3 weeks down, 1 week to go!

Tim has made many accomplishments in the last few weeks. We have been at Brooks for a total of 3 weeks and his discharge date is set for August 12th. The blood pressure issue has improved, he has had very few problems in the last 2 weeks. He has stopped passing out completely, every once in a while he will get light headed or dizzy but has better control over it. His Doctor prescribed a blood pressure pill that he takes twice a day, he will probably continue on it at home until it is regulated. Tim had an ultrasound and an MRI to check his liver, pancreas, and gall bladder. The results came back clear! They did the tests because of his elevated enzyme levels, which they believe were caused from his blood thinner, which they recently switched. The new blood thinner has caused his blood platelet levels to drop, so they may actually take him off the the blood thinner completely, since he is moving a lot now. Which brings me to the one of the most exciting topics....Tim is walking!! And with surprisingly good form for such early stages! :) He started walking with the assistance of a physical therapist and then moved to walking with a walker and now is able to walk completely by himself, although when he is not with a therapist, he is supposed to use his walker. During therapy, he walks on a treadmill to work on his form. Tim has a hard time remembering exactly what it was like to walk, so he puts a lot of thought into the mechanics, like how to swing his arms, his posture and how to place his feet. He has already come a long way with it and looks pretty natural, except for the arms. Speaking of his arms, he has complete feeling in both of them, although his hands have a constant tingling feeling, we are hopeful that this will stop with time. Tim participates in about 2 hours of occupational therapy a day. This works on the use of his arms and hands and handling every day tasks, such as dressing himself, brushing his teeth, and feeding himself. Tim has gained a lot of independence, he can do all of the above tasks on his own and even has his bowel and bladder movements under control. He is also walking to the bathroom, sitting on the toilet and completing all tasks that go along with it! :) These are huge steps, as Tim would say, he has taken "leaps and bounds!" There are no baby steps with Tim, he wants to gain full independence asap! Tim is now working on building his strength back, he has some of the basics down and can handle many tasks on his own, but is very weak and becomes extremely fatigue in a short time. Just as an example, last week his therapist had him do some bench presses, he struggled just in doing 10 reps and asked the therapist how many pounds she was making him lift. To his surprise, she told him it was only 1 pound! It was hard for him to believe that only 5 weeks ago, he could lift 225 pounds and now he struggles with only 1 pound, but this is all a part of the injury and very normal. He is now proud to say, he has moved up to a grand total of 5 pounds! Again, another accomplishment!

Things are starting to actually look up for Tim, he can walk, he has gained independence in his daily routine (with little assistance) and is going home this Thursday! He will still continue rehab 3 days a week and still has a long way to go, but has so much to be thankful for. Your prayers are appreciated and are really going a long way!

This is Tim's favorite verse, just thought I'd share.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Brooks..finally!

On Friday, July 16th, I came to the hospital to find Tim feverless and ready for Brooks! He was discharged at 3:30 pm. The first night turned out to be quite eventful! He was welcomed by several visitors (friends and family) and then it was straight to business. The first plan of action was a shower! Tim had not been in a shower for 2 weeks, he had only been sponge bathed. Two nurses lifted him into the shower/bathroom wheelchair and as they were doing so, he became very light headed and nauseas. I grabbed a bed pan, just in case and something to fan him with! He blacked out for about 5 seconds and then when he came to, still wanted the shower. He said that immediately when the cold water (as he requested) hit him that nothing else mattered! He started to feel better and successfully completed his first shower in the hospital. We found out later, that the nasuea and light headedness is very normal after laying in a bed for a long period of time and especially in spinal injuries. The blood rushes to his toes and his blood pressure reading becomes very low. The nurses and therapists now take it very slow when transitioning him from bed to wheelchair. This has become Tim's biggest fear at this point in the game, he doesnt like the feeling and is scared he will pass out every time he sits up straight or stands up (even with assistance). He is positive that if he can get past this hurdle, that the rest will be cake! I don't know about that, they are going to work him very hard here at Brooks. They expect progress and quick results. Brooks has a very high success rate and they intend to keep it that way. But, I know Tim will be successful at Brooks, he is extremely motivated and doesnt have a friend or family member that will let him give up. In fact, he has already made some progress since admission. He is able to roll over on his own in the bed and there has been more movement in his left hand and arm. The injury effected his left side much more than the right, and the feeling and movement has been slower to come back. The physical therapists set a goal for Tim to stand by the end of the week, he has already reached the goal and it is only Monday! With some assistance by one of the therapists, Tim stood to his feet and used his own strength to stand in place. He became dizzy pretty quickly, but that's okay, again, it's normal for him to feel that way and what's important is that he is conquering his fears! I am so incredibly proud of him, the therapists worked him hard for 3 hours and besides a little nausea and dizziness, he didn't complain one bit. Tim was absolutely exhausted by 3:30 pm (Mon.) but the Doctors had to send him off for some x-rays as he had some pain in his left shoulder after working with the occupational therpaist (they want to be sure there is not an injury that was not caught). The Dr. really thinks it could be tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon). Tim also had increased levels of enzymes and so they did an ultrasound on his liver, gall bladder and pancreas area. No results on those yet. But, as for the increased enzyme levels, it is probably due to a medication that he is taking. Another one of Tim's challenges is not being able to go to the bathroom on his own, I won't go into all of the details, but he is struggling with it and has asked that we pray for this. It is something that we take for granted everyday and he has not control. This is also very normal after a spinal injury and with his injury being incomplete, they feel like he will get these functions back, especially since he has the sensations. (gaining control is all a part of the rehabilitation process)
Tim has had an overall good experience with Brooks so far. The nurses are great, his Dr. is a big Tarheel fan, as he graduated from UNC and the facility is really nice. He is happy to have me here with him and has been in better spirits ever since he arrived!

Still no Brooks, but progress!

Tim had his second and final surgery on Sunday, July 11th at 9 am. The orthopaedic surgeon was amazing! He actually prayed over Tim before the surgery, he admitted that he was only human and asked for God's guidance over his hands during the operation. The surgery was to secure the vertebrates from the back, leaving a total of 8 screws in his neck. After the surgery, he was very sore and complained that his neck hurt. The nurse was able to get a patch for his neck that actually numbed it on the skin and pain killers for the pain on the inside of his body. The halo is off and he is now in a neck brace that is soft and cushioned, not like the hard neck braces that you often see. Tim has a fever once again, but they aren't sure where it is coming from, it could be from the surgery or a new or lingering infection. The surgeon's assistant came in and gave Tim a 5 of 5 on the strength in both legs. :)
On July 12th, at 1 pm, Tim's breathing tube was removed. He needs a full 48 hours of breathing on his own, in order to be transferred to Brooks. He has surprised everyone, he has completed the 48 hours now and is even eating and drinking! Tim is talking again and feeling a whole lot better. He is dependent on little pain medication, but is still running a fever, so they will continue to keep him on the Tylenol. I think it is also safe to say that Tim will not need a tracheotomy! (which is the breathing device that is put into your throat and another operation)Hallelujah! Tim has started to become emotional, which is expected, I am really surprised that it took this long. He is scared that he will not gain everything back, but is doing his best to trust in the Lord and keep a positive attitude. He has been grumpy the last few days from lack of sleep, but is in much better spirits today and thanked me for being so good to him and standing by his side. If his fever goes down, they will send him to Brooks (hopefully tomorrow or Friday). This week has been much better than last and he is so close to starting his rehab! I am excited to get into Brooks, because Tim and I will have a private room, he will have a bed and there is a sleeper sofa for me. Please keep praying as Tim still has a long way to go, rehab will be very aggressive for the next 30 days. Tim and I love you all and appreciate the prayers and support.

I apologize for taking a whole week to get this up and running, but this week has been the craziest roller coaster ride of my life! July 3, 2010, was just another Saturday, Tim was playing flag football and I had big plans of celebrating my cousin, Ashley's birthday at the beach. The phone rings and shows up as "My hubby", but on the other end was Danny's voice. Danny was calling to inform me that Tim had been "injured" playing flag football and that I needed to meet them at Shands hospital. Tim asked Danny not to scare me and he did well, I calmly drove to the hospital, but was soon surprised to find Tim in the Trauma unit with no feeling in his body, from the chest down and 2 broken vertebrates. He was slowly gaining some movement in his toes and fingers but they considered Tim a partial Quadriplegic. It quickly became surreal, this can't be happening to my husband, not me, not us and not now. Here I am 25 years old, Tim, 29 and only married for 3 years. What does God have in store? What is his plan? I know those questions will be answered in time, but for now, I have to be the wife that I vowed to be when I said "I do." I have to be strong for him, I have to get him through this. He CAN and WILL push through! I have faith, we have an amazing support system and the number of prayers going out are outrageous!

Day 1: Tim has feeling and movement in his toes and fingers and is stronger on the right side. The doctors have screwed a halo into his head to keep his his neck in place and from moving. The x-ray shows the 3rd and 4th vertebrate are broken and he has some spinal damage. Tim is scared to death, but most importantly wants to have babies with me! LOL... And that is a major concern of his right now. The doctors have assured us that there are ways.

Day 2: Tim's surgery was at 9 am and it was successful! They went in through the front of his neck and fused the 2 vertebrates together. After the surgery, he was able to move his right knee and his left just a little bit. They have him on a breathing tube, which goes down the throat, it is very uncomfortable but necessary since he has some damage to the diaphragm. He can breathe on his own for a lot of the day, but tires out. There is a feeding tube through his nose and several other hook ups, he is heavily sedated and given pain medication constantly. He is mouthing his words and I am learning to interpret. When I can't understand, we use an alphabet board, I go by rows and when he finds the letter in the row, he mouths yes to me and we go letter by letter to slowly spell out the word.

Day 3:Tim's breathing has gotten a little better, more of it is on his own, without the ventilator. Tim has a fever, but they have not yet identified what it is caused from. There are several tests out but results can take several days. Tim can move both legs better today!

Day 4: Tim's occupational therapist came in and worked with him, she was very pleased at what movement he already had. He is contracting his muscles and working really hard at his exercises. Tim had a bronchial test done to test for pneumonia, so far, clear. Doctors are now talking about a tracheotomy to help with his breathing after being on the ventilator for 10 days. We are hoping he can breathe on his own by then and will not need it. Pastor Joe stopped in to pray with Tim today and he was so happy to see him. We requested for visitors to stay away as the doctors wanted Tim to rest and break the fever.

Day 5: Tim has really made progress! The occupational therapist even sees a difference. Tim is able to close his right fingers, still weak on the left. Dr. gave him a 1.5 of 5 on the left side and 3.5 of 5 on the right. Tim met his orthopedic surgeon that will perform the next surgery, they will go in through the back of his neck and secure the vertebrates and remove the halo. He will be in a neck brace after the surgery. Tim asked the surgeon if he would be able to walk again. The surgeon responded that with the current movement he already has, it is a very good indicator that he can, with a lot of work. He may not be as coordinated, but from what the surgeon sees, it is encouraging. Tim has a few new ways of getting the nurses' attention, sucking his tube and kicking the side of the bed. He cant push the nurse's button, so that really limits him, but he has it all figured out now! He has become impatient, uncomfortable and really just all around tired of being in that bed. He doesn't want to rest and wants to go home.

Day 6: Tim still has a fever, they are controlling with Tylenol but it really needs to break in order for them to operate. Tim wants everyone that comes in to exercise his arms and legs, nurses included. He just wants to move! We received test results and he has a staph infection, that is where the fever is coming from.

Day 7: Movement is all around better. He is able to lift the right arm just a little bit and he has some feeling in the butt, which is really good for walking. Fever is down, but must stay down in order for them to operate. Hoping for surgery Sunday or Monday!

It has been the longest week of my life, but the hospital staff has been really great, very encouraging and they are really impressed with Tim's progress, which gives me some comfort.

Thank you everyone for the support and most of all, your prayers! God is answering them already. Tim will soon be off to Brooks hospital and working towards a full recovery!!

Some inspiration...
"Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

xoxoxoxoxo
Jamie