I saw Jon and Allison again last night. Allison had a big day of visitors and was having some pain before I got there so she was sleeping off some meds. We let her rest. My parents were in earlier in the day and as they were leaving my mom said "I love you" and Allison said "I love you" back. They they were leaving and she gave them a great big wave goodbye. We're waiting for her to heal some so her pain goes down and she can wake up more fully.
I think I said this, but Jon doesn't like where he's at at all. That's only because he wants to be done with it already. I think they are already impressed with his progress. He's going to be moving around in a wheelchair for a while, and they brought one in for him and were going to go through a long training about how to use it. He just got into it and starting moving around on his own though. He pushes the wheel with his left arm and pushes the ground with his right foot. It sounds hard but I tried it and it isn't bad. The PT lady was impressed and he challenged her to a wheelchair race - she kinda laughed and said OK. Jon was disappointed she didn't actually take him up on it though -- he was serious. Being up and moving in his chair makes him tired. They are also changing his meds around a lot, trying to find just one single drug that will work. That's making him quite painful.
He has a hard time opening doors, big heavy like fire doors especially. He got in through one and it closed on his chair, pinning him in the doorway. The therapist was alarmed and came to help but jon told him to go away, he needed to figure it out on his own.
He's not supposed to stand up and move around on his own, but he certainly can. Someone needs to be with him just in case anything happens. I guess he was done in the bathroom one time and he put on his call light. He was sitting there for a while and no one came, so he got up to his chair, wheeled to his bed, and got into bed on his own. The nurses weren't happy about that at all, but he was snappy at them back because they weren't coming fast enough. We've told him over and over not to do that and he knows not to, but he's stubborn (he tried something similar like one day after surgery). Like I said before, his only problems in rehab I think will be holding him back.
We had been trying to figure out how to get him out and to see Allison though different transport options. Jon solved that problem though, he requested to learn to transfer to a regular car for that very purpose (to see Allie). They weren't planning on doing that with him until next week. My mom was with him so she could learn how to help him do it, but he did it all on his own. Now we can get passes to take him out on our own. They have cleared some of his rehab schedule both today and tomorrow so he can go see Allison.
It was a bit emotional (but good emotional) with all the news about Allison yesterday. He's always asking about her and is very very excited about her progress. He can't wait to go see her today.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday 2/27/09, 11AM
I have no news myself but I wanted to pass on some amazing things about Allison that her mom wrote in her CarePage this morning for those of you who don't have access to it. I'll just quote:
"Good Morning A & J fans. Allie had a long night. Her brain was racing and she had many questions. I do not know how much she will remember from the night conversation. Her voice is very weak. Her main concern was Jon. As she was becoming more aware mentally she also became aware of her pain. She toughed it out but we did resort to pain medication about 4 am. Thus...she is currently living up to her nickname "The Blue Slug". Her man doctor was disappointed that she would open her eyes to everyone but him (Mike thinks she did this on purpose). We are not sure of the next few days. The bone doctor has cleared her (once she wakes up again) to be moved from the bed to a chair! Of course she can not have any weight on her legs (broken pelvis). Her main doctor said she may be moved for PT (he didn't say a date)...but he did say he would put the call into Mary Freebed for them to visit with us. Mary Freebed has standards the patient must meet before they will accept them. So if she is not strong enough she may be sent to Metro Rehab or Kent Community first. She seems to continue to improve by the hour. A funny thing happened during the night. Their was an Emergency Code on the ICU just down the hall from Allie's room and she said "I have to go" it was all I could do to hold her down in bed. We do not know too much about her mental state as she "continues to sleep off the pain meds". I will update this site again this afternoon so we will be able to determine if she will be up to visitors (but at this point I would say yes) Unless she has to have more pain meds...then you would see "Sleeping Beauty" aka "The Blue Slug". Jon if you are reading this "SHE LOVES YOU". I expressed to Allison last night how much love and support everyone has been sending to her and Jon (tears flowed from us both). More later"
I called my parents and they interrupted his Occupational Therapy appointment to tell him. They had quite the moment together I think, tears of joy are great. Jon is not happy to be where he is at but I think knows he needs to be there.
"Good Morning A & J fans. Allie had a long night. Her brain was racing and she had many questions. I do not know how much she will remember from the night conversation. Her voice is very weak. Her main concern was Jon. As she was becoming more aware mentally she also became aware of her pain. She toughed it out but we did resort to pain medication about 4 am. Thus...she is currently living up to her nickname "The Blue Slug". Her man doctor was disappointed that she would open her eyes to everyone but him (Mike thinks she did this on purpose). We are not sure of the next few days. The bone doctor has cleared her (once she wakes up again) to be moved from the bed to a chair! Of course she can not have any weight on her legs (broken pelvis). Her main doctor said she may be moved for PT (he didn't say a date)...but he did say he would put the call into Mary Freebed for them to visit with us. Mary Freebed has standards the patient must meet before they will accept them. So if she is not strong enough she may be sent to Metro Rehab or Kent Community first. She seems to continue to improve by the hour. A funny thing happened during the night. Their was an Emergency Code on the ICU just down the hall from Allie's room and she said "I have to go" it was all I could do to hold her down in bed. We do not know too much about her mental state as she "continues to sleep off the pain meds". I will update this site again this afternoon so we will be able to determine if she will be up to visitors (but at this point I would say yes) Unless she has to have more pain meds...then you would see "Sleeping Beauty" aka "The Blue Slug". Jon if you are reading this "SHE LOVES YOU". I expressed to Allison last night how much love and support everyone has been sending to her and Jon (tears flowed from us both). More later"
I called my parents and they interrupted his Occupational Therapy appointment to tell him. They had quite the moment together I think, tears of joy are great. Jon is not happy to be where he is at but I think knows he needs to be there.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, 4:30PM
Ok. Man, what a day so far. Allison is amazing, she really looked great without all those tubes, what a difference. My dad said he thought she looked like she was both pouting and smiling at the same time, hah.
I left the hospital right after I wrote my last update so I don't have much else on Allison. Its really important for her to be able to cough without being told to do so and my dad also said he saw her do that once as well. They are monitoring her breathing and want her to take some big breaths on her own. She's going to be getting better all the time now, but it will be a long journey for her.
Jon is at Mary Free Bed Hospital.
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital
235 Wealthy SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA) 49503
Phone: 800.528.8989
He's in room 306. If you want to contact him you can email patient@maryfreebed.com In the subject line write "Jon Turner". They will print it out and bring it to him.
It seems like a really nice place here and that he will be well cared for. His day (starting tomorrow, letting him rest today) will be very structured and tiring for him - his visiting hours will be limited. He'll be able to have visitors between 5:30PM and 8PM every day. He will also at times have his cell phone, and he has a room phone. I think no calls tonight, it was a big day and he slept very poorly last night. Close family can come 8AM to 8PM but know that he will be busy for most of that time. He has 3 hours of PT every day plus meals and rest and checkups and such.
The goal for him now is to get him strong enough and get the tools for him to function mostly on his own. They expect him to be here somewhere around a week, but it could be as long as two. We'll know more early next week about his progress and what will be happening in the next few weeks/months. He's not going to be able to do a whole lot for a while, but he's anxious to start and is telling everyone that they will be impressed. I think the only problems that they will have with him in rehab is holding him back from doing too much too fast.
As we were leaving we got a CD with all his xrays on it, its pretty wild. We counted one plate and 8 screws in his Clavicle. In his ankle we saw two plates and I think around 12-15ish screws? His elbow was definitely 2 plates but we think probably 3, and we couldn't really count the screws. There were 2 large anchor screws and we could count some around the outside of the break, but right on the elbow it was so thick with screws that it pretty much looked like a solid mass of metal without being able to see it in 3d space.
When I talk about his injuries, obviously his elbow is a pretty impressive. However, due to the nature of the break he should have fast progress with it, bending it and doing PT with his arm will start almost immediately I think. It will still be non weight bearing for 6 weeks but I think it will be healing fast. His ankle is going to take a lot longer. The doctor said that how it was broken was not very good for recovery speed. His ankle is immobile in his cast for 2 weeks and non weight bearing for 6 or more. He'll also probably need to have surgery on it again at some point.
Updates on Jon will be more infrequent now, I'm not going to be with him as much anymore. I'll try to keep up to date on both he and Allison and let you know what I can. Thanks again to everyone for everything.
Dave
I left the hospital right after I wrote my last update so I don't have much else on Allison. Its really important for her to be able to cough without being told to do so and my dad also said he saw her do that once as well. They are monitoring her breathing and want her to take some big breaths on her own. She's going to be getting better all the time now, but it will be a long journey for her.
Jon is at Mary Free Bed Hospital.
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital
235 Wealthy SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA) 49503
Phone: 800.528.8989
He's in room 306. If you want to contact him you can email patient@maryfreebed.com In the subject line write "Jon Turner". They will print it out and bring it to him.
It seems like a really nice place here and that he will be well cared for. His day (starting tomorrow, letting him rest today) will be very structured and tiring for him - his visiting hours will be limited. He'll be able to have visitors between 5:30PM and 8PM every day. He will also at times have his cell phone, and he has a room phone. I think no calls tonight, it was a big day and he slept very poorly last night. Close family can come 8AM to 8PM but know that he will be busy for most of that time. He has 3 hours of PT every day plus meals and rest and checkups and such.
The goal for him now is to get him strong enough and get the tools for him to function mostly on his own. They expect him to be here somewhere around a week, but it could be as long as two. We'll know more early next week about his progress and what will be happening in the next few weeks/months. He's not going to be able to do a whole lot for a while, but he's anxious to start and is telling everyone that they will be impressed. I think the only problems that they will have with him in rehab is holding him back from doing too much too fast.
As we were leaving we got a CD with all his xrays on it, its pretty wild. We counted one plate and 8 screws in his Clavicle. In his ankle we saw two plates and I think around 12-15ish screws? His elbow was definitely 2 plates but we think probably 3, and we couldn't really count the screws. There were 2 large anchor screws and we could count some around the outside of the break, but right on the elbow it was so thick with screws that it pretty much looked like a solid mass of metal without being able to see it in 3d space.
When I talk about his injuries, obviously his elbow is a pretty impressive. However, due to the nature of the break he should have fast progress with it, bending it and doing PT with his arm will start almost immediately I think. It will still be non weight bearing for 6 weeks but I think it will be healing fast. His ankle is going to take a lot longer. The doctor said that how it was broken was not very good for recovery speed. His ankle is immobile in his cast for 2 weeks and non weight bearing for 6 or more. He'll also probably need to have surgery on it again at some point.
Updates on Jon will be more infrequent now, I'm not going to be with him as much anymore. I'll try to keep up to date on both he and Allison and let you know what I can. Thanks again to everyone for everything.
Dave
Thursday, 9:30AM
I don't have a lot of time. Allison got her breathing tube out right now and she's looking great.
The MRI showed nothing unexpected but I'm not sure what that means completely.
Jon is in there right now and transport is waiting to get him to Mary Free Bed this morning. A little hectic.
The MRI showed nothing unexpected but I'm not sure what that means completely.
Jon is in there right now and transport is waiting to get him to Mary Free Bed this morning. A little hectic.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, 11PM
Allison went in for her MRI tonight around 8PM. They thought it would take about 2 hours, so she should be back in her room by now. We don't expect any results until tomorrow morning. I'll let you know when I can, we're hoping everything turns out.
My mom is staying with Jon. Sorry if anyone came to visit and wasn't let in, it was a big day and long night for him. We're thinking they are going to transfer him to Mary Free Bed tomorrow sometime, but we told him that he needs to make his own schedule. It may wait for Friday, we'll have orthopedics in very early, then someone from Mary Free Bed and a social worker in all trying to figure it out. We (and he) are insisting that he's able to see Allison again before he leaves because he won't be able to see her for a while.
Visiting hours for Jon once he's transferred will be limited. He'll have a full schedule of activities and therapy while he's there. I think visiting, other than close family, is limited to 1-2 hours in the afternoon and 1-2 hours in the evening. I'm not sure but I'll let you guys know when I can.
Allison's visiting is currently immediate family only.
My mom is staying with Jon. Sorry if anyone came to visit and wasn't let in, it was a big day and long night for him. We're thinking they are going to transfer him to Mary Free Bed tomorrow sometime, but we told him that he needs to make his own schedule. It may wait for Friday, we'll have orthopedics in very early, then someone from Mary Free Bed and a social worker in all trying to figure it out. We (and he) are insisting that he's able to see Allison again before he leaves because he won't be able to see her for a while.
Visiting hours for Jon once he's transferred will be limited. He'll have a full schedule of activities and therapy while he's there. I think visiting, other than close family, is limited to 1-2 hours in the afternoon and 1-2 hours in the evening. I'm not sure but I'll let you guys know when I can.
Allison's visiting is currently immediate family only.
Wednesday, 7PM
Real quick. I forgot to mention but Jon's good hand isn't broken. He ate solid food for dinner which was good.
He's asleep now, probably no visitors tonight but we'll see when he wakes up. I don't think Allison is taking visitors.
He's asleep now, probably no visitors tonight but we'll see when he wakes up. I don't think Allison is taking visitors.
Wednesday, 5:45PM
Allison is still largely the same. She hasn't had her MRI yet, I think that is happening tonight.
Jon was able to go see Allie today. When her parents told Allison that he was coming she got really excited and was kind of flailing about, which is good. Unfortunately, that meant they had to sedate her some so I don't think she was very responsive when Jon was there. They had quite a bit of time alone together then one of Allison's nurses went in and was able to answer a lot of Jon's questions.
Jon had PT today and was able to hop all the way to the hallway and back (maybe about 20 feet?) but afterwards he was absolutely exhausted and sore. They gave him some leg exercises to do while in bed. He's been able to eat a bit more solid food, soup and crackers and such but he still doesn't have a big appetite. He's been getting some good rest today.
We had a visit from one of the responders at the scene today, I wasn't there for it and I won't go into details but needless to say we are *very* fortunate that they are both alive. My dad went to see the wreck today and took some pictures. I haven't seen them yet and I don't think I want to right now but he said it was absolutely unbelievable. Short update for now, I'll let you all know if there's more news.
Jon was able to go see Allie today. When her parents told Allison that he was coming she got really excited and was kind of flailing about, which is good. Unfortunately, that meant they had to sedate her some so I don't think she was very responsive when Jon was there. They had quite a bit of time alone together then one of Allison's nurses went in and was able to answer a lot of Jon's questions.
Jon had PT today and was able to hop all the way to the hallway and back (maybe about 20 feet?) but afterwards he was absolutely exhausted and sore. They gave him some leg exercises to do while in bed. He's been able to eat a bit more solid food, soup and crackers and such but he still doesn't have a big appetite. He's been getting some good rest today.
We had a visit from one of the responders at the scene today, I wasn't there for it and I won't go into details but needless to say we are *very* fortunate that they are both alive. My dad went to see the wreck today and took some pictures. I haven't seen them yet and I don't think I want to right now but he said it was absolutely unbelievable. Short update for now, I'll let you all know if there's more news.
Wednesday, 12:45PM
Hey all.
No major status updates on Allison. Her tube is still in and she's still at about the same response level. She was down for a cat scan on her ankle and her arm and she was causing trouble! They finished looking at her leg and then were looking at her arm when she lifted her right leg straight up, cast and all, and kicked one of the techs with her. They were shocked but she's a frisky one. They had to put some more drugs in her to make her behave and now she's more sleepy again. We're not sure the result of those scans yet but they just wanted to check out yesterday's surgeries.
They are going to take her in for an MRI today to get a good look at her head.
Jon had a very long and restless night. He had a lot of pain in his clavicle especially. They took him off his IV completely, which also means they took him off one of his pain medications, Dilaudid (i think). He didn't think that one was doing much for him until they took it away. Now he's on oral medications of Vicodin, Valium, and Oxycontin. This morning, though, he was able to get up to a chair then to a bathroom. He shaved (and nicked himself a few times, joking he's got to graduate to a college shaving level again), washed his hair, put on deodorant, brushed his teeth. He was able to get some shorts and a button-down shirt on with help. Afterward, he wanted to stay sitting for a while which was surprising. Sitting made him real tired and now he's sleeping heavily which is good. This morning I noticed that yesterday was Fat Tuesday and he said "Oh sweet, I ate the hell out of some ice last night." He's still not finding any solid foods appealing, mostly just ice but also some juice and fruit. There's talk of transfering him to Mary Free Bed (rehab hospital) tomorrow or friday. He wants to go see Allison again today. Oh, he was complaining of some pain in his good left hand and they took him for an xray on that this morning. We're waiting to hear on that but hope its not broken because he kinda needs that to get around. He's been using it and moving it well so I'm guessing it won't be a major problem -- not too sure.
We're all just hanging in there, thanks for the support.
I have the ability now to update the CarePage that Allison's family has been maintaining. I'll be posting updates now on my new blog (jonandallisonupdates.blogspot.com) on the CarePage (www.carepages.com search for "DrAllison"), and sending my emails.
No major status updates on Allison. Her tube is still in and she's still at about the same response level. She was down for a cat scan on her ankle and her arm and she was causing trouble! They finished looking at her leg and then were looking at her arm when she lifted her right leg straight up, cast and all, and kicked one of the techs with her. They were shocked but she's a frisky one. They had to put some more drugs in her to make her behave and now she's more sleepy again. We're not sure the result of those scans yet but they just wanted to check out yesterday's surgeries.
They are going to take her in for an MRI today to get a good look at her head.
Jon had a very long and restless night. He had a lot of pain in his clavicle especially. They took him off his IV completely, which also means they took him off one of his pain medications, Dilaudid (i think). He didn't think that one was doing much for him until they took it away. Now he's on oral medications of Vicodin, Valium, and Oxycontin. This morning, though, he was able to get up to a chair then to a bathroom. He shaved (and nicked himself a few times, joking he's got to graduate to a college shaving level again), washed his hair, put on deodorant, brushed his teeth. He was able to get some shorts and a button-down shirt on with help. Afterward, he wanted to stay sitting for a while which was surprising. Sitting made him real tired and now he's sleeping heavily which is good. This morning I noticed that yesterday was Fat Tuesday and he said "Oh sweet, I ate the hell out of some ice last night." He's still not finding any solid foods appealing, mostly just ice but also some juice and fruit. There's talk of transfering him to Mary Free Bed (rehab hospital) tomorrow or friday. He wants to go see Allison again today. Oh, he was complaining of some pain in his good left hand and they took him for an xray on that this morning. We're waiting to hear on that but hope its not broken because he kinda needs that to get around. He's been using it and moving it well so I'm guessing it won't be a major problem -- not too sure.
We're all just hanging in there, thanks for the support.
I have the ability now to update the CarePage that Allison's family has been maintaining. I'll be posting updates now on my new blog (jonandallisonupdates.blogspot.com) on the CarePage (www.carepages.com search for "DrAllison"), and sending my emails.
Wednesday, 1AM
I couldn't sleep so I made this blog. It consists so far of just copy and paste of the emails I've previously sent out. I'll continue to blast my email list with new information, as well as update this blog each time. For those of you that have been getting my emails, there's no new information right now.
For some reason all this writing and information-sharing is somewhat therapeutic to me. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to give such detailed and frequent reports but I'll do what I can.
One disclaimer. I report what I hear as I hear it, under my own personal interpretation. I'm not a medical person and I've heard a lot of things in the past few days. Everything jumbles together and I may get things wrong. I'm just trying to report what I know as I know it, as well as some personal opinion and emotions at that time. Please don't take what I'm saying as medical fact.
EDIT -- To start at the beginning of this email chain/blog, you'll have to go in reverse order. I'm not sure why they put this text in such narrow columns, but you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of this page and go to the "older posts" section(s) to start at the beginning and work your way backwards, if you want.
For some reason all this writing and information-sharing is somewhat therapeutic to me. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to give such detailed and frequent reports but I'll do what I can.
One disclaimer. I report what I hear as I hear it, under my own personal interpretation. I'm not a medical person and I've heard a lot of things in the past few days. Everything jumbles together and I may get things wrong. I'm just trying to report what I know as I know it, as well as some personal opinion and emotions at that time. Please don't take what I'm saying as medical fact.
EDIT -- To start at the beginning of this email chain/blog, you'll have to go in reverse order. I'm not sure why they put this text in such narrow columns, but you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of this page and go to the "older posts" section(s) to start at the beginning and work your way backwards, if you want.
Tuesday, 10:30PM
When I've been saying Allison is breathing on her own, I've been meaning that the machine is on standby for support only if she needs it. However, they were able to do a couple tests tonight with the machine turned completely off. She was good for both a 3 minute and then a full 30 minute test with no machine at all which was a very good sign. Now to remove the tube they want her more alert and responsive. I'm not sure everything she needs to do for a doctor, but she's not quite there yet. She can open her eyes and wiggle her toes and blink on command and squeeze hands. She's not doing this long enough or doing quite enough at one time I guess, so they are still letting her rest with the breathing tube in. The doctor is very hopeful that she's getting better and that she might be able to get the tube out soon which would be a major step. Once again, we just have to be patient.
Jon was complaining about his clavicle for the first time tonight and it was hurting quite a bit. He's been moving around that bad arm quite a bit though, using the hand on that arm, lifting the whole arm with no support, plus getting up and having it hang down. Its all good stuff for rehab, but its causing pain. It was a pretty exhausting day for Jon and for all of us.
My mom and I are at Jon and Allison's house tonight, my Dad is with Jon. No more updates for a while, I'll check in tomorrow.
Jon was complaining about his clavicle for the first time tonight and it was hurting quite a bit. He's been moving around that bad arm quite a bit though, using the hand on that arm, lifting the whole arm with no support, plus getting up and having it hang down. Its all good stuff for rehab, but its causing pain. It was a pretty exhausting day for Jon and for all of us.
My mom and I are at Jon and Allison's house tonight, my Dad is with Jon. No more updates for a while, I'll check in tomorrow.
Tuesday, 7:30PM
Allison is breathing on her own (and has been for a while now I guess), but still has the tube in just in case. They are getting some reactions out of her again, including squeezing people's hands and opening her eyes. Not enough to remove the tube yet but its progress.
Here's another place for information, a blog from Allison's side of things so you may be able to get some different and more accurate news on that side. It looks like you need to sign up for it but then you can access it whenever.
If that page doesn't work go to www.carepages.com and search for "DrAllison".
Tuesday, 5:50PM
No real new news just shooting out a quick email. Allison is still in her room and still in recovery. I was up with her a bit and she responded some to my voice and to my touch. Once again we're just being patient to let her come around. It sounds like they are letting the stimulus in her room come up a bit (lights on, talking to her, etc) to see how she responds. I'm not sure yet about her breathing on her own or anything, but the tube is still in.
Tuesday, 1:45PM
Allison is out of surgery now. I hope everyone got the surgery update earlier (below) but I was having a bit of email difficulty at the time.
Her right ankle was operated on and needed to have some screws in it. Her right arm had a plate in it and some screws. Her left arm was ok, no operation. Looking at her pelvis, they decided to add one screw in the back and one screw in the front to help it align and heal better. She's recovering in her room right now. Her doctor, Dr. Endres, said everything came together well. They expect 90-100% usage, but I'm not sure if that's referring to any specific operation or as a whole. I'll let you guys know more when I can.
Jon is exhausted from this morning but doing fine.
Tuesday, 11AM
Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you, we had a lot of activity this morning.
Allison is currently in surgery. They are going to operate on her ankle and her wrist, both on the right side. I'm not sure what it all entails but screws and/or pins will be involved. I didn't hear mention of any plates but I'm not sure. The wrist sounded like it may not have been needed but that since she's down there they are going to do it just to make sure everything is good there too.
While she's in the OR they are also going to take an x-ray of her left hand/wrist as well. She has some bruising there and they want to check for breaks there too. They are also going to do an x-ray on her pelvis. They've checked it out before and thought it wouldn't need surgery but they want to check again, they already know it was broken. It sounds like they want to make absolutely sure everything is in order while they have her in there already so they can get it all done at once.
The surgery was planned for 11am but surprisingly it was ahead of schedule. She went down there maybe 15-20 minutes ago and I think they said it would be something around 2 hours but that it depends on all the other things they look at, like her other wrist and her pelvis. I'll try to let you know how it goes when I can.
Allison's doctors were all saying they are planning on letting her come out of surgery today then try to get her breathing on her own again then take out the breathing tube today. We're all hoping this happens and that everything turns out. It sounded like all the doctors were optimistic.
It was real active there for a bit because Jon had the physical therapy people in and he was sitting up and real insistent on seeing Allison. We thought we had time but then the surgery got pushed ahead of time and they were already prepping her. They did wheel Jon down and let him in and Jon and Allison had some alone time which was nice, it was the first time Jon had seen her since the accident so it was tough. Jon was talking to her doctors and he was talking to Allison. Her eyes were wide open when he was in there and he said he asked her to blink and she blinked for him.
Jon is back in bed now and resting after being up.
Allison is currently in surgery. They are going to operate on her ankle and her wrist, both on the right side. I'm not sure what it all entails but screws and/or pins will be involved. I didn't hear mention of any plates but I'm not sure. The wrist sounded like it may not have been needed but that since she's down there they are going to do it just to make sure everything is good there too.
While she's in the OR they are also going to take an x-ray of her left hand/wrist as well. She has some bruising there and they want to check for breaks there too. They are also going to do an x-ray on her pelvis. They've checked it out before and thought it wouldn't need surgery but they want to check again, they already know it was broken. It sounds like they want to make absolutely sure everything is in order while they have her in there already so they can get it all done at once.
The surgery was planned for 11am but surprisingly it was ahead of schedule. She went down there maybe 15-20 minutes ago and I think they said it would be something around 2 hours but that it depends on all the other things they look at, like her other wrist and her pelvis. I'll try to let you know how it goes when I can.
Allison's doctors were all saying they are planning on letting her come out of surgery today then try to get her breathing on her own again then take out the breathing tube today. We're all hoping this happens and that everything turns out. It sounded like all the doctors were optimistic.
It was real active there for a bit because Jon had the physical therapy people in and he was sitting up and real insistent on seeing Allison. We thought we had time but then the surgery got pushed ahead of time and they were already prepping her. They did wheel Jon down and let him in and Jon and Allison had some alone time which was nice, it was the first time Jon had seen her since the accident so it was tough. Jon was talking to her doctors and he was talking to Allison. Her eyes were wide open when he was in there and he said he asked her to blink and she blinked for him.
Jon is back in bed now and resting after being up.
Monday, 11:50PM
Hey all. This message is tough because I feel like I've been a bit misleading in previous messages but I assure you it was not on purpose. There's no real information except that I have been misinterpreting some information in terms of Allison.
With her cat scans, we have been getting reports of the scan being "negative". However, it turns out that in this case negative simply means that it does not require surgery. It doesn't mean that Allison is completely in the clear with her brain right now as I have led you all to believe.
It was weird from the start because they mentioned the pinpoint of bleeding in her brain but at the same time were saying the scan was negative, which was confusing to me. My mother picked up on this and obviously we were all wondering why she has been out for so long as well. I'm not sure the extent of what is going on and I don't think the doctors do either until she can wake up for a real assessment.
I don't mean to scare you with this news but I also didn't want to mislead anyone with these emails since they migh be your only source of information right now. So, nothing really to report that I haven't already except that we just wait and see.
I'm writing this because a resident critical care doctor of Allison's just came over to talk to Jon and I. He didn't really share any new information, but was definitely direct in the way he was saying it. To paraphrase, he said that Allison had a head injury and that she had some sub-arachnoid blood (blood in brain). All today she was following orders but agitated. They put her back into anastesia so they could rest her brain and not be so agitated so she could heal better. She'll eventually need to be in rehab for a while (but I think we all knew that). She doesn't have any chest or abdomen injuries and her spinal cord is fine despite her spinal fractures in her neck and lower back. They are looking forward to being able to take the breathing tube out and hope to do so sometime after tomorrow's surgery. Right now the big thing for her is her brain function. I took a couple notes while he was talking, mostly directed toward Jon, so hopefully I got the gist of the message alright.
The good news for me is that she was understanding commands today and I gathered that she was understanding and reacting more today than previously. Also it seemed like she was trying hard to come out of it -- so I still remain very hopeful. Another resident that came to visit from Metro told my mom earlier today when asked about all this that we can still remain hopeful for an eventual 100% recovery, but its just hard to tell right now. She's showing lots of good signs and I'll keep you all in the loop as I can. At the very least, her scan today was unchanged from yesterday so I don't think she's getting worse. Once again, I'm sorry that I gave everyone a false impression from my previous emails. I also hope I don't offend anyone by sharing this info since everything really is all up in the air right now and its all pretty sensitive information to share.
I don't think I mentioned this but they ended up putting in a feeding tube for Allison today. She apparently didn't like that at all as it was going in, but it will be good for her to stay nourished to hopefully help keep healing.
We're not sure when the surgery on her leg tomorrow will be until the morning when they figure out the surgery schedule. The doctor did mention that he thought the operation on her arm would also be happening, but he wasn't in orthopedics so he wasn't sure.
Monday, 6:30PM
Surgery on Allison's leg will be tomorrow. CAT scan tonight to figure out exactly on what. Its her lower leg but I'm not sure if its the ankle or tibia/fibula, we'll know after the scan.
Monday, 5:30 PM
Allison is doing about the same right now. They ended up putting her back on anaestesia to help keep her calm. While being responsive was great, they could tell that she was quite uncomfortable when she was up due to the tube in her throat. I guess they didn't feel like it was time to take the tube out so instead they made her more sleepy.
I was in today while she was tossng around and I saw her open her eyes for the first time (she's done it several times now, but only once when I was there). She looked right at me and was trying to figure me out. When she's up they try to give her response tests so her mother Connie and I were telling her to hold a "thumbs up" on both of her hands. We got a solid thumbs up with her left hand, but she was then not happy about the tube and only did that one hand. It was great to see her coming around and understanding what was going on if only at least somewhat.
Jon has been getting some decent rest in today, especally after each dose of Vicodin and Valium. Valium especially seems to be helping. He had his first visit with the phsical therapy department today which consisted of helping him sit up and transfer over to a rolling chair. He was able to sit there for a while and get a little comfortable, then had to go back to bed. They are still planning on taking the elbow splint off tomorrow so we'll see what sort of PT will happen then. I'm not sure but it looks like it is going to wait until tomorrow for him to go see Allison.
Right now the plan is still release from this hospital probably on Wednesday. However, the only way he will be able to get around for a while will be to lean on a 4-legged cane for support on his good left arm, while hopping around on his good right foot. He's kinda been bumped around all over, including some decent bruising on his right foot, so this is obviously going to be pretty painful. The jarring motion of the acual hop I'm sure will not be fun. Right now with help he's just standing up, pivoting, and sitting down again. By his release they think he'll only manage to hop a couple times before it gets to be too much. Because of this, it sounds like he'll be going to an acute rehab hospital like Mary Free Bed after here so he can get some help gaining his strength back before he has to figure it out at home.
Monday, 11:45 AM
Things are looking up right now. Allison is doing much better than she has before. She is still mostly sleeping, but she is responding much more than before. She's moving her limbs around more. She has opened her eyes twice more today, the first time they went quite wide and then most recently she was quite alert to her surroundings I hear. I wasn't there for either of these. They needed to draw blood and she responded and didn't like them doing that. Same with a shot she needed in her stomach. I was there for that one, she moved her arms and legs and squirmed and tried to make them stop, and she wrinkled up her brow like she was pissed. She would sometimes do these things before, but now its happening a lot more.
The best news though is that she's now breathing on her own. The tube is still in and the machine is still on but its in more of an 'assistance' mode. They are being very careful just in case something happens so they are keeping the tube in for now, but she's in control of her own breathing and the machine hasn't had to work at all for a while now, from what I understand. She doesn't seem to like it in, but who would. They want to make sure she can clear her throat and is doing really well before they remove it.
The neuro doctors were in and they said that it was not unusual for her to be down like this for so long given all of her injuries. They said it was pretty normal. We were all getting pretty anxious to have her wake up but hearing this made us feel better about the whole thing. We still hope she wakes up fully soon, but we realize that she just may need some time and that its good to be patient.
She had another CAT scan today and it showed no problems, and nothing different from yesterday. They still think she's in the clear in the brain damage department and she's not getting any worse from yesterday which is also great news. Just looking at her I noticed that her swelling seems to have gone down some around her eyes, although they are still quite purple.
Jon is also doing OK. One thing I forgot to mention last time was that they took his collar off sometime early this morning. They aren't worried about his neck/spine now and it made him a little more comfortable. He's complaining about lots of pain in his ankle and elbow and they are keeping him well medicated. The blood flow to extremeties is good and there's no numbness in his foot or hand, although he's complaining that his hand gets real cold. He's drinking lots of fluids right now, mostly water. They can clear him for some more solid foods now but he doesn't seem to want them. The physical therapy team will be in with him shortly I hope and they are going to start working with him today. He wants to go see Allison today and one of the goals I think is to get him into a chair so they don't have to wheel him over in his bed.
I'll keep in touch, thanks again for the support.
Monday, 7:45 AM
I'm back at the hospital and things are pretty much the same. Jon had a restless night but is receiving good care. Allison looks unchanged but no one was in the room when I swung by and I did not talk to any of the doctors.
I re-read what I wrote and a couple additions. They were both wearing their seatbelts. When I described the accident I said that it was called in a 9pm on Sunday. This was a typo, the accident was Saturday night as I mentioned earlier.
Sunday night, midnight
I just thought I would write a mass email to update everyone so far about what has happened in the past 24 hours. If any of you don't know yet, Jon and Allison were involved in a serious car accident on Saturday night. First of all, for right now they are both doing OK (Sunday night). They are both pretty beat up and we're especially concerned about Allison. I'm not going to go into a ton of detail but its been hard to keep people posted about what has happened during the day when we don't even know sometimes what happened or what is going on. Its also been hard to find the time to talk on the phone, and we were having problems keeping our cell phones charged.
Anyway. First Jon. His injuries are mostly all broken bones. He has 3 places where he had serious bone damage - all three requiring surgery. They are: left foot/ankle, right elbow, and right clavicle (shoulder). To put it into perspective, his clavicle was broken in 6 places and was the least problematic of the three. His ankle was a protruding fracture where the bone was actually sticking out of the skin. He both rotated and twisted it, breaking both sides, tearing some cartilage, and in general beat it up pretty bad. Once again I've been bombarded with information and I can't give you a ton of details accurately, but my mom was writing some of this down after the surgery. His elbow, the surgeon said, was the 2nd worst bone injury he's ever seen (worse than the ankle). All three required plates inserted, along with various pins and screws. I know the elbow required at least two plates, and the clavicle and ankle at least one. His surgery was projected to take 3 hours today and instead took 6, it was pretty involved. He was operated on first thing in the morning because of the bone protrusion and risk of infection. He's conscious now and obviously in a lot of pain but still very strong. He's loopy from the pain medication and anesthesia, but able to carry on conversations and is joking with us. He's in a neck brace right now mostly just for precaution since he has a history of neck problems, but right now we are not worried about any sort of head, neck, spine, etc injuries. The pains in his neck are not any more serious than they have always been for the past few years, he says. I believe that he will start range of motion therapy on his ankle and elbow as early as Tuesday, and will be back home as early as Wednesday which seems amazing to me. He can't put any weight on his ankle for 6 weeks. Both the elbow and ankle will not have the range of motion they once had, but the doctor was optimistic. A couple nurses we talked to said that Jon's surgeon was one of the best doctors in the hospital and that he "put Spectrum on the map." He's also Allison's orthopedic doctor.
Allison. She has a broken pelvis, arm, and I think foot/leg. She knocked her head pretty bad and has remained mostly unconscious since the scene of the accident. She's hooked up to a ventilator and has not been breathing on her own still as of 3ish hours ago (8-9pm Sat. night). She has a broken eye socket. She has one vertebrae in her neck and at least two in her lower back with some damage, none of which have resulted in any damage to her spinal cord (thank god). I think the damage was some chipping of the bone or small fractures I don't really know. She has moved all four limbs on her own and has tried to open her eyes at least once (they are pretty swollen). She has responded to people talking to her by moving her arms and legs and has been able to hear and respond at times (if you tell her to squeeze your hand she can). They don't think any of her broken bones will require surgery. She has some minor liver damage which also will not need surgery and should heal on its own. They don't think she will need plastic surgery for her face. At one point this afternoon we were extremely worried when she was not responding to any commands or pinching/prodding, but she came around and all her vitals are currently doing well, as far as I know. She was on anesthesia to keep her knocked out for a while this morning but has been off it for quite a while now so we hope she wakes up soon, but maybe her body just needs time to be relaxed and time to heal. They are going to try to ween her off of the ventilator but are obviously worried about her and don't want to cause her any undue stress. She will be in the hospital for a while and no one is quite sure how long. Her pelvis alone I think would require quite a bit of time to heal while laying flat, I think at least a couple weeks with all this extra stuff added on. Its hard to see her in her state but we remain optimistic. Despite all the damage in and around some very major parts of her body, the news has remained good in terms of any sort of head/brain/spine or any other life-changing injury. The most recent news I heard from a few CAT scans is that she shows no signs of brain damage, despite mention of a slight "pinhole" bleed in her head earlier in the day. She's being monitored and her vitals remain good for now, and like I said, we hope that she wakes up soon so we can learn more. Allison's injuries are harder for me to understand and I was not around her doctors as much as Jon's so I apologize if I stated anything erroneous.
They are both at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jon is in the Orthopedic unit and Allison is in the Intensive Care Unit. They are pretty close to one another and they plan on taking Jon in to see Allison tomorrow, perhaps even with him sitting up in a wheelchair to do so.
As for the accident itself. We heard some information from Jon when we got there that night which was enriched by a State Trooper talking to Allison's father, Mike. I think the cop was the first responder. Allison was driving on a 2 lane road coming back from Grenville heading to Grand Rapids. The car went out of control due to what we believe to just be an icy spot on the road (the roads were absolutely treacherous that night) and slid into an oncoming car. The car hit the passenger side of their Ford Focus, flipping their car on its side where it then skidded without rolling. The impact actually completely removed their engine from its frame, hurtling the whole engine block 40 feet backwards from the scene of the crash. The cop said this is the first time he's ever seen that happen. The cop said the first call came in sometime around 9pm on Sunday night. They ended up closing the road at the scene. Amazingly, the other driver (just a single driver) walked away from the crash apparently relatively unharmed. We're not even sure he went to a hospital. To get Jon and Allison out they had to cut the roof off of their car. They took Allison first, then Jon. I -- and I believe I'm speaking for all family involved here -- believe that this crash was absolutely no one's fault but that of poor weather and unpredictable winter roads.
I'm sure I forgot some things and that people have questions, feel free to e-mail me back and I'll try to answer what I can. They have computers at the hospital that I can use but I'm not sure how often I will be able to check. If you forward this email to anyone please also send me an email with their address so they can be added to any further correspondences from me. I have my phone now and it will be charged. Jon's phone is at the hospital now and charged. My parents are at the hospital now and I'm at home. I'm going to try to get a couple hours of sleep so I can head back and give my parents a break.
My phone: 616 994 2797
Jon's phone: 616 204 3450
Thanks.
Anyway. First Jon. His injuries are mostly all broken bones. He has 3 places where he had serious bone damage - all three requiring surgery. They are: left foot/ankle, right elbow, and right clavicle (shoulder). To put it into perspective, his clavicle was broken in 6 places and was the least problematic of the three. His ankle was a protruding fracture where the bone was actually sticking out of the skin. He both rotated and twisted it, breaking both sides, tearing some cartilage, and in general beat it up pretty bad. Once again I've been bombarded with information and I can't give you a ton of details accurately, but my mom was writing some of this down after the surgery. His elbow, the surgeon said, was the 2nd worst bone injury he's ever seen (worse than the ankle). All three required plates inserted, along with various pins and screws. I know the elbow required at least two plates, and the clavicle and ankle at least one. His surgery was projected to take 3 hours today and instead took 6, it was pretty involved. He was operated on first thing in the morning because of the bone protrusion and risk of infection. He's conscious now and obviously in a lot of pain but still very strong. He's loopy from the pain medication and anesthesia, but able to carry on conversations and is joking with us. He's in a neck brace right now mostly just for precaution since he has a history of neck problems, but right now we are not worried about any sort of head, neck, spine, etc injuries. The pains in his neck are not any more serious than they have always been for the past few years, he says. I believe that he will start range of motion therapy on his ankle and elbow as early as Tuesday, and will be back home as early as Wednesday which seems amazing to me. He can't put any weight on his ankle for 6 weeks. Both the elbow and ankle will not have the range of motion they once had, but the doctor was optimistic. A couple nurses we talked to said that Jon's surgeon was one of the best doctors in the hospital and that he "put Spectrum on the map." He's also Allison's orthopedic doctor.
Allison. She has a broken pelvis, arm, and I think foot/leg. She knocked her head pretty bad and has remained mostly unconscious since the scene of the accident. She's hooked up to a ventilator and has not been breathing on her own still as of 3ish hours ago (8-9pm Sat. night). She has a broken eye socket. She has one vertebrae in her neck and at least two in her lower back with some damage, none of which have resulted in any damage to her spinal cord (thank god). I think the damage was some chipping of the bone or small fractures I don't really know. She has moved all four limbs on her own and has tried to open her eyes at least once (they are pretty swollen). She has responded to people talking to her by moving her arms and legs and has been able to hear and respond at times (if you tell her to squeeze your hand she can). They don't think any of her broken bones will require surgery. She has some minor liver damage which also will not need surgery and should heal on its own. They don't think she will need plastic surgery for her face. At one point this afternoon we were extremely worried when she was not responding to any commands or pinching/prodding, but she came around and all her vitals are currently doing well, as far as I know. She was on anesthesia to keep her knocked out for a while this morning but has been off it for quite a while now so we hope she wakes up soon, but maybe her body just needs time to be relaxed and time to heal. They are going to try to ween her off of the ventilator but are obviously worried about her and don't want to cause her any undue stress. She will be in the hospital for a while and no one is quite sure how long. Her pelvis alone I think would require quite a bit of time to heal while laying flat, I think at least a couple weeks with all this extra stuff added on. Its hard to see her in her state but we remain optimistic. Despite all the damage in and around some very major parts of her body, the news has remained good in terms of any sort of head/brain/spine or any other life-changing injury. The most recent news I heard from a few CAT scans is that she shows no signs of brain damage, despite mention of a slight "pinhole" bleed in her head earlier in the day. She's being monitored and her vitals remain good for now, and like I said, we hope that she wakes up soon so we can learn more. Allison's injuries are harder for me to understand and I was not around her doctors as much as Jon's so I apologize if I stated anything erroneous.
They are both at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jon is in the Orthopedic unit and Allison is in the Intensive Care Unit. They are pretty close to one another and they plan on taking Jon in to see Allison tomorrow, perhaps even with him sitting up in a wheelchair to do so.
As for the accident itself. We heard some information from Jon when we got there that night which was enriched by a State Trooper talking to Allison's father, Mike. I think the cop was the first responder. Allison was driving on a 2 lane road coming back from Grenville heading to Grand Rapids. The car went out of control due to what we believe to just be an icy spot on the road (the roads were absolutely treacherous that night) and slid into an oncoming car. The car hit the passenger side of their Ford Focus, flipping their car on its side where it then skidded without rolling. The impact actually completely removed their engine from its frame, hurtling the whole engine block 40 feet backwards from the scene of the crash. The cop said this is the first time he's ever seen that happen. The cop said the first call came in sometime around 9pm on Sunday night. They ended up closing the road at the scene. Amazingly, the other driver (just a single driver) walked away from the crash apparently relatively unharmed. We're not even sure he went to a hospital. To get Jon and Allison out they had to cut the roof off of their car. They took Allison first, then Jon. I -- and I believe I'm speaking for all family involved here -- believe that this crash was absolutely no one's fault but that of poor weather and unpredictable winter roads.
I'm sure I forgot some things and that people have questions, feel free to e-mail me back and I'll try to answer what I can. They have computers at the hospital that I can use but I'm not sure how often I will be able to check. If you forward this email to anyone please also send me an email with their address so they can be added to any further correspondences from me. I have my phone now and it will be charged. Jon's phone is at the hospital now and charged. My parents are at the hospital now and I'm at home. I'm going to try to get a couple hours of sleep so I can head back and give my parents a break.
My phone: 616 994 2797
Jon's phone: 616 204 3450
Thanks.
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