Brandon got transfered to St. Luke's rehab facility in Cedar Rapids on Friday. My sister asked if I would come stay with them for a night so she could have some company while she gets used to the new place. Kirby stayed home with the kids so I could come have some quality time with my sissy and Brandon. I came to help her but I had no idea how theraputic the visit would be for me.
He was doing so well during the time I was there. He had been having a lot of nausea because of all of the pain medication but they had given him and appetite stimulant and he was actually getting his appetite back and feeling like eating. He said his pain wasn't bad at all.
When no one else was there in the evening we were able to just talk. Talk about everything...e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. We talked about the accident, the future, hopes, fears, concerns, all from Brandon's perspective. Things I had not really been able talk to him about before. It was wonderful and SO normal, there was absolutely nothing I felt uncomfortable asking him. I got to have a heart to heart with my sister while we were eating dinner. She said she often askes herself why this happened and I told her that God is getting their attention. We had an emotional conversation about that. I am very relieved to know that this ordeal is bringing them closer to God not pushing them further away.
Also, I was able to SLEEP! I have not been sleeping well at all since this whole thing happened. I wake up at night thinking about everything, then I start crying, then I can't go back to sleep. So just being here with them helped me to relax and actually get a good night's sleep, even on this rock hard couch thingie.
"Wheelchair" is a word everyone seems to be getting more comfortable with. At first I think everyone was hoping he would just be able to get up and walk, but now we are all realizing that a wheelchair is a reality he is facing, at least for a while and maybe forever. But they know, too, that he will be able to live a very normal life in a wheelchair if it comes to that. The hope is still that he will walk one day but for now they are taking it one day at a time and learning to adapt to their new "normal".
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Accident
Saturday morning we were at home working around the house. Kirby was hanging trim in the bedrooms and I was having a freezer meal making day. We heard the jaws a life get called out over Kirby's pager he has for the volunteer fire department. "Man pinned under a tree, he is conscious and breathing." I said to Kirby, "that's not good" and went about my business. A few minutes later Kirby said, "is Brandon cutting hedge today?" I said I didn't know but I would call my sister in a few minutes and find out. (Brandon is my sister's husband and he and his dad often cut down hedge trees, make posts out of them, and sell them.) I got busy doing other things and forgot to call my sister, I honestly thought, what are the odds that it would be Brandon.
20 minutes later we recieve a call from my mom...Brandon has been in an accident...a tree fell on his back...they are air lifting him from the field to University Hospital in Iowa City. It's not good.
I got all of my food put away, Kirby took the kids to his parents, we left for Iowa City.
We got a call from my mom. He will live. CAT scan is not looking good, strong chance of paralysis they're going to do an MRI.
We arrive at the hospital. Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of praying. We wait for the results of the MRI.
two possible results:
#1. The spinal cord will be completely severed, there's nothing they can do, he will be paralyzed.
#2. There will be some hope of saving is legs and they will do surgery.
We wait.
MRI Results... It's bad. T12 vertibrae is shattered, severe injury to the spinal cord. But there is hope, he's young, he's strong, they will give him a chance, they will do surgery.
We get to see him for 2-3 minutes. We watch helplessly as they wheel him to surgery.
We wait.
4 hours in, it's going well. 1-2 more hours to go.
We wait.
2 hours later. Surgery is over. The neurosurgion talks to the family. Removed most of T12, L1 has some damage as well. They put screws and supporting rods in his back. They did everything they could possible do. "It's in God's hands now."
By Sunday morning he can feel his buttox, they do a rectal exam, he feels it. He feels some sensation in his right leg, not much in his left. He feels some shooting pains down his legs. All good signs. He can't feel his feet. It's possible for him to walk with braces even if he never gets feeling back in his feet. He wouldn't have to be confined to a wheelchair.
Monday morning he still can't feel his feet but is still feeling sensations in his legs.
So for now, we wait. We pray. We hope.
You can find out the latest on his carepage.
20 minutes later we recieve a call from my mom...Brandon has been in an accident...a tree fell on his back...they are air lifting him from the field to University Hospital in Iowa City. It's not good.
I got all of my food put away, Kirby took the kids to his parents, we left for Iowa City.
We got a call from my mom. He will live. CAT scan is not looking good, strong chance of paralysis they're going to do an MRI.
We arrive at the hospital. Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of praying. We wait for the results of the MRI.
two possible results:
#1. The spinal cord will be completely severed, there's nothing they can do, he will be paralyzed.
#2. There will be some hope of saving is legs and they will do surgery.
We wait.
MRI Results... It's bad. T12 vertibrae is shattered, severe injury to the spinal cord. But there is hope, he's young, he's strong, they will give him a chance, they will do surgery.
We get to see him for 2-3 minutes. We watch helplessly as they wheel him to surgery.
We wait.
4 hours in, it's going well. 1-2 more hours to go.
We wait.
2 hours later. Surgery is over. The neurosurgion talks to the family. Removed most of T12, L1 has some damage as well. They put screws and supporting rods in his back. They did everything they could possible do. "It's in God's hands now."
By Sunday morning he can feel his buttox, they do a rectal exam, he feels it. He feels some sensation in his right leg, not much in his left. He feels some shooting pains down his legs. All good signs. He can't feel his feet. It's possible for him to walk with braces even if he never gets feeling back in his feet. He wouldn't have to be confined to a wheelchair.
Monday morning he still can't feel his feet but is still feeling sensations in his legs.
So for now, we wait. We pray. We hope.
You can find out the latest on his carepage.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Applesauce in the Snow
Last night we had finished eating dinner, spaghetti, and the kids had applesauce in the little individual containers. It had been kind of a long day, I had two extra kids in the morning and Kirby had not been home all evening because of work and other commitments. My stress level was up there. So dinner was cleaned up, the kids were cleaned up, I was hoping they would play quietly for an hour so I could watch Glee. Ha.
Clae got into the fridge to get his drink and saw a container of applesauce and decided he wanted more. I said, "no." He said, "I want more applesauce." I said, "no." My son has a hard time taking no for an answer, I was at my limit and I was not backing down. A fit was being thrown by this point so I opened the door and threw the applesauce out into a big snow drift. The fit continued for the next 45 minutes because, of course, he wanted me to go out into the snow drift and get the applesauce and I, of course, was not going to do it.
I basically just let him have his fit and he finally calmed down, we watched a movie, everything was better, it was all over, so I put them to bed. We did our normal bedtime routine, they were tucked in, it was quiet in their room, I was breathing a sigh of relief...then..."I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE AND GET MY APPLESAUCE." I went into his room, I heard Kirby's truck pull in the driveway, I told him his dad was home and he was going to be in to take care of the situation.
Kirby went into his room. Clae tattled on me. Kirby went out and got the applesauce. Daddy is the hero and mommy is the lunatic who throws applesauce into the snow.
Clae got into the fridge to get his drink and saw a container of applesauce and decided he wanted more. I said, "no." He said, "I want more applesauce." I said, "no." My son has a hard time taking no for an answer, I was at my limit and I was not backing down. A fit was being thrown by this point so I opened the door and threw the applesauce out into a big snow drift. The fit continued for the next 45 minutes because, of course, he wanted me to go out into the snow drift and get the applesauce and I, of course, was not going to do it.
I basically just let him have his fit and he finally calmed down, we watched a movie, everything was better, it was all over, so I put them to bed. We did our normal bedtime routine, they were tucked in, it was quiet in their room, I was breathing a sigh of relief...then..."I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE AND GET MY APPLESAUCE." I went into his room, I heard Kirby's truck pull in the driveway, I told him his dad was home and he was going to be in to take care of the situation.
Kirby went into his room. Clae tattled on me. Kirby went out and got the applesauce. Daddy is the hero and mommy is the lunatic who throws applesauce into the snow.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Random Stuff
I realized I had been getting a little bit lenient about the kids' bedtime lately to the point where it was sometimes 9:30 or after by the time both kids were finally asleep. Which is why my evenings were so chaotic, why I was getting nothing done, why I was so tired, and why I haven't posted in a few weeks. This week we have been cracking down on bed time and things are going much better. I was very excited when I sat down at the computer and realized that it's only 9:00. Yay, maybe I'll actually get a little bit of me time this evening!
I also haven't been posting because there has been NOTHING going on. Other than we have cabin fever and that's not really so interesting to talk about.
Some random updates and thoughts...
1. We did survive the "Blizzard of 2011" I will post pictures later of the mounds of snow. They cleared the 5 ft drift in our road and Kirby got the driveway cleared out, so I don't feel like we're trapped anymore and we may be able to go somewhere in the next couple of days.
2. Lydia dumped red fingernail polish on my living room area rug. I think I am going to be able to get it out. When I first saw it I thought it was hopeless but I can actually barely see it now, it's still upstairs drying so the true test will be when it's back in place to see how noticeable the stain is. I googled ways to clean it up, there were TONS of suggestions and I think I tried most of them. I started with bleach which they don't recommend at all because it might bleach the rug, (I tried it before I googled), but it was in a light enough spot that it didn't damage the rug. Then I tried fingernail polish remover, shaving cream, carpet cleaner, windex, oxy clean, shout laundry stain remover...ammonia was recommended but I didn't use it because I had already used bleach. (if you mix bleach and ammonia it creates a toxic gas that will kill you, I didn't know this until a few years ago, just a tip in case you didn't know). I think the nail polish remover and oxy worked the best but what really got it out was a lot of elbow grease. I scrubbed that thing until I got a cramp in my hand and then I switched to the other hand. As long as the rag was still turning pink I kept scrubbing. It's looking like it's going to be less of a crisis than I thought it was going to be to begin with.
3. My baby boy turns THREE tomorrow! I am really looking forward to the 3's. I have always loved three year olds, they are picking up on so many new things and they end up saying the funniest things! I like fact that Clae is no longer a baby and can communicate clearly with us what he needs/wants, etc. I'm glad the terrible 2's are behind us and we can look forward to fewer tantrums (or so I've been told).
For his cake I bought some cars from the movie "Cars" and I made some cupcakes and put them together and frosted them to look like a track and I'm going to put the cars on the track. I'll take pictures and post them when it's done.
The plan is to go to fun city to go swimming on Saturday with all of his cousins. I'm hoping it works out and weather doesn't stop us from going.
4. Kirby and I are listening to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on CD. If you haven't been through it I recommend listening to the CDs or watching the DVDs. we're really getting a lot of good out of it.
5. We got out cable hooked up again. We haven't had it since May and we really hadn't missed it at all. But since we've been trapped inside so much I needed some contact with the outside world, we'll probably only have it for a couple of months and cancel it again. It's really amazing what you get done in an evening when you don't have the option of sitting down and watching TV. (that may be another reason I haven't been blogging as much).
Now I'm going to wrap Clae's presents, pick up toys, and go to bed.
I also haven't been posting because there has been NOTHING going on. Other than we have cabin fever and that's not really so interesting to talk about.
Some random updates and thoughts...
1. We did survive the "Blizzard of 2011" I will post pictures later of the mounds of snow. They cleared the 5 ft drift in our road and Kirby got the driveway cleared out, so I don't feel like we're trapped anymore and we may be able to go somewhere in the next couple of days.
2. Lydia dumped red fingernail polish on my living room area rug. I think I am going to be able to get it out. When I first saw it I thought it was hopeless but I can actually barely see it now, it's still upstairs drying so the true test will be when it's back in place to see how noticeable the stain is. I googled ways to clean it up, there were TONS of suggestions and I think I tried most of them. I started with bleach which they don't recommend at all because it might bleach the rug, (I tried it before I googled), but it was in a light enough spot that it didn't damage the rug. Then I tried fingernail polish remover, shaving cream, carpet cleaner, windex, oxy clean, shout laundry stain remover...ammonia was recommended but I didn't use it because I had already used bleach. (if you mix bleach and ammonia it creates a toxic gas that will kill you, I didn't know this until a few years ago, just a tip in case you didn't know). I think the nail polish remover and oxy worked the best but what really got it out was a lot of elbow grease. I scrubbed that thing until I got a cramp in my hand and then I switched to the other hand. As long as the rag was still turning pink I kept scrubbing. It's looking like it's going to be less of a crisis than I thought it was going to be to begin with.
3. My baby boy turns THREE tomorrow! I am really looking forward to the 3's. I have always loved three year olds, they are picking up on so many new things and they end up saying the funniest things! I like fact that Clae is no longer a baby and can communicate clearly with us what he needs/wants, etc. I'm glad the terrible 2's are behind us and we can look forward to fewer tantrums (or so I've been told).
For his cake I bought some cars from the movie "Cars" and I made some cupcakes and put them together and frosted them to look like a track and I'm going to put the cars on the track. I'll take pictures and post them when it's done.
The plan is to go to fun city to go swimming on Saturday with all of his cousins. I'm hoping it works out and weather doesn't stop us from going.
4. Kirby and I are listening to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on CD. If you haven't been through it I recommend listening to the CDs or watching the DVDs. we're really getting a lot of good out of it.
5. We got out cable hooked up again. We haven't had it since May and we really hadn't missed it at all. But since we've been trapped inside so much I needed some contact with the outside world, we'll probably only have it for a couple of months and cancel it again. It's really amazing what you get done in an evening when you don't have the option of sitting down and watching TV. (that may be another reason I haven't been blogging as much).
Now I'm going to wrap Clae's presents, pick up toys, and go to bed.
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