My parents were supposed to join us on our vacation. They were going to meet us in San Diego in the middle of the week and then come with us to Disneyland too. We were sooo excited to be on vacation with them - - we haven't done that in quite awhile. Well we always joke with my dad that whenever he has tickets to anything, he ends up in the hospital. When he had tickets to Wicked and Jersey Boys, yep, he was in the hospital. When I was in labor with Blake and he was supposed to be flying back from Ohio, yep he ended up in the hospital. He was supposed to fly to Florida last year and ended up sick in the hospital. I really could go on and on.
So as if on cue, 3 days before we left on our trip, my dad took a terrible fall in the middle of the night. My sister blogged about this and wrote it out beautifully, so to save a little time, I'm copying and pasting a couple of her posts in the order that it happened:
1st Post: September 25th
Two nights ago I got a phone call at 1:45 am. I was {surprisingly} up feeding London but when the phone rang, I was alarmed and my stomach sunk in a little. Whenever the phone rings in the middle of the night, you know something has gone wrong. And in this case....it had gone terribly wrong.
It was my mom and she was in tears. She told me that my dad had taken a big fall in the middle of the night and he was on his way via ambulance to the Scottsdale Osborn Trauma hospital. As soon as she said the word ‘trauma’ I knew that it was serious. EMT’s ONLY send the serious stuff to this hospital. Really serious. The pit in my stomach grew deeper and I threw on some clothes and literally rushed to pick up my mom and go with her to the hospital.
My dad had taken an Ambien (sleeping pill) that night which he occasionally does to help him sleep. He got up to go to the bathroom, was somewhat delirious, it was dark, and he ended up tripping over the bathtub step and falling face first into the bathtub. As soon as he started to scream, my mom rushed in (his legs in the air...face in the tub) and he couldn’t move parts of his body. By the time she called 911, he was bleeding from his forehead profusely and still....couldn’t feel parts of his body. {He in fact bled SO much and his blood clots were SO big that they clogged the drain.}
My mom and I arrived at the hospital and the sight of my dad in the ER that night is an image that will forever be engraved in my mind. He was literally screaming out in so much pain. Laying flat on a bed. Had a neck brace on. Couldn’t move. Blood all over his face. A black and blue eye. Screaming that he “thought that he was dying”.
Luckily, he did not break any bones. BUT....he does have a pretty severe spinal cord injury. The gash on his forehead, they originally thought was so deep and so big that they were going to have to do plastic surgery on it. They were however able, to eventually close it up with stitches.
He is still completely immobile and will remain in the hospital for several weeks. He still has little to no feeling on most of the right side of his body. The Dr’s say this is from the spinal cord injury itself and the damage he did to his neck {fractured discs, etc.} Next week sometime they will move him to the rehabilitation floor and he will begin extensive physical therapy and {fingers crossed} be able to gain back his feeling and strength. He had no feeling in his legs this afternoon when they tried to get him up for therapy. After the next few weeks of therapy, they will then go in through the neck and operate in hopes to relieve some of the pressure around the spinal cord. Then...possibly later down the road....he will need back surgery.
His neurosurgeon seemed positive this evening and was impressed that my dad’s hand had strengthened slightly enough to be able to squeeze the Dr’s fingers.
It will be a long recovery road. Lots of therapy. Lots of time spent in the hospital. Lots of pain. Lots of prayers. But we are hopeful that he will be able to WALK out of the hospital. Which is a miracle within itself. We are so grateful that he is alive. And breathing. His color is back in his face. He is able to eat {with the help of my mom feeding him}. He is able to talk and to laugh. He was able to squeeze London’s hand tonight when we went to visit him. He is {somewhat} on the mend.
Thank you to everyone who has called and shown concern. My mom and dad appreciate your thoughts and prayers SO SO much!!!
P.S. The picture above was taken TWO nights before the accident.
2nd Post - Sep 29th
It was my mom and she was in tears. She told me that my dad had taken a big fall in the middle of the night and he was on his way via ambulance to the Scottsdale Osborn Trauma hospital. As soon as she said the word ‘trauma’ I knew that it was serious. EMT’s ONLY send the serious stuff to this hospital. Really serious. The pit in my stomach grew deeper and I threw on some clothes and literally rushed to pick up my mom and go with her to the hospital.
My dad had taken an Ambien (sleeping pill) that night which he occasionally does to help him sleep. He got up to go to the bathroom, was somewhat delirious, it was dark, and he ended up tripping over the bathtub step and falling face first into the bathtub. As soon as he started to scream, my mom rushed in (his legs in the air...face in the tub) and he couldn’t move parts of his body. By the time she called 911, he was bleeding from his forehead profusely and still....couldn’t feel parts of his body. {He in fact bled SO much and his blood clots were SO big that they clogged the drain.}
My mom and I arrived at the hospital and the sight of my dad in the ER that night is an image that will forever be engraved in my mind. He was literally screaming out in so much pain. Laying flat on a bed. Had a neck brace on. Couldn’t move. Blood all over his face. A black and blue eye. Screaming that he “thought that he was dying”.
Luckily, he did not break any bones. BUT....he does have a pretty severe spinal cord injury. The gash on his forehead, they originally thought was so deep and so big that they were going to have to do plastic surgery on it. They were however able, to eventually close it up with stitches.
He is still completely immobile and will remain in the hospital for several weeks. He still has little to no feeling on most of the right side of his body. The Dr’s say this is from the spinal cord injury itself and the damage he did to his neck {fractured discs, etc.} Next week sometime they will move him to the rehabilitation floor and he will begin extensive physical therapy and {fingers crossed} be able to gain back his feeling and strength. He had no feeling in his legs this afternoon when they tried to get him up for therapy. After the next few weeks of therapy, they will then go in through the neck and operate in hopes to relieve some of the pressure around the spinal cord. Then...possibly later down the road....he will need back surgery.
His neurosurgeon seemed positive this evening and was impressed that my dad’s hand had strengthened slightly enough to be able to squeeze the Dr’s fingers.
It will be a long recovery road. Lots of therapy. Lots of time spent in the hospital. Lots of pain. Lots of prayers. But we are hopeful that he will be able to WALK out of the hospital. Which is a miracle within itself. We are so grateful that he is alive. And breathing. His color is back in his face. He is able to eat {with the help of my mom feeding him}. He is able to talk and to laugh. He was able to squeeze London’s hand tonight when we went to visit him. He is {somewhat} on the mend.
Thank you to everyone who has called and shown concern. My mom and dad appreciate your thoughts and prayers SO SO much!!!
P.S. The picture above was taken TWO nights before the accident.
2nd Post - Sep 29th
My family has been so overwhelmed with everyone’s kind comments and concerns. We THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers on my dad’s behalf. We KNOW without a doubt that it is because of those prayers....that he is continuing to improve little by little each day.
Dad was moved down to the rehabilitation floor last night. He is still at the Scottsdale Osborne Trauma hospital and will remain there for at least a few weeks. They found that on top of everything else, he also has a cracked vertebrae. This will heal on it’s own but will take some time as well. He is slowly getting {some} feeling back in his right side. He is able to move his right hand and arm a bit more and has a tad more feeling in that right leg. When they got him up today to put him in the wheelchair for therapy, he was even able to actually stand up {with assistance} without his legs buckling beneath him! This was huge....so proud of him! He’s also been able to start feeding himself with his left hand. He loves the hospital’s strawberry mousse and as long as my mom holds the cup up towards him, he is able to spoon it out and eat by himself! Again...a huge feat!
His spirits {for the most part} are good and he, as well as the rest of us are so confident that he will pull through this. He does at times, feel quite helpless since he is still so immobile but this will all just take some TIME. My mom mentioned today at what a ‘calm’ feeling she had about all of this. I KNOW that this is because a) everyone has prayed so much for them and b) it will all be ok. It’s just gonna take some faith for a while!
From seeing him that first night in the ER until now....he has made HUGE feats! Please keep the prayers coming his way....and thank you!
Dad was moved down to the rehabilitation floor last night. He is still at the Scottsdale Osborne Trauma hospital and will remain there for at least a few weeks. They found that on top of everything else, he also has a cracked vertebrae. This will heal on it’s own but will take some time as well. He is slowly getting {some} feeling back in his right side. He is able to move his right hand and arm a bit more and has a tad more feeling in that right leg. When they got him up today to put him in the wheelchair for therapy, he was even able to actually stand up {with assistance} without his legs buckling beneath him! This was huge....so proud of him! He’s also been able to start feeding himself with his left hand. He loves the hospital’s strawberry mousse and as long as my mom holds the cup up towards him, he is able to spoon it out and eat by himself! Again...a huge feat!
His spirits {for the most part} are good and he, as well as the rest of us are so confident that he will pull through this. He does at times, feel quite helpless since he is still so immobile but this will all just take some TIME. My mom mentioned today at what a ‘calm’ feeling she had about all of this. I KNOW that this is because a) everyone has prayed so much for them and b) it will all be ok. It’s just gonna take some faith for a while!
From seeing him that first night in the ER until now....he has made HUGE feats! Please keep the prayers coming his way....and thank you!
3rd Post - Oct 5
We just got back from visiting dad this morning. {Yes...all 3 kids in tow. Let’s just say the hospital definitely knows when we arrive. And leave.} Dad is slowly improving each day. He is able to move his right arm up and down and also slowly lift his right leg up and bend it back to his knee. This is huge! He still needs the nurses help getting him into his wheelchair and back into his bed. {Did I mention that one of the male nurses DROPPED him last week? Sigh. Luckily...he landed on the edge of the bed and SURPRISINGLY did no damage.} He had a great day at therapy yesterday. He goes off and on throughout the day for a total of 3 hours. Today they were able to harness him onto a treadmill and he was actually able to walk for a minute! Don’t believe me? I got the pics to prove it......
The contraptions they have at this hospital to help their patients recover are truly amazing. We are so proud of dad and the progress he is making on a daily basis. It truly is a miracle.
His stitches from his forehead got taken out last night. As you can see...his neck is still in a brace due to his fracture and his finger on his right hand is still in a splint.
He is able to get out of his room in his wheelchair when he wants and mom can wheel him around the hospital which has been nice as it has been nice weather here in AZ and he has enjoyed going outside on the patio.
We are truly grateful for his improvements and eagerly anticipate the day he is back to walking, golfing and moving around.
Thanks, Marci for journaling all of this!
And the latest . . . Dad has started walking with a walker up and down the hall a couple of times. It tires him out, but it is truly a miracle that he's "walking" so soon. He still can't stand up on his own, but he's making much more progress than the doctors ever imagined. Thanks again for everyone's prayers and concerns. Something like this really makes you realize how much we take our capable bodies for granted. And our loved ones! Amazing how quickly lives can change. We love you, dad!
2 comments:
STEPH!!! I am sooo sorry to hear that. We will keep your dad in our prayers. Let me know if you need me to take your kids while you go visit your dad.
Uh, H-e-l-l-o! I've seen you twice and you didn't mention this!! Oh my gosh, your poor Dad (and Mom!). Keep me posted and we'll keep him in our prayers!
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