Omaha Update - 9-25-07

First off I would like to apologize for the lack of updates with the blog. We have reached a point on the recovery road where the milestones are few and far between, as the physical therapy section of this road is long and tedious and improvements are very small.

Leah continues to make good improvements on her recovery of her right arm. She is attending PT 2-3 times a week, and is continuing to work on her PT at home multiple times a day. She has made great strides on her wrist, with her range of motion measurements doubling in little over a week. She has nearly 60-70 percent of the motion back in her wrist, and the fingers seem to be wiggling nicely, which should be a great source of joy for Dr. Joe and the folks at St. James, as this means Leah will be back typing away before you know it!

Her shoulder work is quite a bit slower, as she is basically recovering from the equivalent of multiple major shoulder surgeries. She continues to make progress however, and we can see great improvements in her active range of motion exercises from the first day that we started. She is beginning to be able to lift her arm with its own strength, but as there was a lot trauma and damage of the joint, we really have to concentrate on recovering the range of motion before we can start many strengthening exercises for her arm. Leah is however very determined to get full use of the arm back, and is faithfully doing the active range of motion work which will help build some strength back into that arm. We do go and see the orthopedist early next week, and depending on her prognosis, we maybe able to start some light strength training soon.

Rachel continues to make good progress as well. Leah and I had dinner with my parents and my relatives Janet and Tom on Saturday, and the visit was a nice time, as we chatted about the hospital experiences, our recovery, and reminisced a bit about Renee. Thanks for stopping by Jan and Tom!

Rachel continues to look better each time we see her, and we can see some small improvements each day. Her skin grafts look healthy, and are now under the care of an excellent staff of wound specialists. She started PT at the same place that Leah is taking PT, and from what the PT specialists tell us, is on her way to recovery. I will let my Dad give the full update, but this was a quick little update on her status.

Leah and I had the pleasure of attending St. James United Methodist Church of Bellevue's 50th anniversary celebration on Sunday. Leah has worked as their secretary for the last year and a half, and has really come to enjoy the people of this wonderful church. We would like to extend a very large thank you to the members and staff of the parish who not only continue to send prayers and encouragement our way, but also who have taken up a collection to help us out with some of our medical expenses. The members and staff of St. James have been absolutely wonderful, and their generosity and warmth have overwhelmed us. Leah and I can not thank you folks enough, and we can see why you are known as the church with the warm heart! Thank you for letting us be a part of your celebration and community, and for your continued efforts to speed Leah's recovery along. Leah did mention that depending on if her arm continues to improve, and we can get her driving again, she is preliminarily planning on returning to work the week of October 8th. She is anxious to get back to work, as you all know she is not one for sitting around all day!


Leah and I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of our family. We don't know how we ever could have made it this far with out all of your love and support, thought and prayers and all around encouragement. We can not express enough our thanks to all of you.

Jay

September 17th from Omaha

Hi Friends,

Tomorrow morning at 9:15 am, we will have been gone from Swedish Medical Center for one whole week. I have not written much on our progress here at home, as our days have been full with visits from family and friends. I can tell you that Rachel and Leah continue to make progress in their journey back to health. Leah’s great news is that she got to be free from her casts, free from having to cover casts in showers, free from the nagging weight and freedom to stand. She and Jay shared their wealth of two shower chairs, letting Rachel borrow one so Rachel could enjoy a shower also. The drawback to loosing the casts (if you can call it a drawback) is that Leah now has to start Physical Therapy on her shoulder in an intense sort of way.

Rachel had a mostly uneventful medical week until today. We met with her personal physician on September 12, and they made arrangements for meetings with a wound care group and an orthopedic doctor for today. Subsequently, our day began at 8:30 with a trip to the orthopedic office, some more x-rays, more probing and prodding, instructions to make more appointments, then off to the Physical Therapist office to make an appointment to get that started. We ended the day at 4:45 arriving home from our last medical appointment of the day. Tomorrow we start all over at 8:45 with a visit to an ankle specialist in orthopedics. We end the day with a couple hours of investigative PT to determine the course of action Rachel will begin with her next PT appointment.

We were able to fit in a couple of short walks up the hill and around the corners of our street, and we made a three mile walk out at Wehrspann Lake, with Rachel walking almost 1/3 of the time. The rest was left up to her man-servant to transport her over. For fun, we did find a Nashville Warbler in the trees searching for insect protein and energy for continuation of his trip south.

We are also enjoying Rachel’s flowers, the hummingbirds at the feeder, and a Red-breasted Nuthatch that showed up at the seed feeder. And, our neighbors have developed this practice of feeding us. First they mowed the lawn, trimmed the bushes, and kept the thieves at bay. Now they bring us hot food. Its tough to complain when you have your mouth full too!

Jay, Renee, Britanie, Zach and Leah’s Dad

The Denver Outpost is Closed

Hi Friends,

We have officially closed down the Denver Outpost and returned to Headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. The last couple of days in Denver were very exciting and very emotional too. We accepted to social obligations for Sunday afternoon. The first was a brunch engagement with Jim and Dee Fehr, the angelic family that provided meals to our family and extended family during our long stay in Swedish Medical Center. Jim and Dee picked us up at noon and drove us to Marie Calendars for a nice relaxed lunch. While the trip was only about 12 miles, Rachel’s anxiety level for her first car ride since the accident must have been at an all time high. She arrived drained of color, weak, anxious and very tired. A little juice, some high calorie syrup, waffles, and some strada from the buffet quickly revived her and we ended up having a very pleasant lunch and began the first of many emotional goodbyes. Jim and Dee are two of the most benevolent and loving people we have met during this tragic event. We can not thank them enough for all they offered and accomplished for us.

Upon returning to the hospital room with the mountain view, Rachel dropped into a deep sleep for about an hour and one half. At 4:05 pm. I woke her from her slumbers and told her we needed to get ready for our second adventure of the day. At 4:30 pm we headed down to meet Beverly, Rachel’s cousin, and her husband Kirk to once again venture into the real world. Beverly and Kirk took us on a very beautiful and wonderful trip up into those mountains in our hospital view. We traveled US Highway 185 up to Black Hawk and Central City to see the damage wreaked on the environment by the gambling industry in Colorado and then on to Idaho Springs for some great mountain pizza at BeauJo’s Pizza. (www.beaujos.com) Returning some four hours later, we drove past Red Rocks Amphitheater, all lit up and glowing against the mountainside and down towards the dazzling lights of Denver. Those four hours were a highlight of our stay in Denver and set the tone for a very successful trip home. Anxiety be damned!

Monday, a very well rested Rachel, began her Physical Therapy with a battery of tests and new exercises to further underscore her capability of going home. Maria, had Rachel walk the halls of Rehab, climb the steps in the gym, walk up a 4 inch curb, then a 7 inch curb, get up off of low objects, rise up from loose chairs that can slide away from you, and do exercises standing up that develop balance and muscle tone. Rachel passed with flying colors. Meanwhile, Katie, her Occupational Therapist, worked on her arm and shoulder, pressing the fluids from her swollen fingers down into the even more swollen palm and back of hand toward the wrist. They worked on range of motion with her shoulder and started working on additional series of exercises she could do at home.

Having passed all her obstacles with vigor and enthusiasm, the entire staff of Rehab decided to honor Rachel with a graduation ceremony. Consequently, to the tones of Pomp and Circumstance, Rachel walked a gauntlet of doctors, nurses, technicians, administrators and other patients wearing her pastel yellow gown and pastel purple graduation cap with accompanying silver tassel. Tears of joy were flowed copiously, and hugs were given by all. Once more words can not express how grateful we are to the wonderful staff of Swedish Medical Center Rehabilitation. Thank you and we love you all.

Finally, at 8:15 Tuesday morning, we departed for the airport and our plane ride home. Beverly once more provided transportation for us and drove us without delay or complication to Denver International, where we arrive with about an hour and forty five minutes to wait for the flight. Check in was extremely easy, and Frontier Airlines had an attendant to take us directly to TSA and ran us through their gauntlet of security machines and agents without incident. They then put us on a cart and transported us directly to our gate. The flight transpired at about forty thousand feet, with clear visibility all the way down to the fields and pastures below. After the flight crew congratulated the pilots on a marvelous landing, we taxied into the gates two minutes early and were greeted by my mother, my sister and brother and Jay. Needless to say, we are very happy to be home.

We do want to tell you all how much we have really appreciated all the prayers, wishes, thoughts, cards, flowers and words of kindness we have received. It is extraordinarily amazing how much love and caring there has been from our family, friends, coworkers, students, parishioners, and absolute strangers whom we met fleetingly and will probably never meet or see again. To each of you we offer our heartfelt thank you.

Jay, Renee, Britanie, Zach and Leah’s Dad

Update 9-11-07 Omaha Update - Rachel Makes it Home

Very quick little update here... Rachel and John are safely home and resting comfortably. The flight was very smooth, no problems at either airport, and even the landing was smooth as silk. It was a little emotional as Jerry, my aunt Cheryl and Grandma Hall met me at the airport to welcome them home. Mom looked wonderful, was in good spirits, and when she saw us had a huge smile for us.

Grandma Kunc will be providing dinner for tonight, and then I am sure it will be an early evening for them, as travel can really take it out of you.

Thanks again for all the prayers, they seemed to have worked to get them home safely!

Homecoming Day 9-11-07

Mom and Dad will be arriving at 1:03 PM at Eppley Airfield today. Leah and I are very excited and are ready for them to be home as soon as possible. We went over to the house last night, and Bill and Judith helped me prepare some areas so Mom can navigate around the house, and sit in the living room (also known as her new bedroom) and be entertained etc...

Leah did get her cast off of her right forearm and wrist, and the orthopedic said that she is making good steady progress towards full recovery. She was fitted with a splint, which is much more comfortable then the cast, as she can actually scratch sometimes! This is also positive, as she can now get that arm wet, so can finally wash that arm really well, and we don't have to put plastic bags all over her arm to prevent the cast getting wet. Her arm looked pretty good for being in a cast for nearly 6 weeks, as she didn't appear to have significant muscle loss or a lot of weakness in the hand. She must have been faithfully doing her finger flexing exercises...

Leah and I would like to extend another thanks out to our friend Mary, who came over and worked both of us over on the massage table. the massage session helps work some of the tension out of the muscles, and really lets us relax. This was especially good for Leah as it helped work some of the new muscle tightness that resulted from her doing her active PT.

Speaking of PT, Leah will now also be starting physical therapy for her wrist and fingers, along with the active PT for her shoulder. She continues to make progress, and is very determined to get full functionality back in her right arm. The active PT is very painful, but she is tough and works thru the pain and continues to make small steps towards recovery.

Thanks again to all of you for continuing to care about us, and thanks for all the prayers and generous support.

Jay

Omaha Update - September 9th, 2007

Sorry about the long delay in between posts, but I haven't really had the inspiration to blog much in the last few days, and each time I have been inspired, I haven't had the time due to dealing with technical issues, or my most important priority, helping Leah. I do however have the time right now, and will give everyone a quick little update.

Leah and I had a good week, her sister Julie, brother in law Robert, and their two children came to visit us late last week. They stayed at the house, and Julie had the opportunity to have a nice chat with Leah, and do some big sisterly duties. The two kids were adorable and very entertaining, and it wasn't long until Uncle Jay was crawling around on the floor with them.

We did take a short trip down to Hiawatha, Kansas, where we spent some time with Leah's family. We had planned on having a quick family reunion before the accident, and as this is the first time that Leah's whole family had been together since our wedding three years ago, Leah and I decided that it would be a good thing to attend. We took the trip in small chunks, stopping regularly to let Leah walk so she didn't become stiff, and before we knew it we were there in Hiawatha. We were staying in some small cabins on a lake down there, and her brother Bill and his family, sister Julie and her family, and Leah's folks were all there. We had the chance to get a bit of a change of scenery which for Leah was very welcome, as basically all she really has been doing was hanging out in our house, which after a while can start to create some cabin fever!
It was also a good opportunity for me to have a lot more people there to help me out with Leah, and to get to talk to some family who I haven't had the chance to really get to know.

The weekend at the cabins also provided a nice escape out into nature, where the quiet Kansas night let me reflect on the happenings of the last few weeks in a very peaceful and spiritually refreshing environment. I have always loved the outdoors, and having the opportunity to think about Renee while looking at the stars was a nice way for me to let some emotions go. I also did have the opportunity to take advantage of the picturesque setting, and exercised my camera skills on a number of different subjects. The weekend flew by faster then Leah and I expected, and we found ourselves having to return home, feeling happier having gotten to see the nephews and the niece, the siblings and the parents. I really have been blessed with a wonderful set of in-laws, and this weekend only reinforced that opinion!

Leah did start active PT this week, which means that she will be doing the majority of the work on her exercises. Previously we had been doing passive PT, where I would support the weight of her arm, and do the range of motion exercises with her with me providing the muscle for movement. Leah now us to do some of these motions on her own, and use some new tools such as a pulley system to lift her own arm. This is a big step, as active PT will make her begin to take big steps in recovery, and will help develop her muscles so that she will be able to do the normal movements that are required in everyday life. This is a big step on the road to recovery, and for her being able to get back to a more normal life, which she is really looking forward to. As all of you know, Leah is not one who is real big on sitting around doing nothing, and as a result is going slightly stir crazy right now!

We have a orthopedic appointment Monday to look at how the healing is progressing, and hopefully to remove the cast that has been on her forearm and wrist for the last few weeks. Leah is really hoping for the cast to be off, so she can scratch some itches, not have quite so heavy an arm for doing her active PT and maybe even take a shower with out having to have a trash bag taped over one arm! Of course, if we do happen to get the cast off, we will probably have to start PT for the wrist, so we maybe learning a lot of new exercises in the next few days.

We are really looking forward to getting Mom and Dad back home. Hearing that they are officially coming home was very exciting news, and both Leah and I are looking forward to being able to hug them, talk with them, and just see them.

Thank you all of you wonderful people who have been sending emails, cards, flowers etc to us and my parents. All of your prayers, love and encouragement have been very instrumental in getting us this far. We cannot express enough our gratitude for all that you have done, and will do in the future. I promise I will do a better job of keeping all of you updated and keep passing out the thanks.

Jay

News from the Denver Outpost September 8, 2007

Hi Friends,

The Denver Outpost has been suffering technical problems, as the laptop succumbed to effects of the vehicle rollover and experienced it's own need for therapy. But with a little judicious cussin and swearin and help from Jay, we finally are up and running again after three days of frustrations and disconnection from the world outside Swedish Hospital.

However, progress has continued and we are definitely on track to return to Omaha on Tuesday, September 11, 2007. We have made arrangements with Rachel's cousin, Beverly, to get us to the airport, and with Jay and Leah to get us home to our house. With a little bit of luck, we will be getting a good nights sleep without the sounds and intrusions of a night in the hospital. We definitely will not miss the early morning visits from the phlebotomists and respiratory therapists. Friday, the first blood draw was at 6:10 am and the second two hours later. Today, we were allowed to sleep in, and had the first blood draw at 6:37 am. I suspect the first blood draw next Wednesday will be around 10:50 am and that will be in Omaha at the family physician's office. Still have to check the ole rat poison levels.

Rachel has regained a great deal of her walking strength. She went outside to walk on the grounds of the hospital three times in the last two days. We practiced curbs, slops, and uneven surfaces. We walked in grass, parking lots and along flagstone paths. Tuesday, she will be walking in airports, up and down curbs, and in and out of airplanes. All new adventures for us in this state.

She will be wearing her new going home clothes too. Not wanting to alarm the traveling public, she has decided to wear long pants to cover the skin graft donor sites on her right thigh. The shorts we kept here would just not do that job. So we bought her a new pair of loose fitting slacks and a shirt to go with them. She also needed a new shoe. The swelling in both feet has made it impossible to put her normal sized shoes on her left foot. Subsequently, she has been wearing a men's 9 1/2 athletic shoe with the initials PT on her left foot. I found her some women's athletic walkers withVelcro closures like those her children wore until they went off to grade school and had to learn to tie laces. Her swollen foot can fit into these as well, because theVelcro allows for the expanded area. I asked her if she wanted to write PT on either new shoe. The right one so she could donate it to PT here, or the left one so she knew which foot to put it on, but she said she would keep them clean and bring both home so she had an easy shoe to wear when the big walking boot finally comes off.

Britanie continues to thrive in Boston. She is enjoying her professors, the new students she has met, and the intense conversations and discussions generated in the classrooms. She has also found some new restaurants and new foods there in Boston. We talk with her for a few minutes every day between classes or while she is en route to or from classes. However, she had to call today and tell her two parental units that they were overusing the cellphone minutes we share in common. She was a little concerned that in only the first 12 days of the billing month we had used up over 80 percent of the allotted minutes. She called the cellphone minutes provider and worked out a deal to get more minutes, and in the process got them to credit the account for the overusage we had in August. She might just have the makings of good lawyer yet!

Jay, Renee, Britanie, Zach and Leah's Dad

News from the Denver Outpost September 4, 2007

Hi Friends,

The long weekend is finally over. We thought we would get a long restful weekend with only one hour of therapy each day Saturday through Monday. Most of that supposition was true, but we were kept busy with all the other everyday conundrums of living in a hospital. Firstly, nothing, and I mean nothing, ever gets done on schedule. Saturday, we ran so hard Rachel never even got in time for an afternoon nap. By 8:30 pm, she was completely exhausted. By 9:00 with the first set of meds in place, she was sound asleep, with me about 15 minutes behind. Sunday was the same kind of day. The Occupational Therapist assigned to Rachel ended up in an emergency room at some hospital with a bad case of vomiting. She is about 4.5 months pregnant and the docs were concerned for the baby. Our schedule thus was turned upside down and we never recovered again, despite the fact that lots of the time was spent waiting between therapies. Once again, we missed the nap, ended up absolutely beat and in bed early.

Monday, we vowed, would be different. Lots of laughs! We got off to a great start with an early bout of OT which worked on some of Rachel’s right arm problems. Then we got moved into an opening in PT and ended up working for about 45 minutes with Rachel walking with the aid of a cane. (Great ! Great ! Great!) We set off to Safeway shortly thereafter to buy Sunscreen, because one of the salves she puts on her skin graft arm and leg is very sensitive to the sun. One hour later, we were back on the floor and Rachel was looking forward to her every-other day shower. But, the folks from Ultra-sound decided that was a good time to come get her and take her down to testing. An hour and a half later a very exhausted and cold Rachel appeared back on the floor, tested, but having had to wait in a long line downstairs had frustrated her again to tears. The nurses rallied, moved her directly from the gurney to the shower and let her stay in there for about twice the normal time. Rejuvenated, she ate a good dinner, talked on the phone with her mother and sister-in-law and at 9 again hit the sack for a nights sleep.

Today, we started with our normal respiratory therapy at 6:40 and moved on to 3.5 hours of physical and occupational therapy over the extent of the day. Rachel tripled her walking distance, almost all done only with the assist of a cane. She also declared her independence from nursing assisted commode trips and now utilizes her local coach to take her to the “big girl’s” toilet. Another emancipation! Privacy, and a real Thomas Crapper waterworks commode.

We also discussed our pending release with the trauma team doctors and therapists. We are free to make our reservations, and have, as of this evening, scheduled a flight home for September 11, 2007 to arrive at 1:05 CDT Tuesday afternoon. All of these plans still depend on no unforeseen infections or clots or other ailments suddenly setting us back. For now, that is the plan.

On Saturday, one of our favorite nurses brought us a poem that a special friend had given her 19 years ago when her son was having a series of medical problems and was not given much chance of surviving. He has since grown and gone off to college. I thought I would share it here tonight in memory.

Take Care of Her for Me!

I’ll lend you for a little while

A child of Mine… He said,

For you to love the while she lives

And mourn for when she’s dead.

It may be five or ten years,

Or twenty-two or three,

But will you, till I call her back

Take care of her for Me?

She’ll bring her charms to gladden you

And should her stay be brief

You’ll have her lovely memories

As solace for your grief.

I can not promise she will stay

Since all from earth return

But there are lessons taught down there,

I want this child to learn.

I’ve searched the world over

In my look for teachers true,

And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes

I have selected you.

Now give her all your love

Nor think your labor vain

Nor hate me when I come to call

To take her back again

I fancied that I heard them say

“Dear Lord, Thy will be done.”

For all the joys this one shall bring

The risk of grief we’ll run.

We’ll shelter her with tenderness

And love her while we may

And for all the happiness she brings

Grateful forever stay.

And should the angel come to call

Much sooner then we’ve planned,

We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes

And try to understand.

-Edgar Guest

Jay, Renee, Britanie, Zach and Leah’s Dad