’s station. The walks are good for her, and if we can get her to sleep in between them it is great.

She had some visitors tonight, and was awake and alert enough to talk and visit for a while. It was great for her to see some very close and dear friends. For the first time she has asked me to read a bit of the blog and comments to her, she really appreciated and enjoyed the great comments that have been shared.

I was able to talk with Kristy Stout briefly this evening (Kristy was by JoDee’s side at the accident along with me) and we were both just amazed to see how far she has come in five short days. From literally being unresponsive, not moving and not breathing to walking, and telling me what to do again, all in less than a week. She is determined to get better and she has been a true inspiration to me and to all those around us. It has been a long but great day.

More X-rays

JoDee has commented many times about a deep “clicking” sound when she breathes in, so they took her down for more x-rays of her chest. We still haven’t heard back about the shoulder, so I guess we’ll have two results to be waiting for. JoDee has been able to rest quite well today, which gives me a chance to work on the insurance quagmire (and make blog posts).

Rough night

JoDee had a very difficult time last night managing pain and resting. Not sure if we pushed too hard yesterday or what. Hopefully she’ll be able to get some rest today with all that goes on. The doctors keep pushing her to get out of bed and to try and walk. It is great for her body to do this, but it is exhausting. Her goal is to get rid of the oxygen asap. She hates the tubes in her nose and she says the smell is driving her crazy.

Outta the ICU

She did it! I never thought we’d be so happy to go to a “regular” hospital room. JoDee continues to amaze the doctors, nurses and everyone else in the ICU with her strong spirit and determination. We have been very impressed with the caliber of doctors and nurses, they have all been great.

After the CAT scan (this is her third), her walk, and a good nap we were able to be transferred over to the “surgical patient rooms”, just down the hall from ICU. Upon arriving in our new room, we got settled for about five minutes and then headed down to x-ray to get some pictures of JoDee’s shoulder. She has been complaining a lot about some pain in her left shoulder and the doctors wanted to ensure they haven’t missed an injury. By the time we got back to her room around 4:30pm JoDee was quite pale and completely exhausted.

It is much quieter in our new room, and we don’t have a bunch of monitors and alarms beeping and flashing at all hours, so that is nice. We’ll see how JoDee continues to progress and how she feels about having visitors. I’m sure when she’s ready it would lift her spirits, so we’ll keep everyone posted. She still has a long road to full recovery ahead, and every little bit helps.

As I’ve said before, let’s hope tomorrow is as good as today, if not better.

Up and about

Today JoDee was strongly encouraged by the trauma surgeon to get up and about to facilitate movement, blood flow and deeper breathing. So, after sitting up and eating a little breakfast (juice and a croissant) she decided that it was time to try and get out of bed and try to walk. It took mom, dad and I to manage all the cords, tubes, tanks and other items but she successfully walked about sixty feet (about 90 baby steps). After which she slept soundly until her CAT scan at 1:15PM.

At 1:15PM she had another CAT scan of her head and neck, to further check on the bleeding and head injury in general. Upon return to the room she felt like trying to walk again. So, once again we held all of her “gear” so that she could walk about sixty feet. She is now back in the room and waiting to try a little lunch before getting some more rest. Great day so far.

Thanks to All

I know I’m going to have to say this more than once, and I’ll never be able to say it enough, but thanks to all of you for your love, support and help. I can’t believe how much has been, and continues to be, done for JoDee and our little family. We have had such tremendous support from those on our street to those across the country. Thank you. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated and I know JoDee is aware of your outpouring of love and support. We are all so very fortunate to have JoDee touch our lives in one way or another. Let’s hope tomorrow is as good as today was for her.

Typical Day

Each day has actually been so different from the previous that it’s crazy to call anything “typical” around here. However, I thought I’d just outline a few generalities to help people understand what has been common to most days. On average:

• JoDee has slept, or been unconscious, for about 90% of the time

• We practice her “deep breathing” to expand her lungs about seven to ten times a day for a couple minutes each time

• I feed her about three spoonfuls of ice chips four or five times a day – this has been superseded as of late by the soup and dinner roll and by the bran muffin for dinner tonight

• I help her shift onto her right side and back onto her back five or more times per day

• A doctor or nurse comes into the room every forty five minutes to an hour during the day (seems much more frequent when we’re trying to sleep at night)

• A lab technician comes in every hour to two to draw blood and take other notes - thank goodness for multiport I.V.s

• Every five minutes I think of how much progress she has made since I held her close to me at the scene of the accident on that cold and snowy Saturday night

Needless to say, each day brings new opportunities and new challenges. I have approached each day with a goal and have found it to be the only way to continue to progress. One challenge is to remember that JoDee’s major and severe injuries are not visible to us. She has suffered major damage to many internal and vital organs, including severe internal bleeding. Given the heeling that has to take place internally she has a long and painful road ahead.

Both sleep and mobility (to expand the lungs) will play a critical role in the healing process. Right now sleep is the major tool JoDee is using. The doctors continue to remind us that the time is approaching when JoDee will have to force herself to fight through the pain and get more mobile. We are definitely thankful for good pain medication…