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.
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