Join us in celebrating the one-year anniversary of 5 digits attached and wiggling. Pretty amazing. Certainly a miracle.
Showing posts with label hand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hand. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Anniversary
One year ago today James amputated his right hand and underwent nearly 12 hours of re-attachment surgery. The surgeons, doctors and nurses warned us the surgery may be unsuccessful; best case scenario he would only loose a digit or two. Before we left the hospital we were told his hand would never be more than a 'pusher' and it certainly would not have any strength or dexterity or much feeling.
After three hundred sixty five days, hundreds of therapy hours and thousands of hours of exercise he has all 5 digits and the beginning of ideas for a full future. He can hold cards, balance plates, click a mouse and more. Sure, it never will be what it was...but it is amazing what it is.
After three hundred sixty five days, hundreds of therapy hours and thousands of hours of exercise he has all 5 digits and the beginning of ideas for a full future. He can hold cards, balance plates, click a mouse and more. Sure, it never will be what it was...but it is amazing what it is.
Kudos James. You have done well!
(his hands are resting on Lenny)
Monday, September 19, 2011
Rain, rain, rain, rain, beautiful rain. NOT
Well, yes. But still not.
The rain cleaned the layers of dry dust and grimy dirt off of everything; it watered all Grandma's plants for me; and made the air smell wonderful. So that was the beautiful part.
The not so beautiful part is the dent it put in our work plans. However, we got all the "have to have done" projects complete thanks to James being on board so I shan't complain. Who knew 5.5 hands could make the job of seal-coating go so fast :)
Waiting for mom to gather supplies and mix the seal-coating.
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Brush and roller combo worked great.
A sprayer would have been even slicker...but for $250 I can buy a lot of brushes, rollers and man hours :)
Waiting for the first coat to dry (or maybe it was the second).
Luckily it only took about an hour between coats. That was slick!
Bored indoors 'cuz of the rain.
No girlfriends to play with (aka Caley dog named Lucky).
No people to feed them poo-poo's (aka hors d'oeuvres).
Just no stinkin' fun.
No people to feed them poo-poo's (aka hors d'oeuvres).
Just no stinkin' fun.
Bored outdoors 'cuz of the waiting.
So I think he's coming to poke me. Where's Tess when I need her? If she's around he pokes her instead. Help!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
354 Days
It has been 354 days since the accident and tomorrow is James' first day back to work. He is on light duty in the office for 20 hours a week.
Instead of greasy, grimy clothes, coveralls, steel-toes boots and a hard hat - he'll be sporting jeans, casual shoes and a clean shirt. I have a lump in my throat, a prayer in my head and hope in my heart.
Instead of greasy, grimy clothes, coveralls, steel-toes boots and a hard hat - he'll be sporting jeans, casual shoes and a clean shirt. I have a lump in my throat, a prayer in my head and hope in my heart.
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| There is a guy down below the steel beams in an orange shirt and white hard hat. That's James; that's what he used to do. There is a guy on top of the wall in a yellow safety vest and white hard hat. James can be that guy if he wants; just have to give it some time to find out. |
Thursday, August 11, 2011
James
It has been a while since I posted anything about James so an update seemed in order. At the end of March his therapist Aaron said it was time to stop coming in for a while. James' hand had plateaued and just wasn't making any further progress.
They had been working on breaking up the scar tissue so he could get more movement out of his tendons, ligaments and joints. Aaron said there wasn't anything he could do in the clinic to break up the scar tissue that James couldn't do at home...and L&I won't pay unless Aaron can document progress with each visit. He sent James home with a violin splint (our nickname) and told him to wear it 8 hours a day and when he's not wearing it, stretch and use his hand as much as possible. Aaron gave him instructions to call for an appointment when things started to change.
Toward the end of June the splint stop fitting properly and was cutting off the circulation to his fingers. We called the clinic to get an appointment with Aaron...after much rigmarole, malarkey and general ridiculousness we saw him on August 3. He re-strung the violin so it doesn't cut off circulation and seemed genuinely pleased with the progress James has made! He told him to keep using it and touching it as much as possible. When James described areas of pain and activities that cause pain Aaron smiled his signature smile and said, "pain is good!".
We see Dr. Chris Allen the surgeon on Aug 31. We expect to hear all is good, no more surgery needed and it's time for light duty. No, that's not me being my usual Pollyanna :) We've been told more than once that no one wants to open James' hand back up again if it can be avoided. There is just too much that can go wrong. With the movement and feeling James is getting, Aaron thinks Chris will opt to continue with this slower, low-risk recovery without surgery.
Speaking of light duty and Chris Allen...he may be an excellent surgeon with a quirky, engaging personality and lighthearted bedside manner but he stinks at filling out paperwork. Apparently this is a well know fact as we have heard it from the L&I case worker, the hand clinic technicians and the Harborview Program Coordinator that manages all the state-required paperwork. Because Chris hasn't returned any of the forms the state has sent to him, James benefits have been suspended. After days of calling to find the right person I think we finally have everything back on track...at least I hope we do. I'll find out next week when I call to check up on the paperwork trail.
Bureaucratic red tape is maddening. However, without this necessary evil there are no benefits and without benefits - well let's just say life would get pretty darn ugly very quickly!
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| March 7, 2011 |
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| May 24, 2011. I think a WOW is in order, don't you? |
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| Violin Splint |
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| Aaron smirking at me and my camera. He and James always made fun of my continuous picture taking. James did admit that a friend told him how cool it was to see this journey documented in pics and James should thank me...I like this friend :) |
We see Dr. Chris Allen the surgeon on Aug 31. We expect to hear all is good, no more surgery needed and it's time for light duty. No, that's not me being my usual Pollyanna :) We've been told more than once that no one wants to open James' hand back up again if it can be avoided. There is just too much that can go wrong. With the movement and feeling James is getting, Aaron thinks Chris will opt to continue with this slower, low-risk recovery without surgery.
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| Dr. Christopher Allen, surgeon extraordinaire - paperwork challenged |
Speaking of light duty and Chris Allen...he may be an excellent surgeon with a quirky, engaging personality and lighthearted bedside manner but he stinks at filling out paperwork. Apparently this is a well know fact as we have heard it from the L&I case worker, the hand clinic technicians and the Harborview Program Coordinator that manages all the state-required paperwork. Because Chris hasn't returned any of the forms the state has sent to him, James benefits have been suspended. After days of calling to find the right person I think we finally have everything back on track...at least I hope we do. I'll find out next week when I call to check up on the paperwork trail.
Bureaucratic red tape is maddening. However, without this necessary evil there are no benefits and without benefits - well let's just say life would get pretty darn ugly very quickly!
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| June 15, 2011. His club hand has altered life as he knows it - but it does not define him. He continues to live the life of James - with a slight twist! |
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Lots of Changes
It has been 4 months to the day since James' accident.
There have been changes for all of us since then. I know James has feelings of guilt over some of the challenges his family has faced; but those are horribly misplaced feelings. Life will always throw changes and challenges our way. How we deal with them individually is on us. I doubt I'll ever be able to convince him of that. But I won't stop trying. Each of us has been effected in some way due to the accident; and each of us have our own life changes to deal with.
She moved to the desert to start a satellite Foursquare church as the children's pastor. Going from the large, active, vibrant, deeply faith-filled community in Puyallup, that defined her faith and social life, to a struggling start up ministry has been difficult. Her faith took her there and her faith is supporting her day to day. I marvel and admire that about her. Until Desert Foursquare grows to the point of supporting her as a full time employee she has to have a part time job to help pay the bills. Her current part time job is less than satisfying - but a necessary evil.
I miss her a lot. Sort of silly because we didn't see that much of each other. I feel rather guilty about that actually. I was always too busy to make it down her way. I deeply regret that now. I quit a life-sucking job so I would have time to do more with my family and not regret even more absent years. Then along came this wonderful opportunity for her. I am thrilled for her and there is an important lesson in all this for me. One which I am trying hard to learn and make changes from.
After James' accident Daniel became the family support man. If one of us needed to be somewhere but couldn't, Daniel took care of it. From errands for grandparents, shopping for me to physically packing Shannon's truck and moving all her junk to our garage - he did it (those are but 3 examples of the thousands of indispensable things he did, and continues to do, for us).
He was going to start taking classes at Green River Community College to get his AA degree but he really didn't want to. I knew that and I thought not going for an AA was a better idea. I thought finding an area of study that interests him (and can generate a lifelong income) was a better choice. With my blessing, he said he would look into local community colleges and technical colleges to find just that. He is currently signed up for video classes at Bellevue College; space allowing he will begin spring quarter. In the meantime, he is playing landlord to Shannon's condo and thoroughly enjoying his escapes to Snoqualmie as a snow bum.
Papa is worried about money. Consequently mom is worried about money. Papa has been more papa than usual. I suspect that doesn't make sense to most people but since I am the only one reading this :) that is OK, I know what I'm trying to say. And that is all that needs to be said about him.
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| James and Tess |
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| Exactly 4 months after the accident. Looking a bit purple and gnarly but damn awesome! |
Shannon moved to Palm Desert while James was still in the hospital. Leaving tore her up. Getting settled took some adjustment, planning and patience. Things are more steady and secure now. She is living in a high-end gated community with a very nice couple, a fun-loving dog named Kona and a mean cat. Her space is a lovely, very livable and affordable casita. She is also spending lots of time with Aunt Jody and Grandma and Grandpa; which everyone is enjoying tremendously (especially me!).
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| Shannon's Casita |
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| Shannon giving praise at the first Desert Foursquare service |
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| This is what Christmas Caroling looks like in the desert :) |
After James' accident Daniel became the family support man. If one of us needed to be somewhere but couldn't, Daniel took care of it. From errands for grandparents, shopping for me to physically packing Shannon's truck and moving all her junk to our garage - he did it (those are but 3 examples of the thousands of indispensable things he did, and continues to do, for us).
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| Danman Extraordinaire |
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| Daniel is taking the pic on the ride to the top of the mountain |
Papa is worried about money. Consequently mom is worried about money. Papa has been more papa than usual. I suspect that doesn't make sense to most people but since I am the only one reading this :) that is OK, I know what I'm trying to say. And that is all that needs to be said about him.
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| This photo represents soooooo much that was right, wrong, better and worrisome :/ |
And me...well I'm trying hard to navigate out of the self-created mosh pit of brain fog I created for myself. It was a huge leap in the right direction to finally finish the flash drive of marthk files and deliver them to Jim and Andrea. Accompaning the flash drive was a nice note featuring a sincere and heartfelt apology and a 'call me if you need to hire me for anything'. Haha like that is gonna happen after the way I've been these last few months; but a girls gotta try what a girls gotta try-right? Next step is to create order in the 4th bedroom. There is no moving forward without that. And I suspect the next step after that is to find some paid employment. I don't want to do that. Oh, I so don't want to do that. But if I must, of course I will. But did I mention I won't want to?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
When A Moment Changes Everything
At some point toward the beginning of this roller coaster ride I thought I should document the course of events on this blog. But two things got in the way: I am still learning my way around this site and although it is relatively pain-free it does take me some time to navigate...oddly time is not a commodity I have a lot of (more on that another time) and my role in this adventure is to keep everyone updated and informed...since no one knows about this blog it wouldn't be a very effective tool for communicating with family and friends :)
That said, I would still like to capture the story here. I think the easiest way is to use the updates I have been emailing to family. Why re-invent the wheel? At some point I will add all the stories that are missing but this is a good starting point.
Please be forewarned, there will be bloody graphic pictures included in this post. Do not scroll down if you try to avoid these kind of pictures!
Friday | September 24, 2010 | 4:15 PM
Hard to believe just over 24 hours ago James was on a job site cleaning up for the day and now sits it the orthopedic trauma unit of the best hospital in Seattle. A lot happened in between. But the 2 most important things are skilled surgeons worked into the wee hours of the morning giving James the best chance they could at recovery and hundreds of people across the country were offering up prayers each and every hour. The power of God is phenomenal. The power of man in the hands of God brings awe and wonder.
The 24 hours after surgery are crucial (I sound like a medical TV show!) as it is the most likely time for infection and rejection can set in. He can’t eat or drink anything until tomorrow – not even water or ice chips - in case they have to cart him back into surgery and knock him out in a flash. The lack of water is probably the most uncomfortable thing he is experiencing right now (thanks to the morphine drip keeping the mind numb and pain at bay).
They want the blood to flow into his newly attached arteries, veins, nerves ligaments and tissue so they have him on blood thinners. To help thin the blood they have the heat turned up high. Now when I say high, I don’t mean a comfortable 72 degrees. When we arrived in the room it was 85’. When I left to catch a couple hours of sleep it was 90.5’ and climbing! He will be in the Tropicana Suite (seriously, that is the sign on the door!) for 5 days. Those of you who know what a heat wimp I am know that only a mother’s love is going to get me through the next 5 days :) He is on complete bed rest for the next 3.
The surgeon described the painstaking task of connecting everything back together and even she was amazed at the stellar results. So far things are going better than they hoped for. The color in all of his digits is good and that is the most excellent news.
All of us can’t thank you enough for your love and prayers. The difference they make is extraordinary. As good as everything is going, we aren’t quite out of the woods so please keep them coming. Back to the hospital – nap time is over!
xoxoxo Kathleen
Sunday | September 26, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Day 2 has been put to bed. James woke up in good spirits, kept us hoping throughout the day and went to sleep exhausted but comfortable.
The surgeons were here this morning to change the dressing and examine their handiwork. James was his usual chatty entertaining self and had us all laughing. They were pleased with the look of the hand, the color of the digits and the results of the blood work (no infection indicated, no transfusion just yet and heparin drip adjusted perfectly). They said he maneuvered through the first 24 hours as best as they could hope for and although we are not out of the woods for something going wrong, getting to this point was a huge accomplishment.
They weren’t as wild about his temp climbing to 105 during the night. But, they weren’t agitated either. Apparently some people’s bodies can react with a great big “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” and decide to attack the situation with a rising temperature. It came back down to hover between 102 and 104 - doable.
However, when his temp climbed to 107.6 by early afternoon (that is not a typo!) they became concerned. Mom (that would be me) however passed right by concerned and moved onto near panic. Our day nurse Joel was awesome and jumped right on it moving at lightning speed. He got the surgeon back down here and they came up with a game plan. Unfortunately, James could not be cooled in the usual way with ice or cold compresses. When you do that all the blood flows away from the extremities and rushes to the core…and that would mean certain death for all of the repaired veins, arteries, nerves and tissue in his hand. It is the thin blood flowing freely to his hand and digits that is feeding the hundreds of newly formed connections back to life. They cooled the room to 80 degrees (can anyone reading this believe Kathleen used the word cool and 80 degrees in the same sentence?). They put light ice packs in his left armpit and groin and increased the Tylenol regimen (apparently Tylenol really is the drug of choice by 9 out of 10 doctors for lowering a fever – who knew?). Slowly but surely it climbed down (at the time of this writing the Tropicana Suite is back to its sauna-like temp of 88 degrees, all ice packs are gone, incoherent ramblings and hallucinations are abating and his temp is 101.1 and descending; I can live with that).
In less crucial but import news…his main IV line went bad today (he has 3 lines) so he had to have a new one put in. This was the best thing that happened all day long - really! The IV was located in the nice big fat juicy vein in the crook of his left arm and James couldn’t bend his arm without impeding the flow of the fluid and setting off the alarm on the IV machine. Consequently, he had to have his left arm outstretched and in one position all the time…and his right arm outstretched and immobilized…which left him with no arms to drink, eat, scratch, stretch or get comfortable with. As most of us know, a James that can move, wiggle and flail is a happy James :) His quality of life increased 10-fold with that one change.
Looking forward to day 3…as it is always an adventure in the Tropicana Suite! We feel all of your prayers, love and well-wishes. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
-Kathleen
PS – I have received texts and emails from all of you today but it was such a busy day I just couldn’t get back to everyone…and now I’m tired (go figure!) but wanted to let you know how very much we appreciate your connections. Keep them coming! I thought a group email before bed might be the best way to respond to everyone. BTW…we have the best families in the world :)
Monday | September 27, 2010 | 9:57 AM
Sunday was day 3. Surgeons made their morning rounds and once again said they are pleased with the progress. The color of the digits remains constant and the drainage of blood through the wound and into the dressing (and the bed, and his pj’s and the pillow…) is slowing just as it should be, but not stopping which would be bad.
The best way to describe day 3 is it was like that time in your sleep cycle when you are tossing and turning – not quite asleep, not quite awake - and your mind is churning and twirling and you aren’t getting anywhere – and when you open your eyes you are exhausted and confused and for a brief moment you aren’t quite sure where you are or what day it is. Yup, that is a good description of day 3.
Trying to stop scratching (and not open new wounds in his skin) and trying to keep food down were the big jobs of the day. Can’t say we scored bit points in either category but hey, he tried :/ Some broth at dinnertime and a bit more before bed finally stayed down. Regular doses of Benadryl kept the scratching to a minimum – but it also kept the entertaining waking babble to a maximum…for example did you know he’s not Mel Gibson? Well, apparently he’s not. He told Shannon to save herself because he wasn’t Mel Gibson and he had been bit :) Every time he says something that cracks us up we wish we had a tape recorder – or better yet – a video recorder. He would get a kick out of watching the reruns.
James girlfriend Tess babysat him for a few hours in the afternoon while we all went to my mom and dad’s for Shannon’s going away party (which of course had been planned before this latest Marth adventure started). A party sounded hard to attend. Even Shannon wasn’t much interested. But mom (being the wise woman that she is) said we had to eat sometime so why not do it at her house? Getting out of the hospital was good for the mind – seeing family celebrate Shannon was good for the soul. It was the last time she was going to see her family for a while because she leaves this Thursday for her new home in Palm Desert, California. Even typing those words puts a lump in my throat. I see a lot of Kleenex in my future this week…might be a good time to buy stock in Kimberly-Clark :}
James is still whiling away the hours confined to bed in the Tropicana Suite. I must say, the smell of a 15x15 foot room with no open windows, no fans and hot air constantly blowing through the vents to maintain an 85+ degree temperature for 3 days is quite a unique smell – not one I would recommend bottling and trying to sell - unless your market is street people living under the bridge. Yikes, it is ripe in here. He is looking forward to bath day…we are looking forward to his bath day. Soon, I hope!
Today is day 4…wonder what’s in store?
Love you all. Love the texts and emails. Love the prayers and well wishes. Love all you do - thank you!
-Kathleen
Tuesday | September 28, 2010 | 7:03 PM
Yesterday was day four at Harbor View Hospital. It reminded me of a spring day in Seattle. One minute you need an umbrella and a short while later you’re looking for your sunglasses.
Throughout the day he vacillated between nauseated to eating; sleeping to wide awake; rambling gibberish to thoughtful conversation; insane itching to peaceful resting; cranky to good spirits. He’d anticipated getting off bed rest but surgeons decided at least one more day would be a good idea – along with at least another day in the Tropicana Suite. That pushes the going home date out to Friday at the earliest. His hand was more uncomfortable than previous days but I think that has a lot to do with transitioning to oral pain medication instead of the IV morphine drip. They are trying to find the right dosage to stay ahead of the pain…I like that plan!
They brought us copies of his pre-op x-ray’s and a copy of the operative report. Oh my. Although some words in the report felt like we were reading a foreign language, it was apparent nothing short of a miracle took place on that operating table. Our gratitude was raised to a whole new level for the skilled surgeons and the outpouring of prayers from family and friends.
It is now day five and approaching dinner time. Unfortunately our patient won’t be partaking…again. Much to his complete and absolute frustration nothing will stay down…still. Doc just stopped in. He has a plan.
On the up side he received his first bed bath with soap and water and then got to sit up in a nice big comfy chair – ahhhh, you could take one look at him and see how good those two things felt. But the pièce de résistance was getting his catheter out and his Sponge Bob Square Pants boxers on – he even made me take a picture of him looking like a million bucks sitting up in his own shorts (I have attached it for your viewing pleasure).
Tomorrow the surgical team comes to change his dressing and assess their work and his progress. By the end of the day they hope to be able to present a game plan for the coming weeks…as long as it includes turning down this blasted heat I can handle anything they throw at us!
Love to all!
Thursday | September 30, 2010 | 9:46
Side note of great importance: today marked the moment that my first born departed on her adventure to California. My heart is leaking buckets of tears but it is equally excited for the excellent choice Shannon has made in this move. I wish her joy, success, purpose, meaning and of course sunshine in her life! More to be posted on her adventure later.
Yesterday was day 6 in the hospital for James. Before this story is over it must be said that the staff at Harborview bring a whole new meaning to excellent patient care. What the hospital lacks in modern electronics, wall murals and stylish furnishings is more than made up for in the area that really matters – excellence in patient care.
There is only one lone dark cloud hanging over James right now – nothing is staying down :( The nausea, cold sweats, dizziness and accompanying fatigue have him feeling the absolute worse he has felt since arriving at the hospital (according to him). These feelings come in waves. He can feel on top of the world for a few hours – laughing, joking, texting, talking and conversing. After crackers, soup and juice he can then feel like he just came out on the losing end of a kick boxing match. The doctor’s last plan didn’t work. They are working on a new one. I’m hoping today sees this problem in its rear view mirror.
A team of surgeons were here after lunch yesterday to get up close and personal with the hand. They liked what they saw and walked over to the thermostat and turned it down to 70 degrees ahhhhhhhh we could feel the cool air moving through the room immediately. That deserves another ahhhhhhhh. As a side note: within an hour James was looking for a blanket and I was hoping I had a sweatshirt in my bag. That cracked us both up.
The doctor who worked on reconnecting his nerves was quite a character and kept us chuckling. James commented on sensations located in the wrong place and she told him that was all on him – not her. Instead of coming to her with nerves neatly lined up and cleanly cut, he arrived with a bowl of spaghetti and she made her best guess as to which two ends belonged together; some she probably got right, some she probably didn’t but no matter as they will relearn their new pathways. We are finding that nerves are one of the most amazing things in the human body.
If they can get him to keep food down, we are going home on Friday – woo hoo! He will spend a week doing absolutely nothing with his hand. He is to protect it from bumps and bangs at all times. I will change the dressing twice a day and otherwise it will remain on its molded splint immobile and protected from the world around it. His job is to get up on his feet, his body moving, eating healthy and ready to tackle whatever they throw at us next. We go back to the hospital the following Friday for the lead surgeon to assess the healing progress and give us our next set of marching orders. We forgot to ask when he could get in a bath or shower but we did remember to ask if he could go to a Jim Gaffigan comedy concert next Friday – priorities baby, priorities! Two of the three surgeons laughed and began tossing Jim Gaffigan one-liners out. James joined in. The third surgeon shook his head and declared them all nut cases. But, he was given the OK to go as long as we wrap it extra well and slip it in a sling. I think their love of Gaffigan tipped the scales in James’ favor :)
Bring on day 7. We are ready.
-Kathleen
Tuesday | October 5, 2010 | 12:54 AM
Friday, October 1 marked day 9 in the hospital and the end of this chapter in James’ story. We were discharged from the trauma unit at 7:30 p.m. My most excellent chauffer (aka Daniel) had us home by 9:00.
My sincere apologies for the delay in my text, email and internet communication. I am THRILLED to be home but I haven’t had a minute to call my own…and when I do, I find myself trying to catch up on sleep – is it possible to catch up ‘cuz it’s not feeling like it so far :) Daniel and John are beyond amazing in doing anything they can to lighten the load; awesomeness is their middle name! Everything is good, just time consuming.
Thursday evening they finally found the right combo of anti-nausea medication to help James keep his food down. He still felt a bit queasy but he knew eating was a prerequisite for going home; consequently lots of motivation to fight through. That evening I received my nancy-nurse lesson and learned how to change the dressing, wash the wound and care for someone who was not allowed to us his right hand for ANYTHING. My teacher said I passed with flying colors. I was highly motivated too :)
Friday morning the surgical team came in for their daily check. This time Dr. Allen (the head honcho) came too. It was our first time meeting the man rumored to be the best of the best in the Pacific Northwest. Once again we heard how stunned they all are that James still has his hand. Apparently no one, including the head honcho himself believed the reattachment of his hand would be as successful as it is to date. Dr. Allen explained that his assistant Dr. Kate Colman was responsible for saving the day. Dr. Allen had run out of ideas after so many hours of surgery but Dr. Kate had an idea. He told he to take the lead and the rest is history. I now understand why he is considered the best of the best; he surrounds himself with excellence and makes great decisions that have everything to do with the patient and nothing to do with ego.
Dr. Allen went on to explain he has seen very few reattachments of this magnitude succeed and it is most impressive that a week later the hand is still doing well. He said there are plenty of things to go wrong still but getting thru a full week is a major accomplishment. He gave us the OK to go home and left James with strict instructions to do nothing, absolutely nothing with his hand other than what OT teaches him (a therapist was due soon). A short while later Dr. Allen popped his head in and said we might stay another day or two (groan). There was a new machine that could passively move James’ fingers and Dr. Allen wanted to take a look at it. He hadn’t used this particular machine before and wanted to see if it would be a good fit for James’ injury. As it turned out, it wasn’t a good fit. We were glad going home was back on the agenda even if we were a bit disappointed the new-fangled machine wouldn’t be helpful.
Melanie from OT came in to teach James how to use his left hand to passively move the fingers on his right hand (same thing the machine would have done only safer this way). She did a good job of explaining the importance of this for his reattached tendons and ligaments – he was motivated by the end of her lesson. She went on to explain he didn’t need to bother doing this with his thumb as they did not reattach the tendon; doing that would have interfered with reattaching the veins and nerves so after everything is healed, they will go back in to reattach the tendon (or was it a ligament (?) ah, it all starts to blur together but thankfully, they know what it is!).
Melanie also clarified that his ability for fine motor movement will not return. A main component that contributes to fine motor movement was damaged beyond repair. He won’t be able to thread a needle (darn, there goes his career as a world renowned seamstress) and buttons might be problematic (no worries, that is why God invented zippers and velcro) but due to the wonders of the brain, his left hand will eventually become his dominant hand. His essential tremor is most pronounced in his left hand so we expect some messy meals between now and left-hand dominance but God’s got a plan for that too – wash cloths, soap and water :)
A lot of physical and occupational therapy, at least one more surgery, skilled medical care and diligent consistent efforts on James’ part will take us down the road to a happy ending; maybe a different ending than James had planned 9 days ago but a good ending all the same…’cuz he’s James - and James has always made lemonade out of the lemons life throws his way!
THANK YOU a thousand times over for your unending prayers, spectacular support and constant connections. They have been the life-blood that our family needed to traverse this challenge. Each and every phone call, text message, Facebook comment and email brought us comfort, smiles and strength. Our family ROCKS!
Love you all!
-Kathleen
PS – Shannon Update: she left Washington late Thursday afternoon to drive to her new home and job in Palm Desert, California. She arrived safe and sound on Saturday and all is going well as she settles in. Her mother cried buckets of tears over her departure while rejoicing over her golden opportunity to live out a dream. I miss her terribly and every moment of every day I am excited for all the possibilities ahead of her.
PPS – Daniel Update: calm, cool and collected. My chauffer and right hand man at a moment’s notice. He remembers being the patient and needing to heal; he provides perspective when I need it. I am extraordinarily grateful for my man, Dan.
PPPS - As I navigate through these last couple of (emotional!) weeks I am reminded of something my mom gave me years ago; it still hangs on my wall (and one of my favorite brother-in-laws sent it to me in a note of encouragement). I suspect many of you have this in your homes too: There are two things we give our children; one is roots, the other is wings. Thank you mom, for giving me a path to follow. Those lessons guide us through weeks such as these.
PPPPS – OK, I’m done waxing philosophical. Must be time for some of that sleep I mentioned needing :) Huuuuugs to all!
That said, I would still like to capture the story here. I think the easiest way is to use the updates I have been emailing to family. Why re-invent the wheel? At some point I will add all the stories that are missing but this is a good starting point.
Please be forewarned, there will be bloody graphic pictures included in this post. Do not scroll down if you try to avoid these kind of pictures!
Friday | September 24, 2010 | 4:15 PM
Hard to believe just over 24 hours ago James was on a job site cleaning up for the day and now sits it the orthopedic trauma unit of the best hospital in Seattle. A lot happened in between. But the 2 most important things are skilled surgeons worked into the wee hours of the morning giving James the best chance they could at recovery and hundreds of people across the country were offering up prayers each and every hour. The power of God is phenomenal. The power of man in the hands of God brings awe and wonder.
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| Sept 23 | 4:00 PM. Just about to roll James into the operating room |
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| Just arrived in his room after leaving the recovery room |
The bleeding he is doing is good but it is also a balancing act so they have to draw blood every 6 hours to check the levels of this and that and another thing. If this, that or the other thing get too low they will give him a transfusion. Medicine is amazing. Simply amazing.
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| Immediately post op - before the drip, drip, dripping began |
Emotions get the better of him now and then; a lot of that is more than 12 hours of anesthesia – it does weird things to the brain :/ but for the most part his spirits are high and he is mr-funny-man keeping the nurses and doctors laughing. From the ER staff to the surgical staff we kept hearing what a great guy he is. That he is!
The surgeon described the painstaking task of connecting everything back together and even she was amazed at the stellar results. So far things are going better than they hoped for. The color in all of his digits is good and that is the most excellent news.
All of us can’t thank you enough for your love and prayers. The difference they make is extraordinary. As good as everything is going, we aren’t quite out of the woods so please keep them coming. Back to the hospital – nap time is over!
xoxoxo Kathleen
Sunday | September 26, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Day 2 has been put to bed. James woke up in good spirits, kept us hoping throughout the day and went to sleep exhausted but comfortable.
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| James on day 2 |
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| Still draining but look at those gorgeous fingers; the color just gets better and better! |
However, when his temp climbed to 107.6 by early afternoon (that is not a typo!) they became concerned. Mom (that would be me) however passed right by concerned and moved onto near panic. Our day nurse Joel was awesome and jumped right on it moving at lightning speed. He got the surgeon back down here and they came up with a game plan. Unfortunately, James could not be cooled in the usual way with ice or cold compresses. When you do that all the blood flows away from the extremities and rushes to the core…and that would mean certain death for all of the repaired veins, arteries, nerves and tissue in his hand. It is the thin blood flowing freely to his hand and digits that is feeding the hundreds of newly formed connections back to life. They cooled the room to 80 degrees (can anyone reading this believe Kathleen used the word cool and 80 degrees in the same sentence?). They put light ice packs in his left armpit and groin and increased the Tylenol regimen (apparently Tylenol really is the drug of choice by 9 out of 10 doctors for lowering a fever – who knew?). Slowly but surely it climbed down (at the time of this writing the Tropicana Suite is back to its sauna-like temp of 88 degrees, all ice packs are gone, incoherent ramblings and hallucinations are abating and his temp is 101.1 and descending; I can live with that).
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| Mr. Positive trying to let everyone know he's OK |
Looking forward to day 3…as it is always an adventure in the Tropicana Suite! We feel all of your prayers, love and well-wishes. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
-Kathleen
PS – I have received texts and emails from all of you today but it was such a busy day I just couldn’t get back to everyone…and now I’m tired (go figure!) but wanted to let you know how very much we appreciate your connections. Keep them coming! I thought a group email before bed might be the best way to respond to everyone. BTW…we have the best families in the world :)
Monday | September 27, 2010 | 9:57 AM
Sunday was day 3. Surgeons made their morning rounds and once again said they are pleased with the progress. The color of the digits remains constant and the drainage of blood through the wound and into the dressing (and the bed, and his pj’s and the pillow…) is slowing just as it should be, but not stopping which would be bad.
Below are a series of pictures from a dressing change.
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| Time for a dressing change |
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| Joel cutting off the gauze |
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| Only one thin layer of protective dressing left on |
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| Wolverine...for at least another 6 weeks :) |
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| That is an actual hole cut into the tip of his thumb to help pull blood thru and out of the digit easily. Really. |
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| The stitching is a work of art to behold. |
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| All cleaned up for now! |
The best way to describe day 3 is it was like that time in your sleep cycle when you are tossing and turning – not quite asleep, not quite awake - and your mind is churning and twirling and you aren’t getting anywhere – and when you open your eyes you are exhausted and confused and for a brief moment you aren’t quite sure where you are or what day it is. Yup, that is a good description of day 3.
Trying to stop scratching (and not open new wounds in his skin) and trying to keep food down were the big jobs of the day. Can’t say we scored bit points in either category but hey, he tried :/ Some broth at dinnertime and a bit more before bed finally stayed down. Regular doses of Benadryl kept the scratching to a minimum – but it also kept the entertaining waking babble to a maximum…for example did you know he’s not Mel Gibson? Well, apparently he’s not. He told Shannon to save herself because he wasn’t Mel Gibson and he had been bit :) Every time he says something that cracks us up we wish we had a tape recorder – or better yet – a video recorder. He would get a kick out of watching the reruns.
James girlfriend Tess babysat him for a few hours in the afternoon while we all went to my mom and dad’s for Shannon’s going away party (which of course had been planned before this latest Marth adventure started). A party sounded hard to attend. Even Shannon wasn’t much interested. But mom (being the wise woman that she is) said we had to eat sometime so why not do it at her house? Getting out of the hospital was good for the mind – seeing family celebrate Shannon was good for the soul. It was the last time she was going to see her family for a while because she leaves this Thursday for her new home in Palm Desert, California. Even typing those words puts a lump in my throat. I see a lot of Kleenex in my future this week…might be a good time to buy stock in Kimberly-Clark :}
James is still whiling away the hours confined to bed in the Tropicana Suite. I must say, the smell of a 15x15 foot room with no open windows, no fans and hot air constantly blowing through the vents to maintain an 85+ degree temperature for 3 days is quite a unique smell – not one I would recommend bottling and trying to sell - unless your market is street people living under the bridge. Yikes, it is ripe in here. He is looking forward to bath day…we are looking forward to his bath day. Soon, I hope!
Today is day 4…wonder what’s in store?
Love you all. Love the texts and emails. Love the prayers and well wishes. Love all you do - thank you!
-Kathleen
Tuesday | September 28, 2010 | 7:03 PM
Yesterday was day four at Harbor View Hospital. It reminded me of a spring day in Seattle. One minute you need an umbrella and a short while later you’re looking for your sunglasses.
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| Dressing changes are exhausting. The splint his hand rests on is in the left foreground of photo. |
Throughout the day he vacillated between nauseated to eating; sleeping to wide awake; rambling gibberish to thoughtful conversation; insane itching to peaceful resting; cranky to good spirits. He’d anticipated getting off bed rest but surgeons decided at least one more day would be a good idea – along with at least another day in the Tropicana Suite. That pushes the going home date out to Friday at the earliest. His hand was more uncomfortable than previous days but I think that has a lot to do with transitioning to oral pain medication instead of the IV morphine drip. They are trying to find the right dosage to stay ahead of the pain…I like that plan!
They brought us copies of his pre-op x-ray’s and a copy of the operative report. Oh my. Although some words in the report felt like we were reading a foreign language, it was apparent nothing short of a miracle took place on that operating table. Our gratitude was raised to a whole new level for the skilled surgeons and the outpouring of prayers from family and friends.
It is now day five and approaching dinner time. Unfortunately our patient won’t be partaking…again. Much to his complete and absolute frustration nothing will stay down…still. Doc just stopped in. He has a plan.
On the up side he received his first bed bath with soap and water and then got to sit up in a nice big comfy chair – ahhhh, you could take one look at him and see how good those two things felt. But the pièce de résistance was getting his catheter out and his Sponge Bob Square Pants boxers on – he even made me take a picture of him looking like a million bucks sitting up in his own shorts (I have attached it for your viewing pleasure).
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| Sponge Square Bob Pants. Yes, I did say that - not once, but twice - I claim sleep deprivation :) |
Love to all!
Thursday | September 30, 2010 | 9:46
Side note of great importance: today marked the moment that my first born departed on her adventure to California. My heart is leaking buckets of tears but it is equally excited for the excellent choice Shannon has made in this move. I wish her joy, success, purpose, meaning and of course sunshine in her life! More to be posted on her adventure later.
Yesterday was day 6 in the hospital for James. Before this story is over it must be said that the staff at Harborview bring a whole new meaning to excellent patient care. What the hospital lacks in modern electronics, wall murals and stylish furnishings is more than made up for in the area that really matters – excellence in patient care.
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| Our "bedroom". He tried to throw pillows at me to stop the snoring. The nurse offered him ear plugs hahaha. Sort of reminds me of the beach...without the water, the dock, the kitchen and oh ya, the fun. |
A team of surgeons were here after lunch yesterday to get up close and personal with the hand. They liked what they saw and walked over to the thermostat and turned it down to 70 degrees ahhhhhhhh we could feel the cool air moving through the room immediately. That deserves another ahhhhhhhh. As a side note: within an hour James was looking for a blanket and I was hoping I had a sweatshirt in my bag. That cracked us both up.
The doctor who worked on reconnecting his nerves was quite a character and kept us chuckling. James commented on sensations located in the wrong place and she told him that was all on him – not her. Instead of coming to her with nerves neatly lined up and cleanly cut, he arrived with a bowl of spaghetti and she made her best guess as to which two ends belonged together; some she probably got right, some she probably didn’t but no matter as they will relearn their new pathways. We are finding that nerves are one of the most amazing things in the human body.
If they can get him to keep food down, we are going home on Friday – woo hoo! He will spend a week doing absolutely nothing with his hand. He is to protect it from bumps and bangs at all times. I will change the dressing twice a day and otherwise it will remain on its molded splint immobile and protected from the world around it. His job is to get up on his feet, his body moving, eating healthy and ready to tackle whatever they throw at us next. We go back to the hospital the following Friday for the lead surgeon to assess the healing progress and give us our next set of marching orders. We forgot to ask when he could get in a bath or shower but we did remember to ask if he could go to a Jim Gaffigan comedy concert next Friday – priorities baby, priorities! Two of the three surgeons laughed and began tossing Jim Gaffigan one-liners out. James joined in. The third surgeon shook his head and declared them all nut cases. But, he was given the OK to go as long as we wrap it extra well and slip it in a sling. I think their love of Gaffigan tipped the scales in James’ favor :)
Bring on day 7. We are ready.
-Kathleen
Tuesday | October 5, 2010 | 12:54 AM
Friday, October 1 marked day 9 in the hospital and the end of this chapter in James’ story. We were discharged from the trauma unit at 7:30 p.m. My most excellent chauffer (aka Daniel) had us home by 9:00.
My sincere apologies for the delay in my text, email and internet communication. I am THRILLED to be home but I haven’t had a minute to call my own…and when I do, I find myself trying to catch up on sleep – is it possible to catch up ‘cuz it’s not feeling like it so far :) Daniel and John are beyond amazing in doing anything they can to lighten the load; awesomeness is their middle name! Everything is good, just time consuming.
Thursday evening they finally found the right combo of anti-nausea medication to help James keep his food down. He still felt a bit queasy but he knew eating was a prerequisite for going home; consequently lots of motivation to fight through. That evening I received my nancy-nurse lesson and learned how to change the dressing, wash the wound and care for someone who was not allowed to us his right hand for ANYTHING. My teacher said I passed with flying colors. I was highly motivated too :)
Friday morning the surgical team came in for their daily check. This time Dr. Allen (the head honcho) came too. It was our first time meeting the man rumored to be the best of the best in the Pacific Northwest. Once again we heard how stunned they all are that James still has his hand. Apparently no one, including the head honcho himself believed the reattachment of his hand would be as successful as it is to date. Dr. Allen explained that his assistant Dr. Kate Colman was responsible for saving the day. Dr. Allen had run out of ideas after so many hours of surgery but Dr. Kate had an idea. He told he to take the lead and the rest is history. I now understand why he is considered the best of the best; he surrounds himself with excellence and makes great decisions that have everything to do with the patient and nothing to do with ego.
Dr. Allen went on to explain he has seen very few reattachments of this magnitude succeed and it is most impressive that a week later the hand is still doing well. He said there are plenty of things to go wrong still but getting thru a full week is a major accomplishment. He gave us the OK to go home and left James with strict instructions to do nothing, absolutely nothing with his hand other than what OT teaches him (a therapist was due soon). A short while later Dr. Allen popped his head in and said we might stay another day or two (groan). There was a new machine that could passively move James’ fingers and Dr. Allen wanted to take a look at it. He hadn’t used this particular machine before and wanted to see if it would be a good fit for James’ injury. As it turned out, it wasn’t a good fit. We were glad going home was back on the agenda even if we were a bit disappointed the new-fangled machine wouldn’t be helpful.
Melanie from OT came in to teach James how to use his left hand to passively move the fingers on his right hand (same thing the machine would have done only safer this way). She did a good job of explaining the importance of this for his reattached tendons and ligaments – he was motivated by the end of her lesson. She went on to explain he didn’t need to bother doing this with his thumb as they did not reattach the tendon; doing that would have interfered with reattaching the veins and nerves so after everything is healed, they will go back in to reattach the tendon (or was it a ligament (?) ah, it all starts to blur together but thankfully, they know what it is!).
Melanie also clarified that his ability for fine motor movement will not return. A main component that contributes to fine motor movement was damaged beyond repair. He won’t be able to thread a needle (darn, there goes his career as a world renowned seamstress) and buttons might be problematic (no worries, that is why God invented zippers and velcro) but due to the wonders of the brain, his left hand will eventually become his dominant hand. His essential tremor is most pronounced in his left hand so we expect some messy meals between now and left-hand dominance but God’s got a plan for that too – wash cloths, soap and water :)
A lot of physical and occupational therapy, at least one more surgery, skilled medical care and diligent consistent efforts on James’ part will take us down the road to a happy ending; maybe a different ending than James had planned 9 days ago but a good ending all the same…’cuz he’s James - and James has always made lemonade out of the lemons life throws his way!
THANK YOU a thousand times over for your unending prayers, spectacular support and constant connections. They have been the life-blood that our family needed to traverse this challenge. Each and every phone call, text message, Facebook comment and email brought us comfort, smiles and strength. Our family ROCKS!
Love you all!
-Kathleen
PS – Shannon Update: she left Washington late Thursday afternoon to drive to her new home and job in Palm Desert, California. She arrived safe and sound on Saturday and all is going well as she settles in. Her mother cried buckets of tears over her departure while rejoicing over her golden opportunity to live out a dream. I miss her terribly and every moment of every day I am excited for all the possibilities ahead of her.
PPS – Daniel Update: calm, cool and collected. My chauffer and right hand man at a moment’s notice. He remembers being the patient and needing to heal; he provides perspective when I need it. I am extraordinarily grateful for my man, Dan.
PPPS - As I navigate through these last couple of (emotional!) weeks I am reminded of something my mom gave me years ago; it still hangs on my wall (and one of my favorite brother-in-laws sent it to me in a note of encouragement). I suspect many of you have this in your homes too: There are two things we give our children; one is roots, the other is wings. Thank you mom, for giving me a path to follow. Those lessons guide us through weeks such as these.
PPPPS – OK, I’m done waxing philosophical. Must be time for some of that sleep I mentioned needing :) Huuuuugs to all!
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