Because of some unexpected events at work last night Julee was unable to get updates from Jeff and Annette until this morning. This update will be for yesterday and last night because, as it turns out, last night was incredible for Jeff and it dominated the conversation!
Jeff started by saying, "Yesterday was okay, except it was a crazy nerve day."
His lower trunk was tingly and felt like it was on fire all day! It was the worst from his lower stomach and down, but most intense in his feet.
The bottom side, or dead parts, of his arms felt much like his legs. The good part of his arms and fingers were hypersensitive and it was almost painful to touch things. Because all of his nerves were firing on their own Jeff lost a lot of his strength and wasn't able to push himself in the wheelchair.
The doctor said, "I don't know what to tell you. It's definitely something. We'll just have to wait and see."
While we don't want to get our hopes up, we are cautiously optimistic that this means something. It's a change! We've kind of speculated that perhaps it's similar to when your hand falls asleep and then wakes back up, but obviously much more intense and painful.
Jeff says he'll put up with the pain without complaint if he could just know things are beginning to heal and that's what is causing it. But the idea of having this pain for no reason? It bothers him to think that way. We are praying the first option is right.
They did spend a lot of time working on the manual wheelchair to get it to work better for Jeff. They have put a lot of time into making adjustments because there isn't another chair for him to try on the unit.
Irony of the day, the wheelchair Jeff is planning to buy has a titanium frame and spinergy wheels just like his mountain bike! He expects it to take months of fighting with the insurance to get coverage for most of it.
Last night Josh Lloyd stayed for the evening. Jeff said he had a great time talking to him and looking at things with him. We are so grateful for his presence in our dad's life, he has made such a difference!
Jeff says that last night was his 3rd night with the CPAP and that it worked perfectly and stayed in place all night. He went to sleep at 10pm and says, "I had a very good dream, conscience, direction, planning, thinking, confirmation session!"
In the past he used to complain about dreaming because he wouldn't ever remember them and wouldn't rest as well when he had them. His experiences with dreams have been much different since the accident, starting with that very first night.
While not all of his dreams mean something, he definitely feels the Spirit has communicated with him at times while he's sleeping. Last night was like that.
He says, "It was a state of conscious rest. It wasn't like regular dreaming or being awake. I thought about the future and planned things I know I can accomplish and things I know will happen."
He broke the night into three parts. The first part was about the future after he gets home. What will come to pass. He felt very uplifted and inspired from this part.
The second part focused on what is going to take place in the following week. He came up with new features and improvements he'd like to see on his wheelchair that no one else has yet. He hopes to remember everything for when the wheelchair rep comes next week so he can tell him what's in his mind to custom make his wheelchair. He believes his ideas could help improve all wheelchairs and make them safer to use.
Jeff then woke up at 1:30 this morning thinking the night was over. His eyes were filled with salt crystals from crying in his sleep. The CPAP pressure causes at least twice the amount of tears when you cry. He knows he cried at least three times because he remembers his nose getting clogged three times and being unable to breathe with the CPAP on until he calmed his emotions and it cleared up.
He wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up so he moved his CPAP mask up on the bridge of his nose so he could push his button and ask for the time. He can't talk with the mask on. Moisture built up in the mask and overflowed into his eyes which helped clear them of the salt. He said it was awesome!
He was able to fall back to sleep and had a very restful sleep until 5:30am. He reports that it was the best night he's had since being there and said, "You can't have that experience and get a good night's rest without it being the best night ever!"
The respiratory therapist poked her head in and since he was already awake he invited her in to visit. They had a great 40 minute talk about life, raising children, and the gospel. She's a strong member of the church with 7 kids and Jeff says she's a "super mom".
He says the last couple days have been better as far as daytime drowsiness is concerned. We are attributing that to better sleep and are grateful they got things figured out with the CPAP.
He says it costs just as much to rent it for one night as it does to buy a machine. He plans to purchase one soon, but since the money the insurance is paying to rent one goes directly to the respiratory therapy department for new machines and parts, etc, he's going to take his time choosing one to help them out a little.
He's still having a couple residual problems from the UTI and we hope they will continue to resolve over time.
Jeff was definitely inspired last night. He is more full of life than ever and very optimistic about his future, no matter what it holds for him.
He expressed excitement that the unit is fully staffed today for the first time in weeks. He is looking forward to getting to know the people caring for him better and hopeful that they will have more time to spend with him than usual. This is his favorite part of life right now. He loves to learn about others and take the opportunity to be a missionary.
As of this morning his lower body still feels lit up (on fire) from his stomach to his feet. The dead part of his arms still have the same spark feeling also. The good news is that the live part of his arms are no longer hypersensitive at this point. He hopes to have an easier time in therapy today.
More to follow tonight, thank you all for tuning in and checking how things are going! We appreciate all your love and support!
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