katie's progress

Going Home

2010-01-26T12:09:00.000-08:00

The Dr's have decided to release Katie, so we will be headed home somtime in the next hour. Again, they are all scraching their heads as to what to do. So, basically we are going to continue life as normal and just keep our eyes open.

In the end we spent three days in the hospital for them to tell us that Katie is bleeding in her brain, and we can't find anything wrong. I must say though that the Dr's and nurses were really great here. The Dr's were great about spending lots of time with us answering questions and going over the results. So all in all it wasn't a bad experience.

Tuesday AM

2010-01-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided not to go back to Des Moines last night due to a blizzard that hit the central Iowa area, so another day in IA City for me. The weather seems to have cleared today, so I should be able to go home today.

Last night they ran an MRI on Katie and this morning one of the Dr's came in to discuss. Same song, third verse. Nothing negative showed up on the MRI. The Dr's continue to be confused as to what/why this happened. It seems that since they don't really know what is going on, no one is really comfortable in making a decision. Our hope is that they will just let Katie go home sometime after lunch.

Katie and I want to send a special thank you out to those who have been at our house helping to take care of our kids. Amber (one of our babysitters) spent the night last night. Kyle and Karen spent the night Sunday night. Rod and Carol who have been over lots. Jen and Amy who have taken the kids to school and pick them up. It's just so good to know that we don't have to worry about things at home while trying to deal with this.

Also, thanks to all of you who are lifting Katie up in prayer. We really appreciate it.

Again, I anticipate that we will be going home sometime this afternoon.

Good News/Bad News

2010-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

Alright, Katie is out of her angiogram. So, for the good news.

The angiogram did not reveal anything wrong. This is good, if they had found anything that would have meant that there were some significant other issues.

The bad news, they didn't find anything wrong. This means they have no idea why this happened. It is possible that this can just happen, especially considering she has a history. The other bad news is that because they don't know what's going on, they are wanting to keep her here for a couple of days for observation. They will probably do a couple more MRI's tonight to just make sure they cover all bases and angles.

Katie is resting comfortably and is in good spirits. So, I will probably head home before too long to be with the kids, and Sue (Katie's mom) will probably stay here. IA City is about 1 1/2 hours from our home.

Uneventfull Night

2010-01-25T07:15:00.001-08:00

Nothing really new. The good news is that Katie didn't get any worse, which means that the bleeding has most likely not gotten any worse.

This morning she is already in for her invasive angiogram. This means that they put a radioactive chemical in her blood and then image her head. This gives a very good look at all of the vessels in her head and neck. As a result of the angiogram she has to lay flat for at least 6hrs after the procedure. The angiogram will give the Dr's some more info that will help them to determine why this is happening.

Once we have some results and have talked to the Dr's I will update you all.

Hello - New Post

2010-01-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

In case some of you out there have heard of some new stuff with Katie, I figured that I would put a post out here.

This morning Katie had some numbness in her left hand and on the left side of her face. We took her to the ER in Des Moines just to be on the safe side. After running a CT scan they discovered a small bleed on the right side of her brain. This is completely unrelated to the bleed that she had in 2008. The neurosurgeon in DSM felt that this was not something that you would do surgery for and felt that she should go to IA City to meet with some neurologist.

Katie has been coming to IA City for about 8 months so the Dr's here know her well. Also, the University of Iowa hospital is here and it's probably the best in IA.

So, now that we are here they are going to do a couple of MRI's as well as an angiogram to see if they can figure out why the bleed happened. Also, they want to make sure that it does not get any worse.

Katie is doing great. Other than the numbness (the last episode of this was around 9am this morning) there have been no other symptoms. This is also confusing to the Dr's. So there will be a lot of testing and waiting. I'll keep you all updated as we learn new things, which probably won't be until tomorrow.

Christmas Letter Update

2009-01-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Hi, all. It's Katie here. I just wanted to thank all of you for your tremendous love, prayers, and support. Below is a Christmas letter update I sent out to friends and family and wanted to include all of you who have been praying for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Dearest Friends and Family,

Wow! What a year! I’ll have to say I’m glad to have it over with, but there were so many great things that happened. We began the year with the news of our upcoming child that was due in July. What fun news to share with the girls. At the time of the announcement Tayler was 6 and Aubree 4. When the news was first announced to the girls, Aubree immediately asked, “Can I hold the baby standing up?” That is so her! I actually seemed to be healthier this pregnancy than for the girls. Those of you who know me well know that I spend most of my pregnancies with my head in the toilet.

It was good that I felt better this pregnancy because we headed to Disney World in February! What a vacation! I’ll never forget it and I hope the girls don’t either. We stayed at a Disney Resort, and hit Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom all multiple times. I believe the girls rode every roller coaster they were allowed to ride. Some of the roller coasters have a 40” requirement. Since Aubree is 39” I had her wear shoes with a 1.5” thick heal. It worked to get her on all but once. There were a few roller coasters only Dave and Tayler were allowed to go on together, the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Epcot, Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, and Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. To hear more about our amazing trip, see photos, and get recommendations for your own trip to Disney World, check out our blog at burstingblooms.blogspot.com.

Something else that kept us busy last winter was taekwondo. Both the girls took classes here in Ankeny. (There are cute pictures of this on the blog as well). They both enjoyed these winter outings, broke boards, and advanced in belt levels. They also took basketball last winter but have decided to bypass it this year. We currently have too much going on to push them into it! After being at school all week, Tayler likes her Saturday mornings at home. This is hard for her dad and me to understand. J

This last summer Aubree played softball. Tayler took the year off. We spent Saturday mornings in May and June watching Aubree. Tayler and I, and sometimes Tayler and Grandma Sue, would play catch for thirty minutes to try and see how many we could catch in a row. Tayler’s record is over 100 in a row!

A yearly highlight for us is always Okoboji. My Grandma Janice takes the entire family each year. This year the youngest was only three days old---our own little Sawyer Jackson, born July 8th. Aubree made her first Okoboji trip at only 10 days and now Sawyer tops her at 3 days old! As you can tell, Okoboji is a family priority. I actually came home from the hospital on Wednesday and Dave and the girls took off for Okoboji on Friday morning. I started crying as soon as they went out the door and had to call Dave to turn around and come back and get us! Sawyer and I stayed in the room most of the vacation, but I’m so glad I went. I still got to spend time with the family and take the girls to the amusement park. I can still say I’ve never missed a summer!

Within a couple days of returning home, the remainder of the year took a gigantic nose dive. I began having horrible headaches a week after Sawyer was born. I’ve always struggled with headaches, but this was much worse. On Thursday evening, July 17th, Dave took me to the emergency room. While in the emergency room I slipped into a coma after which the Dr. ordered another CT scan that revealed massive brain bleeding. They immediately called in a neurologist who agreed that she needed to do immediate brain surgery to relieve the pressure growing in my head. The surgery involved removing a piece of my skull to allow the bleeding and pressure to escape. The really scary thing was that no medical professionals thought the surgery would keep me alive and if it did I would probably never wake out of the coma. Well, the good news is I came through the surgery and as far as I can tell, I’m not in a coma anymore.

This is where I would like to pause and thank God for healing me. The surgeons working with me all thought I wouldn’t make it, but God brought me through. The previous year I had been studying a lot about God’s desire for his supernatural intervention in our lives. One thing Dave and I have come to believe is God’s promises for healing. A few verses that have been committed to memory are:

Psalm 103:1-5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!(1)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits(2)
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,(3)
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,(4)
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.(5)

The faith and belief for a miracle was put on Dave since I was in a coma. The elders of Two Rivers Church, as well as countless others, prayed over me and for me for God’s miraculous intervention believing that it would happen. God acted on my behalf, in the name of Jesus Christ, and healed me. As I improved throughout the day the nurses were ecstatic and excitedly informed my family and friends of my progress. They told them, “This shouldn’t be happening.” Praise God! I have no doubt that without his intervention I would not be here today.

One of my main purposes for this letter is to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. We truly love you! Since the beginning of the accident, so many people contacted Dave to see what they could do. In case you aren’t aware, I will throw out a few examples. I won’t mention names because I don’t want to leave anyone out. I had a relative that sent a huge treasure chest of dress up jewelry for the girls. I had a friend who dropped off the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted to my hospital room. A still unknown individual dropped off brand new backpacks for the girls packed with their school supplies. (I would love to know who you are! Please, please tell.:) Different friends took the girls swimming, to the Science Center, to the Fair, and to the zoo. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Summer is a time of year a mother desperately wants to do these things for her kids, and I was unable. They were hurting so much with their mom in the hospital and my dear family and friends stepped in to love them. After school started two other friends became responsible to make sure the girls made it safely to and from school each day. We had family move in for months to take over primary care of my children, including my brand new baby! Most of us know how much work new babies are. We love you all!

Thank you for helping my family care for the kids. This allowed so much more time for Dave and my mom to be with me at the hospital. How thoughtful of you! Thank you so much for making that possible. We needed it so badly, and the kids needed it as well. We are eternally grateful to you. God bless you!

Another incredible blessing has been the meals. We have had supper brought every other night since I went in the hospital in July all the way to the middle of December. Thank you ladies of Two Rivers Church for organizing all of this. Also Coldwell Banker and the Board of Realtors distributed huge segments of these dinners. I knew my co-workers at Coldwell Banker would step up to take care of my family, but I was completely taken aback by all that was given by the real estate community. Tons of agents from other offices, as well as my own, brought us meals and covered my open houses and my brother Kyle’s so he could be with me. I am so thankful to work with the Realtors I do. What an awesome bunch! You are such a loving group of people! Thank you!

We have also received countless gift cards to help with the extra financial burden. These have arrived out of the blue and have been so appreciated. Thank you so much for your generosity in this area as well. My desire was to send out individual cards thanking everyone. I apologize I have been unable to get that done. Please know we are so extremely grateful for your generosity!

I’d like to thank the hospital workers who lovingly cared for me day after day, the hospital and outpatient therapists who encouraged me along, and the friends and family who would spend the night in the hospital with me. I spent two months in the hospital but not one night alone. My mother took up residence at the hospital after I went in. Thank you all who gave her a rest. She rarely needed to spend the night because there was always someone there to watch over me. Thank you so much for giving up your time with your family to watch over me and remove that burden from my family. Thank you to my countless visitors who came to check up on me because they care. I will forever be grateful.

There are so many people to be grateful to for so much. If I didn’t mention specifically what you did for me, I am sorry. It does mean so much to me, but I did have a brain aneurism. I can’t remember it all. J I wanted to save this final thank you for the end. Thank you my dear friends and family for all your prayers in the name of Jesus! They have brought me to where I am and will continue to bring healing to me. I know when people get better it’s easy to stop praying because new issues arise. I’d like to let you know that I still covet your prayers. The convoluted arteries in the neck that caused this to happen are improving but they are still dissected. Please pray that those straighten out and become normal. Also, my vision in one eye is still blurry. I believe God will completely heal me. Please join me in believing prayer. Thank you!

In conclusion, my family is doing well. I am so thankful for each one of them. I think a near death experience causes you to appreciate loved ones so much more! Davey is enjoying the band and speaking at Two Rivers, hunting, his job at Life Brokers, and his family. Tayler is loving school this year and is great at everything she tries. Art is her favorite subject. She is extremely tender hearted toward everyone and everything. Aubree is enjoying her first year of all day school, kindergarten. She is young for her grade but doing so well. Her teacher had nothing but good things to say at conferences and she looks forward to school each day. She is also currently involved in gymnastics. She does great and they keep moving her up. Sawyer is now almost six months old. What a joy! His smile lights up the room. I suppose it helps that he is now sleeping through the night. I am finally done with therapy and headed back to work. I’m so excited to get back to life as I remember it. I really miss selling real estate.

May God bless you all our dear friends and family! We will be praying God’s blessings upon you this year. If there is ever anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. We love you all and would love to show you love as you have showed us. Have a great 2009!

NEW POST!

2008-11-11T08:04:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, I am the biggest slacker in the world. I know it, so I won't even try to defend myself.

Things continue to go very well for us on the "Katie" front. Every day she gets a little bit better. Her memory is very good (I can no longer lie to her about what a great husband I've been all these years, she knows better). She still struggles a little with remembering things that happened today, but even that is getting much better. Her left eye still has a little bit of blurriness, but that is improving as well.

She is down to one therapy now, speech (cognitive). Physical and occupational are all done. Her speech therapist continues to be amazed at Katie's ability to reason and think at a very high level. Speech therapy will be done by the end of the year.

One thing to pray for is while Katie was in the hospital her drivers license expired and she will have to take a written test as well as a driving test before she can get her DL back. This will be challenging for her as her reading is still a little on the slow side.

Good news on the "brain" side. Another angiogram (sp?) was taken and it appears that her arteries are beginning to straighten out. The vascular Dr was very pleased with the results and said that the dissected artery where the bleed took place is healing nicely. Also, she does not have any other convoluted arteries in her body, which is a good thing. The clots are still in her leg, but the Dr's are no longer worried about them "traveling" to somewhere else in her body.

Katie is still on Cumadin for the clots and blood pressure medicine, though they have been able to reduce the BP medicine as her body regains normal function in this area.

Her hair is growing back nicely and most times we can hardly see the scar. Pretty soon we won't be able to call her "spiky".

Kyle and Karen moved back to their home about 3 weeks ago and so far we are managing. Katie's mom lives in the house directly behind ours, and she has been a lifesaver for us. She comes over during the day and helps with Sawyer and takes Katie to her Dr's appointments. This has allowed me to go back to work (as I write this I am in a hotel in Kansas City on business). We couldn't do any of this without Sue!

As far as Sawyer is concerned, he is doing great. For the most part he is sleeping through the night (8-9 hrs a night) which has been great for us! One concern with Sawyer that I haven't told you about is that he has a slight heart murmur. We knew this from the day that he was born and I have taken him to a pediatric cardiologist and they have confirmed that he has a "floppy valve" in his heart. So far there haven't been any issues with it and we go back when he is 9 months old for another echo of the heart. The Dr is optimistic that he will grow out of this. So, we pray for him regularly. Just as with Katie we trust God for his healing and are not worried. Otherwise he is growing and is a very happy baby. You should see his huge smile!

Thanks again to all of you who continue to serve us by bringing us meals, this continues to be a huge blessing for our family! Also, thanks to all of you who continue to pray for us as we know that God hears the cries of his children and does good things for those that love Him and are called by His name.

Wednesday morning

2008-10-01T07:26:00.001-07:00

Well this last weekend was a great one. Busy, but a very good one. A week or so after Katie's surgery someone brought tickets for us to go to Adventureland here in Des Moines. It's our local amusement park. So on Saturday morning Katie, the girls, myself, and Sue all got packed up and headed to the park. The weather was great, and other than the large crowds, we had a wonderful time. It was good exercise for Katie, and she even got to go on a few rides. Of course my fearless little girls had a blast as they always do. We had lunch there and then headed home around 2:30 as Katie was wearing down and needed her nap.

On Sunday I always head to church much earlier than the family as I help set up and practice with the band in preparation for our Church service. Church was good, but we had to head home as soon as possible to get everything ready for Katie's party. I mowed the grass and a bunch of people from church came and helped set up chairs, tables, and the grill. Sue and Karen cleaned the house and by 5:00 we were ready to go. The morning had started out cloudy and cool, but by the afternoon the sun was out and it was near 70 (kind of reminds me of Katie's situation). As the sun went down we built a fire in the fire pit, and a bunch of us sat on the back patio and talked until around 9:00. We had a number from Methodist hospital show up and it was so good to see them all again. Mac from the radio and his wife came, and Christina from Channel 5 came and did a follow up story on Katie. Katie did a great job with the interview and of course, was the hit of the party. All together we guess 100+ people came throughout that night. It really was a great time and Katie had a blast.

On Tuesday I took Katie to her therapy sessions as Sue had a Dr's appointment to go to. While we were with the speech and physical therapist, Katie ask if they thought she would be done by the first of the year as she is wanting to get back to work. Both said that she would be done with them before that. Katie was excited as this shows that she continues to improve and is close to being able to do all the things she used to do.

Good news on the baby front! For the last week Sawyer has been sleeping through the night! He goes down around 9pm and doesn't get up until 6am. All I can say is, "that's my boy"! So, I've been getting up with him in the mornings and I have been enjoying the time with him from 6-7am when the girls need to get up for school. Every morning he wakes up with a big smile on his face, makes my day.

I know that I don't post as much as I used to, and I know that has not endeared me with most of you. But, while things are going well, there just are not as many changes as there used to be. Katie is getting better every day, but in small ways, not big ones (I'm also working full time now and not sitting in a hospital room looking for something to do). Just rest assured that if something bad happened, updating the blog would be one of the first things I would do. And the same would be true if something really good happened.

The other day Katie bought some thank you cards as she is feeling really guilty about how much everyone has helped us but we (meaning I) have not sent out any "thank you cards". I tried to tell her that we tried to keep track of what everyone had done, but by the first couple of weeks it was basically out of control and we couldn't keep up. So, on behalf of Katie and the family, I want to say thanks so much to all of you for everything you have done and are doing (we had Famous Dave's delivered last night, thanks Hanson's!).

Radio Show

2008-09-25T06:31:00.001-07:00

Mac has invited Katie to be a part of the show tomorrow and Katie has agreed. So, Katie and I will be in the studio on Friday the 26th. My guess is that we will be on between 2-3, but the show actually starts around 1:20.

www.983wowfm.com

Wednesday Night

2008-09-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the latest. No real big changes in the last week or so, but everything continues to be going very well. Katie's days consist of rest (lots of it), therapy (both with therapist and at home), playing with the girls, and trying to keep up with what Kyle is doing with her real estate business. So far Katie is doing great with everything.

So far no more TIA's. Basically all of the Dr's say that we are doing everything that we could (blood thinner and blood pressure meds). It's possible that more could happen, but so far nothing has happened and we are basically not worrying about it anymore.

The issues that still persist are short term memory and vision. However, both are improving nicely. It was so neat the other day on the way to church Katie actually remembered giving birth to Sawyer. She was so excited as all of the details of that day came back to her. Even though I say her short term memory is a problem, she is still much better than a week ago. Her left eye is still a little blurry, but it too is much better then it was even a week ago.

The biggest issue for Katie right now is probably tiredness. We're not sure if its residual from her injury, or a side effect of some of her meds (her blood pressure med has a common side effect of tiredness), but Katie needs a lot of rest. She takes a big nap in the afternoon and is usually in bed by 8pm. Being tired all the time keeps her from doing her therapy as hard as she could and keeps her from being as "sharp" as she could be.

We've meet with a lot of Dr's in the past few weeks and all are happy with how everything is going. On Tuesday we meet with Dr Carlstrom. Basically he did not have a lot of answers (not that we were expecting a lot), but he said that it's a real possibility that this could happen again. He also said that everything could heal up and be just fine for the rest of her life. We're going with the latter. It was cool to see Katie's response to this. She was not worried and was confident that God would fix everything in her head and that she would be fine.

I went down to the hospital last week and walked around to the different departments to make sure people knew about the party. Everyone I saw said they knew about the party and most said that they are coming. So, we are excited to have a bunch of people over on Sunday and to be able to say thanks to everyone from Methodist. I even swung by their PR department as they are wanting to put Katie on the cover of one of their internal magazines.

FYI - I will be on the radio this Friday with Mac from 2-3pm. You can hear it online at www.983wowfm.com

Update

2008-09-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

The other day while Katie was at one of her PT sessions, she had an "episode". Basically her speech slurred, she became disoriented and confused, and lost some strength. The initial thought by the therapist was that she was low blood sugar. They got her some juice and things returned to normal soon. The next day (Friday the 12th) Katie went to her Dr. The Dr did not agree with low blood sugar, but rather thought it was a TIA. A TIA is best described as a "mini stroke". Same symptoms as a stroke (and low blood sugar), but does not last very long and has no lasting effects. So Katie and Sue headed right down to the ER to get checked out. The ER Dr's ran all the tests as well as a CT scan, and everything checked out fine. They agreed that she probably had a TIA, but do not think it was due to a small clot, which is the most common cause. So, they sent Katie home and advised us to meet with the neurologist soon.

What was really neat through this is Katie's attitude. At no time was she worried. In fact she even stopped for a sandwich between the Dr and the ER! I'm trying to talk to her on the phone to find out what is going on, and she's yelling at the drive up guy telling him what she wants on her sandwich!

So we were reminded once again that God is in control and for us to worry is really an exercise in futility. Basically there is nothing we can do other than pray that God will continue to heal Katie and prevent a bigger stroke from happening (TIA's often signal a more serious stroke).

Photos.....

2008-09-13T14:00:00.001-07:00

Katie and Sawyer in hospital, about a month ago.

Katie and kids on one of her visits home.

First day of school.

Katie holding Sawyer, two weeks ago.

Bath time!!

Anniversary Update

2008-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the anniversary went great. First of all Katie was able to get all dressed up in a great outfit that some of her friends had got her for her birthday. Then we went to the church where we were married 10 yrs ago (Meredith Drive Reformed Church), and said our vows to each other. Again, this is always a bitter sweet event as you are faced with all of your short comings and yet there is great love and emotion, all at the same moment. After that we went to a nice restaurant and had a very nice meal (for those of you in the DSM area, we went to Flying Mango, highly recommend). We then rented a movie and snuggled on the couch. What a great night.

A couple of neat things that came of this night. First of all, every year I have the pleasure of speaking with Jane who is the office administrator for Meredith Drive, and of course this year was even better. She has been following Katie's progress and when she know that Katie would be able to go home, she was sure that she would be hearing from me soon. She was very excited.

Speaking of being home, I can't tell you how many people have commented to me that when I first announced that I was hoping to take Katie to the church that many did not think it would happen. So many are just amazed that the Lord was gracious to us and allowed us to keep this wonderful tradition alive.

Apparently Katie forgot that we don't give each other gifts for our anniversary (her idea, she's a penny pincher) and she got me a little something. Boy did I feel like a "hero" when we go to get in the car and she has a wonderfully wrapped gift for me and I have a card and a smile. She got me a bicycle helmet! I guess one head injury in our family is enough. I couldn't agree more.

Thursday evening

2008-09-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today was Katie's first day in therapy and it went very well. Katie really liked her speech therapist and surprise, surprise, her Physical therapist is an old friend from Cornerstone Community Church, Amy Johnson. We are so excited and thankful for this. She will get her schedule for the next month tomorrow at therapy, but basically it will consist of three hours of therapy a day, one hour each of speech, physical, and occupational. Most think that the physical and occupational will not last long, and that the speech will really become the focus.

Everyday she continues to get stronger and everyday her mind gets sharper. Katie still struggles with remembering things that have just taken place or conversations that have just happened. All along we have heard it said, the short term is the first to go and the last to come back. Well, we have seen that first hand. But we have nothing to complain about as Katie is alive and doing so well.

Please continue to pray for our wonderful kiddos. Sawyer is doing great under the watchfulness of Karen and my mom Ruth. He's growing right before our eyes, and most importantly he's getting closer and closer to sleeping through the night! Aubree is pretty much immune to all of the flux that is going on. Maybe it's her age, maybe it's her personality, but as I talk to her she is handling this as well as can be expected. She is also handling school very well and we are getting great feedback from her teacher. Tayler is also doing well, all things considered. However, she definitely is more impacted by the changes in our home and the changes in her mommy. Please pray for Tayler. Pray that she will be able make sense of all that is going on, at least as much as a 7 year old should be expected to make. Also pray for wisdom for me that I will have the words and compassion to give them some stability in their very changing world.

Again, I can't say thank you enough for those of you who continue to provide meals. Even though Katie is home, the meals are actually more needed as we have more to feed and less time. And, if you bring a meal you get to see Katie and baby Sawyer. You get to see me too, but seeing Katie and Sawyer should make seeing me tolerable.

Wednesday morning

2008-09-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

Well, Katie is finally home. It happened yesterday in the afternoon. Now, she has a lot of follow up Dr visits, and ongoing therapy, but she is home and sleeping in her own bed. We had a great time last night with all the family around. And for those of you praying for Sawyer and mommy to bond, you should have seen the two of them together. I got a couple of pictures that I will try to post in the coming days. Pretty cool.

Today Katie and I are going to Tayler's school to have lunch with her and meet Tays teacher. It will be the first time Katie has been to the school as it just opened this year.

We continue to trust God for complete healing and continue to pray toward that end.

Surprise Birthday Results

2008-08-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to someone for reminding me that I never did tell you about the surprise party. That's probably because the surprise was on me. Here's what I mean. All day Thursday I kept telling Katie that I was going to go and get the kids and come down and have dinner with her. Around 4:00 she fell asleep. At 5:00 two of her friends came down to give her some presents and wish her a happy birthday. So, while she was checking out her great gifts I look over at her slyly and said, "so, what if we go home and see the girls". To which she said, "ok". This was a surprise to me as all week she had begged me, almost hourly, to take her home to see the kids. Now I was telling her that she could go home and all she could say was, "ok."

Despite her tepid response to my unbelievable thoughtfulness, we had a great party. Kyle, Karen, Ava, the girls, Sawyer, myself and Sue all had a wonderful dinner followed by more family and presents. Cake and ice cream rounded out the night and then a hurried good-bye to get back to the hospital before the doors were locked (9:00).

Katie did a great job and handled all of the commotion splendidly, and everyone was delighted with how eaisly she was able to engage with them.

Saturday evening

2008-08-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well the first day at home was a success, especially if success is defined by hours spent asleep. Not sure why, but Katie took a three hour nap in the afternoon, and then went to bed around 7. However, the rest of the time was good. She got here around 10:00, had some lunch, watched a movie with the girls, feed Sawyer, and slept.

Man it was good to have her home.

She gets to be home until Sunday evening, as she needs to be back at the hospital by 9:00 pm. As long as this goes ok, she will be back home Tuesday for good. I'll try to keep you all updated as best as I can.

Thursday afternoon

2008-08-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well, so far I have been able to keep Katie in the dark regarding her B-day party. It's 4:30 and sees sleeping, thinking that I'll be going to get the kids soon to come back and have dinner with her.

She continues to amaze everyone in her therapy sessions. In fact, the hospital has asked if they can use her story as one of their "success stories" to put in some sort of book. Also, the CEO of the hospital has gotten wind of Katie and sent down the hospital's PR rep for a visit.

Today she made brownies in one of her sessions and is excited about eating them tonight with the kids. In a number of the sessions they use games to stimulate Katie both mentally and physically. So, they use card games to stimulate her mind and today they use a bean-bag toss game to work on ballance and addition. So she has to throw the bean-bags while standing on one leg, for example. Then she has to add up the points and see if she beat my score. That's right, she had to play against me. Believe me, it does wonders for our marriage. So, to be fair, I closed one eye, stood farther away, and threw them with my right hand. I still managed to beat her a few times. Before you begin to feel too bad for the sickie, just know that she cheats. Just before I made one of my throws she grabbed my butt. When I turned around she said, "Kyra! (she was the therapist that was closest)". Can you believe that. She tries to distract my toss and then blames it on her therapist. This is what we are talking about when we speak of her higher brain functions, though some might argue that grabbing my rear and blaming it on another woman are "lower" brain functions.

It's been fun to see people who have not had a lot of interaction with Katie through this process come and see her or talk to her on the phone. The other day my Dad was asking me if I felt like Katie's personality had changed at all (which is common with brain injuries). I said, "see for yourself", and handed the phone to Katie. After a 10 minute conversation, Katie gave me back the phone and my Dad was just amazed. He could hardly tell the difference between the old Katie and the one that was talking to him now.

I know some of you may be thinking that it really can't be this good. That all the positive things that I have been posting are just the hopeful longings of a desperate husband. While that is possible, I really don't think that is what is happening. And, the willingness of the hospital to release her backs that up. Throughout this whole blogging thing, I've actually tried to under estimate the good stuff. The fact is, things are usually better than I am letting on. Not that I'm trying to sandbag to garner more support, I'm just making sure that I'm not getting carried away. However, for us here with her all the time, I would say that most would agree that Katie's is 85-90% of her old self. I say this in regards to mentally. Physically she is probably around 50%, but no one is worried about that as we know that will come back quickly now that she is up and about. Actually we are not worried about the mental either, but that, medically speaking, is more up in the air. For those of us who understand God, we know that none of this is up in the air.

Thank you all for all the Birthday post, I know Katie will love to hear them. I'll do my best to read them to her tonight, but considering the amount, I might not get to them all. However, she will read them all, I promise.

Surprise party

2008-08-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

This Thursday is Katie's birthday and I have permission to take her home for an hour or so. So, we're going to have a small family party to celebrate, but I thought that if any of you wanted to post a birthday wish I could read them to her. So post her a relatively short birthday wish and I will read them to her at the party. Make sure and include your name and how you know her, if in fact you do.

Monday Night

2008-08-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is the news we all have been waiting for. Katie is going home!! First off, she is going to come home Saturday morning, stay Saturday night, and then go back to the hospital Sunday night. Based on how she does (and everyone thinks she will do fine) she will be discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. For good! Each week all of the therapist and Dr's/nurses get together and review each patients progress and set new goal for the coming week. Basically, after one week the therapist are so impressed with her progress that they are sending her home. She will still do therapy at another facility a few times a week, but she will be home.

My mom Ruth is going to come this weekend and stay for three weeks, and Kyle and Karen are planning on staying for a week or so until we are all sure that Katie is ok. Katie's mother lives directly behind out house and will be with Katie all day as she will still need some help for a while. One of the reasons the staff gave for letting Katie go is her strong family support. This is mostly Sue, as she has been the one who has spent the most time with Katie at the hospital, and for that I am truly grateful. However, without Kyle and Karen I would not have been able to spend hardly any time with Katie, so a huge "thank you" goes out to them as well.

I also would be remiss to not add all of you. From providing dinners to constant prayer, and Target gift cards, the collective church family has been amazing. So from our family to all of you, thanks.

Saturday afternoon

2008-08-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

Last two days continue to be good ones. Each day Katie gets a little bit better on her short term memory. She still is always interested in what "the plan" is in regards to a couple of things. Mostly the kids, but she is also interested in what my plan is. This is tough as we are constantly filling her in on what "the plan" is, but she seems to lose it quickly. I think it's mostly because she is very concerned about the kids and when the memory is not right there she asks. However, she is getting better at knowing the details and I have to tell her less and less each day.

Here is something that's pretty cool. Katie's main speech therapist told Sue the other day that she has never worked with anyone like Katie. Now she has worked with lots of people who have brain trauma, but none like Katie for this reason. Katie is demonstrating most, if not all, of her higher brain functions. Things like humor, self evaluation, empathy, etc.... These are things that usually take a long time to come back, if they every do, but Katie has demonstrated them right from the beginning.

Last night Dawn (one of Katie's best friends) spent the night with Katie and here is what she sent me this morning....

A great night. I appreciate the fact that Katie sleeps like the rest of us now. She needs it dark and quiet. All the other nights, I read until about midnight while she was sleeping and never worried about whispering to any of the nurses. This time, I went to bed when she went to bed b/c she wanted it dark and quiet...like any of us would! Perfect! What difference 3 days makes! I didn't see her Tues-Thrs. And when I got there on yesterday, I about fell over when I saw the improvement in her strength and balance. It's out of this world! Of course, I still followed her everywhere. I heard her telling Chad on the phone this morning, "Dawn jumps every time I move." :) I love to be annoying! She's totally looking forward to her day w/ the family. Have a great time! Also, I know it was probably tough when Katie thought you were the one keeping her in the hospital, but she told me this morning that she wants to go home so bad, but they have pretty strict rules at the hospital and she doesn't know all of the rules, but she knows that they can't keep letting her out a lot until she's finished with all her therapy. You might not be the bad guy anymore...at least you weren't this morning. At one point she even said, "Davey's great."

D

Today I took all the kids up to spend a couple of hours with Katie. We even went outside to a small park that's right outside Katie's window for a little while as today was an absolutely beautiful day. While we were outside a few nurses from the ICU stopped by to see the "miracle girl". Poor Katie is almost beside herself missing the kids and talks about them all the time. She still has a hard time understanding why I can't just take her home for a few hours every day. In the end though, Sawyer need to get to sleep and Katie's room just didn't seem to suit him.

Here is the last thing. Yesterday I took Katie down to the cafeteria and we had supper together. After that I took her on a little tour of some of the hospital. I took her by the waiting room where all the family and friends gathered on that very first morning. It started Katie asking questions and in the end I told her the whole story, and I didn't leave anything out. She took it well and it really helped her to understand why some people just like to sit in her room and just smile at her (like me).

Thursday night

2008-08-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Therapy continues to go well. Every day Katie gets a little bit more back and each day she remembers more and more. No longer am I accused of loosing one of our babies! Thank you Jesus. The therapist at Younkers are doing a wonderful job and they continue to creatively challenge Katie at every turn. Sue has also done a great job of taking pictures of important people and things in Katie's life, then they are put into a memory book that Katie reviews at almost every session, especially Speech therapy.

So, Katie and I pulled off a big surprise today. Knowing how much Katie wants to go home, I got special permission for her to take a leave of absence from the hospital and go home for an hour. We had to double check with everyone, including the insurance company, but all the Dr's and therapist were comfortable with Katie being gone. However, I did make sure that Katie signed a piece of paper saying that she would return to the hospital by a certain time, knowing that she would just want to stay at home. So, imagine the look on the kids face (mostly the girls, Sawyer pretty much had the same look) as Katie walks up and rings the doorbell! I will say though, the one who was most excited to see Katie was definitely our dog Scooter. Man did he miss his momma! I can't believe he didn't wet himself he was going so crazy. She did so well, even going up and down our two flights of stairs. Her strength is still low, but her coordination is defiantly there. We all had a great time, and in the end, Katie reluctantly went back to the hospital.

So think about this, from death's door to the front door in 35 days! Only God is capable of this kind of turnaround. Again, I want to say thank you to all of you who are faithfully praying for us daily! What happened today is a direct result of your intercession for us before our Lord. I also want to say a special thank you to the other two leaders at Two Rivers (and their faith filled wives), Rob and Mark, for their commitment to come and pray powerful prayers over Katie.

Wednesday afternoon

2008-08-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Lots of good stuff today. First off, no changes on the medical front. Katie continues to be on a blood thinner regiment, and it appears to be handling the clots. However, we are keeping a close eye on her leg. Other than that, she is no longer on any meds that I am aware of. She's not even getting nourishment from her feeding tube, and we should be able to have it removed in the next week or so.

So, as you can see in the previous post, therapy dominates her day. But, Katie is taking it on and doing very well. All of her therapist are very happy with her progress. Here are a few examples.

Last Friday a speech therapist asked Katie to draw a clock. She drew a circle and then put a row of numbers in a straight line from the top of the circle to the bottom and then back up again. Then the therapist asked her to put the arms on the clock, so Katie drew another circle with arms on it. Today, the therapist asked her to repeat the exercises and Katie did it perfectly. The therapist then asked her to put the arms on clock to show 11:10, and she did it perfectly. Big progress in less than a week.

In physical therapy, today they had her walking around a small track while hitting a balloon in front of her. Then she had to go around the track while kicking the balloon in front of her. Both were accomplished with relative ease.

She also beat me and a therapist in a game of UNO, and if you know me I didn't let her win just because she is sick!

Katie still continues to need help with her short term memory. For example, Rob and Mark came by this afternoon to pray over Katie. Just before we prayed I was telling them a story from today and Katie looked at me like I was crazy and said "that didn't happen." I've learned not to argue with her at this point, so I let it drop. So, right before we began to pray, she told me I needed to confess my lie so my prayers would not be hindered. We all got a good laugh. So we prayed specifically for her eyes and memory (and I quietly cast out the large number of demons that are obviously in her).

Rob last saw Katie about a week ago, and he said that she is about 400x better than the last time he saw her. Believe me when I say, we won't be her long!

Tuesday afternoon

2008-08-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

Therapy continues to go well for Katie. She seems to have more energy today, either because she is off of the muscle relaxer, or she's getting stronger. Probably a little of both. Here is what her schedule is.

6:30 - Shower (FYI, Katie chose this, not me)
7:30 - Breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 - Physical therapy
10:00 - 10:30 - Occupational therapy
10:30 - 11:00 - Speech therapy

11:30 - Lunch

2:00 - 2:30 - Recreational therapy
2:30 - 3:30 - Physical therapy

4:30 - Supper

Well, I'm exhausted from typing all that out, so I think I will take a nap now. Apparently the early bird special is popular here with the 4:30 supper!?! Needless to say, they keep Katie moving. However, Katie is very goal oriented, so she takes on most of her therapy with drive and determination.

One thing that has been difficult lately is that she is really wanting to go home. The hard part is, she thinks that it's my decision to keep her here and gets upset at me. Now I can handle her upset at me (we've been married 10 yrs and it's happened a time or two), I just hate to think of her in this condition thinking that I'm the one that's keeping her from home. One of my cousins from Michigan is getting us bar-b-que from my favorite restaurant (Famous Dave's, aka...Famous Davey's) and she was not happy that she couldn't go home and have some. At least she remembers Famous Dave's food!

All in all things continue to move forward nicely and we shouldn't be here too much longer!

Update from Dawn

2008-08-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Dawn is one of Katie's best friends. She is Mark's better half and together they are a huge part of Two Rivers Church. She spent this morning with Katie until I could get there. Here is what she told me in her own words.

Katie, as you saw when you first arrived, has been very concerned about if it's AM or PM and about the kids. She also woke up and said she was hoping it was Sunday b/c she was planning on going to church today. I told her that hopefully next Sunday she could go, which I (maybe in error) began telling her that next Sunday was the baptism. She said, "Oh, so Aubree...she was planning on that. I know I have her signed up for that, but I'm going to have to talk to Davey about that." It was such a normal conversation, that I told her that Rudy (Dawns adopted son) was planning on getting baptized as well, but I'm not sure if I have him on the list. Katie told me not worry and she was sure they would fit him in. I asked her if we had to write something for the kids to read before their baptism. She said, "I'm sure we need to help them write something...I know we did for Tayler when she was baptized." HOW FREAKING AWESOME is that?! Then another thing that she talked a lot about was her left eye. She talked about being frustrated and worried that her eye was just going to be like that. The nurse who we asked about getting her off that muscle relaxer explained that as the brain heals that the eye will improve and KT was very glad to hear that. Katie really wants you and Rob and Mark to pray for her eye to be healed today. I prayed for her as well and when I finished praying out loud, KT prayed total healing on her eye as well and gave the situation to God, trusted Him completely for healing and claimed God's promises over her healing. Very powerful. We tested the eye out when we were done praying, she said something to the effect of "Not, yet." But we remembered that God calls into existence things that are not yet...and we also remembered that the word of God does not go out to return empty and he will heal her vision (FYI - Katie's eye is looking better today, it's lining up better with the right one. Power of prayer). She is such a hard worker and doing great! She mentioned missing you many times this morning, but she also remembered that you are taking good care of the girls and that you "have a lot on your plate." Katie talked about her "brain bleed" and asked me when it happened if I though she was a "goner." I told her that I knew God would make her well. She smiled her beautiful smile. It is a humbling, powerful, wonderful thing to watch her in therapy and to see you and your family being so taken care of.

Monday am

2008-08-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a fun day, as we brought the whole family up for a visit. My brother James and his wife Eryn and two of their kids were headed back to St. Louis so they came with us and had a quick visit with Katie. Again, with Sawyer there, Katie was able to do a little snuggling and fed him his bottle. Dawn had previously brought some fun stuff for the girls to do (games, crayons, etc...) so the kids all drew pictures for Katie while we visited. It was so good to have James and Eryn as they took the night feedings so that Karen and I could get some rest. Also, James is still a kid at heart and he spent a lot of time tiring out the older kids.

Kyle and Karen's 6th anniversary was on Sunday, so they went to a movie, had a nice dinner, and spent the night in a hotel. Sue came home and watched Ava (Kyle and Karen's daughter, almost 2yrs old) and I took the night feedings. Man do I appreciate Karen!

This morning our neighbor Jen took the girls to school (their school is on our street so they walk to school) and I headed to my office to take care of a few things. I got to the hospital around 10 to find Katie in the middle of therapy. She was doing some strength exercises, and said, "this is too easy." So I suggested they get heavier weights, Katie said that wasn't necessary. After Occupational therapy we were off to Speech. Speech is kind of deceiving as it really is more of cognitive therapy as they really work with memory, reading, writing, and problem solving. Other than being tired, Katie is doing very well.

Katie's Dr of internal medicine is going to take her off of the muscle relaxers they have been giving her for her stiff neck as they think it's making her tired. They are increasing her blood thinners as her blood is too thick right now. Other than that, everything on the medical front is going very well. We are still waiting on her swelling to go the rest of the way down to see how her eyes will respond. Not sure when the next CT scan will be, but it should be in the next week or so. Katie told Dawn this morning that she wants Mark, Rob, and myself (leaders of Two Rivers Church) to come and pray for her eye (based on James 5). Dawn prayed over her and when she was done, Katie prayed for herself.

Katie's memory does seem to be improving as there are times that see really surprises us. Sue was taking Katie back to her room yesterday when Katie started yelling (in a nice voice) at a couple walking away from them down the hall. It turns out they were recent clients of hers, and she recognized them from a distance, walking away from her! This next week at church we are have a baptism at Saylorville Lake, and we were planning on having Aubree baptized as she excepted Christ as her savior this last year. I decided to hold off as I want Katie to be there. However, Katie did remember that when Tayler was baptized that we helped her write her "testimony" to be read at the baptism, as she was concerned about getting that done for Aubs.

Katie does struggle with "immediate" things. Mostly like what time of day it is. She typically thinks it's afternoon when it's morning. She has a hard time with current date, year, etc...

Things are going so well and we couldn't be happier. We continue to praise God for all that He is doing. We are also so thankful to all you out there that are praying and supporting us.

New Room

2008-08-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

FYI- Katie is now in Younkers 419

Saturday Noon

2008-08-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Friday was a busy day for all concerned. For me, I took the girls to school in the morning and then jumped in my car and drove to Dubuque (3 hrs) for an business appointment. After that I visited my brother Johnny who is going to school at Emmaus Bible College (where Katie and I first started seeing each other). Then about 4pm I headed home as one of my other brothers James and his wife Eryn were coming for the weekend from St. Louis to give Karen, Kyle, and I a break.

So, I didn't get to see Katie at all on Friday, but I did get to talk to her on the phone a couple of times which was really neat. Sue did keep me updated and Katie had a great Friday doing some rehab. It's really cool what the therapist are having her do and how well she is accomplishing the tasks. Most of all they are keeping her busy as she has 4-6 therepy sessions a day, each one lasting 30-60 mins.

Today I took care of a few things at home and then headed down to the rehab center (which is technically attached to the hospital). As I walked in she was working with the Occupational therapist working on some math problems. One of the things that they do to help with the vision is put an eye patch on her. So I asked her to do her best pirate "arghhhhh", which she did. Next they moved on to practicing writing checks. The exercise is less about the check and more about writing, dates, and numbers. Katie did great on it all. She even signed her name.

Yesterday Katie was working with one of her therapist and she asked her how long she would be here. The therapist said, "don't hold me to this, but I would guess 3-4 weeks". Wow, we could be home in another month. One thing that still is a concern is her eyes. No one is really able to give us a straight answer, mostly because there are a lot of variables. However, most think that as the rest of the swelling goes down and the blood dissipates, her eyes will correct themselves. The problem is no one knows for sure.

Another thing is that the nurse is asking that we have someone with her at all times as she is able to get up very quickly and they are worried about her falling. So, we'll be working on a schedule to keep someone with her at all times.

We are very encouraged as it is so much fun to see her progress so quickly.

Thursday Afternoon

2008-08-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the big move happened. Goodbye North 3 and hello Younkers 422. For all you local people, go to the back of the hospital like you were going to the maternity wing, take the elevators to the fourth floor. We are room 422. The nurse is suggesting that if you come to visit that evenings are going to be best. If you need to come during the day, the weekend is best. Katie will need her rest during the day as they will be working her pretty hard.

Let me tell you these rooms are awesome. It's more like a hotel suite than a hospital room. We have a very good sized room, shower, terrific view of a beautiful courtyard, and a flat screen w/dvd. My guess is they want you to feel as good as possible before they work you to death, I mean life. It appears that Katie's schedule is going to be pretty regulated as they have already asked me when she wants her shower. One option was 6:30am, and I picked that one to get back at Katie for wanting to "off" me the other day. I just have to remember to not get here before around 11:00am so she has time to forget that rude awakening. Of course I'm just kidding.

Katie had another good day. One of the notables is that she picked up a pen and was writing. She was able to look through a page full of words and pick out certain letters. So we are excited that she probably won't have to relearn too much in regards to reading and writting. It looks like most of her rehab will be remembering things and working on that eyesight (if there is things we can do for her eyes, not sure other than pray of course).

The girls had their first day of school today, and had a great day. Neither one of them could care less about me as then both charged off to their class and went right in. At the end of the day they both said that it was great. A neat thing is that it's a brand new school, and it's at the end of the street so we were able to walk to school and then back again. Two neighbors have offered to take the girls and then pick them up after school, so that will be a big help.

Sawyer was able to make a quick appearance today. Katie had called me this morning asking that I bring him in as she felt like she needed to get to know him. It was a good time as I put Sawyer in bed with her and they snuggled. Also, it was time for his bottle and Katie was able to feed him. I got some very cool pictures.

Ok, now for the comedy. Katie is convinced that we have two babies (four kids is all). She and I had a half hour conversation about how the only baby we have is Sawyer (thank God in heaven for that). She is convinced that I've lost the other baby. So she was asking me how old Sawyer is, and I said 5 weeks. She asked me how long she was pregnant with him and I said 9 months. To which she replied, "that's so much bull!" So, I asked her how long she thought she was pregnant with him, and she said, "3 months, tops". Another time she was going to the bathroom and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Oh my", she said. Sue told her that she looked good with the short hair. "You have to be kidding", was Katie's response.

One month. It's been one month to the day that we first went to the ER for Katie's headache. Wow, what a month. A couple of times I've read back through the blog and postings on other sites, remembering those first few hours and days. It seems so long ago, but yet still very vivid. It's cool to see how far we've come, but can you imagine where we will be one month from now!?! I think we should start a pool to see who can call the day that we check out of the hospital and go home.

Wednesday Evening

2008-08-13T19:14:00.001-07:00

Wow, what another great day. To start off with, last night Katie got up three times during the night and went to the bathroom with some help. But, by the end of today she was basically getting up and walking, without a walker, to the restroom and back by herself. It does strike me as odd how easy it is to talk about Katie's bathroom habits, but any of you who know my wife, know that going pee is a very regular event. Therefore, it would figure that it would play into her rehab quite prominently. So, physically Katie is very close to being all thumbs up. She is of course still very weak comparatively speaking, but we have very few issues with her body.

Also on the physical front. The vascular surgeon and the internal medicine dr have both cleared her for rehab. She is being taken off of all of her IV's and is able to now take a pill for all needed meds. This means that we will be headed to the rehab wing of Methodist (it's called Yonkers Rehab), in the next day or so. This is great news, though we will be sad to say goodbye to all our friends on North 3.

While we are excited about Katie's physical improvements, it's the cognitive ones that we are most excited about. Every day she continues to move forward. Today she was rattling off names, places, and events, all with very little hesitation. One therapist was telling Katie about his family and then quizzing her on what he said. This is where it gets though for her. Her very short term memory still has some holes in it. I had to tell her between 10-55,000 times that Sawyer was being watched by Karen and a neighbor (Laura) had Tayler and Aubs. This is good, as she is now very concerned about the well being of the kids, which is a first (since the surgery that is, she's a great mom). She even told Amy her cousin that she felt like she needed to get out of the hospital because she wasn't being a very good mother. We try to alleviate this concern of hers, but the problem is that she asks the same question again 10 mins later. Again, the very short term memory has some holes.

That said, everyone is extremely pleased with her progress. Her vision is still giving us some pause as one eye continues to be a little lazy and we are pretty sure she is seeing double. Please pray for continued healing of her vision as that will be very important to her cognitive rehab.

I'll leave you with this. A nurse told me today that she gets the chills every time she's in the room with Katie as she knows that medically speaking Katie should be dead, or at the very least, in a persisted vegetative state. But instead, she's interacting with the Dr's and nurses trying to see if there is anything she can do to help. I'm actually very thankful that there was really nothing that the Dr's could or can do for Katie, as every time you or I see her we can (I say "can" because we are prone to forget) remind ourselves that we serve an omnipotent God who is still in the business of raising the dead (both physically and spiritually).

Tuesday night

2008-08-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

What can I say, other than I'm a broken record, but we had another good day today. I'm going to keep it short as it's getting late. Again, medically not much has changed other than the Vascular Dr has approved PT. So Katie was up today and even walked to the bathroom twice, which is a big move forward as this gets us closer to formal rehab. They have been giving Katie muscle relaxers to help her with her sore neck and jaw. This has helped as now she is able to open her mouth more and therefore is able to eat some real food. They have also turned off her feeding tube during the day to help her want to eat more during the day. Which she did, eating a few good meals today, which she did mostly by herself.

She continues to be easily annoyed as she is struggling to understand what is exactly going on. This puts us in a tough situation. Katie knows enough to understand she doesn't like something, but isn't able to process the logic behind the treatments. Those of you who are real junkies of this blog will remember a very early post on Meredith's blog that basically said that "our little control freak is not in control and doesn't like it". Well that has never been more true than now.

Katie is answering lots of questions very well and her memory is getting clearer and clearer all the time. It's very tough to describe but today I saw more of Katie than any other day yet. Every other day has been fun to be with her, but it wasn't exactly the Katie that I know so well. But today a lot of the interactions felt "familiar".

Speaking of "familiar", I'll leave you with a couple of funny stories. The speech therapist was asking her to name family members, which she was, and at one point she asked Katie what her husband's name is. "I don't have a husband" was her reply (again, with a wink to me). Katie's cousin Tammie was in today for a little while today and at one point I was explaining to Katie why she couldn't do something. Of course this did not go over well with her and she leans over to Tammie and says, "can you take out my husband, I'll make it worth your while." So, I'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight.

Monday Night

2008-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Busy day today, for all concerned. First of all my day (since I am really the one your interested in). The very first nurse that we had the first night was named Sue. Sue's husband (Eric) is a professional photographer and offered to do a shoot with the kids for free. So, this morning we packed up the family and headed over to the studio. Karen did a great job of picking outfits for the three and the kids did a great job of just being adorable. Sawyer was on his best behavior and made his daddy proud. Eric did a great job of getting awesome poses out of the kids and we are really looking forward to seeing the prints.

I took everyone back home and then headed down to the hospital. Over the lunch hour I had a leader meeting for church with Rob and Mark. It's been a crazy month for the church and we had a lot to talk about. Most of it good, however, some of you will be getting a visit soon. We almost had to cancel our meeting as Mark had to go to his Dr's office to get a few staples. The story is he dropped a tool on his head, but I think Dawn took a swipe at him and he doesn't want to admit it. After the meeting we had a good time of prayer over Katie.

I stayed at the hospital for a few hours and then headed home as I had to go to a meeting at Aubree's school for all kindergartners parents. After the meeting I went home, had a bite to eat, tucked the girls in bed, and headed outside to mow the lawn.

I say all this in an effort to make an elaborate excuse for not getting the post up sooner. I pray that you fall for it and feel deep sorrow for me. Thank you for your support.

Now to Katie. A lot of what happened today was relayed to me by Sue, though I did some good interactions with her this afternoon. Again, no real changes on the medical front other than a few minor developments. First of all, the Infectious Disease Dr's are back, and this time they found something. Katie has a bladder infection, which is pretty much guaranteed when you have a catheter for a month. So, the Dr prescribed some antibiotics and ordered that the catheter to come out. This is a good development and Katie is now able to control these functions and starting tomorrow should be able to get out of bed to go.

The swelling in Katie's leg is basically all gone, and the nurses are very excited about the clots being gone. There was no real reason for Katie not to be able to walk today other than the Dr being out of town.

This morning the Speech Pathologist was asking Katie a bunch of questions and she was answering them very easily. We've asked her where she lives a number of times and she has never been able to get it right, but today she spit it out without thinking. So, we continue to make big gains on the mental front.

However we did have some regression today. Up to this point Katie has been very nice for the most part, and whenever she was making fun of someone, there was always a smile to follow it up letting you know she was kidding. The morning was good, but by this afternoon things went South. Katie was mad that she couldn't get out of bed. I told her that we need the Dr to approve it and he was gone. She thought she should be able to get out of bed and go and see the Dr. She was also not happy with all of the tubes hooked up to her and was trying to pull them out. I told her about getting the pictures taken and she was mad that I didn't take her. I tried to explain to her that she is in the hospital and couldn't go. At this point, her mom asked her if she knew what hospital she was in. Katie's response was to tell Sue that she is Number One (and not the nice way). I finally got tired of arguing with Katie and I ended up telling her that I did ask her if she wanted to go to the pictures, but she didn't want to. "That's so much bull," was her response. There was a lot more, but I think you get the point.

While that's not the Katie that we know, it's not unexpected and we've had numerous Dr's tell us that with brain injuries things will come out of her mouth that will surprise us. The injury will accentuate certain aspects of her personality beyond what she would normally show.

All in all it was a very good day and Katie is making big strides cognitatively, now on the the PT!

Sunday Evening

2008-08-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Again, not much on the medical front to report. Her PT has been pushed off because the Vascular Surgeon is out of town until Monday night, so he will be in to see her Tuesday and let us know if we are good to go. BP continues to be controlled by meds, and the control is good. Her blood thinner has been pushed up to a relatively high level and still no adverse reactions (ie. brain bleeding). The nurses regularly check her mental status as that will be the first indication that there is pressure on her brain.

As far as her mental status, we continue to move forward. Apparently Sunday afternoon is a time when people are free to visit. At one time we had 8 visitors in her room, and she handled it well, even finding time to talk to her friend Dawn on the phone for a few minutes. Katie did have a first time visitor today that is worth mentioning. Today I took Sawyer to church for the first time. The girls went swimming with some friends after church, and I took Sawyer to see his momma. It was so funny because at first I had to convince her that Sawyer was her baby. When I held him up and said, "this is your baby boy", she scowled at me and said, "that's so much bull". Michelle (a friend who was visiting at the time) and I both lost it. After a few minutes of insisting and showing her pictures of her with Sawyer, she relented. It was so cool to see her holding him and loving on him like any good mother would. She was not real excited about me hovering over her and Sawyer, and let me know it. She had a hard time managing his wobbly head, though she was holding his body just fine, I was just making sure his head was supported. Overall it was a very good time as Sawyer handled it well and I could see a spark in Katie's eyes too.

She still has her witty sense of humor (I think she's actually funnier than before). At one point Sue said to Katie, "that Davey's a pretty good dad, huh." To which Katie replied, "yeah, he's alright." While she was saying it though she winked at me (well, more like a blink, but I got it). I wish that I could write all of the interactions that we have with her, as I have rarely laughed this hard, but I really don't have the energy. Just know that we are getting our Katie back and we are loving it. However, I don't want to downplay how far we still have to go. Her eyes are still not working correctly and she is still not able to complete long thoughts. Her speech is very clear, its just that she looses the thought mid-sentence. So, we covet your continued prayer.

Again my prayer for this week is that PT moves along nicely and we end up in rehab by the end of the week. The last time I said that, she developed blood clots. Let's hope this time is different.

We continue to get your cards and gifts and I can't tell you how much of a help that has been for our family. It's so awesome to know so many of you care so much. Just know that your making a big difference in the lives of our family.

Saturday Afternoon

2008-08-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

Not much to report today medically speaking. Things seem to kind of slow down on the weekend a bit. Speech pathology was in and was working with Katie on eating again. Katie would have no trouble eating whatever she wanted other than she is having a hard time opening her jaw. It appears that her jaw muscles are sore (not sure why, maybe clenching at night), and thus she is not able to open her teeth very far. It was cool today for me to see her take a cup of juice in her hand and drink it all by herself, without spilling it. She couldn't do that before the surgery. However, she is able to move her jaw enough to give me a hard time, much to the delight of whoever is here at that moment. I'm beginning to think she is putting on an act as she's all sugar when we are alone. I suppose I do the exact same thing on this blog, so we are even.

Had a few visitors today and all of them left very encouraged as Katie is able to recognize them and have good discussions. She even called (I dialed) her Grandma Janice and talked to her for a few minutes. I was impressed as she made sense most of the time.

Sorry there is not more, but at this point, we don't want any new developments medically. As far as cognitively, every day we are seeing improvements, though small. Someone told me that it takes 3 days of rehab to make up for 1 day in bed. So, be praying for Monday as she will begin PT again, and that will be hard considering how long Katie's been in bed.

Friday Afternoon

2008-08-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

Another good day today. I brought the girls down today and we had a great time as Katie was a lot more with it. She was excited to see them and we all sat around and ate some sherbet. Aubree is not fazed by much and so was practically in bed with Katie talking to her and showing her pictures. Tayler is a little more cautious and was content to stand back a little bit and watch. All in all the girls handled the situation very well and I think it was good for them and for Katie too (when the girls left she blew them kisses).

The veritable stream of Dr's continues to flow through the room though I think we saw the last of the infectious disease Dr's today. They have looked as hard as they can and they still cannot find any infections. The cause of the fever continues to be blamed on the blood still in her head. The Vascular Dr says that on Monday Katie can get out of bed and do some walking. I guess that is when the hard part comes, rehab. Good to know as I was beginning to think everything we've gone through so far was far to easy to warrant all the attention. I think a lot of the Dr's like to come by just to see Katie and not because they have anything in particular to do or say. I'm thinking of charging admission if they don't at least listen to her heart.

Katie got her staples out today as the wound on her head, from the skull plate being put back in, is healing nicely. Also, I would say 80-90% of the external swelling on her head has gone. This is also evident as everyone who visits comments on how good she looks.

Katie continues to struggle finishing her thoughts. She's great at starting sentences, but has a hard time completing them. We're also not sure how well her eyes are working. She can definitely see as she can identify most everyone as soon as they walk in the room, but when you hand her a picture she constantly moves it around as if trying to find a way to make it clear. Most of these issues should resolve as the rest of the swelling in her brain subsides, but we'll have to wait and see to be sure. Please continue to pray for complete restoration of Katie's mind and sight.

I feel like I need to post a quick note of clarification about myself. Many have asked me how I've stayed so strong through all of this. The reality is that on Friday morning, the 18th of July, I demonstrated my strength by almost completely loosing it. What changed between that Friday morning and most every day since is God. Everything changed when I took my eyes off of the situation and focused them on God. My peace is really a result of my deep, personal relationship with the creator of the universe. Once I reminded myself of who was really in control, the fear left. Imagine your big strong dad walking into your room as a child and scarring all the boggy men away (real or imagined), that was me. Religion did not help me. Good works did not bring peace. Education did not comfort my fears. In the end it was my God and Savior, who demonstrated his love for me by allowing his true son (Jesus) to die on a cross because of my sin, who wrapped his arms around his scarred little boy and held him tight. Please don't mistake my strength for His.

Thursday Noon

2008-08-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

slacker here-

I just got off the phone with my brother Rex who called wanting to make sure that everything was alright since I didn't post yesterday. Let me assure you, in this case, no news is good news. If something bad was happening, you all would be the third to know (behind leaders at church and family). But, I must apologize to you all, there really is no excuse for no post, I just didn't get it done.

The last two days have been very good. Wednesday was pretty laid back as there was no big changes. The swelling in the leg has continued to go down, and the vascular surgeon says that in a few days she should be able to get back up and do some more PT as the blood thinners are working well. This is quicker than I was guessing, so that is good news as the sooner she can get up and around the better. Her hemoglobin has been going up and down, but the Dr's think that it's because she has been low on iron (she was low iron during the pregnancy). The Dr's continue to be amazed at her progress and strength, and are very positive about the future for Katie. Here is something cool, a neuro clinical nurse specialist came by as a consultant to the nurses here on North 3, and she says that in her 23 years of neuro work she has never seen anything like Katie before. That's our little miracle girl.

Over the last two days she has been more talkative then any other time to date. Unfortunately most of her wit and sarcasm is directed at me, and if I'm not around her mom gets it. She's even making the Dr's laugh at their discussions with her. Today she as been asking the Dr's what she needs to be doing, and this usually takes them by surprise. Most say nothing, but than Katie says to us later, "I think I really need to be doing something."

Yesterday, Katie was getting a pill the hard way (if you know what I mean) and so I stepped out of the room. Katie asked the nurse where I went and she said, "oh, he stepped out but he'll be back." To which she replied, "Dave needs a suppository!" This morning I had a little surprise, Katie called me on my cell phone while I was home. We talked for about 10 minutes. I asked how she felt and she said she's exhausted! I asked her why, and she said because of a real estate deal she was working on. Katie's aunt Jane brought a present for Sawyer up so that Katie could see it, it was a couple little outfits and a blanket, but it reminded Katie that she needed to work on Sawyers clothes closet (don't worry, Sawyers closet and dresser are just fine). This was good as there have been times when she doesn't remember that she even had a baby.

The kids are having a big day as well. Tay and Aubs are joining Mark and Dawn and their kids at the Iowa State Fair. The girls are most excited about corn dogs. Sawyer and Karen are making their first outing to Target to pick up a few things. School starts a week from today, so pray that I can get the little squirts back on a routine of going to bed before 10pm, or next Thursday morning will be a rude awakening.

Katie was getting a little frustrated with me a few minutes ago because I was typing on the computer instead of talking with her (her mom, uncle, and brother were with her so don't act all mad at me for ignoring my sick wife). She wanted to know what I was doing, and so I told her I was letting about 20,000 of her closest friends know what was going on with her. She got mad at me because she thought I was lying to her. So Kyle and Sue reaffirmed to her that I was in fact telling the truth and that there were people all over the world reading the blog and praying for her. "Wow", was her response. As is all of ours. Thanks.

ps- Sue is keeping a very detailed diary of the daily events, Dr's who came by, people who visited, etc... And Karen and I are taking pictures and video of the girls and Sawyer. Thanks for the ideas.

Tuesday Evening

2008-08-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Not much to report today. The good news is that the swelling in Katie's leg has gone down, which can mean that the clot is dissipating. Today they took some blood to test and see how the anti-coagulant is working. As of now I haven't heard back on the results. She was alert a lot more today as she has fully rested from her big Saturday. Again it appears that Katie's preferred awake time is around 5 am, which is unfortunate for the person staying with her at night. We also had some very good time with her early in the afternoon. She even sat up and ate a few bites (and told me she wasn't sure about my ability to handle the house). She's obviously still delirious.

Lew, Katie's granddad, thinks that I am being, or should be, paid by Methodist hospital for all of the good press that I have been giving them, but I must give credit where credit is due. All of the nurses that Katie has had have been wonderful but I must mention Toby (her real name is October, how cool is that?). Toby was Katie's first nurse when we first got to North 3, and she already knew about Katie from the blog even before we got here. It was Toby who noticed Katie's swollen leg yesterday and got us started on the clot treatment. So, from the family, we just wanted to say a big thank you for being so attentive (I prefer cash, but a check will do nicely).

The girls seem to be doing better since they came to see Katie on Sunday. I did get scolded for coming home so late last night. However, all was forgiven once I explained why I had to stay so late (try explaining anti-coagulant to a 5 year old). My plan is to wait a day or so until Katie is good and rested and then bring them up when she is good and alert.

I wish I had more to post, but I feel like I've told you about everything, except maybe her catheter (she is a peeing machine!).

Update

2008-08-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

The procedure went fine. The Dr was pleased with how everything turned out. So now we wait. One problem is that she needs to be up walking to keep blood clots from forming. Now, she cannot be up as that could cause the clots to travel. So, we'll have to wait and see. Keep praying that God will dissipate the clots Himself and that her rehab will get back on schedule.

Update Urgent Prayer

2008-08-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

The Vascular Dr recommended putting a filter in her vein in hopes that it will catch any clots that would begin to "travel". So, right now the Dr is putting the filter in through a vein in her neck. The filter will end up somewhere in her lower abdomen. He is also hoping to start Katie on a low dose of anti-coagulant (blood thinner). The Neurosurgeons are not real excited about this, but they have concented. So, we are in a catch 22. Anti-coagulants are by far and away the best way to handle this situation, but it's also not the best thing for her brain bleed. So, another chance for God to show his greatness by taking care of Katie in a situation where the Dr's don't have all the answers.

URGENT PRAYER

2008-08-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we got Katie up to do a little walking and we noticed her right leg was a little swollen. The nurse immediately ordered an ultrasound to see if there are any clots in the leg. Katie has numerous clots all up and down her leg. Usually they give patients like Katie a blood thinner to keep this from happening, but because of the brain bleed this is really not an option. So, a vascular team is being called to decide what the next step is. This is a critical situation so please pray. Also, no fear!! If God can handle a brain bleed He can handle a clot or two, or twenty.

Monday afternoon

2008-08-04T12:44:00.001-07:00

Another good day for Katie, though as we expected she is still a little out of it. Dawn (a close friend) spent the night with her, and it appears that one of Katie's alert times is early morning, as they had some good conversations before the sun came up. She also interacted well with her mom early this morning.

PT was in around lunch and had her up walking and then sitting in a chair. Apparently she slept funny as her neck is really sore and she has a hard time looking to her left. So, while she was sitting in her chair I rubbed her neck and shoulders. Reminded me of old times, like when I would rub her shoulders at home (I guess that was only 3 weeks ago).

Occupational Therapy was just in and was having Katie work on some basic grooming skills (i.e. washing her face). Katie didn't do so well as she kept falling asleep.

Good thing we got her the feeding tube as I think that she would really have a hard time eating enough to be healthy at this time. Also, the meds they are giving her through the tube are more effective than the IV and so they have stopped monitoring her BP every hour and have moved to every 4 hours.

We continue to have friends and family stop by, which is a good thing as long as we keep the visits short and sweet. Speaking of family, I just want to say how cool it is that her granddad Lew (from the Clarkson side) has been by to see her everyday but one since she's been in the hospital. He's 89.

She's sleeping now and must be upset as she is mumbling in her sleep. Probably dreaming of me.

Sunday afternoon

2008-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked about Sawyer so I wanted to post a picture for you. In this one he is about 3hrs old and just got eye slime put on by the nurse, but he's still my boy!

Today I took the girls to see Katie for the first time. I know how many of you were praying so, God must have decided that it was better for Katie not to interact with the girls at all. She slept the entire time. We started off by going to church, which was great, but also weird. I'm the worship leader at Two Rivers, but this morning I sat in the audience while a friend named Lynn filled in. He did wonderful, but it was weird. The girls had a great time seeing all their friends and it really felt like normal just being there (other than my weirdness).

So right after church we went to the hospital.....and watched Katie sleep. I was able to show the girls the staples in her head, the machines that are giving her her food, and the machine that is giving her her meds. Aubree was interested, but Tayler was content to sit back and just observe. Before we left we all gathered round Katie and laid our hands on her and prayed. I tell you nothing is better than seeing childlike faith lived out in your kids prayers. We have taught our kids to pray big prayers, as they tend to actually believe that God will come through, and it's fun to hear them. Things like, "help mommy get better so she can come home today". I promise you, when kids pray, things happen. All in all it was a good experience and the girls left better off than when they came.

Now, it's not too surprising that Katie was really tired. The last really big day we had with her was last Sunday. If you look back on the blog you will see that there was a ton of interaction. So, after her big day, she proceeded to sleep from Sunday evening clear until Tuesday afternoon. Well, yesterday was even bigger than a week ago. She was out of bed three different times, walked at least 75 feet and had a number of prolonged interactions with family and friends. So, my guess is that she will be out until sometime Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Dr. Carlstrom was a little concerned that she would not wake up for the girls so he ordered another CT scan, which I am happy to say is showing good improvement. The swelling is going down, and the hemorrhage is improving (I assume that means the blood is dissipating). So she really is just tired and not getting worse. Also, her blood pressure and fever persist, but are being controlled nicely by meds.

My hope/prayer is that by the end of the week she could be moved to the rehab wing of the hospital. Methodist has a wonderful rehab called, Younkers Rehab, and everyone who knows about this stuff says that is the place you want to be. It's also nice that it's part of the same hospital system so her care level should stay high.

One thing to pray for is my work. My boss has been great (he actually threatened to fire me if I showed up at work), and my co-workers are doing a great job covering my business, but now that my sugar-momma is laid up, I will probably actually have to get to work. My hope is to return part time the week of the 11th. The girls start school that week so it will probably work best to wait until then.

I also wanted to say a special thanks to my brother Rex and his wife Shawna and kids. They came up this last Friday from Topeka, KS, and basically took over the house for the weekend. Shawna took all of the night feedings for Sawyer so that Karen and I could rest, and Rex pretty much took the day feedings. Shawna also took the girls shopping and together they made sure we all ate well. So, we had a great weekend with the family as their kids get along great with our kids.

pictures from vacation 7/11 - 7/13

2008-08-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Katie and Aubree (L) and Tayler (R)

Here is the picture that Katie was laughing at this morning. The two girls on left are cousins.

Saturday 11am

2008-08-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

So, here's the latest. Friday afternoon Katie woke up as she had a number of family members come and visit her, mostly from the Clarkson side. It was funny to see her uncles (she has 4) all trying to claim favorite uncle status. Her uncle Randy probably had the best interaction with her as she was really awake and looking around. At one point he asked me to step outside the room for a little discussion, and Katie looked at her mom and said, "secrets, secrets, they are telling secrets". Again, another example of her observing a situation, processing it, and then making a correct comment. I was able to get her a cup of ice and she ate all of it and drank the water with a straw. "That's good", was her response.

In case you didn't know, I've been having friends of hers come down and spend the night with her as I do not want the family to be here all day and then all night. The last thing we need is wiped out family members on top of a wiped out Katie. Most nights she sleeps peacefully, but I guess last night she was talking quite a bit. Michelle (the friend who stayed) said they had some really good interactions.

This interaction continued on into the morning. Sue showed up around 8am and Katie told her she was late. Then Dr. Carlstrom came in and he and Katie had a little discussion. He pulled up a chair and they talked for a few minutes. He had her follow with her eyes his finger as he moved it around. Another Dr. told us later that Dr. Carlstrom is very pleased with the progress and is also very optimistic. Again, not that our confidence is dependant on what the Dr's say, but it is fun to hear an expert comment on what God is doing, even if not intentionally. Katie even took time this morning to talk to Chad on the phone. After that a few of Katie's family from her mom's side (Kramer) were in and had a wonderful time with her. One of the cool things is that she recognized them all. Jane (an aunt) showed Katie a picture of Aubree with swim goggles on from a week before her surgery and Katie laughed until her stomach hurt (I'll see if I can post the picture as it is really cute).

Speaking of her stomach, the feeding tube is working nicely and they actually had to turn it down a little. Her blood pressure and fever are also doing much better which are both a result of the meds that are in pill form and fed through the tube. They were worried about infection, because of the fever, but they could not find anything (and believe me they looked, even brought in a specialist). So they concluded that the fever was a result of the trauma to the brain. The fact that these are both going away are also signs that the brain is taking back some of it's normal function.

I really don't know how to let all of you know just how much all the support means to us. I have received so much that there is no way for me to let all of you know how much it means. The fact that we don't have to worry about cooking a meal until sometime in late December is unbelievable. This is so great as it allows us all time to focus on the Tay, Aubs and Sawyer. Speaking of which, please pray for them as this morning I had to peal Aubs off of me sobbing as I left for the hospital.

We continue to stand confident in the Lord and in His love, knowing that He is faithful.

friday 2pm

2008-08-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

davey here-

Meredith is going to be on vacation for a week and so I will now be in control of the blog, so be please be prepared for chaos. So let me bring you all up to date with where we are.

On Wednesday Katie had surgery to replace the skull piece that was take on the 18th during the emergency surgery. She was temporally moved to ICU which meant we had to move out of our regular room on the 3rd floor. They were not sure where we would be when we got out of ICU so we had to clear out the room. As it turns out we were allowed to go back to the 3rd floor which is great as the nurses there all are familiar with us and Katie and know how to best care for her (prayer, malt cups, and Tom Petty in case you forgot).

On Thursday morning we rested in ICU until we got the news that we were going to the 3rd floor again. Shortly after getting there we were off again as I had decided to put the "peg line" in Katie's stomach for her feeding and meds. That procedure went fine and we were back in the room by late afternoon.

Since then Katie has been resting a lot, recovering from all the activity over the last few days. There is still a lot of swelling on her head and face from the surgery, but other than that she is doing well. They will actually start using the feeding line today, but slowly at first.

Physical therapy continues to annoy her back to health by getting her up every day and having her walk, sit, and do other exercises. It's hard to watch sometimes, but in the end Katie surprises us all and does everything that is asked of her.

My plan for the kids is to take them to church on Sunday and them bring them down to the hospital, so that is something you can pray for. Another thing that has been on my mind that I would like prayer is this. This September 6th is our 10 year anniversary and we have a little tradition that I would like to be able to keep. We were pronounced husband and wife at 5:43 that Sunday at Meredith Drive Reformed Church, and ever since we have been back to the church to reaffirm our vows to each other. Now this sounded like a good idea in that first year that I thought of it, but we have discovered that basically you are reminded of how horribly you've lived up the what you said you were going to do. However, grace flows and we end up crying and hugging each other and promising to try and do better in the next year. We have not missed a year yet, and I would like to keep that tradition alive. So, please pray that Katie's rehab will progress so that together we can walk into that church on September 6th and remind each other of the wonderful people that we thought that we could be, and by Gods grace, can still be.

For those of you who are tuning in late, on the right side of this blog you will see a link to Meredith's blog, Confessions of a Slacker Mom, and you can read the whole story including my summary of what happened the 17th and 18th that led to the situation that we are in now. Also, Sawyer is doing great as Karen is a great mother to him right now.

update thursday morn-noon

2008-07-31T09:38:00.001-07:00

from davey:

FYI - I will be doing another update with Mac this Friday the 1st @ 1:20.

I got to see Katie for a few minutes Wednesday night in ICU. She was placed in ICU, "just in case", but should be moved to the floor (maybe even the same floor as the last week or so) later today. We had a visitor on Wednesday night that I wanted to mention. Dr. Hlavin (anb that is speled corekctly Errynee) came by after being on vacation. She was the neurosurgeon that did the initial emergency surgery on Katie on the 18th. She told us that she was really looking forward to getting back to work so that she could come and see the "miracle girl". Dr. Hlavin was all smiles and spent a few minutes with us and then left. Pretty cool.

So, today we rest from the surgery and prepare to go back to the floor. They are deciding right now which floor, which is dependant on what meds she will be on for her blood pressure (don't ask, I'm not a Dr.). Hopefully we will get to be on the same floor as before as we built some really good relationships with the staff there (lots of hugs as we left the floor yesterday). However, I am also excited about the possibly of having some new nurses to influence, you know, a whole new captive audience. Kind of like the poor Roman soldiers chained to Paul.

Another decision we are faced with is how to get Katie her nutrition. The IV nutrition is a short term solution. The next option is a peg line inserted into her stomach from her belly, this is a pretty basic "operation" and only requires a slight sedative and a local. This is a good option and would allow them to give her her meds by crushed up pill as opposed to IV. The best solution of course is normal eating, were just not sure if she will be alert enough in the next few days to consistently eat and swallow pills. If we get the peg line, it appears that it will have to be in for at least a month, which is fine, but there is always the risk of infection. So, I will have to make that decision here in the next few hours.

My plan for the girls as of right now is to let them see Katie on Saturday or Sunday. This will of course depend on how Katie is doing, but as of now I believe keeping them away is starting to do more harm than seeing Katie. As I've been bringing them along they are handling it surprisingly well, so I've been encouraged to up my timetable.

Spirits continue to be high as we revel in the goodness of the Lord. I continue to pray over Katie every time I'm with her, and together we remind God of his promises to be good to his people. So we rest in the assurance that He alone as the words of truth and there is no where/one else we can go for life (no offense Dr. Carlstrom, by the way he was super nice yesterday post-op and even asked about the kids).

post-surgery update

2008-07-30T14:53:00.001-07:00

from davey:

Well Katie is out and everything went well. Dr. Carlstrom was very happy with everything and is expecting recovery to be fine.

She will be in ICU for at least tonight and then be moved back to the floor sometime tomorrow. No creative miracle today, but believe me we are more than happy with what the Lord is doing and has done.

Again, thanks for all your prayers as we continue to see the Lord work.

davey - wednesday noon

2008-07-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

from davey:

Another good morning. PT was here and had Katie up walking again. This time they used a walker and she probably walked 30-50 feet with minimal help. One of the nurses said, "you should be recording this". To which I said that Katie would kill me. However, I decided that I can always delete it, so why not. And sure enough, as I'm taping Katie see's telling me to "stop it", and not in her nice voice.

I recorded the girls this morning on the video camera and played it for her. Big smiles all around as the girls were talking about mommy being healed soon (we pray for her every night and every morning). I've been slowly telling the girls more and more about mommy. So, they know that Katie has no hair, that she has a hard time remembering things, and that she has a hard time seeing. So far they've handled all the info very well. We even prayed for the skull piece last night. As of right now I'm planning on bringing them down a few days after her surgery. Please pray for that.

Speaking of surgery, Carlstrom was in a few minutes ago and said that everything is a go for around 2:00ish. He says that they keep looking for infection, but can't find anything. So, we get to be back in the first waiting room that we were in during her first surgery, and then we will be back up in ICU. Hopefully we will get to see some of the nurses that were with her the first go around. Most of them have been by to see Katie which is so neat. I'll give an update this afternoon after the surgery.

davey update-tuesday 5pm

2008-07-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

from davey:
Well Katie finally woke up, but not on her own accord. Physical Therapy was in and they do not play nice. Basically two of them man-handle Katie into an upright position sitting on the edge of her bed. Then then got her to stand up and walk about 15 feet around her bed and to the door. Now they act all nice and friendly, but there was no negotiating with them, so Katie walked. Now she was getting help but the therapist was very pleased with her strength.

After the walk they sat her in a chair like yesterday and had her sit for about 30 minutes. During that time a nutritionist came in and ordered Katie some food. Mark had stopped by just before the PT's arrived and so he and I kept Katie company while we waited for her food. Basically it was much like Sunday with Katie trying to complete some very important thoughts but never quite getting there. So, I showed her a copy of THE PICTURE (just scroll up if your not sure of what I speak), and asked her if she knew who the person in the middle is. It took her a minute but she eventually said, "me". Very good, I said, so who is the guy beside you. To which she replied, "orange juice, you need sugar". To which I replied, "you worry about yourself". Many of you may not know that I am Type I diabetic and Katie's biggest fear in the world is me being by myself and going "low blood sugar" and slipping into a diabetic coma. So her first instinct for me is worry/protection. This is good, but I also feel bad that even now she is worrying (which is sin by the way! Phil 4). She couldn't get any of the kids names and after a while I told her to take a break. Mark and I thought we would use the break to pray for her and as he came close to her she said, "hi Mark". Wow, I get orange juice and he gets his first name (more on this little development later). We had a great time praying and claiming God's promises over her and when we were done she said thank you.

The food arrived shortly after that and I left Mark to watch Katie while I went to get the Speech Pathologist as she was wanting to be there when Katie was eating. So after tracking down the Speech lady I came back to an interesting development. Imagine walking in seeing your wife making out with your best friend. Apparently it wasn't that bad, at least that's what they told me. I guess Katie had decided to all of a sudden stand up and Mark had to get to her in a hurry as she is still not the most stable when she stands up. This next part absolutely cracks me up. While Mark is holding her up (picture them dancing, though not really, supposedly) she is pulling the old, "hey, what is that over there" trick, trying to get Mark to look away so she could slip by him. Fortunately Mark is not 3 years old and didn't fall for it. But it was funny.

Mark left and we sat down with the Speech Pathologist and ate some macaroni, fruit, and a chocolate shake. She loved the fruit and shake, but was only mildly interested in the macaroni (which was very bland and desperately needed salt). At the end of the meal the therapist asked her what her husband's name was and she immediately replied, "idiot". Just kidding, "Dave", is what she said. I guess she was feeling guilty about the whole Mark thing. It was cool for me to hear that as that is the first time she has said my name since the surgery. She has said "babe" a number of times which is what she calls me most of the time, but this was the first time she said "Dave". The therapist asked her what her kids names are, to which she replied, Tayler and Aubree. Again I was thrilled as this was the first time she has said their names. The therapist asked her if she had a baby boy, to which she got that look on her face that says, "what you talking about Willis!?!" We decided that was enough for today and dropped it.

Again, another great day with big improvements on the physical side as well as the cognitive. She is sleeping now as we have once again wore her out, though not as much interaction as Sunday so I'm hoping to have a good talk with her tomorrow morning.

tuesday update

2008-07-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

from davey:
All right, all right. I've had a few people tell me that they start going into withdrawal if there isn't a post, so I'll do my best to satisfy your craving (something about this makes me feel a little uncomfortable).

Apparently we overdid it a little on Sunday as Katie has pretty much been asleep since then. On Monday, Physical Therapy was in and had her sitting up in a chair for about 30min, but that was about it for the whole day. Sue did have a quick interaction with her in which Katie mentioned Sawyers name. This is good as she has been struggling with names (Katie that is, though Sue does tend to call Sawyer by the dogs name, Scooter).

We are anxiously waiting on Katie to wake up as we know we will have some more good interactions with her. Carlstrom was in this morning and gave us 10x more time than any previous visit (perhaps he's been following the blog and has read my posts. I'm sure he has nothing better to do). So in the 5 minutes he was here he said that the surgery is on for Wednesday. In fact he has ordered the skull piece to be thawed, and once it's thawed you can't re-freeze it (freezer burn I'm sure).

So if the surgery does not take place tomorrow for some reason, they will use some sort of plastic. He has ordered another CT scan today so we'll know a little more tomorrow as Carlstrom will come in and re-asses before the surgery. Once the surgery is complete we will be back in ICU for a day or two. So, I've been spending the day trying to pack up her current room. Sue had put up a bunch of bible verses on the wall, and I had posted some get well cards from the girls. We kept the plants that were salvageable but most of the cut flowers had to be dumped as ICU won't allow them (believe me I felt bad dumping them).

However, we were able to put some of the newer flowers in a waiting room and now it smells like a flower shop, and looks much better. Katie's vitals continue to be strong and there is still no sign of infection or pneumonia (both common in post surgery situations like ours). Hopefully she'll wake up later today and I'll be able to give you an evening update with some more good stories. And prayerfully we won't have to have a surgery tomorrow but rather a baptism as I lead a neurologist to the Lord.

from davey-monday afternoon update

2008-07-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

from davey:

Wow, what can I say. First of all I am so sorry that I didn't' get a chance to update the blog yesterday. I spent Saturday night with Katie (the first time I had done that) and so I spent most of Sunday with the girls and let Kyle and Karen go to church. So I really didn't get down to the hospital until later in the afternoon. All I can say is amazing!! The difference between Katie on Sunday over Saturday was truly breath taking. Like Meredith said there were just so many separate little things that it's hard to know which ones to put down. I would echo the "rude, rude, rude" story as a great one as it shows her ability to observe a situation and make an assessment and then a comment. Now, I would rather she make comments about other peoples behavior than mine, but at this point I won't complain. The best way for me to describe the change is that now she initiates more as opposed to being reactive. Another very good sign was her ability to eat some real food. We had bananas, yogurt, and grill cheese sandwich (and I do mean we, but I waited for her to be done in case there are some of you wachos out there who think I might take the food out her mouth for myself).

Today continues to be more of the same, though to a lesser amount as she is totally wiped out. The Dr's cautioned us that your good days will be followed by "sleep days" as it will exhaust her. I did have another 2mins with Carlstrom the neurosurgeon, though I think 2mins is a little generous. I can't tell you how many local people have told me that they have had the exact same experience with him. They also say in the next breath that he is very good. I will echo that, if your looking for Dr sit and chat and answer questions he is not the one. However, if your looking for brilliance, he's probably your guy. FYI a few years ago he lost his wife in a flood as she attempted to drive through some water, so please pray for him as I am sure there is some pain there. He says that he is tentatively scheduling the surgery to replace her skull piece for Wednesday, but it could be Friday. There is no real hurry to get it back in so he's willing to wait until everything is perfect (i.e.. swelling). So, here is my prayer- I know some of you probably think that I'm crazy for asking, but I am very serious about praying for God to close her skull back up. In the end, when Katie walks out of here, Dr's like Carlstrom will marvel at the human bodies ability to survive trauma. Now we know that is not what happened her, however, if he goes in on Wednesday and her skull is intact, no one will marvel at the human body. Instead, they will be forced to acknowledge something more than nature. I would imagine that I might have his attention for more than 2 minutes if he has to tell me that he does not have to do the surgery and I can say, "yeah I know, and I know why. Would you like to hear....?" We all believe that God can create with a thought, why not now for His glory. We only want to be used for His glory, so may he be glorified through us.

I also wanted to say that spent the morning reading through the pile of cards that have been delivered to me from Two Rivers and from the hospital. I am so grateful for so many who love and care for us. There is no way I'll be able to send each of you a thank you for your cards and gifts, so please know that we are very grateful to you all for your love and generosity.

from mark

2008-07-28T12:57:00.001-07:00

from mark (davey's friend, elder at TRC):

Davey asked me to write a little about an interaction I had with Katie on Saturday, but the interaction on Sunday was so much better I will tell you about it instead! When I went in the room and told Katie that I came to see her and pray for her, she opened her eyes and looked right at me and smiled. She responded with "uh-huh" to a few small talk questions, which was nothing new from Saturday. Some nurses came in to do some things and she started saying' "that's so funny" over and over again. I asked her what was so funny and she said, " it's so funny that...uh...ya know". Then she started to look frustrated and said something like, " I can't think of it." She was laughing most of the time she was talking. Another one of her lines was, " It would be cool if......" . Her mom, cousin Amy, and I tried to play the fill in the blank guessing game, but couldn't come up with the right answer. She was really working hard to express her thoughts to us. We can definitely see that the thought process is starting to work and that she is a little frustrated that she can't finish all of her thoughts. No amount of progress will surprise me, but I've never seen anything so amazing. I think we can safely say that the prayers for restored speech, vision, and thought is being answered! Praise be to God!!

update from meredith - late sunday night

2008-07-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

meredith here (again):

i don't think davey would mind me taking a moment to talk on this blog about my visit with katie tonight. if so, he knows where to find me...{grin}.

let me start by saying, i am continually amazed at the goodness of God.

when davey called me tonight with the update, it was un-believable. it was hard for me to believe that she was doing that good. last night, some friends & i went down to pray for katie. when we left she was sleeping and there was essentially no change. it was very hard to believe that she was sitting up & talking & aware of what was going on around her.

seeing is believing...

i headed down to the hospital & there she was sitting up in bed, telling secrets to the nurse. it was so amazing...almost like i was in a dream. she looked right at me (it seems her right eye is aligned, but the left is a little lazy) and tried to think who i was. something inside me jumped--it took my breath away. my first thought was just how beautiful she is--katie has this smile that lights up a room. i cannot begin to tell you how it filled me with joy to see that smile again.

there are so many things i could tell you, i just don't know where to start. it is funny, because davey said the exact same thing to me when he called. i am just amazed at how well she is tracking with everything. at one point it was katie, davey, & me in the room--when stacy came to visit, whom i hadn't met before. so i introduced myself & we shook hands, to which katie looks right at davey, points her finger & says, "rude, rude, rude!". we all laughed & so did katie.

the whole time i was there, she was trying to finish this sentence...it was like she could start it, but not finish it. i could see her getting frustrated. at one point, i started to rub her head a bit--she said, "that feels good". this whole visit just renewed my joy in a God that never leaves or forsakes us (Deut 31:6)--not that it was low, but almost like now i am overflowing...i can't explain it.

my favorite part of the whole visit was when davey was getting ready to go. he leaned over & prayed for her healing, rubbing her head & kissing her cheek. the look on katie's face was...priceless. it is almost hard to find the right words for it, but with one touch of davey's hand peace, love, comfort & joy washed over katie's face. i wish my eyes were a camera so you could see this display of love that was so pure, so beautiful.

each day i am amazed at her progress...God through this situation is amazing. it is your prayers & love & support that are helping get her through. i am continually reminded of the verse in james, 'the prayers of a righteous man can accomplish much!'

blessings~meredith

update--sunday pm

2008-07-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

meredith here:

i know, all of you have been probably checking the blog as much as I have been checking my email for an update from davey...i was getting a little concerned since I hadn't heard anything all day. you know what they say...no news is good news.

i just got a call from davey and boy, is it good news.

davey spent the night at the hospital last night, so he spent most of the day at home with the girls. he just got down to the hospital about a 1/2 hour ago. he said last night was good. she tried to escape a couple times & they got her up in a chair this morning & stood her up. they weighed & checked vitals to make sure she is still healthy. i think everyone at the hospital is impressed with her physical strength & abilities.

davey said when he got back to he got back to her room this afternoon that it was unbelievable. she was sitting up and talking. he said, "we are almost there!" she still has some issues with her vision & speech, but to see her interacting & sitting up is amazing! he said she is doing so much he doesn't even know where to start. she is starting sentences...can't quite finish her thoughts at this point, but it is totally katie talking.

dawn (a close friend) and davey were praying over her and when they were done, she prayed for them! can you believe it? i have chills right now...my insides are doing the happy dance. it is unbelievable!

sing with me...OUR GOD, IS AN AWESOME GOD! WHO REIGNS IN HEAVEN ABOVE....

more to come....

saturday afternoon

2008-07-26T16:16:00.001-07:00

from davey:

As I mentioned earlier I thought today would be a slow one, but we ended up having our best day yet. It all started with the speech pathologist coming in and starting Katie with some ice chips and then moving to malt cup (remember lizs' formula for success...Prayer, malt cups, and Tom Petty). Katie was slow to start but warmed up with the malt cup. While she was eating I went to the cafe and grabbed a sandwich with lots of onions (that will come into the story later). When I came back the therapist was just wrapping up and leaving. She was very pleased with Katie's response and her coordination. At one point Katie grabbed a hand towel and wiped her face. So, after the therapist left Kyle and I were there talking to Katie.

It was so funny as I went in for a kiss or two, Katie took her hand an waved it in front of her face because of my onion breath. Kyle started dying laughing and Katie along with him. I told Katie that she couldn't complain to much as every time I kissed her I had to deal with someone who had not brushed her teeth in a week!! Katie had her eyes open more that any other time to date and interacted with Kyle and I for about 10 minutes. This was really the first time that Katie had initiated the interaction. Up to this point all the interaction has been her responding to my requests (Katie squeeze my hand, Katie open your eyes). Needless to say I did not ask her to protest my breath (again I blame it on the sandwich as I did brush this morning!). It's so much fun, kind of like your child laughing for the first time, or taking a first step.

I can't wait to have my Katie back as I miss her so much!

saturday mid morning update

2008-07-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

from davey:

No big updates for this morning, I think we wore her out yesterday, so she has mostly been sleeping peacefully. Dr's continue to monitor her progress and are pleased. Her blood pressure continues to be controlled with meds, so that is something you can pray for. She has a little fever/infection which is probably from a UTI because of the catheter (this is basically inevitable). So, some little things to deal with, but the nurses continue to comment on her strength when they go to bath her and change her sheets.

Speaking of the nurses. We could not be more pleased with the care that we have received here at Methodist. From the staff to the nurses to the Dr's we have had nothing but very positive interactions. It's like they took a course in customer service. We actually had a Dr ask us this morning if there was anything that we thought they were missing. I almost said, "Yes, have you considered pneumonoultrascopicsiliconvolcanoconosis as a possible cause for the fever?", but I thought that might be pushing the smart-ass envelope just a little far (and I've never done that huh Sue!?!).

Chad left this morning to return home to Houston. I can't say enough about the support he and his wife Mindy have shown to our family. Chad spent every night but one with Katie since her surgery. This made it possible for me to be with my girls every night which is huge. Of course both of our families have been amazing, from my mom and dad watching my kids to my brothers all leaving homes and coming up her on a moments notice. And now with Kyle and Karen moving in with us, its more than words can express. Not that I doubted for a moment that our families would act this way, its just humbling and exciting to see it actually happening.

saturday am

2008-07-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

from davey:

Well, it could have been worse. Obviously they had to cut out a bunch, but I think they honored the spirit of the story. Oh well, good thing Katie's healing doesn't depend on my ability to do a good interview! I just want to make sure that we (mostly myself) don't get caught up in the hype and lose sight of what this is really all about, and that is God's love. It doesn't matter to God if the whole world sees what he is doing or not, he would take care of Katie even if no one was looking. He has no ego to satisfy.

However, we do bear the responsibility to make sure that when God does display his power for all to see, that we openly acknowledge and testify to what we know to be true. So, to all who read this, please understand that God is the only reason there is a story here. This is ultimately His story. My life, Katie's life, is really just a very small part of what God is doing in His kingdom. We are no more significiant than anyone else who loves and serves God with all they have (remember the widows offering Mark 12). So please, glorify God with your words, your thoughts, your LIFE.

Man do I have a face for radio or what!

click here to watch the video.

update from davey--

2008-07-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

meredith here:

i just got a call from davey & local channel 5 news is coming down to the hospital to interview him for tonight's 10pm newscast. they might feature it on their website, if not does anyone know how to record the footage & get it posted to youtube?

could someone in the local area get this done for us? if so, comment below that you are willing. i am still working on locating a digital video camera to tape it and then upload...

please pray that Katie's testimony & Davey's interview remains pure & protected--not edited or misrepresented. Glory to God!

update friday noon

2008-07-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

update from davey:
More good news. This morning as I was talking with Katie I asked her if she would like some ice to chew to which she responded yes. I went and got the Speech Pathologist who is responsible for rehabbing her voice and throat/eating.

Katie ate a few spoonfuls of ice, then proceeded to drink some water out of the spoon and then using a straw. Each time she swallowed and the liquid went down the right tube. Then the therapist moved on to apple sauce. Katie was not at all thrilled with the sauce and I had the brilliant (though not particularly healthy) idea of getting a malt cup. She loved the malt cup. She ate quite a few bites and all without aspiration. This is very big. Her body is remembering how to function and doing it very well. She continues to get stronger and we are pleased.

I spoke to her Dr that is over her care (Dr of internal medicine) and he said that it is a miracle that she is where she is now. He couldn't be more happy and he can't wait for more miracles to happen. Not sure if he's a believer, but perhaps he will be soon. He believes that Katie will probably be in this room until they can get the skull piece put back in place. If it wasn't for that they would be looking to get her to the rehab wing by next week.

So we're taking it day by day.

Speaking of the skull piece....Lord, Bring us to our knees to bring them to their knees

FYI - a mini-update

2008-07-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

from meredith:
i just got off the phone with Davey who is headed down to the hospital. he is doing an update on the radio with Mac on WOW 98.3 at about 1:30pm this afternoon.

Trenton, can you record & do an mp3 link again? you totally rock for doing the last one!

Davey also said that they will be having the therapist come today to get Katie up in a chair...that won't be a problem! i'm assuming we will get another detailed update after davey arrives at the hospital.

oh man...

2008-07-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

meredith here:
i have been spending the past hour prepping dinner and praising God to David Crowder's Remedy at the top of my lungs...knowing in my heart that it is my job to praise Him, which ushers in His Healing presence....here is the latest update from Davey.

oh ...usually doctors find out about this condition katie has post mortem....um, yeah. God is good....oh soooo good--no question.

update from davey:
"We were all sitting in a waiting room near Katie's room letting her rest when her nurse came out with a big smile on her face. As the nurse was walking by she looked in and there was Katie standing by her bed. Apparently she had gotten out of her restraints (one on each wrist and tied to the bed, explain that) and climbed out of bed and was standing there. So, now we don't have to wonder if her legs work.

I also wanted to take the time to express my thankfulness to Meredith for all her work on the blog. Much of this "community" experience and support has been a direct result of her work and for that we are truly grateful to you and her.

My parents and brother left this afternoon and Kyle and Karen got moved in. Please pray for their daughter Ava (approx 2yrs old) as this move will probably affect her as much as anyone.

p.s. - Dear Lord, bring them to their knees."

update thursday--high noon

2008-07-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

from davey:

Just saw the neurologist. Let me just say that Dr. Carlstrom is not a man of many words. We usually get about 2 mins of his time and half of that conversation is him walking out the door. Don't get me wrong, he appears very competent (not that I would really know if he was a quack), but he mostly says a few things and is off.

He has reviewed the MRI and it was not an aneurysm nor was it an AVM, the two most likely suspects for bleeding in the brain. The Dr says that its basically a dissection of her arteries in her head that have ruptured and caused the bleeding. He says that this is incredibly rare (neither he nor anyone else that he knows has ever seen it, and there isn't anything in the literature either).

He said that vision and speech are going to be her biggest struggles due to the location of the bleed. This is not a surprise to us as we have seen Katie struggle with these two things the most. So keep praying about these things.

Here is the cool part...

Toby, the nurse that has been following the blog and is a solid Christian, pulled Carlstrom aside outside the room after he left and asked him what he thought about the progress. He told her that Katie absolutely should be dead, they are all completely amazed that she is alive let alone talking and looking around. They have no explanation or answer for any of this. Don't doubt for a second that your prayers are making a huge difference and that ultimately we have the answer.

So, they are going to take out her stitches and staples and continue to let the wound heal. He has once again pushed off the replacing of the skull piece to next week. Pray that God would do a creative miracle as I want all the Dr's to really be brought to their collective knees.

thursday AM update

2008-07-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

from davey:

Another good night. Chad has been spending the night with her and he said that she was a little restless as the pain meds would wear off. A byproduct of having the sedative out of her system is pain, so Katie is now on morphine (very small dose). The good side of that is she is still more responsive on the narcotic as opposed to the sedative. So, when she is in pain she lets us know, which is a good sign.

She continues to open her eyes more and more and says things like, "that's weird". Mostly she's referring to her sight. When there is pressure on the brain one of the first things to go wrong is your eyes as that "nerve bundle" is sensitive to pressure. So until the swelling goes completely down she will have issues with her sight. However, the fact that she knows something is different with her eyes is a good sign.

Another cool thing from last night is that her brother Kyle and cousin Amy were in to see her and Kyle reminded everyone about a funny story from their childhood and Katie started smiling/laughing. So, she is remembering things from 20+ years ago. All in all yesterday afternoon was the best she has been to date as far as her speaking and interacting with us.

The MRI was taken yesterday mid-day and we should get the results sometime today when the neurosurgeon has a chance to look at them. Again, we are not really concerned about them at this time. Mostly we want to see that the overall swelling is going down.

Kyle and Karen are moving in today as my parents and brother Johnny drive to Kansas City this afternoon to catch a flight home. Thank God for family (Clarksons). I'm very excited about having them in the house with us as they are both wonderful with my kids. Pray for Karen as she is going from having one child to four and one is two weeks old. The good news on the baby is that Mindy (first aunt who watched Sawyer) and my mom both say that he is quite possibly the easiest baby to care for ever. My family (Blooms) has been awesome. Each day I come home, another project on my "honey do" list is done. My wife is going to vote me husband of the year when she gets home and sees all that is done (I will hunt any of you down who let her know that it wasn't me who did the work).

The nurses have allowed me to bring in some music and other things from home to comfort Katie. The music has probably been more beneficial to me than her but she does seem to enjoy one of her soft blankets. One song that has been fun to listen to is Tom Petty's, "Won't back down". Now most of you are wondering why that one, of all the awesome worship songs out there, I would comment on. Obviously Petty did not have any desire to glorify God through it, but when I view it through my "spiritual glasses", the words are really powerful. Especially considering the present circumstances (don't worry, I've been playing lots of other more overt worship songs). I continue to pray healing over her body and mind believing God for his promises and declaring those promises to her body and we are confident in the outcome. No fear!

update-wed. afternoon

2008-07-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

from davey:

In case you don't know, we were moved out of ICU last night (Tuesday) and are now in a "regular" room. Katie continues to move forward on the physical front. All her vitals are good and getting better. Her white blood cell count is down and her fever (which the Dr's think is more of a response to the surgery rather than an infection) is down. Her blood pressure is good, though it continues to be managed with meds. Today a therapist sat her up and Katie chewed up a few pieces of ice, which is a big step forward. However, she fell asleep after a few minutes and was not able to eat anything solid so she continues to get nutrition through the IV. It looks like she will be able to eat pretty soon.

Our interactions with her continue to be very encouraging (read Chad's posts). This morning I was rubbing her back and feet and she said, "that feels great, thanks babe, I love you". And the voice that said those words was the same as the voice that said those things before the surgery. Those who know Katie well know that rubbing her was basically my second job. She continues to be frustrated with the restraints, and we are hopeful that we will be able to remove them shortly. She also asked me how her headache was? I'm assuming she meant her head and I told her that everything is going great. I played a short video of the girls for her and she was very excited to hear their voices, though she didn't open her eyes to see them. She told me "thanks".

Speaking of the girls, there is an area that is in need of prayer. Last night I had to tell them that it might be a few months before mommy was able to be home. Tayler cried for quite a while and Aubree was really quiet. We spent the last few minutes before sleep praying and talking about mommy. All in all they are doing very well, my concern is that as family leaves they will be less and less distracted and be able to think too much. Oh, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Right now she is off getting her MRI which will give us some more details regarding bleeding and swelling in the brain, though we are not real concerned about it.

Again, I can't begin to express enough thanks and gratitude for all of the prayers and encouragement that we have received. It's actually a little overwhelming, but please keep it up. This blog is actually the best way to contact us as we are all reading it quite frequently. It's fun to sit around as an extended family and look at the comments that you are posting.

Again, please don't send flowers as Katie will not be able to enjoy them for quite a while. Rather send a gift to Two Rivers Church and they will make sure that the family gets it.

update of sorts...wed. AM

2008-07-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

meredith here.
i was able to go and visit katie last night...it was quite the story on how i ended up down at the hospital...you can read the story at my blog site. click here to read.

i just got this information forwarded from davey, who got it from chad:

"Hey…I wanted to capture some of these things….

Meredith stopped in about 10:30 last night to pray for Katie…Katie got active & was moving around. Her last sedation was yesterday @ 4:00, she is scheduled every 8 hours, but at midnight the nurse decided to give her a lesser amount…

Slept until about 5:00 am this morning…at about 5:00 I watched “Houdini” get out of one of her restraints…it took her about 10 minutes, but she managed to wiggle her way out…

She moved around a little, would rub her head & eyes a lot…She started to interact and attempted to talk…you can tell she’s frustrated…

Here were her a few things she said …

“it’s a little confusing”...“I just don’t understand”...“it’s weird”… “hard”...“it doesn’t make sense”

I asked her if it’s hard for her to find her thoughts…she pointed at me and said “that’s good”

Also, she tried to sing a bit…I asked her if she wanted me to sing with her and I made the comment “we don’t sing” (you know our singing voices)…that got a little laugh out of her.

About 6:00 now and seems to be falling back asleep.

Woke back up at about 6:30am till 6:45…

She grabbed my hand and said…“I love you” & “you’re a good boy”

Then in the next few minutes she also told me…“you’re a good guy” and “you’re a good man”

I asked her if she knew who I was, but didn’t really answer. At one point it kind of sounded like “ke”… I’ll assume she wasn’t talking about “kyle”.

It’s 8:30am right now….

Her new nurse just came in for the morning….her name is Toby…She introduced herself and said by the way “I’ve been reading her blog”… she goes to Johnston E-free and a friend of a friend forwarded her the link…so she has been praying for Katie…she was excited to find out that she will be the one taking care of Katie today…so am I.

Katie’s resting right now." -cc

meredith here again:
when i visited last night, chad said that they were planning on the MRI for today...they are postponing the surgery to put the skull piece back on b/c there is still swelling.

so you know what to pray for prayer warriors:
focus on brain swelling & a creative miracle for that skull piece...wouldn't that give the doctors & nurses pause?!?

please pray for chad...i think he has been doing the night shift at the hospital (mostly). in my opinion, that has got to be a hard shift to have. pray for stregth for his body & a clear mind. anyone with kids knows how hard it is to focus our thoughts with little to no sleep.

update from davey- tuesday AM

2008-07-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

update on Katie's progress (from Davey)-
This morning Sue when in and Katie was once again on the move. Sue was trying to get her to lay down and Katie kept telling her "don't do that", and "stop it". Finally Sue said, "are you disgusted with me?", and Katie responded, "yes, disgusted!". So, the family is doing a good job irritating Katie back to health. No MRI yet as they can't get her to hold still for 45 min. The Dr's are waiting for a consult from the anasteologist (sp?) to see if they can fully sedate her for the procedure. There is still a little swelling on her head and so they are holding off on putting the skull piece back in. Shouldn't be long though. Dr's and nurses continue to be pleased with Katie's progress and some therapists (i.e. speech, rehab) are scheduled to be stopping by in the coming days to begin assessing her situation and putting together a plan.

Way to help the family-
As Davey's family is slowly beginning to head back to their respective homes, there is a big need to help with the kids. Fortunately Katie's brother Kyle and his wife Karen have offered to move in with Davey and to help with the kids. Kyle is basically Katie's business partner and will be handling her real estate dealings, and Karen is a stay home mom and will be able to help with the kids especially with school coming up and Sawyer being so little.

So, here is how you can help.

Dawn Stallman (close friend of the Bloom family) is organizing meals for the Bloom's/Clarkson's for the immediate future. We would like to provide dinner for them every other day for as long as people are willing. Please coordinate through her and she will keep the family up to date. If you are out of town and would like to help in this way, Dawn will help you find a restaurant that can deliver.

Cell Phone - 515-314-0683
Email - dstallman@hotmail.com

2008-07-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

i just got a message from davey, he said there were no changes in the night and that she is doing good. i have added a new box on the right for prayer focus. hopefully this can help give us some specific things to partner with Davey in praying for Katie.

he said that every time he goes into see her, he lays hands and prays over these things for her/over her. since the same Holy Spirit lives inside of us as we pray for these, it is as if we are in the room with him--praying over her. to me, that thought is amazing!

right now there is some swelling around the surgery site, so pray that will go down so they can do surgery tomorrow to put the skull piece back on. better yet, pray for a creative miracle from God...that he will create new bone so they won't even have to perform the surgery! He created the world...he surely can give our sister a little piece of bone for her beautiful head!

thanks for all your prayers & comments....they are overwhelming.

blessings, meredith

update 5:15-from davey

2008-07-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

from davey:

"Things continue to be good. I told Katie about the radio interview and how her story was being used to glorify God and she said "good". I continue to pray healing over her body on a regular basis, and we continue to see progress. At least 4 times today she has sat up and looked around, to which the nurses immediately get her a sedative to keep her laying resting.

She continues to try to talk, but can usually only get out a few words as a time. However, you can obviously see her mind at work, which is the important thing. I can't begin to say enough about the love and support that we have received from everyone here and abroad.

I honestly spend a good portion of my day looking at the blogsite for notes from you all. I am humbled and amazed at how compassionate and caring all of you are (got your card Mertz!).

I also can't say enough about our 2rc family. I have never been involved with a more caring and devoted group of people (no offense to other groups of people I have been involved with). "

update-10:30am updated

2008-07-21T08:29:00.001-07:00

from davey:

"Saw Katie this morning. Her cousin Amy and I went in and spent a few minutes with her. The neat thing this morning is that she sat up on her own opened her eyes and looked at the both of us. The great thing is that her eyes looked much better. Both were on me, where as before one was a little "lazy". She is still not totally with it and struggles to put words together in thoughts. But we do believe that she knows when we are there and she knows who we are.

A lot of people have asked me if she is out of the coma. That's a hard question to answer. The best way to describe it is this. Picture Katie's conscience like a swimming pool. The bottom of the pool is the coma and the surface is full consciences. She's somewhere in between. Sometimes she is closer to the bottom and sometimes she is closer to the top.

I just received a call from J. Michael McCoy, a DJ from 98.3 WOW FM, called me and is going to have me on the radio today around 3."

For those wanting to listen on the web, www.983wowfm.com

**a big thanks to trenton for recording the radio interview & posting it...you can listen to it by clicking on the link on the right side of the page.

thoughts from meredith at 6am

2008-07-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

from meredith:

my thoughts are scrambled at best this early in the morning, but i felt called to come and share my heart...so here i am. i haven't received any update from davey since last night...i know he was going home to spend some time with the kids & get some rest.

for those of you that couldn't make it to the prayer service, i wanted to give a little snapshot of what it was about. rob (pastor of TRC, elder w/ davey & life long friend of the bloom's) shared an update about where katie has come from & what concerns still lay ahead.

i will share these updates merely to give you a guide to what to pray for--you have to pinky promise to please continue to pray from the perspective of faith & hope. although this update below makes the natural perspective to want to think that things are grim, we already know that 'what is unseen is greater than what is seen' and we are to fix our eyes on what is UNSEEN (2 cor. 4:18-"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal").

-MRI scheduled for today(monday). doctors say katie has suffered from permanent brain damage, but they do not know to what extent. PRAYER FOCUS: continue to petition God for complete & total restoration of her brain & it's function. command life & regeneration of the brain & all it's functions in Jesus's name.

-the vessels in her next are crooked & twisted. some are weak, some are strong...it is a jumbled mess. the surgeron says he has only seen one other case that was this severe. there is no surgery to fix this--but he has seen a case where the vessels straighten out. rob said, "what can you bet that person was a christian and had something other than medicine working in their favor?" awesome God FAVOR! PRAYER FOCUS: continue to ask God for complete healing in this area of vessels in her neck. remind God that if He can move mountains, that He can straighten out a few vessels for our sister. (He loves to be reminded of His word-not that He forgets, but He delights in hearing his children speak His word...i can't find the reference for this verse, but i'll find it!)

the prayer service was emotional...but i would say it moved from sadness to hope throughout the service. we had some time of worship & then open mike time for those that wanted to share & pray. here are a couple passages that others shared.

psalm 32:5-8: "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."

eph. 3:14-21: "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."

john 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

psalm 63: "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary
land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."

romans 8:15-17: "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

there were many others that i didn't get written down. what is so amazing to me is that update that davey posted for sunday AM was right in line with how the mood changed in the service. if you haven't read that update, click here and then here.

i keep being reminded of that verse, "a prayer of a righteous man is powerful & effective." our thoughts, our quick prayers, our long prayers...they are all so effective in the restoration & healing of our dear Katie.

new blog

2008-07-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

hey all, i thought it best to switch over to a blog fully dedicated to Katie's progress & recovery. All the previous posts are linked in the right had column in order for those that need to catch up. I will keep a link on the confessions of a slacker mom site up in the right hand corner for those that are just 'tuning in' for updates.

once again, we are all so overwhelmed with the amount of love & support you have all shown the Bloom's. continue your prayers for Katie's complete & total restoration and recovery!

katie's progress

Going Home

Tuesday AM

Good News/Bad News

Uneventfull Night

Hello - New Post

Christmas Letter Update

NEW POST!

Wednesday morning

Radio Show

Wednesday Night

Update

Photos.....

Anniversary Update

Thursday evening

Wednesday morning

Surprise Birthday Results

Saturday evening

Thursday afternoon

Surprise party

Monday Night

Saturday afternoon

Thursday night

Wednesday afternoon

Tuesday afternoon

Update from Dawn

Monday am

New Room

Saturday Noon

Thursday Afternoon

Wednesday Evening

Tuesday night

Monday Night

Sunday Evening

Saturday Afternoon

Friday Afternoon

Thursday Noon

Tuesday Evening

Update

Update Urgent Prayer

URGENT PRAYER

Monday afternoon

Sunday afternoon

pictures from vacation 7/11 - 7/13

Saturday 11am

friday 2pm

update thursday morn-noon

post-surgery update

davey - wednesday noon

davey update-tuesday 5pm

tuesday update

from davey-monday afternoon update

from mark

update from meredith - late sunday night

update--sunday pm

saturday afternoon

saturday mid morning update

saturday am

update from davey--

update friday noon

FYI - a mini-update

oh man...

update thursday--high noon

thursday AM update

update-wed. afternoon

update of sorts...wed. AM

update from davey- tuesday AM

update 5:15-from davey

update-10:30am **updated**

thoughts from meredith at 6am

new blog

update-10:30am updated