Home Again

So after a week in the hospital dad is finally going home. He had a final chest X-ray last night to make sure there was no more build-up of fluid. The X-ray came back and everything looked great. They had to take him in and do surgery to clean out all the pockets of fluid and some other thicker fluid that couldn't be taken out otherwise. He then had two chest tubes placed to keep the site draining. Through it all he did really really well. There were a few moments of discomfort as you can imagine but luckily he had an epidural to help with the pain. He is in good spirits and excited to come home, just in time for Father's Day.



I won't even tell you what he's doing here...=)

Im Sorry

Okay so I need to ask for forgiveness. I haven't been very good at keeping this updated. I have been busy and haven't had time to keep up. Dad is still in the hospital and they are talking about sending him home maybe tomorrow. He is doing great and looks really good. Mom is still recovering at home and is doing great, she started physical therapy today. I have a few pictures to post when I find my camera tomorrow.

Back to the hospital

Well dad went in for a check-up with one of the trauma doctors this morning. There is still a lot of fluid in his lung so they are going to readmit him and put in another chest tube. Needless to say we are very devastated to have him back in but know it's the right thing for him. I will let everyone know whats going on and what room he will be in on the 6th floor.

First Outpatient Dr Visit

Yesterday mom and dad both had a doctors appointment with Dr Larsen (orthopedic doctor) He said that he was pleased with how well moms leg was healing but was also concerned that she couldn't straighten it. He said that if she doesn't start working on straightening that leg she wont ever be able to walk on it. So that is her homework for the next few weeks.

Dad had his shoulder and scapula looked at and was told that the Doctor thought maybe his shoulder was shoved in a little more than they thought. Dr. Larsen is sending dad to a Specialist in Salt Lake to have him look at it and see if we need to do surgery. Please continue to keep them in your prayers, they are doing great and have showed amazing improvement but we still have a very long road and a few more obstacle's.

First Time Out

On May 28th Tauni had a Junior High Graduation. We were bound and determined to get our parents there ( even if mom was still in the hospital.) So we went and checked mom out and brought her home for the evening. We got both of them dressed up and out the door ( do you realize how hard it is to get two cripples dressed it only took about 4 hours hahah just kidding) ... SO we decided to leave about an hour early so that we could beat the crowd and not have to fight through people to get a seat. We ended up sitting in the very back of the Provo Tabernacle. Mom was a little nervous because her leg was very vulnerable. A few minutes later a guy from our ward came to say hi, we told him about her leg and how we were a bit nervous so he said he would be back. Low and behold here he comes with 5 hazard cones, he places them all around her so that people couldn't even come close. I think this made mom feel a lot better.We had a great time and it was nice to get them out for a few hours. By the time we got home they were both really beat but were really glad they .

MOM IS HOME!

Well finally I am happy to say that both our parents are home. I have a lot of pictures I want to share but need to find the time to load them. I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to make sure everyone has everything they need. It is nice having both mom and dad at the same place so that it makes it a little easier. I will post some more pictures in the next day or so.

Well today mom gets her filter out ( It was put in during her second surgery to prevent blood clots going to her lungs) I will be meeting with the social worker today to learn what mom needs to keep working on and doing once she comes home. I am planning on checking her out of the hospital today and taking her and my dad to Tauni's graduation. It should be interesting taking two cripples out =). Mom will be out of the hospital for good tomorrow hooorrraaay.
Dad is doing great. He pretty much sits in the recliner without a shower EVERYDAY hahahah just kidding, inside joke... love ya dad.

Email

I forgot to add my email address for those of you who would like to email your experiences about Jim and Wendy's accident.

johnandjodiriley@gmail.com

if you'll send it to me I can put them together for my parents.
Thanks

REQUEST!

I have a huge request. My parents are trying to work through a few things mentally, physically, and spiritually as we can all imagine. My mom has said several times that she would like to hear how people heard about the accident, what your reaction was and what not. You can either post it under the comments or email it or snail mail it. It would be much appreciated.

Day Pass

I guess mom now has a day pass to come home after her physical therapy everyday. She is really excited and cant wait till she can come home for good. She came home for a visit today and she said it was great to be home. She saw the motorcycle and the helmets for the first time and had a really really hard time. Dad and mom were holding hands and trying to get through the whole thing together. They have come a long ways and there is still a long ways to go but I am just grateful they are able to work through it and they have each other and we still have our parents.

May 26th 2008

Just a quick update since I haven't been very good the last few days =)
Dad is doing great at home, Tauni and Jayden have been such a help to him. Mom is going home with a physical therapist today to see if she can manage and get around. She will hopefully be out of the hospital sometime this week. She is feeling a little depressed since she just lays in bed all day, But is getting excited about being able to be home. I am planning on staying there for a few days when she does get home so that we can help get them both settled. Life will calm down a bit once the kids get out of school. Thanks for every ones help, love and concern.

Moms Leg

This picture was taken right after they unwrapped it yesterday... Pretty sick looking

Mom is in great spirits.

DAD IS HOME!

YYYEEEAAAHHH!!! Dad is home. He is doing really well, and is glad to be back home. He will have a physical therapist come to the house to work with his shoulder.
Mom was moved to the rehab unit yesterday. She will start physical therapy to get her leg working again. She was sad that dad got to come home and she didn't but she understood that she needed help with her leg. She loves visitors so please if you get a chance either call or go see her.

Fluid in the Chest Cavity

So as all of you know dad was suppose to go home yesterday. He had a chest X-ray to make sure things looked okay. Well they noticed that there was a pocket of fluid that was down in his chest cavity. They did an ultrasound to find out where exactly the fluid was and marked it with a pen on his back. Then the doctor took a 6 inch needle, stuck it in my dads back right to the spot where the ultrasound showed fluid.. then sucked it all out. He said that he could feel the relief right away. They took a few more X-rays and things look really good. So he will be coming home in the morning. We are really excited for him to come home.
Mom will be heading to the Rehab Unit tomorrow. She will need some Physical Therapy on her knee and ankle. We aren't sure how long she will be there ... hopefully not too long. She is doing really well. Her pain is mostly under control and she looks great. She is able to walk a lot further down that hall and is doing such a good job getting herself around.

Here are some pictures of today.

Sleeping beauty!

Mom trying her hardest to not look stoned =)
Dad paying some of the bills.
Physical Therapy starts!
Dad giving mom some advice about her pain... I don't think shes paying attention.
Hanging out with mom in her room.

May 19th ! Not much has changed. Mom started her physical therapy today.. (just some range of motion exercises). They took her epidural out so they are now trying to figure out what works best for her pain. We were able to wash her hair again today, which I think is a HUGE distraction from the pain. She loved it. She was even able to walk down the hall today with her walker, She did a great job.
Dad is doing WONDERFUL!!!! He was able to look at some of his bills today and tell me what needed to be paid. He was in and out of moms room visiting and trying to help figure out what to do for her. He does his walking everyday and will hopefully start some P.T on his shoulder soon. He is trying to stay on top of his pain as much as he can and seems to be doing well. We are excited to hopefully have him home this week.

Sorry!

I'm sorry there isn't a new post about my parents. I haven't had the chance to go and see them today. John's dad was admitted to the hospital with severe chest pains (at a different hospital). I have talked to them a few times and they both seem to be doing fine. Both are still in some pain but that is to be expected. I guess mom decided to get out of bed today by herself and go to the bathroom, dad said she hurt herself but she wouldn't give him all the details. I will try to find out about that tomorrow when I am down there.

Together Again!!!!

Finally mom and dad are on the same floor. Mom just moved from IMC to the 6th floor today. What a blessing. She is now only 3 rooms down from dad (677). Dad was even able to walk down himself to see her. They are both doing great. Dad was even told that there was a good chance that he would be going home on Wed. We feel so blessed to have had them recover so quickly. Thanks again for all the support... more pictures to come.

Today is May 16th John and I decided that we were going to take Grandma Stevens down to see my mom. She has been so concerned about my parents, but needs a lot of help to get out of bed and into the car. So John and I headed over there and picked her up and took her down to see my parents. She was so grateful to see my mom and to see that she was okay. We were going to take her up to see my dad but he was down getting some fluid cleaned out of his lungs. I guess they had to put a scope down his noes and into his lungs to get some of the junk out. I haven't been able to talk to him yet today. I have tried calling him to find out how it went but there's no answer. As soon as I find out I will let everyone know the details.

Beauty Salon

Today we decided to wash moms hair and paint her toe nails. She had, had a couple really crappy days so I decided that it was time to get her feeling better. She loved every minute of it and felt a lot better afterwards.

She's really drugged on medicine =)

Rhonda Hone came and trimmed up my dads hair and face. I wasn't in the room at the time so I don't have any pictures of it. I know my dad really appreciated it.

Updated

Okay so now that I have everyone some what updated ... I will try to update this blog everyday and maybe even a couple times a day. I'm sorry if I missed something.. its been a long week and trying to remember to get everything on here in a day was nuts. I know most of you are really concerned but really they are doing great. It will just be a long recovery.

Today is Thursday May 15th ...

Mom had a pretty bad night. She said that she was still in a lot of pain and she ended up calling John at 2am ( John works at the same hospital that my parents are at, and happened to be at work) to come and turn her and help move her leg. He said she looked better and that the pain meds were starting to work. I will head over there today to wash her hair and paint her toes.

Dad was going to start climbing the stairs today for his physical therapy. He is doing so great that there isn't much to say for him.

THE BIKE

Okay here are some pictures of the bike.





SO as you can see .. the bike doesn't look toooo bad. But there is a lot of damage.

DADS CHEST TUBE COMES OUT!

HOOOORRRAAAYYY! Finally dad was able to get his chest tube out. He was doing so well and so they decided it was time to come out. I was in the room to watch but then chickened out. I didnt want to watch him cry like a little baby =)
The chest tube came out really easy and fast. He said he didnt feel a thing ... which was so great.
here are some pictures of his chest after the fact. I forgot to mention that this was the second chest tube to come out. He had one placed in the ER and come to find out it was placed wrong. So a few days later they took the old one out (very very painful) and put a new one it, this time in the right place.

PAIN ...PAIN....PAIN

Okay back to the knee. After surgery mom was in soooo much pain. The nurses we trying their best to keep the pain under control. NOTHING WAS WORKING. My mom would just scream and cry all day long because it hurt so bad. It was so hard to watch and to handle. There was nothing we could do for her and that just killed us. The doctor came back and made sure that everything still looked okay. Everything was fine. He thought maybe the pain could be caused from her ankle that was still unstable. So they decided to take her to the O.R and fix the ankle, put in an epidural and also a filter ( the filter was put in just to make sure that no blood clots went up into her lungs). The surgery itself wasn't long at all. He said it went well and they only needed to add one screw. He also said that the epidural was a success and that he was having a special brace made for her knee. We were so excited to see if the epidural would work and finally free her from some of her pain.
Well later that night she was still in pain ... we were so bummed. So her nurse gave her a little more pain meds to see if that would help and it did nothing but make her oxygen level drop. He was scared to give her anything else because he didn't want her to stop breathing.
They called the doctor and had him come and see what he could do for her. He added a little more medicine to her epidural instead of into her pick line. At this point we just prayed and prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help her since we had done all we could do. Within a few minutes she curled up and went to sleep. We were so grateful for this as you can imagine. We have seen the Lords hand throughout all of this and we feel so blessed

First time seeing each other after the accident.
Family picture that needs to be on a Christmas card =)

Mom and Dads visit with each other.

The nurses were great and were able to let mom and dad see each other for a few minutes every couple of days. There was a time .. (which we have a video on Shad's camera) that my mom was drugged up on a little toooo many pain meds. She was bound and determined to see my dad. Well she wasn't breathing well and we needed to watch her carefully. But she didn't like the idea of not being able to see dad, so she decided that she was going to take herself.. oh boy. So she started to unplug all of her monitors and said she was going. It was so hysterical. I kept putting her finger monitor on to make sure she was getting enough oxygen and all she would do was flick it off of her finger and across the room... she wouldn't keep her oxygen on and she told Tauni to turn off everything. She had us rolling with laughter. After she had everything unplugged she wanted her princess crown that her friends brought her so she could look pretty for my dad. She looked like a crazy person that needed to be checked into the mental hospital. It was a good change to be able to laugh hysterically and to make a good situation out of a bad one.

More pictures

The girls with mom
Leeanna and Jana have been such a HUGE help and support for us. Thank you for everything you two.

Oh boy where do I start with this picture. Dad was starting to feel so much better. He wanted a DVD player so that he could watch some movies. But he didn't want just any DVD player he wanted one with a lot of different features. So Shad and John headed out in search of what he was looking for. At this point we knew our dad was back. He knew what he wanted and how he wanted it. This pictures shows him with his attachments for his oxygen and with his ear phones on. The picture for sure could be used for teasing.

Dad sticking out his tongue
Shads turn to sit with dad!
The girls with dad
This is where they drained all the blood from. My mom got a kick out of showing everyone her butt.

Sorry some of these pictures are out of order. I am just going to focus on the major events that took place. They rest of the days were spent just staring at the wall and calling for the nurse every 4 seconds.

Day of knee surgery for mom

Today which is a week after the accident mom went in for surgery to repair her knee. Her surgery was going to take about 3 hours because they had to repair so many ligaments and had to add some screws and whatever else to fix her knee. She was scheduled to go in at 4:45. Well at 10:30 we were wondering what was going on. She had been in there a lot longer than we expected. Finally at 11:45 Dr. Larsen came out to tell us that the surgery was a success. He said he had to do a little more work than he thought. There ended up being 6 or 7 screws in her knee, plus they had to replace the ACL and do a lot with the PCL. But he was very pleased with the surgery and thought she would make a complete and full recovery. He also gave us some bad news about her ankle. He said that in a couple of days she would have to go back in and have her ankle worked on. He said he didn't like how unstable the fracture was. He said that he would have done it that night but he didn't want to put her through anymore that night. He also informed us that they drained half a liter of blood off her butt (contusion that was caused from falling directly on her butt.) So with that news we headed back to her room to wait. My dad was very concerned for my mom and hated that he couldn't be there ever second.
As for my dad. He was doing really really well. He was expected to be in the ICU for 14 days ... well 6 days after the accident he was sent to the 6th floor. We were soo excited that he was recovering so well. He was walking around and doing a lot of things for himself ( even cleaning his own hospital room .. I know that doesn't surprise most of us =)

Support

We are so grateful for the support we have received from family and friends but also from my parents ward. They have said that the R.S is going to take over the house and make sure it was cleaned, laundry was done and the fridge was filled with food. The Elders have taken over the yard and planted my dads garden ( with Grandpas help) and made sure the lawn was taken care of, and also donations from their ward in behalf of our family. We have had so many calls from family, friends, ward members and neighbors all willing to step in and help and we thank you.
My parents just cant believe all that has happened and all of those people that are so willing to help. Again we cannot thank you enough!!!!

First Day Pictures

Here are the two of them the first day in their ICU rooms.

Update

So I am going to try my best to keep this blog updated everyday so that those of you who live far away can keep up with whats happening.

So after the many scans in the ER, my parents were taken to the ICU. Dad in room 206 and mom in room 202. Dad was struggling to breath and mom was in so much pain, but alive.

We found out that all of dads injuries would heal on their own but that it would take a long time. They told us that he would be in the ICU for 14 days.
With mom we found out that her knee would need surgery but that we had to wait until the swelling went down a bit. And we were told her ankle would heal with just a walking cast and that her pelvis was a steady break and would also heal by itself. So it's going to be a long road but we just have to keep remembering that they are still here and alive.

Accident!!!!

As most of you know May 6th was a very scary day for a lot of us. Jim and Wendy decided to go for a ride on their motorcycle. This is something that my parents love to do together, and have a great time doing. Well as they started heading up the canyon their route changed a bit. Instead of going for an amazing ride up the canyon they took a ride in the ambulance instead. The details of it for me are a little sketchy since I wasn't there at the time of the accident. But this is the story I heard for the police officer that was on the scene. As most of you know there are two stop lights at the mouth of the canyon. One that goes up into Orem and the other one ( that is always green) goes up the canyon. Well an out of town car decided to stop at the green light that goes up to the canyon. By the time my dad was able to see what was going on it was too late. He tired to stop the bike but the bike fishtailed and hit the back passenger side of the car and then hit the cement barricade. They were both wearing their helmets, so their heads were okay. My mom broke her pelvis, her ankle and messed up her knee. Her knee was broken and all the ligaments except for the MCL were torn, oh and lets not forget her butt, she landed on her butt first so it was a pretty shade of purple. My dad broke 8 ribs 6 of them were broken in the front and back. He shattered his scapula and collapsed a lung, and not to mention the bruises and the road rash. They had to put in a tube in his chest to drain some of the crap off of his lung. I cant tell you the emotions I and my siblings felt when we were told that both of our parents were injured. We have shed a thousand tears and will probably continue to shed many more. Thank you to the family that was there with us in the ER. I can't tell you what it meant to walk in there and find so much family support. THANK YOU !!!!