Thursday, April 30, 2009

Thursday - April 29

It's been a roller coaster the past few days, like someone posted how many times have we used that term "roller coaster" on the blog? .....I wish I had a dollar for every time. Jerry was extremely sick on Friday, he felt OK on Saturday, Sunday he felt pretty good and enjoyed himself at the pancake breakfast, Monday he was sick again. By Tuesday he was ready to throw in the towel. It was a very difficult week physically and emotionally for Jerry. Again having to come to terms with his current reality brought him to edge of giving up. We decided to cancel PT and OT for Tuesday and head to the Doctor, that turned out to be a very good decision. Dr. Quinn is so wonderful, he squeezed us into his already busy schedule or maybe I should give his staff that credit, his staff made sure we got in. Dr. Quinn was so patient, he spent about an hour with us talking with Jerry about his emotions, trouble shooting the nausea and dealing with the multitude of issues we presented. Dr. Quinn's talk really helped Jerry to get focused again and to stay the course. The doc ordered an ultrasound, the next set of tests to try to determine the root cause of the nausea. If the results don't find the root then the next test will be some kind of gastrosomethingorother study. We tried the homeopathic wristbands, and also mint syrup, both didn't help. Someone mentioned on the blog awhile back about some nausea serum with B12 but couldn't remember the ingredients, however they thought B vitamins helped with nausea. So this probably isn't the best thing but Red Bull the energy drink is loaded with B6 and B12, we tried it yesterday and it reduced the level of nausea from about a 4 to a 2. We tried it again today and again the same, maybe coincidence, maybe something to it, we'll see.

Jerry has his friends Katie and Leigh visiting from Florida, we picked them up from the airport today. (Sorry Mary, thanks for the rain check, my head was in a fog when I said Friday would work out fine). We picked the girls up from the airport about 30 minutes late, I made a bad first impression. They flew in at 11:30 and you know how that goes trying to get out of the house by 10:30, oh well not the end of the world. Jerry took PT off today with blessings from his therapist and will be taking SCI-FIT off on Monday. He needs a break and spending time with the girls will be a great boost for him. Jerry was excited to plan out an itinerary, hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow because they are supposed to go to San Francisco, Josh is supposed to give them the tour. Saturday they are supposed to go to the Boardwalk, the Big Foot Museum, the wharf, and Taquaria Maranos. Sunday they are supposed to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey wharf and 17 mile drive. Monday they're going to drive up the coast to Davenport and maybe go see a movie and have a chill day. Tuesday they fly home at 6:00 am, it's going to be a busy five days. Once the kids head out for the day I'll have quite a bit of free time, I'm not sure I know what to do with myself anymore, I'll figure it out :-).

More Later...
Katie Mac

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Tuesday, April 28th

The last couple of days have been kinda rough, so we have not had much time to post. Jerry has been feeling sick and it has had him feeling a little down in the dumps, thinking these feelings will never cease. Many thoughts run through his head on days like this, and not many of them are good, so I ask that if you can pray especially for his well being, physically and emotionally these next few days, I would appreciate it. Pray for Katie also, as when her boy is feeling down, it makes it harder on her as well. She really is doing a great job keeping all that is going on in check, but sometimes it is just overwhelming. I am not really sure what has set off Jerry's emotions these last few days, but I am confident that God will see us through. One good piece of news is that some of his good friends from Embry-Riddle are coming for a visit on Thursday, and that perked him up for a while today, as these two are very special to him. He started making an itinerary the moment he got their flight schedule, ready to show them all the cool things here in Nor-Cal. San Francisco, Monterrey, Santa Cruz to name a few, so I just hope the weather cooperates. Looks like he is in for a busy weekend. Well thank you again for keeping us in your prayers and your thoughts, and I hope that tomorrow will bring a better day. I pray for Allie also tonight, and I hope that she is resting well and has the wings of angles surrounding her as I type this post.
Good night and God bless,
Dennis

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday, April 26th

As the day winds down, it is a nice time to think about the week to come, but more important I think, it's a nice time to reflect on the week that has passed, for those are the things we know for sure. I know for sure we don't like staying up late and getting up early. I know we don't do early appointments, or rushing out of the house, and I know we need to do other things in moderation also, because there might be a price to pay later. I also know that writing down our thoughts and experiences is a wonderful way of healing, weather we realize it at the time or not, and that sometimes the things we do and say can have a impact on someone and maybe be just what they needed to get through the day. These are some of the things that I am reflecting on tonight, the things I have learned this week, the things that I know for sure.

But what I also know for sure it that people love us. People have come to our aid, and welcomed us in with arms wide open. They have come just to show they cared, and that we're not alone, and sometimes that is what gets us through the day. As I stood around and talked to folks at the pancake breakfast this Saturday( the crew had the pancake flipping covered for sure) I just felt blessed to live in such a great community, that would do this for us. People stopping in on their way to a baseball or softball game, kids still in uniform, or on their way to some other engagement, just to support my son, incredible. And the many volunteers who came just to help set up, or take down the event, and the Church it self for letting us gather there, simply amazing, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Kris, Nana, Sara,Leanne, Mary, thank you for getting this together, great job. Selina and Sister(?), Gretch, Mark, Pancake flipper Lady, Mitchel, Kayla, Colleen, batter stirrer boy, Kids who passed out food, John and Marianne, Sherrie, Mimi, Patty, Margret, and anyone whom I have forgotten, thank you, thank you, thank you, you all did a wonderful job. We appreciate your kindness for sure. And thanks to the many of you who took the time to stop by, in person or in spirit, we are eternally grateful, and I hope that seeing the way Jerry was getting around brought a smile to your face, because you all have been a big part of his recovery. Thanks too to the guys helping me at the house, getting closer to a good nights sleep for sure.

Mostly I would like to thank God for putting all these great people in our lives, and for giving us the strength to handle what ever comes along. We knew along time ago that sometimes in life you're going to have good days, along with some bad days, but I am thankful that God has taught me how to turn the bad days into good days. This too is something that I know for sure.

Good Night and God Bless,
Dennis

Friday, April 24, 2009

Friday - April 24

We are having a pancake breakfast fundraiser tomorrow morning, Saturday 25th, 8:00 to 12:00. We look forward to seeing you there for those planning on attending at Felton Bible Church.

Today was a very rough day. Jerry had an appointment this morning for a bone scan, the purpose is to look for HO (Heterotrophic Ossification). HO: the formation of bone in abnormal locations. My understanding is in the healing process the body makes and deposits bone in areas it shouldn't such as joints and soft tissue or ligaments. Jerry has popping in his hips while doing range of motion. When Jerry was still an in-patient at Valley Med they suspected he had the beginning stages of HO. VM conducted a bone scan and the results were normal, no indication of HO. Two weeks ago Jerry's doctor sent him for x-rays to again check for HO, however x-rays are not as reliable so he sent Jerry for a bone scan. The bone scan was scheduled for 11:30 today, morning appointments don't work. Rushing to get out of the house makes Jerry sick, he was throwing up all day. The procedure in a bone scan is to arrive for the scheduled appointment, get an injection of nuclear medicine, then come back 3 hours later for the scan. We had three hours to kill so we went to Carpos and got some soup and bread, we went back to the parking lot at Dominican. We just hung out in the car with the sliding door open. I fed Jerry his soup and then layed down on the couch in the back, Jerry went into a full tilt in his wheelchair and we just chilled. It was kinda nice with the door open and a light breeze coming in, relaxing, resting and chatting about nothing. The good news there are still no signs of HO.

Jerry did not use the chin drive today, yesterdays adventure, the long walk and the 4-wheelin took a toll. Jerry's neck was really hurting today, his neck was so tight with knots in his shoulders. I spent quite a bit of time massaging, trying to get the kinks out. Once again we learn moderation, take it slow. He was so excited about the chin drive he way over did it.

For the person that left the comment "In the last ten days my family has been in a crisis.", I was very touched by your comment. We are such simple folk, I feel like an average person. Many people like you say such wonderful things about our family sometimes I think "Us"? It's hard to imagine that are family touches and uplifts others, I felt proud when you said "It gave me comfort this morning and a reminder to pray and let God fill my heart." I was blessed by your comment, thank you. The comments left daily continue to uplift us and warm our hearts.

Thank you for keeping Jerry and Allie in your prayers for complete recovery, thank you for continued prayer for Allie's parents.

Life can be difficult, sometimes harder then you ever imagined possible, it's in these moments God gives you strength you never new existed.

Good Night
Katie

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Thursday - April 23

Today was sort of a roller coaster ride for Jerry, it started well, the afternoon was not so good, the evening was great. Jerry and I got up early this morning and got through the routine a little earlier so he had an hour free time before we had to load up to go to therapy. It seems he feels better getting up earlier, the only down side, I can't get him to bed before midnight 1:00 o'clock. Getting up earlier means less sleep, mama's not so good sleep deprived. At any rate it seems to be working for Jerry, these last 2 days the nausea is at a very low level, it's been manageable for him. The day started very pleasant Jerry felt good then we headed out to therapy at Dominican Rehab. In therapy Mary Ann was going to work with Jerry in the Standing Frame, we transferred Jerry into the standing frame and that's when things started to go down hill. Jerry has a blood pressure medication that he takes as needed when his blood pressure is down. We didn't take it today because his blood pressure was fine, however the minute he tried to stand the blood pressure dropped and he was not able to get up in the standing frame. Jerry started to pass out when we tried to get him upright, he just couldn't do it today. Mary Ann decided to get him on the mat and do some balance work with him sitting on the mat. Mary Ann, bless her, was trying to work with Jerry but he just couldn't do anything today. Lesson learned no matter how good he feels he needs to take his blood pressure medication on days he works out. I gave him blood pressure medication mid way through the work out however it takes 3o minutes to kick in so needless to say therapy didn't go so well today. An hour after therapy Jerry felt good.

After therapy Jerry had an appointment to get his chin drive set up on the wheel chair, the chin drive allows Jerry to drive his wheel chair with by a joy stick under his chin. It took about an hour to get the chin drive set up, so by the time we left Jerry was in good spirits with his blood pressure back up. The tech said it's gonna take some time to learn...... it's gonna be frustrating at first, he doesn't know Jerry well. With only a couple feet to spare on each side of his chair Jerry went 3 feet turned 90 degrees left, went 10 feet turned 90 degrees right, went 5 feet turned 90 degrees left. Basically he was traveling in an isle between equipment, he went a few more feet, then went back the way he came, only he did it maneuvering his chair in reverse.............(BACKWARDS). He's already a pro.

After getting home Jerry and I went for a walk down to camp, he drove the chair the entire time. Jerry took the chair 4 wheeling in the grass that didn't go so well but he had a fun. I have to say the chair is a little scary on speed bumps on a hill, it literally looked like the wheel chair was going to tip over sideways. Jerry was having a great time driving the chair around and it was so wonderful for him to have control.

Jerry ended the day with 5 friends coming for a visit, playing Rock Band, with Jerry rockin the mic.

Thank you all for keeping us, Jerry and Allie in your prayers.
Thank you Lord for good days, it was a very good day, God is good.

Good night,
Katie Mac

Early Thursday Morning

Yeah were up late again, but I think ( hope) that might start changing. We have been telling Jerry he has to start getting to bed earlier, with me having to get back to work and such, but it has not really worked out very well. It seems the evenings are when he feels the best, laughing, joking around and all and it has been hard to get him to settle down. Kinda like when he was a little boy, he never would go to bed on time! I thought it was exhausting then, but now, we just can't recover as easy. Are we getting old or what? Anyway today he did get up a little earlier than he has been, and he even said that he felt better getting his breakfast and morning routine over with and that it helped him feel better all day, so we might be on to something. I sure hope so.

As I said before, Jerry felt pretty good all day. The nausea was at a minimum, he made the trek over to SCI-FIT with no problems, and had a good work out. He did the gait training machine for about 40 minutes, worked on a standing frame with a arm bicycle attachment for about 25 minutes, worked on some stretching exercises on the floor for a little while, and finished up on the FES bike for 30 minutes or so. Doing exercises while standing up for an hour plus is a good thing, as he has had to start slowly back again since getting his neck brace off. I have a feeling things are going to start getting easier from here on out. Tomorrow he will get his chin drive for his chair, and with that he will have a little more control of his life and surroundings I think, and quite possibly, it could be a little fun. I know it will be fun to watch him try to drive himself for awhile. Heh Heh Heh.

Well it's taken me an hour and a half to type this so far, and I do have a lot to do tomorrow, so I should be making my way to the couch. I will leave you with this though. Many have said that they appreciate the time that we spend writing this blog, and how they check in each day, to follow our ups and downs, and the progress that is going on. Well we would just like to say that even though it is hard to get to this sometimes, and sometimes it gets frustrating writing down the same old stuff, (Jerry has nausea again), we do feel honored that so many are following, and that we do have so much support. It really is therapeutic for us to do this, writing down our highs and lows, goofy things like cats and cat names, it eases a little bit of the stress that we all feel each and everyday. I never would have though that doing this would have such an impact on so many, and if people are willing to read it, than it is the least our family can do for others. At the risk of sounding corny, I've always said that through coaching sports, if I could help just a few kids stay focused in school, and not go down a destructive path, that it would make it all worth while in the end. And if by sharing our life on this blog, we can help others by thinking of their own highs and lows, or help someone going through a similar situation, then praise God. It has been a blessing on our family with the prayers and comments, it has been a blessing financially with all the support, and we truly feel honored and fortunate to have this place to go to. I hope you all understand what I am trying to say, and with that....
Good Night, God Bless.
Dennis

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wednesday - April 22

There is not much change today to talk about, the day started out much as it does every day, Jerry nauseous. By the time we got to Dominican rehab Jerry felt a little better. Jerry's therapist Mary Ann has been very busy working to get Jerry a standing frame, I'm very impressed with the swift action in regards to obtaining the standing frame fore Jerry at home. Mary Ann was also working to help get some of the other equipment requests moving along faster. I've got to also give a big thanks to Dave and Heather at CCS who took it upon them selves to get the process moving along quicker. Ohh, and the best news of all Mary Ann set up an appointment for us on Thursday to get the chin drive set up on the wheel chair. Jerry will now start to learn how to control his wheelchair with a chin joy stick, it will be nice for him to have control of his chair.

Jerry enjoyed a visit with his friend Mary this evening, Jerry said thanks for the Cherry Garcia, nice call.

Good night
Katie

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Monday - April 20

As we settle into the routine of getting through each day it's hard to believe we're approaching 16 weeks post injury, 4 months. Seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago if that's possible. Each day that goes by the routine gets a little easier, how I wish it wasn't our routine. I used to love to be a stay at home mom, I secretly wished I didn't have to work and could continue being a stay at home mom. Be careful what you wish for....

Jerry continues to struggle with the nausea it's up and down and the new medication doesn't help at all, it's exhausting. On a positive note Jerry got the OK from the Doc to toss the neck brace, well not completely. Jerry will still have to wear the neck brace in the car as a precaution for the next four weeks. Jerry feels so good without the brace and amazingly he has really good movement in his neck and is much stronger than we thought he would be. It does look as if his neck is about 2 inches longer though, I think it got stretched out ;-). Jerry feels strong as far as holding his head up on his own however his endurance for standing has plummeted. On Thursday last week Jerry could not tolerate being in the standing frame for more than 5 minutes and today he could not even get up in it at all. Before he ever got up to 90 degrees he was starting to pass out. It's one step forward and two steps back......Lord give us patience.

The kittens have been such good therapy for Jerry he really has gotten attached to them. They are so entertaining to watch and make him laugh till he has tears. We are lucky to still have Rico with us. I opened the refrigerator to put in the coffee creamer and then shut the door, 5 minutes later I hear Rico meowing, after a minute of searching I follow the sound back to the refrigerator. Yup Rico was locked in the fridge, scary, I'm glad I wasn't heading out he could of been in there a long time. The last thing we do before heading out to SCI-FIT is get Jerry a travel cup of Ginger Ale for the road, I had to stop and come back to make sure Rico wasn't in the fridge again, now I'm paranoid. :-)

Good Night and God Bless....
Katie

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day-107 April 19

It was a very lovely Sunday despite having a rough night, the weather was gorgeous. Jerry had a hard time sleeping last night and was up until 5:00 am so needless to say he slept in a bit. We started the morning routine about 11:30 and didn't manage to get through the routine to get Jerry in his chair until 2:30. Jerry felt pretty good today and did some exercise for his biceps using his skateboard. After the exercise Jerry's thumb was spasming. Jerry was excited to see his thumb move, its the first time he's had any movement in his fingers. I take that back he has had his hands spasm where all the fingers open and stretch at once but he has never had just one finger or thumb move on it's own. At any rate it was encouraging for him.

Today was warm and although I loved it, Jerry cannot handle the heat, it was about 90 degrees inside the house so Jerry's body temperature went up to 99.5. Getting AC is gonna have to be moved up the priority list if we have to many of these warm days, we're not quite ready for summer weather. Jessica and her boyfriend Mitchel took Jerry out for a bit, the van is air conditioned so they went on a quest for frozen yogurt.

Jerry's room is coming along, Dennis has been working hard morning to night trying to get it ready for him. I'm proud of Dennis for working so hard, he's doing a great job. I do have to give John and his crew a special thank you as well, Dennis could not have gotten as far as he has without them.

Please continue to keep Jerry and Allie in your prayers as well as Allie's family.

Thanks
Katie

Thursday, April 16, 2009

What's Better Then Pancakes?

Coming up on Saturday, April 25 please join all of us on Team MacCallister for a great time of pancakes, raffles and hanging out to benefit the Jerry MacCallister Assistance Fund!

Your donations to the MacCallister Assistance Fund allow Jerry to continue in his care and therapy at SCI-Fit, as well as help the MacCallisters out with other recurring costs associated with his care and recovery. Thanks to all of you who have already given, and continue to give, Jerry's chances of a recovery have been GREATLY increased.

Breakfast will be up and ready anytime between 8am and 11:30am and you'll find us all at the Felton Bible Church. Located at the intersection of Zayante Rd and Graham Hill Rd, the church has tons of parking--so, look for the Following Jerry signs and you'll find us!

The morning's menu includes Pancakes, Sausage, Strawberries, Coffee, OJ and the works! Tickets are $7 per person, $3 for kids, cash or checks preferred. We'll also have a raffle, so bring some extra cash for your chance to take home some great prizes!

If you are in a position to donate food or supplies, please contact Leanne at leanne_m@pacbell.net Currently needed are papergoods and cash donations towards the cost of food, with our goal being that 100% of the proceeds go to Jerry, rather then to the costs of the event.

If you are planning to join us and attend, we'd love for you to "comment" here and let us know how many to expect!

Questions? Contact Kris at k_sihler@yahoo.com or Leanne at leanne_m@pacbell.net and thanks to the ringleaders of this event---Kris, Leanne and Mary--we call them "Jerry's Angels" Thank you also to all of you who have already volunteered to help and serve!

See you there!

On behalf of the fundraising team,
Marci

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Wednesday - April 15

I did Jerry and Jessica's taxes today, we made it, got em all done, whooohooo!

Please pray tonight for Allie she was transferred to ICU to be prepped for a tracheotomy and feeding tube. This surgery was scheduled previously but was put on hold to stabilize the damaged vertebrae in the neck. I'm told that she is aware of what's going on and can communicate with her eyes. We are all too familiar with that frustration. Pray that the surgery will go well with no complications, pray that the communication between Allie and her parents and nurses will be frustration free, that they will understand Allie easily. Please continue to pray for healing, courage and strength.

Today was a good day, Jerry has a new nausea medication and took it first thing this morning. Jerry said his nausea level was at a 2, which those of you following Jerry will know 2 is good. Let's hope that the medication is working and it wasn't just coincidence. I managed to get footage of Jerry's gait training exercise today at SCI-FIT.

Off the topic we have a pancake breakfast fundraiser coming up next Saturday on the 25th at Felton Bible Church. We'll get more info posted tomorrow, if your around the Valley next Saturday come by for some breakfast.

It's been a long day, I'm going to hit the hay, I'll leave you with the video's of Jerry gait training you can push play on the last three images....





Yup, I'm a lamo, I did it again, I tuned the camera to get the whole image and could not figure out how to rotate it to post it. So bummer, if you wanna watch it you gotta watch it sideways, arrrrgggg.... ok Rob, Jack, Mark, Michael anybody know some source code that will rotate the video?


YIKES TAXES

Tax time came and I wasn't paying attention, arrgg....
After getting home this evening I realized I better get the taxes done as I won't have much time tomorrow. I got Dennis and I's taxes done as well as Jerry's taxes, tomorrow at some point I have to do Janea and Jessica's taxes, eeek.

Today was the big day that turned out to be bigger then we anticipated, Jerry had a CT scan this morning at 9:00 however our paper work said 9:45 so there was a mix up and to top it off we went to the wrong radiology department, luckily we were still able to get in. After the CT scan it was over to see Dr. Howes to have an exam to get the yeah or nay on the neck brace coming off. Dr Howes decided he wanted a couple more x-rays before determining so back to radiology for x-rays then back down to see the doc. Dr. Howes decided the neck brace could probably come off however he wants to consult with the radiologist prior to giving the official OK. So a couple more days and the brace will probably come off although doc wants us to take precaution while driving and said Jerry should wear the brace during car rides. Speaking of car rides this morning did not go well at all, getting out of the house by 8:45 was a tremendous challenge and did not go well for Jer. Nausea is worse in the morning and and today was a doozie, we had to stop several times on the drive there and Jerry threw up. Dr. Howes prescribed a different medication to try and combat the nausea, say a prayer it's the cure, we'll give it a go in the morning.

We finally were done with the appointments by 2:30 and went to visit the nurses and therapists that treated Jerry while at VMC. It was nice to see all the crew that cared for Jerry. We also talked with Allie's mom and dad. Please keep their family and Allie in your prayers, pray for healing, pray she will get off the ventilator, pray for peace and strength. If you are a part of a prayer chain or church please add Allie and her family to your prayer chain.

Tomorrow is a SCI-FIT day, hopefully a gait training day, I got my camera battery charged, I'm ready to push the right button. I can't possibly mess it up again, I hope. :-)

I'm off to bed....
Good night,
Katie

Monday, April 13, 2009

Monday - April 13

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We had a pleasant day despite the lack of tradition. We didn't do our normal tradition this year, the Easter bunny didn't come, we didn't spend the day cooking a big feast. My mom and dad came to visit and stayed the night Saturday, we wanted to get out of the house and go do something fun. It took us until 1:30 before we got out of the house, it's not easy to just pick up and go these days. All loaded up we headed over the hill to San Jose to go see the 3D movie Monsters vs. Aliens at the IMAX theater. We arrived to late to make the 3:00 show so we decided to get dinner first then go to the next showing. It was nice to have the family together and enjoy a meal and a movie. The movie in 3D was pretty sweet.

We arrived home about 8:30 and Jerry had his friends Sarah and John D come for a visit. Dennis and I retreated to the bed room to give them their friend time without mom and dad sitting there. It was nice for Jerry to watch a movie with his buds and just chill with friends.

We are off to SCI-FIT today so time to get ready for that. I hope they get Jerry on the gait trainer today so I can get some video, I loved to see him going through the motions of walking.

Jessica has a game today, only one of the biggest games of the season and I'm sad to miss it. The game is against our biggest rival Scotts Valley which is always a fun game. The good news is it's the "Game of the Week" so it will be televised and I can watch it on TV later in the week.

Time to get busy, more later....

Katie

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Update on Allie

The following is an update on Allie's condition posted by Josephine, thanks for the update. Josephine can you call me I'd like to get Marguerite's phone number and maybe help her organize the form to be available by email so people who don't live local who may want to assist will have the option.

I just got word from Marguerite Christensen about Allie. She had surgery to put the tracheotomy in her trachea so it's out of her mouth (she will be able to talk a little). She's still in critical condition & unfortunately, it looks like she fractured her C1, C2 & C3 spinal chord (but not 100% positive about this). It's so hard knowing, from your family's experience, that they are going to have to go through all of the hardships that you've been through these past months.
Can you please pass this info on? --- If anyone would like to help Allie's family, Marguerite set up a hotel plan to help cover the cost of their hotel stay near the hospital. Go to the Mountain Roasting Coffee Shop in Felton (near Safeway). Pick up a form, fill it out with your credit card info & before faxing it in, call Marguerite to set up the date (so they're not overlapping). It's $72 a night.
We live in such a small community but we've had so many hardships happening to our young. PLEASE let this be a reminder to all of us to "HUG YOUR KIDS" or at the very least, remind them, constantly, that YOU LOVE THEM!!!!!
And KEEP PRAYING for both Jerry & Allie.....

Friday, April 10, 2009

Friday - April 10

Thank you Susan for the suggestions to combat nausea, we'll give some of the ideas a try. Also thank you Zack for sharing the links for the surfer and the skateboarder we will check them out. Thank you to all who continue to follow Jerry's recovery and continue to pray for him.

We had so many cute suggestions for kitty names I liked so many of them, I particularly liked PTie and OTie. Getting Jerry to agree on anything proved a bit more challenging but alas we have named the little darlings, Uncle Rico (Rico) and Tina. They look a lot alike but Tina is a little lighter. It was good timing getting the babies, Jerry enjoys watching them play and they make him laugh and smile regularly. Great therapy!

This is Tina

This is Uncle Rico


Jerry's good friend Issac is home from college for spring break, they're going to the movies a little later today. It will be nice for Jerry to go out with his bud without having us around. Jerry's not feeling so good right now hopefully he'll feel better later.

Jerry has an appointment on Tuesday with his surgeon. We have to be over at Valley Med at 9:45 am, this is going to be a huge challenge, to be out of the house by 8:45 is unheard of. Jerry will have an x-ray of his neck to check on the healing process, if everything is healing properly he will get his neck brace off.

Allie and her family are heavy on my heart, I can't stop thinking about them. I pray for them several times a day, please continue to pray for them. I know what the parents are going through, it was just three months ago and we were right there where they are now. It's the scariest most devastating place to be for the parents as well as the patient. God give them peace...

Katie

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wednesday - April 8

Today didn't start out so well, nausea, need I say more? ...I wish I had a dime for every time I said the word nausea in the last 3 months. Jerry started the day feeling sick and grouchy, I can't blame him on the grouchy part I believe I would be a little more than grouchy having gone through the ordeal he's endured these last 3 months. Jerry qualifies for a hands free phone, which a technician came today to install. The phone is controlled by a switch, witch at this point may be a challenge for Jerry to use. There are several switches he can use depending on the situation, a pillow switch if he is in bed, a sip & puff switch or a blow switch which can be used on the wheelchair. This phone may come in handy in the future but I'm not so sure how it will work out at this point.

We headed out to SCI-FIT a few minutes late due to the phone technician being here longer then anticipated. Upon our arrival to SCI-FIT Jerry was not feeling well and was a bit snippy during the unloading, this in turn made me feel a bit snippy. I think the mood was evident upon our face when we walked in the door. It only took about 10 minutes of being at SCI-FIT before Jerry seemed to feel better. Maybe it's the work out, maybe it's being around great people that know how to make him smile and bring him out of his shell or maybe it's just getting away from me for awhile. At any rate he definitely felt better shortly after arriving. Jerry got to do gait training today and it was incredible. I pushed back tears as I watched him being assisted to walk the treadmill. I filmed the exercise or so I thought, I was so excited I wasn't filming when I thought I was, I pushed the wrong button. I was a little disappointed when I got home and found the video I thought I took did not exist. :-( Next time I will be sure I'm pushing the right button.




We heard about one of our Valley kids named Alley, my understanding is that she was in an accident yesterday. I've been told that she had bleeding of the brain and required surgery to repair the damage as well as a broken neck and paralyzed from the neck down. I pray for her full recovery, I pray God will give her strength. Please pray for her and her family, spread the prayer chain as some of you did for Jerry. This young woman is 19 and is fighting for her life, please pray for her and her family in your daily prayers.

Katie

Monday, April 6, 2009

Monday - April 6

People have been asking if we have male or female kittens, I'm a little embarrassed to say I could not tell the difference, I honestly did not know. A friend of mine, Chris was able to decipher with no problem at all, we have one female and one male. There have been so many cute name suggestions, I really like PTie and OTie or Jack and Dianne. We all have to agree which is proving to be harder then expected. Jerry has never been so opinionated on naming a pet, oh well we'll figure it out.

Jerry is back on the nausea train and today was particularly difficult. Jerry started out with nausea from the time he woke up and it progressed and got worse throughout the day. After loading up the van we had a couple of errands to run before heading down to SCI-FIT. Jerry had a really hard time getting into his workout because he didn't feel good. The trainer Jerry was great at deciphering just how much to push and when to back off. Jerry did get to try the gait trainer machine, which I was very excited about. Jerry basically got up in the machine just to try it out, he wasn't able to tolerate it for more then a couple of minutes because he felt sick and needed to come back down. I look forward to when he will be able to tolerate it for a period of time so the trainers can actually move his legs and go through the motions of walking. Jerry has a new nausea medication which he tried out for the first time today, didn't do a darn thing to curve the nausea. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGG!!!!!!! That's me venting my frustration, I just want to fix it for him but I can't.

Tomorrow's another day, please pray for no nausea, pray for a productive workout out at Dominican Rehab, pray for determination and strength. Thank you all for caring and praying.

Much love,
Katie

Friday, April 3, 2009

I love the kitty name suggestions, marci lion-o is very cute. I love the names suggested by Pacific School students Quinn, Ruby, Mason, Briana, Cosmo thanks for the input. We'll let you know what names we settle on. It would be nice if Jerry could come visit your class maybe on a Friday.

katie

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Thursday - April 2

Jerry had rehab at Dominican today, he did some weight bearing leg exercises. The physical therapist Mary Ann had straps hooked to Jerry's feet and ankles witch was connected to a weight machine. Mary Ann had Jerry focus on the movement as she moved his leg in different exercises. They also worked on some exercises that engaged the trunk muscles. Mary Ann seemed excited in the amount of movement he seemed to get from his trunk. Jerry's PT appointments are only one hour, it seems like the are ending shortly after getting started. Mary Ann talked about getting the ball rolling to get a standing frame in our home, I was glad to hear we have one more person on our side for getting this piece of equipment for Jerry to use at home. It's such an important part of therapy, there are so many benefits of standing and being upright. I've spoken with so many people who say that they spend 2 to 3 hours a night in their standing frame, they use it like we would use the recliner. Dominican rehab has an FES hand bike, we are trying to work it out so Jerry can spend some time on that. SCI-FIT in pleasanton has the FES leg bike but not the hand portion. It would be great to incorporate the hand bike into Jerry's routine.

For the most part Jerry felt pretty good today, he had his friends Kayla and Colleen come for a visit after we got home from rehab. The visit was perfect timing as it allowed Dennis and I to be able to go to Jessica's Softball Game. For all you locals it was Soquel vs. SLV at SLV. SLV won 5 to 1, go Cougars! Jerry had a nice visit with his friends and it was equally as nice for us to get out.

The kittens are the most adorable things ever, however Dennis was not a happy camper to be tortured by them at 3 o'clock in the morning. They can be relentless and not so adorable when chewing on your face in the middle of the night. Sometime after 3 Dennis had enough and brought the little darlings to my bed, to share the love. If they were chewing on me in my sleep I was too tiered to notice. I woke up with all my fingers so it's all good.

I'll leave you with the images of the little darlings which still have not yet been named, feel free to throw some names out there, some of you have already had some very cute suggestions.






Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Wednesday - April 1

Its back, nausea reared it's ugly head again today. The nausea started for Jerry upon waking and continued through the day. I had hoped the antibiotics he's on would kill whatever is causing the nausea, no such luck. It was tolerable in the afternoon at SCI-FIT so Jerry was able to get a good workout. Jerry had an excellent workout today, breaking his record once again, 25 minutes in the standing frame, that's more then double his previous record. Jerry could have actually gone longer however it was time to switch to a new exercise. It would seem his blood pressure is stabilizing some what when in the standing position. Jerry got to work out on a new piece of equipment, it's to difficult to explain I'll have to take a picture next time he's on it. The new equipment worked the lower back and butt muscles. The trainer said he could feel the muscles in the lower back initiating, those muscles are well below Jerry's level of injury, it's very encouraging. Jerry did some of the usual workout on the total gym and the table however he also got to do some exercise on the floor mat. Jerry was on the floor on his knees doing some balance and core exercise. Lastly Jerry spent about 30 minutes on the FES bike. Very productive day but needless to say he was pretty wiped out by the time we got loaded in the van to head home. Tomorrow we are back at Dominican rehab.

The kittens are so adorable I can't stand it, they are so intertaining to watch. Our cat we had before (Cher) is not adjusting well to the new additions. We have to watch them closely when they are on Jerry, they must be teathing because they love to chew on things, espesially fingers and their teeth are like little razor blades. They must of gotten to Jerry's fingers at some point when nobody was paying attention, Jerry had a few kitty scratches and nibbles on one of his hands. Night before last Dennis was sleeping on the couch and both kittens were sleeping on his pillow half on his face, nibbling on his fingers. I took a picture, I'll have to post some pics later.

Good night,
Katie