Day 5 - August 28, 2015

Day 5

An update from Peggy came via email to report a pretty busy day:

 

"It was a better night for all of us. Annette and I arrived at 8:15 this morning. Jeff was getting his teeth brushed after eating his breakfast. He got washed and cleaned up, new sheets, new hospital gown, and all ready for the physical therapists."

 

"His P.T. Tara is still disappointed that his blood isn’t stabilizing as quickly as she wants, as it limits her from getting him into a chair for better therapy. But she worked him pretty good with Jeff lifting his arms in many directions for the count of 10.  Every once in a while he would fall asleep before 10, wake up and lift again, and then keep counting."

 

"By then Zach and Brandi arrived at the hospital to visit Jeff and spend the day with us. Back and forth we went with the two persons at a time passes. We all went to lunch at the hospital cafeteria. We spent a good hour eating, talking, relaxing, and then back to Jeff we went. Annette and I found a very relaxed, sleeping Jeff as it was the usual hospital nap time from 2 to 3:30p.m."

 

"We finally heard the results of yesterday’s MRI. Nothing new and just as they expected. So no new things to be concerned with and on the other side no good improvement news either." 

The words said by the Neurologist were, “We are right on track. All we need to do is get his blood pressure stabilized and we will send him to rehab in Salt Lake.”

Yeah!

 

With Brandi's help Ryan's family, Cherie, and Aliyah were able to Face Time with Jeff this evening. We hope that Blake can join us tomorrow night. Brandi asked Jeff to move his arms to show the kids that he could move them. Jeff immediately started moving his arms up and down (from the elbow) for the kids to see.  While Face Timing with Jeff, Annette was trying to feed him dinner and our job was to keep him awake. Potatoes and gravy, carrots, and what they think was roast were all put together on a spoon in order to give him the most flavor possible. He seemed to like the vanilla pudding the best.

 



Never take for granted you can feed yourself!

We just know this irritates our dad that he can't do the simplest of task like feeding himself.

 

All of his liquids have to be thickened in order to prevent aspiration, which is a fancy word for "going down the wrong hole." When liquids are thin they tend to go down more quickly and for someone who is already struggling to swallow it can be dangerous. By thickening everything it gives his body time to react to the liquids and protect his airway during swallows. Jeff told Brandi that the thickened water was horrible!

 

Annette asking Jeff what flavor of thickened "nectar" he wanted.



 

Jaxon and Talon got a kick out of us telling grandpa to wake up over and over. He is still sleeping a lot from the Valium they give him which helps to prevent muscle spams and decrease pain. We kind of all feel that it might be better for him to sleep more during this phase of recovery anyway.

 

When Annette told him to open his eyeballs for the umpteenth time he sarcastically opened them as wide as he could, but they only stayed that way for about ten seconds. It made us all laugh.

 



Annette had Brandi show the kids Jeff's really big owie on his knee.

 

After talking with Cherie, Aliyah and Ryan's Family, Brandi Faced timed Kaisalyn (Sierra was sleeping).  From the look on Kaisalyn's face when she saw her grandpa you could tell she was deeply concerned.  Jeff was asleep most of the time they were face timing Kaisalyn, but he did open his eyes a couple of times for just a few seconds to look at the iPad screen.

 

The bed Jeff is in is really soft and he hasn't had any complaints. They are turning him from side to side about every two hours to decrease pressure on his tailbone and butt.  They don't want him in a sitting position because he has some redness already and they don't want it to progress into bed sores.  He would prefer to sit up rather than lay down, but he is only allowed to do this for 15 minutes 3 times a day to eat and then back to a laying down again.

 

Right now the main concern and the whole reason he can't be transfered is that his blood pressure isn't stable, like Peggy mentioned. Laying on one side it goes too high, but turned on the other side it drops too low. We aren't sure that the cause is completely understood at this point in time. We do know that once it's stabilized he'll be transferred to IMC in Murray, UT for inpatient therapy.

 

If you were planning to fast with us on Sunday, please remember in your fast to specifically ask that Jeff's blood pressure will stabilize so that he can be transported home to UT and begin rehab.

 

KSL news had a story yesterday about a facility that assists paralyzed patients achieve dreams they had been told were impossible - like walking and running. Several people sent the link to grandma and she called for more information. It is called Neuroworx Rehabilitation Center and it's located in Sandy, UT. It's an outpatient rehab center that specializes in spinal cord injuries. We hope to see Jeff there as soon as his inpatient therapy is completed!

 

Trying to get Jeff's spirits up Brandi was talking to her dad about getting him home. He then said to her, "I don't want to go home".  Brandi asked "Well, where do you want to go?" and he said "Driving".  Brandi then just went along with what her dad was saying and said, "Ok, we can drive you around, where do you want to drive to?"  Jeff didn't answer because he had fallen back asleep.  Annette feels that Jeff was talking about driving a Harley motorcycle.  We can't even begin to imagine how being paralyzed and the thought of not being able to move and do the things he loves is affecting our dad.  We are going to need all the help we can to get to help our dad begin thinking positive so that he can be motivated to heal and do those things again some day!

 

Funny moments of the day:

This one's pretty good! --- Our dad Jeff will be "dad" and his nurse will be "Jeff."

Dad's nurse today is named Jeff and he's big, tall, and strong. Jeff and another nurse came in to help turn dad over to his other side. Jeff said to the other nurse, "What did they do before we had male nurses?"
Dad was listening to their conversation and said, "They were all fat."
The nurses were a little surprised and then dad added, "Now they're all nice and thin and easy on the eyes."

Ha! So funny even if it is slightly inappropriate! Got to love the drugs!

 

Dad's nurse Jeff (right) and another nurse repositioning him.

 

Brandi was trying to get Jeff to wake up and in desperation to get her dad to talk to her or open his eyes she said, "Hey Dad, Zach has some pretty stinky farts, should I invite him in here so that he can fart and then the stench will wake you up?"  Jeff replied with a mumbled "Yeah".  LOL!!

 

Brandi loves this picture because even though her dad has his eyes closed he has on "his smile". Can you see it?  Brandi reports that she can't wait until she gets to have a real conversation with her dad and his eyes are opened for more than a few seconds.

 

We are so grateful for the strength that Annette and Peggy have found over the past 5 days. They have held up incredibly well during this crisis and we thank our Father in heaven for being with them and providing them with much needed comfort while they are away from other friends and family.

 

Look at that bib!  It helps keep Jeff's neck brace from getting messy while he eats. 

 

Please pray for Annette & Peggy's continued strength, mentally and physically. And most especially pray for Jeff's blood pressure that it might stabilize. We want him home!

 

Again many thanks for all the prayers, warm wishes, and money donations! Our gratitude is far too much to ever be able to express in words! We love you all!