Randy and Danielle Are Visiting Our Home Ground

What a place to spend a weeks vacation! Michigan? Grand Rapids, at that? Randy wanted to show Danielle where he was born and raised. Of course, he only lived his first 17 years there. After he graduated, he went into the Air Force so he only visited home a few times after that. Randy is the nostalgic one in the family. He went by our old house that Denny and I brought all three of our kids up in. He asked the owner if Danielle could take a picture of him on the front porch. I couldn't believe that there have been hardly any changes to the yard, except that the flowers are all gone! The same mailbox is standing but not straight up like it was when we lived there.

Today they went to Gobles, MI. They took pictures of stores that said 'Gobles' on it. Too cool. When we went to Germany to visit him when he was stationed there, we went to Goble, Germany! They went to Holland beach, all around Wyoming where our house was and visited old friends. And, they had a Wet Buritto! Mmmmm. So good. It's about the only thing I miss in MI. Oh, except for all of our friends. But I can visit them on Facebook. And, Chui's restaurant here in Allen, has their own 'Wet Buritto'. But it isn't called that. It's just a huge buritto.

Here are a few pictures Danielle sent.

One Year Ago Today

It unbelievable that it has been one year since I got the call from Deda telling me that Randy, my son, was airlifted to the hospital because he was in an accident on his motorcycle. I can remember the warmth that went through my body, the same warmth as having an anxiety attack! It was an awful day. You can read about it and watch a video of him when he first started to wake up and talked to me. We were only able to spend a week there. It was a scary week for me. Thank God, Randy is ok. Congratulations to Randy for making it and for having Danielle for a wife. Without her, he may not have survived.

It's 2009

I can't believe this year is going so fast! It's already the 2nd of January! And it was 75° today. I just loved it!
Randy called me and told me to look at the video of a party they gave him the other day. You can see it on www.youtube.com. If you look at it, your welcome to leave a comment. What happened was that he and Danielle went to a little gathering at a friend's house. Danielle told Randy that they had to go to the kareoke bar that he used to sing at. So they left and Randy couldn't figure out why no one cared that they were leaving. They got to the bar and there were a lot of people there, and all people that he knows. He wasn't going to stay long. Then his friend Bert had a microphone and asked for everyone's attention. He talked about Randy and the accident. Everyone was cheering and clapping for Randy. There was a big box in the corner and they presented it to Randy. All of his friends took up a collection and had his motorcycle fixed for him! The motorcycle was actually in the bar. He even started it up! He cried. He just couldn't believe it. When Denny watched the video he cried too! Now, I know what you're saying "Oh no! I hope he isn't going to ride again!" That was and still is my fear! He may just ride it one time to see how it feels to be back on. I don't know. I think it is so nice of his friends to think of him like that. He sure has a bunch of nice people around him. He's like a bee that attracts flowers. (backwards but I don't want to call him a flower!) So, if you have extra time and want to see the video, go to www.youtube.com and put Randy's motorcycle surprise in the search. It will be sideways for a little while but will straighten out. It's around 6 minutes long.

What a Merry Christmas!!!

Friday I said that it was going to be a good Christmas. That was an understatement! I went to the senior center this morning and we had a good time talking and laughing. Denny called me and told me that my grandson, Jordan, was over so I had to come home. I thought that was weird because he comes to our house a lot when he's home from school. It was time for me to go anyway so I left the center. I went into the house and Jordan, Denny and Dallas were in the family room. Dallas was kind of wimpering like she does when she's tattaling on her grandpa. I asked what she did and I asked her 'what did grandpa do?' All of a sudden from behind me I hear "I think she's scared of me". I turned around and there was Randy and Danielle! They flew in from NC last night. Denny and Sue knew about the surprise and did a good job not letting me know. We were shocked. We went to Kohl's and surprised Jamie this afternoon and then tonight we all went to eat at Texas Road House. My son, Denny, calls it The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. We sat around talking about when the kids were little. Randy and Danielle are going to spend their nights at Denny's and Sue's because they have better accomodations than we do.

Randy has been released by Doctor

Randy can go back to work. He had tests done with the brain doctor and passed all of the tests. He had to take a driver's test too because anyone with a brain injury has to take the test in order to drive. The guy that rode with him said that Randy was the best driver of the day. He's feeling good except for the flu he had yesterday and his blood test showed that his blood is way too thin. It's going to be a good Christmas.

Randy Goes Home Today on His Dad's Birthday

Today is Denny's birthday. He's almost an old fart! He's 68 years old. He used to say that they have a parade for him on his birthday every year. I bet his mother or dad told him that when he was a kid and he believed it! He probably found out about Santa Claus and the fact that there isn't a parade for him at the same time! Poor guy. But lucky Randy! He should be almost home by now. He was getting out of the hospital at noon and it's a two hour drive. He'll finally be able to rest without someone knocking on his door needing blood, blood pressure, breakfast, etc. He said that he received good care there but he's happy to be leaving. He'll have to take physical therapy yet and he got a bunch of pills to take home. He has to go back to the hospital in a few weeks for an evaluation to see if he can go back to work. The doctor told him that he should be ready to work in 4 to 6 weeks! He's anxious to go back to work so they can pay their bills. Many thanks for all of the prayers and thoughts for him during this last 6 weeks!

Update on Randy

Tomorrow it will be five weeks since Randy's accident. Next Tuesday, November 11, he and Danielle will be going home!
He met with the doctors today. He got a whole list of meds that he will have to take. He's also back on his Embril that he's been taking for a few years. He said that he's going to have to have a couple of the little pill holders to remind him when to take them. His wife is so good that he won't have any problems remembering. They're both excited about going home. They haven't seen their dog since the day of the accident. Ashley will be there for Thanksgiving. She'll be happy to see that he's back to normal. He'll still have a lot of pain for a long time with the bones that were broken. His ear hurts a lot.
The day he goes home will be Veteran's Day and also his dad's birthday.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts. And cards. He told me that he had 160 cards to look at the other day. He looked at them a couple of weeks ago but forgot what he looked at the next day. Now he has his memory back

Update on Randy

Randy went out to eat at a restaurant today. He also called me and played a prank on me today. He always did that, call and impersonate a character. I've hung up on him before because I thought that it was a real call. Now I know he's getting better. He and Danielle should be going home on the 11th. The doctor told him that he can go back to work when he feels he is able to. So things are looking up! Still pain but it will take a long time for bones to heal. He'll be taking therapy for awhile after he gets home. Danielle is an angel to have gone through this ordeal with Randy.

Another day of progress

I talked to Randy. He called me. He told me that he's still sick and that he hurts a lot. He said that his head hurts. He told me that he has homework from the therapists to work on. He told me that he's been in the hospital since Oct 4 and that he knows he was hit by a car on his motorcycle. That she pulled out in front of him. He said that his bike is in bad shape. He talked a lot. He said that he heard I was there for a week and he asked me why I was there and what I did while I was there. He said that he had two broken arms and a broken leg. I said that he didn't break his leg. He said "not this time but I broke my arm and leg before". Which is true because he was hurt when a cart at work fell over on his leg and he has pins in it now. I told him that Denny said that he'd call when he's feeling better. He told me to tell Denny that he'd call him when he feels better because when he talks long, he feels sick. All in all, he sounded really good and didn't say anything silly. And he's eating. After I hung up, I got a text message from Danielle. This is what it said: Randy said if he talked to the lade who hit him he would tell her that he is ok but it hurt. And that it's ok. It's not her fault. It was an accident. To keep praying.

Danielle talked to the insurance man today. He said that a man called to check on Randy. He was 100 feet away from the accident working on construction. He ran over to Randy and administered CPR. We weren't aware that he needed it. Gave us chills to hear it. Randy wants to thank him.

Randy and his Rehab

Randy is doing great in his rehab. He got the cast taken off from his arm today. He has a lot of stitches. The doctors are giving the date of November 11 as the projected date for him to be released from the hospital! He's been outside in the wheelchair. He's walking, eating regular food, and making sense when he talks now. The doctors said that he really did a turnaround from Friday to Monday. Actually it was from Friday to Saturday. I couldn't believe the difference in him! He has a patch on his eye to strengthen his eyes. They're ok but after a head injury a person may not have good focus.

Randy's birthday and his gift to us

Randy on his birthday with his new haircut.
Today is Randy's birthday! I called him to tell him 'Happy Birthday'. I cannot express to you the change in him from yesterday to today. I asked him how old he is now and he said " He's been talking silly talk with his conversations mixed with what was going on on television. He talked slow and didn't make sense much. He'd remember some things but not much. Yesterday, Danielle told the nurses that she wanted his medicine for the aggrivation cut in half. They did. He was talking to me today almost normal. He made sense, told me who was visiting him, told me about the games the rehab drs play with him to help him get better. It was unbelievable. Truly a miracle that he could change in such a short time! He told me that his boss visited him today. He told me that Danielle told him that he can't ride the bike anymore. He said that when he gets out of the hospital, he's going to ride. We'll see. Danielle cut the rest of his hair that the surgery missed. Anyway, that's the latest on Randy!!!!

Randy and his cycle

Here is a picture of Randy with his cycle.

Randy's Eating Ice Cream!

I think he's enjoying his ice cream. He's even using the spoon.

Randy's been moved!

Randy has been moved to the rehab unit of the hospital today. He will have three hours of therapy in rehab. Memory/speech, occupational and physical therapy.
It's been 16 days since his accident. Pretty good progress, huh? He still is confused when talking to him about things. But the therapy will take care of that.
More later.

Friday:
Randy was evaluated at rehab today. He got the brace off from his neck a couple of days ago. I talked to him. He was watching TV and was telling me about everything he was watching with a few of his own comments. I told him that it will be his birthday and asked him how old he was going to be and he said that he'll be 21.
When I ask him who I am, he says "My mom". It just melts my heart!

More 'Randy' updates

It's still Tuesday. No results are in about the blood clot in his leg or taking the brace off from his neck. However, he's been moved to another room. He's in fair condition now. He's sitting in a chair and eating liquids. He got up out of the chair by himself with two nurses by him and he walked to the bathroom on his own. He went to the bathroom and walked back to his chair. He took his cell phone off from the table, opened it and started to play the game he plays on his phone. He did pretty good, Danielle said. He played for awhile and then tired of it. He talked to his dad and me. He sounded really good. I told him to watch Wheel of Fortune tonight. He likes that show. Today he said that he was watching Andy Griffith on TV. He was. So he's still improving.

Randy's recuperation continues....

Randy is doing pretty good today. It's still Sunday. Danielle shaved his face today and she said that he looks a lot better. She took off his neck brace to do it. Danielle works in the medical field and knows a lot about medicines, procedures and how to take care of patients. It's good to have her with Randy while he's in the hospital. Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them. The pictures were taken Wednesday.



Monday: Randy is doing a lot better today. I talked to him this morning. He was sitting in a chair. He said "Hi mom". I asked him where he was and he told me that he's in the hospital. He told me that he wants to see me on the phone. I told him that he can't. I told him that I was there for a week. He said hi to his dad. He asked Denny if he had a license. He's still talking silly but it's to be expected. I talked to Danielle this afternoon. She said that he cussed out the nurse and she wouldn't repeat what he said. The nurse said that the guys always talk like that.
Randy is on a liquid diet. He drank juice out of a straw and ate some jello.
One of his friends went to visit him. Randy said "Hi Dude" when he walked in. Danielle asked him who it was and he said "Gary" like 'duh'.
He has a blood clot in his leg so they're going to give him a low dose of thinner but they can't give him much because of the bleeding on his brain.
More later.

It's Tuesday morning.
Randy had an MRI yesterday to determine if his neck brace could be removed.
Today he's in for a cat scan of his head because he has a blood clot in his leg and they need to determine if they can give him blood thinners.
He's going to be moved out of ICU and into a regular room today.
Danielle went in his room this morning. The nurse was helping him eat. He had Jello and juice. He isn't so gabby and talking about silly things today. Danielle said "Hi Honey" and he responded with "Hi Babe". She asked him where he was and he said that he's in the hospital. He didn't know why so she explained it to him. He kept feeling his tooth that was broken in the accident. She got him a mirror so he could look at it. When he talks, he uses facial expressions now. He's doing great. When she left, the nurse asked him who she was and he said 'that's my wife'. She asked her name and he told her Danielle. Danielle said he said it like he was real proud to be married to her.
More later.

Randy and the Motorcycle Accident

Saturday, October 4, Randy was on his way to a friend's house on his motorcycle. He's a very careful driver. However, there are a lot of people that do not pay attention to motorcyclists. Therefore, they do not watch out for them. A 74 year old woman pulled out of a mall, turned left right in front of Randy. He hit her. From the impact, he flew 50 ft and landed on his head. He had a helmet on but it one of the skull helmets and it flew off. This was in Fayetteville NC. They airlifted him to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Hospital. He was unconsious. Deda, his wife, called us. His injuries included a crushed left wrist, cut on forehead, the bridge of his nose and earlobe. He suffered a broken left collarbone, three broken ribs and worse of all, he had a brain injury. There were three places that were bleeding on his brain and some blood clots. There was bruising on his brain. They put him on a ventilator, screwed a plug into his head to monitor the pressure on his brain and he received a strong sedation for pain. They couldn't do anything about the bleeding or blood clots.

Denny and I flew to the hospital from Dallas Sunday morning. We arrived around 10:00 that morning. It was not a happy trip. I won't go into the details of my reaction since I'm sure everyone knows how a mother would react to seeing her son in a hospital bed. He reminded me of Denny when he had his accident 14 years ago. Ashley flew in from upstate New York Monday morning. It was hard for her to see her dad in his condition. It was important for her to be here though.

He was in critical condition all day Sunday. He started to move his arms and legs when they would shut off the sedation for a few minutes.

Monday morning they took out the monitor on his brain because the number went from 20 to 8 and 7. If it had gone over 20, surgery would have been required.
That afternoon they took the ventilator off from him because he was breathing over the ventilator. We were quite happy about that.
As they slowed down the sedation, he started to respond to commands. By afternoon he opened his eyes a little and was talking a little. He puckered his lips to kiss Danielle. When we told him that several people said that he looked like his dad, he growled. He knew where he was and why. He wanted us to blow his nose but he had an oxygen mask on. He kept asking and when I said "no" he said "Pleeese". Then he wanted us to pull off the monitor from his finger. He'd say "pull it off" and we'd say we couldn't. He'd repeat it again. He was doing quite well. I put moisturizer on his feet so they won't dry out.

Wednesday: He is still in the same ICU but is now out of critical condition and is in stable condition. He wants us to take off the monitor from his finger yet. And he managed to get it off with his thumb this morning! He is only being treated by the trama unit. They will move him when they find a bed for him. They just took him to surgery to fix his broken wrist. The doctors all called him a fighter! He sure is.

Thursday: This morning Randy told me to pull him up because he wanted to stand up. He didn't like it that I told him he couldn't stand up and didn't need to. He said that he had to pee. I told him that he could pee right where he was. He again told me to pull him up. I had to scratch his back for him. He had a headache so I rubbed his temples for him. I put cream on his feet every day to keep them soft. Danielle and Ashley are finally taking a nap in the motel room. They both need sleep. Me? I have a huge blister on my toe that opened up and is raw. It hurts to walk on it.
Saturday: Randy has been moved to intermediate care. He's no longer in critical but is in stable condition. That doesn't mean that he's sitting up, talking and laughing with us. The stages for a brain injury start at 1 and end with 8. The therapist said that he's at 4. Which means that he isn't awake all the time, gets agitated very easy, says senseless things sometimes, is in a lot of pain and sleeps a lot.

She said that when someone's head hits something hard, the brain actually bounces to the other side of the head. If there is any brain damage to the right side, that would be the artistic side of his thinking. Because he had blood clots and bleeding in his brain where they don't know where it was (but it isn't occurring anymore), there could be something damaged. We won't know until he's in therapy. But he can talk, he can move his limbs, is very strong, can see and respond to commands. He calls me 'mom' and called out for Danielle one time when she was in the waiting room. When the nurse asked her who Danielle was, he said "My wife, you fool!" She wasn't surprised or hurt by his remark. They have a sitter in his room at all times. He is restrained but still slid himself where his head was in the middle of the bed and his legs were hanging over. He wants to go to the bathroom!

The therapist said that they are going to try giving him food and give him meds to stop his aggravation. Once they accomplish that, they will move him to the rehab and start with physical, occupational and speech and memory therapy.

Sunday: I called Randy's room this morning. I was talking to Danielle about how he was doing. I could hear him in the background talking. Danielle put the phone by his ear. I said hi to him and he said hi back. I asked him if he knew who I was and he said "yes, my mom". I felt good about that. This morning earlier, Danielle asked him who he was and he said "Mr Banana"! He sounds a lot better and Danielle said that he's opening his eyes more. He's still on the pain meds and the meds to keep him settled down. I'm sure as they lower the meds, the more he will respond to us.