Blue Power Ranger Down

Amy,
Keep plugging along and be patient with Wout, I know that it's hard to do but it will pay off. I was admitted to the hospital with "severe head trauma" after having a near life ending crash in Sept. '06 that left me in a coma for 2 weeks and in the critical care unit at the hospital for 3. I had to have brain surgery to stop the bleeding in my brain when I was admitted and during the surgery I had a stroke. I had some other major injuries but none as life threatening as the head trauma. I have some issues with anger management, and with cohesive thoughts from time to time, but I am for the most part healed. My wife and I had to work constantly to improve my mental status as well as my therapists doing what they could in the time that they had me. The surgeons told my wife that I could be a vegetable the rest of my life or that I could be fine or in any where in between. Here are a couple of pics of me in the hospital and a couple of me enjoying life after I was released.









The brain is a complex but resilient organ, and it can and will heal itself, it just takes time and work to reconnect the things that have been jarred loose. I know that Wout is still in there, keep praying and working to help him come out. I tried showing this thread to my wife so she could read it herself, I've been telling her about you and Wout and she has been praying for him with me, but she could not bear to read more than a couple of pages, it hit to close to home. We will continue to keep you and Wout in our prayers as well the doctors, nurses and therapists in charge of his continuing road to recovery.

April 15

Just a quick e-mail to update you all on Wout's progress in therapy today. He sat on the side of the bed with the therapists, and didn't need nearly as much help as before to sit up by himself. He followed commands three separate times to kick the therapist's hand with his left foot. They also helped him stand up for two sessions of over two minutes. Then, they thougt he was doing so well, they put him in a wheelchair and took him to the PT room, where they helped him walk on the parallel bars! It took four therapists to help him do it, one behind him with a wheelchair, and they were helping him to move his feet, but he did so well!

I went to Chapel Hill Wednesday to tour the facility Wout is going to Monday, and I am very pleased with it. He will have a full-time sitter there, which will relieve me and everyone I've recruited (Thanks so much Tommy, Mom, and Abby!!) of staying with Wout round the clock. He will also receive more therapy time, and have better access to the orthopedic and dental follow-up that he needs.

Sorry I can't write a longer e-mail, but I need to get back to the hospital - Abby is with Wout now, and I'm sure she's ready for a little relief!

Please keep Wout in your prayers!!

Love,

Amy

The brain is a complex but resilient organ, and it can and will heal itself, it just takes time and work to reconnect the things that have been jarred loose. I know that Wout is still in there, keep praying and working to help him come out. I tried showing this thread to my wife so she could read it herself, I've been telling her about you and Wout and she has been praying for him with me, but she could not bear to read more than a couple of pages, it hit to close to home. We will continue to keep you and Wout in our prayers as well the doctors, nurses and therapists in charge of his continuing road to recovery.

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Thanks, CF. Your story is an inspiration to us!!

Hey everyone,

I confirmed today that everything is set for Wout to be transferred to the rehabilitation center at UNC Hospital is Chapel Hill Monday at 11:00 a.m. If you have a moment at that time, please say a prayer for a safe trip for Wout. I am so thankful for this move! He had another good day in therapy today, and even got to go outside in the wheelchair for about five minutes afterward. Any of you who know Wout well know how much he loves to be outside! It was really great, a nice warm sunny day with a good breeze blowing on his face.... I hope everyone has a great weekend. Please keep Wout on your prayer lists at all of your churches, and in your homes!

Take care,

Amy

Amy, I read this too late to pray before Wout's transfer, but I went ahead and prayed that he would get settled in and adjust to being at Chapel Hill. That's great about getting to get outside for a bit, I remember my first day outside after I crashed and it was great, cool but great. It felt like I was alive again and gave me inspiration to go on. It really sounds like Wout and I have more in common than just having survived a motorcycle crash, I really enjoy being outside as well, spent the majority of my youth there, and much of my recent time as well. Keep us informed of any new developments in Wout's progress as I come here each day and look for this post just to see how he is coming along.

Joe

hang in there amy, we'll be thinking about you and wout. i was wondering about the two of you on my way back from new ulm........

greg

May 20

Hey everyone,

The transfer back to Chapel Hill went very smoothly yesterday, and Wout is settling in well. He is in Room 7300 (which is,of course, on the seventh floor) in Memorial Hospital. The doctors have said that it is best right now to keep things low-key as far as stimulation, so they are asking that visitors be limited to 1-2 people at a time, and to just speak in quiet voices, not too animated, etc. There is a nice waiting area on this floor that people can congregate in to take turns visiting with Wout. They have okayed soft music and tv, for about 30 minutes at a time. Wout is in a special bed that looks like a tent is on top of it, so that he can move around without being restrained, and without fear of falling. I hope he feels like he's camping sometimes, as much as he likes to camp....

I met with his doctor and the resident yesterday, and am pleased and impressed with both of them. They have changed almost all of Wout's medications, which came as no surprise to me, and his therapy evaluations will start today. He will be evaluated by recreational therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy today, so I will know what the plan is as far as therapy tomorrow, I would think.

Wout had ultrasounds done this morning on his arms and legs to check for blood clots, and is resting now. If the results are good from those, he will be placed on a blood thinner, and can have the air compression cuffs removed from his legs. I will be glad for that, because I know they drive him crazy. He does have the compression hose on his legs now, which I would think will remain there for a good while.

He is still agitated, but it seems to wax and wane. I am hoping that the new medications will help lessen the severity of the agitation. Things are much quieter here than at the previous hospital, so I hope that will also help keep him calmer.

I spoke with the doctors about scheduling a follow up with orthopedics for his wrist, and also a dental follow-up. I also asked about a vision check, just to rule out any retinal/nerve damage to his eye(s). They have an occupational therapist here who the doctor said is a "hand specialist," whi will be working with Wout's wrist to try to get it more flexible and less tight. Right now, he still has a lot of what they call "tone" in his right side, which is caused from the brain injury. But, hopefully, as they work with him, that will get better.

I guess that's all I can think of right now. I hope all of you are doing well. Thanks so much for keeping Wout in your thoughts and especially in your prayers!

Take care,

Amy

May 21

Just a quick update for the day. Wout worked with speech, occupational and physical therapy today. PT worked with his right hand and wrist to try to loosen up the muscles that have tightened. Wout had this done at the gym, which has a great view of the football stadium, the clock tower and other buildings, and trees and the outside. He did well sitting in the wheelchair, and I know he enjoyed getting out of the room for a while! OT worked with him first, and he had just gotten a mild sedative, so they had to wake him up and then he was groggy throughout the session. He was groggy during PT as well, and then he had Speech therapy, during which they worked with him on focusing his attention and recognizing and using everyday objects such as a toothbrush, screwdriver, brush, cup, etc. I spoke with Dr. Walker about the sedative before therapy and she talked with the nurse about the difference between restlessness and agitation. She increased the dosage of proprilinol, which is the blood pressure medication, which also helps to reduce "motor restlessness". So, now, he will only get the sedative at night or if he is combative or aggressive during the day, which he isn't right now). They are also going to try to schedule the therapy sessions so that they are not directly back-to-back, so that Wout can have a break in between.

Speech therapy also gave Wout some ice chips to chew, and let him drink water out of a cup and by a straw today. He did pretty well with that, but his swallowing is delayed. They are going to do a "swallow study" on him, maybe around the end of this week, to determine if he is fully and properly swallowing. If he is, then he can start trying to drink and maybe very slowly build up to eating.

His blood work showed increased liver function, so they did an ultrasound of his gall bladder, and found some sludge, but no gall stones. Bariatric doctors saw Wout today and are starting him on anibiotics to try to treat a possible gall bladder infection. they said if it is an infection, they have caught it very early on, but there is the possibility that he will have to have surgery on it.

Now, for my favorite news of all so far:

Early this morning, I was talking to Wout and running my fingers through his hair, and I had just put some lip balm on his lips, and he put his hand around the back of my neck, gently pulled me to him, and kissed me! A real kiss, puckered up for it and everything! Many tears of joy! This is the first time he has kissed me since the day of the accident, and if I must say so, it blows our first kiss completely out of the water! It was the best thing that's happened since April 2nd!!!

On that note, I'm signing off for now. Thanks for holding Wout up in your thoughts and prayers! They are being heard and answered, so keep 'em coming!

Love,

Amy

Amy told me last night that Wout kissed her 4 times yesterday. They are going to let Amy take him out in a wheelchair Saturday and me and Lisa bring their two little doggies up to see him.

Amy,
Absolutely wonderful news about the kiss. And I can relate to having to have the swallow study done, after my tracheotomy, I had a delay in swallowing as well and had to take baby sips when they first let me start drinking again. My wife had gotten hold of dental sponges and would give my cups of water using the sponge, after my release from the hospital I remembered the sponges but thought they were related in some way to candy. I guess that it seemed like getting the water was a treat and in my mental state at the time it was like I was being rewarded. Keep the lip balm on Wout's lips, mine dried so bad that they cracked open and bled at times, not to mention that he may reward you with even more smooches.

I don't know Wout, but I do know that he is very thankful to you for taking care of him through this as I was of my wife. She did things while taking care of me that I would have never dreamed of asking her to do, I won't go into details about what she had to do for me when I couldn't, but that girl is a trooper and I've got the impression that you are as well Amy. God be with both of you, I know that He was with me, I could feel him there healing my broken body and spirit. We continue to pray for Wout's recovery and for your strength to support him.

Joe and Teresa

Fantastic news!!!!!! I can hear the excitment in your post as I read it. Thanks so much for relaying the information, I enjoy being part of Wout's cheering section. It looks like one home run after another. I continue to wish you both strength. Gunshots