Day 190 to 196, Mar. 7-13

Day 190 to 196, Mar. 7-13

This week was pretty good with a lot of little things to keep Jeff and Annette busy. They went outside every day except Wednesday so Jeff could ride around the subdivision. He went around 3 times to equal a mile each time. The muscle spasms in his legs have gotten worse and can be very frustrating at times. Some of his fingers have also started to spasm. The pain in Jeff's neck is getting better. He wakes up feeling okay and goes to bed very sore. 

On Monday they went to a follow up appointment with Dr. Dodds and it was an in and out visit. We count this as a good thing. It probably would have been much different had he been more seriously injured in his fall. We are very grateful for small mercies. His next follow up will be in 2 months. 

Later Kasey came from TOSH and drilled holes in the ramp for the manual wheelchair so it isn't so heavy for Annette to lift. Even though it helped tremendously, the ramp (which is really 2 separate parts) is still really heavy. We are grateful for Kasey's dedication not only to our dad, but also to our mom. He really cares about how they are both doing through this whole process. 

These show the plastic they installed in the bed to help it be more slick and also how the ramp fits. Annette uses the long and thin piece of wood to push it back in the bed so she can fit the wheelchair. 

On Tuesday Jeff and Annette went to an appointment to see Jeff's urologist, Dr. Bishoff. His suprapubic catheter has been a real struggle with it clogging and having a lot of sediment. He learned from another patient at Neuroworx that theirs doesn't do that so he decided to find out what he can do to help the problem.

They started him on a pill to help the acidity levels in his stomach and was given directions to drink more acidic things. The acidity is supposed to decrease the amount of sediment in the bladder and prevent clogging. So Annette is now putting orange juice in Jeff's protein shakes instead of milk, giving him lemonade with lunch, and grape juice with dinner. He still drinks cranberry juice daily. He was also instructed to drink more to help flush his bladder out. The more fluids the better!

Peggy came in the afternoon and brought Jeff lunch while Annette went with her good friend Julie Oldham. They both have birthdays in February, but due to illness their birthday lunch date was delayed. We are grateful Julie is doing better! After lunch Julie treated Annette to a pedicure and we want to thank her for being such a wonderful friend. Annette needed to be pampered!

On Wednesday Julee and Tylee spent the day with Jeff and Annette. They dropped Jeff off at Neuroworx and then went to the mall to browse.

This is what the ramp looks like when it's pulled out. Annette's arms are very sore from doing so much lifting the past few days to get it in and out of the truck. 

This picture shows the new wheely bars that were put on last week. The old ones were 3 inches too short and that's why they weren't able to stop his fall backwards. 

This is getting back in the truck. We are grateful for the sunshine!

They then had salad for lunch. Jeff was weighed at Neuroworx and is disappointed by the few pounds he's put on since the accident. Considering that he only has about a quarter of the muscles in his body to burn calories he's doing pretty good! To save the time of getting Jeff in and out of the truck they ate in the parking lot. 

Then it was onward to the wound clinic at IMC. While one of the open sores looks significantly better, the other two have opened up more. They believe it's because there was already tissue damage under the skin and it just hadn't broken the surface yet. After the debridement they put a new ointment on the sores in the hopes of getting better results. The other two red spots they were watching look great and have responded well to the ointment Annette is putting on them. 

On Thursday Clifton and Joyce came to the house to help out. Clifton did work outside to help prepare for spring, like trimming the roses. Joyce helped Annette around the house. We are so grateful for their loving service! 

On Friday Annette went to work and Cherie and Aliyah stayed home with Jeff. Ron came to the house and replaced the wheely bar wheels for Jeff's manual wheelchair. He put on the smallest roller blade wheels he could find, but they are larger than the stock wheels and will give more support and greater peace of mind. 

Saturday was more relaxing. Jeff did book work and hung out at home. He made it outside right as the sun went behind the clouds. We are so grateful the weather has been so nice this week!

Jeff and Annette are going to St. George with Ryan's family later this week and to help decrease pressure to Jeff's butt for the long ride he got a one inch thick water pad with a sheepskin cover to go on his seat. Blake got it put in place for him today. 

On Sunday Jeff and Annette went to church. It helps a lot to get that spiritual uplifting and we are grateful he was feeling well enough to go. They had spaghetti dinner with the family and then celebrated Zach's birthday that is this coming Thursday. We are so grateful to have him as a part of our family and want him to know how much we love him!

The number 3 is really for 33, we promise! ;)

Look at that cute belly! Little Aspen is growing! 

Zoom in between Jeff and Zach to see cute little Sierra with her diva sunglasses on! Ha!

Annette and Julee changed out Jeff's suprapubic catheter again. They noticed a slight improvement in how much sediment and blood were present. We are hoping the changes that were made to increase the acidity in Jeff's bladder will continue to improve this. Also, Annette reports that the new ointment they are using on Jeff's sores every day has already helped them to look better. We'll take whatever improvements we can get!

Funny story for the week that had us all dying with laugher... After an appointment at IMC last week Jeff and Annette decided to go to Costco to pick up a few things. To save the trouble of loading and unloading Jeff he just drove his power chair across the street while Annette drove the truck. When he arrived he parked himself at the entrance where the warm air blows to wait for Annette. It took almost a half hour for Annette to find a parking spot out in the boonies where she could load Jeff because the parking lot was so full! In the meantime people started showing Jeff their membership cards to enter the store! The actual Costco greeter just smiled as he nodded and let them pass. Jeff was an honorary Costco greeter for a half hour! Ha!

We are so thankful for all of the love and support we've been given. We are grateful for the concern, kind words of encouragement, and prayers on our behalf. Some days can be so difficult, overwhelming, and discouraging. The efforts of those around us to lift us up are more important than anyone could possibly know. They are answers to our prayers and sometimes the only thing that keeps us going on the hard days.