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Mike is full of great ideas. Follow the trail of your text messages and you will be able to rebuild the last 5 weeks of your life, of this alternate universe that you were transported to. At least that is how it feels to me. So, I am going to build a spreadsheet and enter day by day the text messages that I sent to different people. I think that will give me an interesting perspective of this moment in time.
thanks Mike!
The list goes on and on, so overwhelming the response of our family and friends. It is humbling to see the love you share with us! We really do appreciate every act of kindness and the prayer and good wishes sent our way!
I know that I forgot Jason, Sherri and our Illinois bunch who sent us an edible bouquet of fruit... it was perfect!
Marjorie who brought by more stuff that the boys devoured! Laura A, Alyx F and her family, Kat and Steve - Ya'll ROCK!
Garrett and Amanda (the paleo kit sampler - great for snack attacks! - PERFECT!), I am not sure who else I have forgotten in the past week. And the people who take time out of their busy schedules to drop in and see David! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Can you say what a blur???
I thought I would remember everything...that it would all stay fresh in my mind. David's stay in the ICU really became one day much the same as the next. On the vent and having such a hard time breathing it was scary. Recovering from pneumonia and trying to use parts of his body that weren't listening was difficult for David. In fact, here we are on day 17 of our stay in the TMC and that part is still difficult and tiring. His troublesome cough kept waking him up last night. The lack of sleep really does make a difference in how much activity he can tolerate.
So many folks took care of us during the past two weeks...bringing us food, keeping us company
- My Mom, My Sister Maureen and her family
- Mike and Jill - thank you so much for giving David so much time Mike... he loves it!
- Doug and Jaci
- George and Renee!!! Your friendship really does mean so much to us!
- Kayla - you are so strong and continue to inspire me... thank you for babying me :-), and David's shampoo...he did SOOOOO enjoy that!
- Dorit - a shower and sushi...and escape for a little while
- The NSBRI folks
- Debbie and Brenda - (all that you have done to help me through this and with my sanity...thanks!), Theresa and Ruth for helping them with food ... thank you
- Ruth - You think you are depressing me...you really aren't, you continue to prepare me for the next hurdle! that is oh so very important!
- Pearland Crossfit and our wonderful workout teams .... thank you! Thank you Alyssa for feeding the boys for days!
- The Baylor folks
- The NASA folks
- Virgil and Debby - the trip to the emergency room, food, food and sounding board...
- All the wonderful Keep Pearland Beautiful folks - especially Marjorie, Delores, Kathy, Erin, Alisa and of course Linda!
- The scouting folks who are on hold but keeping us in their thoughts and prayers!
- Our wonderful church family...thank you New Hope Church!
- Susan - who has become a friend, thank you for the meal tickets, parking pass use and support of strangers...thank you thank you thank you
- AND thanks to EVERYONE for their thoughts and prayers and good wishes!
The trauma emergency center at Hermann Memorial in the TMC is great! The stroke team was ready. After the CT-Scan they knew it was a large clot. They mobilized quickly after getting his medical / medication history ASAP. They started the TPA well within the 3 hours that they like to give it. Then after a half an hour decided that they wanted to do angioplasty to see the results and check the blockage.
It was July 16th already when David was brought up to ICU. An unfamiliar and scary place to someone who had never seen a loved one in such a place. Soon they ended up putting him on the ventilator...he had pulmonary edema. He stayed on the vent for 7 days. The ICU nurses and staff were good, professional caring folks. Our time there was stressful, but made easy by their care. That time period is a blur and it was only 8 days ago. I do know that I heard from so many wonderful and caring friends and family! A Saturday shampoo with Kayla...what a joy! My coffee buddies and other PTA friends have really helped me keep my sanity.
Where to start with this tale. The wonderful FB posting that he put on my FB wall on July 15, 2011. He had a dinner to attend at the Nassau Bay Hilton. He loves interacting with students and young people. To share his experiences with them and to listen to theirs. I worked out at Pearland Crossfit with Jon & Zack and then took them back to the house. The PCF gals had been "FB chatting" about having a girls night out that evening but postponed it. A few of us decided to get together anyways. It was nice to be sitting and talking about people we know, people we know in common and about the upcoming Crossfit Games. I got a text from David telling me he was leaving the hotel. I texted him back that I would get my check and pay it off. Before I left I sent him a text telling him how much appreciated the FB posting he texted back that he meant every word then I sent him a second text that said, "I thought he was terrific." I tried calling him once I was on the main road. He didn't answer or send me another text but I didn't worry because I knew he was already at home with the boys.
Our world turned upside down in the interim before I got home. David was watching a movie with the boys. He went to put his cup in the kitchen and he sank down to the ground, dropped the cup and couldn't get back up. The boys did a wonderful job recognizing the symptoms and calling 911. They didn't let him fall asleep they kept him calm. They kept calm. I walked in while Jon was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher. He did an awesome job telling them the situation and getting the ems their quickly. He and Zack did everything that they were supposed to do with someone who might be having a stroke. I am so incredibly proud of them!
Two ambulances and a fire truck arrived one after the other. They worked quickly and efficiently to get David to the medical center as quickly as possible. I knew that time was of the essence in order to get the "clot busting" drug TPA.
Scary events the past two weeks. Stroke, ICU for over a week, and now acute care. Slowly he is recovering. The most frustrating part is the look in his eyes. The fact that he can understand everything, but can't communicate back to us very well. Words come to him... but they don't come out very well. The left side muscles are coordinating with the right side muscles. So I am for the most part... sitting and waiting, waiting for progress...
Friends, families and our community have been so great. We feel loved and beloved. I don't know how I could ever thank everyone for all that they have done and continue to do. Their prayers, their good wishes and the offers of help have been overwhelming! Knowing everyone is rooting for you make such a difference.
It feels good to express myself in written form I will be back later to write some more!
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