Last night, Randy and I watched the Coma documentaries from HBO. In the main documentary, they follow 4 people from just a few weeks after their accidents until 1 or so years after. All 4 have head injuries - two from car accidents, one from a fall from a balcony, and one who was assaulted and thrown from a bridge while in another country.
In the documentary, they talked about the coma stage (which Randy was in for 12 days) and then they talked about the minimally conscious state versus the vegetative state. Randy went from the coma to the minimally conscious state.
The show was heart wrentching. It was hard for me to watch because it reminded me of all we had been through. Also, watching it made us feel so fortunate. At the year mark, everyone was at a different stage.
One person, who was around 19, was taken home by her mom and then brought back 4 months later because she was getting inadequate therapy.
The man who was assaulted was about 19. He was actually at his two year mark during the documentary. They were debating throughout the documentary over whether or not he was in a vegetative statement. At the end of the show, the doctors and therapists were saying he wasn't going to improve. The parents weren't willing to give up yet.
The man who fell off a balcony was finally able to go home after a year
The fourth person had started coming out of his coma, was in a minimally conscious state, seemingly getting better, and then slipped back into the coma and died.
At the time that some of the "better off" people were just starting to walk while in rehab and just starting to make some vast improvements, during that time in Randy's recovery, he was at home walking and doing outpatient therapy. Randy was definitely on the fast track of recovery.
Watching this shore made us both feel so thankful for the miracle of Randy's fast recovery. It also made Randy feel very fortunate for the family and friends that he has. Throughout the show, in seeing what the family went through, Randy was constantly saying "Thank you". He kept saying how thankful he was for all that his family did, all those who visited him, and for all of those that prayed for him.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Catching Up
It's been a bit since I posted last! Life has been a little busy.
Cass is feeling better, which makes me feel better. She felt dizzy for a few days after falling, but that seems to have gone away.
Last weekend we went to Spokane for a family reunion ~ it was Randy's mom's family. They were all very excited to see Randy and many commented on how great he looked. He enjoyed getting to see and visit with everyone, but after awhile, it got to be a bit overwhelming for him so we called it an early night. But by morning, he seemed to be doing better. The family went on a cruise that served brunch. It was so much fun. We all enjoyed being out on the water. Right by the cruise loading area, they had bi-planes that take people for flights. Randy was itching to go and get up in a plane again, but we didn't have time. He and I had to head back over the mountains to get our dogs in time. We left Cass over with Grandma and Grandpa to spend a couple of weeks.
Randy is still really enjoying being back to work. I asked him how he felt he was performing. He said that, when talking to people, he does great, but he is struggling with the follow through. That is a pretty important part of his job! He and I are working together to come up with ways to help him be more successful with following through with things.
Randy saw his Neruo-opthamologist this week. We didn't like the news we got from this visit. He said that a lot of the pain Randy is experiencing in his eye (his left eye hurts pretty much all of the time) and then on the left side of his head is most likely caused by scar tissue. He also did a bunch of tests to test any improvements in Randy's vision. There were slight improvements, but he reallly feels that Randy's healing has stablized and where he is at now is where he will always be. All along, he has been telling us that Randy's type of double vision cannot be fixed by prisms, but that surgery could probably fix it. His opinion changed a bit this time. He said that even with surgery, Randy will still be left with double vision. He said that surgery might be able to fix the double vision when Randy looks straight ahead, but he cannot fix double vision when Randy looks up, down, or side to side. Even with the straight ahead, it is only somewhat of a possibility. Randy said that he isn't going to risk surgery for a "somewhat of a possiblity".
So, at this point, doctors cannot fix Randy's eyes, only God can. So far He hasn't chosen to do so, but that doesn't mean He won't still yet.
Cass is feeling better, which makes me feel better. She felt dizzy for a few days after falling, but that seems to have gone away.
Last weekend we went to Spokane for a family reunion ~ it was Randy's mom's family. They were all very excited to see Randy and many commented on how great he looked. He enjoyed getting to see and visit with everyone, but after awhile, it got to be a bit overwhelming for him so we called it an early night. But by morning, he seemed to be doing better. The family went on a cruise that served brunch. It was so much fun. We all enjoyed being out on the water. Right by the cruise loading area, they had bi-planes that take people for flights. Randy was itching to go and get up in a plane again, but we didn't have time. He and I had to head back over the mountains to get our dogs in time. We left Cass over with Grandma and Grandpa to spend a couple of weeks.
Randy is still really enjoying being back to work. I asked him how he felt he was performing. He said that, when talking to people, he does great, but he is struggling with the follow through. That is a pretty important part of his job! He and I are working together to come up with ways to help him be more successful with following through with things.
Randy saw his Neruo-opthamologist this week. We didn't like the news we got from this visit. He said that a lot of the pain Randy is experiencing in his eye (his left eye hurts pretty much all of the time) and then on the left side of his head is most likely caused by scar tissue. He also did a bunch of tests to test any improvements in Randy's vision. There were slight improvements, but he reallly feels that Randy's healing has stablized and where he is at now is where he will always be. All along, he has been telling us that Randy's type of double vision cannot be fixed by prisms, but that surgery could probably fix it. His opinion changed a bit this time. He said that even with surgery, Randy will still be left with double vision. He said that surgery might be able to fix the double vision when Randy looks straight ahead, but he cannot fix double vision when Randy looks up, down, or side to side. Even with the straight ahead, it is only somewhat of a possibility. Randy said that he isn't going to risk surgery for a "somewhat of a possiblity".
So, at this point, doctors cannot fix Randy's eyes, only God can. So far He hasn't chosen to do so, but that doesn't mean He won't still yet.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
More Working!
Randy went into both the Renton and the Everett office today. He came home with a big smile on his face and said "I had such a good day". He is really enjoying back to work. As soon as he got home, he went straight into his office. He is a happy man!
My day wasn't quite as good as his. I told Cass to call me as soon as she got up this morning because her back was really hurting her last night from her fall off the trampoline. She woke up feeling dizzy. I left work and took her to the urgent care down the street from our house. The doctor said that, even though Cass didn't really hit her head, it sounded like she had a concussion. He gave me a little print out of what to watch out for. I stayed with her the rest of the day. I think she is feeling better tonight, but I will probably stay home with her tomorrow just to make sure. I don't think we will ever be buying a trampoline!
My day wasn't quite as good as his. I told Cass to call me as soon as she got up this morning because her back was really hurting her last night from her fall off the trampoline. She woke up feeling dizzy. I left work and took her to the urgent care down the street from our house. The doctor said that, even though Cass didn't really hit her head, it sounded like she had a concussion. He gave me a little print out of what to watch out for. I stayed with her the rest of the day. I think she is feeling better tonight, but I will probably stay home with her tomorrow just to make sure. I don't think we will ever be buying a trampoline!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Happy 4th!
We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. This year for us was most definitely better than last year!
We started the day off with doing some work around the house. Randy and I had gotten a sleeper sofa for his office/spare bedroom. Unfortunately, we did not measure our house or the sofa to ensure we could get it in the room. We just selected the cheapest one we could find (making sure it was still comfortable for Randy's parents, of course!). When they delivered it, they couldn't get it through the door of the bedroom ~ the angle was just a little too off. So, Randy decided it would be a good time to replace our aluminum single-pane window with the double pane window our neighbor gave us when he remodled his house. With the help of our neighbor and his brother, the sofa fit very nicely through the open hole of the window and then we got the new window put in. Since they were over here helping already, they decided to put the double pane window into Cass's room as well. Randy's office is now done. Thankfully, the couch looks very nice in there, because even if it didn't, it can't come back out!
We then headed over to our neighbors house. They have a bunch of their family over every year. They have a trampoline, which Cass absolutely loves. Someone hooked up a sprinkler to the safety net around the trampline, so the kids could jump while cooling off with water. I thought it was a great idea until Cass got off of it and our neighbor Ron convinced her to come give me a hug!
We ended our evening down at Lake Meridian, which is a short little walk from our house. They put on a great show every year. Our neighbors know some people who live on the lake, so we get to go into one of the private beaches to watch the show.
Randy was very tired by the end of the night. He had to use his cain to walk down to the lake. When he gets tired, he has a much harder time with balance.
We started the day off with doing some work around the house. Randy and I had gotten a sleeper sofa for his office/spare bedroom. Unfortunately, we did not measure our house or the sofa to ensure we could get it in the room. We just selected the cheapest one we could find (making sure it was still comfortable for Randy's parents, of course!). When they delivered it, they couldn't get it through the door of the bedroom ~ the angle was just a little too off. So, Randy decided it would be a good time to replace our aluminum single-pane window with the double pane window our neighbor gave us when he remodled his house. With the help of our neighbor and his brother, the sofa fit very nicely through the open hole of the window and then we got the new window put in. Since they were over here helping already, they decided to put the double pane window into Cass's room as well. Randy's office is now done. Thankfully, the couch looks very nice in there, because even if it didn't, it can't come back out!
We then headed over to our neighbors house. They have a bunch of their family over every year. They have a trampoline, which Cass absolutely loves. Someone hooked up a sprinkler to the safety net around the trampline, so the kids could jump while cooling off with water. I thought it was a great idea until Cass got off of it and our neighbor Ron convinced her to come give me a hug!
We ended our evening down at Lake Meridian, which is a short little walk from our house. They put on a great show every year. Our neighbors know some people who live on the lake, so we get to go into one of the private beaches to watch the show.
Randy was very tired by the end of the night. He had to use his cain to walk down to the lake. When he gets tired, he has a much harder time with balance.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Randy's First Day
Randy had a great day Friday. He was so excited to be back at work. He called me while he was going from one building to the next and said "This is where I belong." He enjoyed being around everyone again. He had a hard time stopping after 4 hours.
We spent the weekend finishing what Randy had started a little over a year ago ~ turning our spare bedroom into an office. By tomorrow evening, it should be all done. For his parents, we made sure that we still have availability to easily set up a bed in there because we enjoy when they come visit.
Friday night, Randy was actually worn out enough to fall asleep well, which I really appreciated! I was a little surprised at how easily he was able to fall asleep because we had a house full of girls because Cass had a sleepover birthday party. Randy's mom stayed with us the night before and got the house all set up, which we greatly appreciated! All we had to do was enterainment for a little bit and then set them off to do their own thing (crossing our fingers that we wouldn't wake up to a huge science epxeriment gone wrong again).
Randy is looking forward to going back into work tomorrow. I am just so thankful that he has healed enough that he can get back into doing what he loves. And I am thankful that he works for the company that he does and is surrounded by such supportive people!
We spent the weekend finishing what Randy had started a little over a year ago ~ turning our spare bedroom into an office. By tomorrow evening, it should be all done. For his parents, we made sure that we still have availability to easily set up a bed in there because we enjoy when they come visit.
Friday night, Randy was actually worn out enough to fall asleep well, which I really appreciated! I was a little surprised at how easily he was able to fall asleep because we had a house full of girls because Cass had a sleepover birthday party. Randy's mom stayed with us the night before and got the house all set up, which we greatly appreciated! All we had to do was enterainment for a little bit and then set them off to do their own thing (crossing our fingers that we wouldn't wake up to a huge science epxeriment gone wrong again).
Randy is looking forward to going back into work tomorrow. I am just so thankful that he has healed enough that he can get back into doing what he loves. And I am thankful that he works for the company that he does and is surrounded by such supportive people!
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