3/13/09, 10:30AM

Hey all again. A quick morning update here.

Jon got a call yesterday from Rob, the social worker from Mary Free Bed that is taking care of both Jon and Allison's cases. Thursdays are a big day at MFB because they have an all-staff meeting in the morning. The doctors, social workers, and all the therapists (physical, occupational, speech) come together to talk about each patient. They talk about how that patient is progressing and what they expect for the following week(s). We were hoping for some news about Allison and unfortunately didn't get much. Because of the nature of her head injury, they are not willing to say anything about how long she will need to remain at MFB, or what to expect for a recovery. They did say, however, that she is making incredible progress every day and they are very encouraged by what she has shown them so far. So, its not bad news, but its another case of 'wait and see' which is sometimes hard to have the patience for. Jon is OK with this decision and isn't pressing for any sort of time-frame, he just wants whatever is best for her to get better. I think that MFB is her best option right now and that she is getting the care she needs to be able to focus on healing, but I'm sure she wants to come home.

I haven't seen Allison since my last update so I don't have any specific news about her (this is all secondhand here now) but I know she is still continuing to improve. Her short term memory is improving and she is able to participate in her therapies more actively. She loves playing air hockey. Here's a little blurb from my Dad, where he was writing to keep my Grandmother informed.

"Jon went to have his foot splint adjusted yesterday. Then they stopped to visit Allison at the hospital. Jon said she looked tired, but that he had a good visit. Connie, Allison’s Mom, said that Allison’s short term memory is improving. She was able to recall a name from a conversation the day before. Allison can’t put any weight on her legs yet, but she is being moved around in a wheel chair just fine. She slides onto the wheelchair from her bed by using a board. She has multiple sessions of therapy each day including speech, physical and occupational therapy sessions. These take place in a central area so she is out of bed quite a bit. Her eyes are still giving her trouble. She closes one eye all the time because she is seeing double. Plus the bright lights still seem to bother her. The doctors have told Connie that things will return to normal and that glasses or an operation aren’t necessary. During therapy she sometimes wears a patch on one eye."

Jon had a visit from one of the first Policemen on the scene yesterday, and like anyone involved in seeing the wreckage, he is amazed at how well both Jon and Allison are doing. He said that it was the impact that tore the engine from the frame and sent it flying in the opposite direction, and that they were lucky that no other cars were nearby because the engine was a flying projectile that could have easily killed someone. He said that the impact broke Jon's seat and threw his body up towards the car's ceiling and backwards, behind the driver's seat where he ended up resting (well, his torso anyway). The impact was what turned the car up on the passenger side, where it slid without rolling a few rotations, hit a guardrail, and came to rest. Allison's injuries were actually primarily due to her hitting the passenger side door (which ended up mostly in the middle of the car, by the center console). It's amazing that the impact threw them in opposite directions and that it was pretty much the front of the other car that threw Jon across the Focus. Allison moving towards and hitting the passenger side of the car makes sense with most of her injuries being on her right side. Pretty wild, we're soooo lucky they are alive.

I don't remember if I put this in any of my writings yet, but I want to pass on some information the police officer said to help clear up an issue we have talked to a few people about, and that is the other driver. There was some confusion about what happened after the accident. The police officer assured us that he was not seriously hurt, and that he did stick around the scene of the accident and was cooperative and was very concerned for both Jon and Allison's well-being. He has since followed up with the police station to try to track their progress to make sure they are doing ok. There was some talk about him literally walking away from the accident, which now turns out didn't happen, so that's good. He did not leave without first being cleared to do so.

I guess the cop that came to visit Jon was talking to another officer that was asking about a ticket for either driver. The officer said he just laughed, that there's no way they were going to ticket anyone for this kind of wreck. I guess they agreed with my initial statement that this is no one's fault but that of bad weather and winter roads.

Jon is doing OK, getting into a routine of home visits. Today is pretty empty, although they did squeeze in an unscheduled physical therapy appointment this morning. His PT appointments leave him very sore, but he's looking forward to taking it easy a little bit today now. He's not sleeping well, mostly due to muscle pain in his neck and back. His neck is a pre-existing injury which I'm sure was tweaked during the crash, and his back is something new. It hurts on the left side and could either be due to the crash or due to the way he is having to move his body around and using different muscles. They are going to watch it and take him in to get it checked out unless it gets better soon. I have said this before, but on both Jon and Allison, anything not broken is pretty banged up anyway.


Once again we all appreciate all the support we've recieved.


Dave