Hi Everyone It's already Labor Day weekend. We've seen Valentines Day , St.Patricks Day, Easter, Memorial Day ( Chris' Birthday ) ,4th of July and now Labor Day - and Chris has missed them all. Please don't ever forget the good looking, quiet, calm young man that was Chris. Time may continue to hurry by - but he'll always be with us. And God willing be the same as he was before Feb. the 9th. It's been a traumatic day . Chris had a seizure at 2:00 pm as we were getting him up for therapy. I don't know what happened or why. It was awful for me & my mom & Glorie ( she's visiting ) . I had never seen a seizure before. I hope I never see one again. My poor Chris. It was extremely sad. So we didn't get to parcipate in the afternoon therapy. The morning was uneventful. He tasted a few items & sat up again. So he is getting some things done with some consistency. Lab reports were normal today - that is good. But his doctors continue to take blood every day for tests. Barb |
Hi Everyone We continue to have good days. Chris is not doing amazing things nor is he actually out of his coma. But he is making small steps that continue to please us. Of course we would all love it if he started following commands consistently but I know that will happen. There are certain goals that Chris is supposed to reach. One of them is to sit unaided for 3-5 minutes. Today he sat up for over 3 minutes. He is also doing very well with his breathing Do. Brown says he can change his track soon to something a little more comfortable. Chris and I had several visitors lately. Thanks to Delores & to my mom for keeping me company & helping. Thanks Margie ( NASCAR ) and Bob Gardner ( El Cajn ) for visiting & for E-Mail. All this support is greatly appreciated by all of us. We're looking forward to more visitors this weekend. I don't know how long it will take but we are encouraged by his small gains. Barb |
Good Morning Wednesday 8/2797 Last night at 11:00 the charge nurse comes in to tell me that Dr. Friedman ( Chris interest ) is calling to check on him and to put in an order to remove his IV ! All of Chris' doctors are so concerned and so responsive. I can't tell you how much we appreciate them.They've be come as close to us as family and friends. If ever you need a hospital an staff that you truly can have faith in - this is it. Chris' recovery will be a direct result of their skill an love and your Prayers & Love Barb
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Good Morning And it was a Good Morning - Chris had a wonderful day yesterday. He was wide awake during his therapy - even in the morning. That was great in itself ! But , he also had 6-7 bites of chocolate pudding and 1/2 of an otter pop!. He took bites and swallowed immediately. But the exciting thing was - he was sitting at the edge of the exercise mat unaided. He looked so wonderful sitting up straight with no one holding him up. The therapists were really happy. Chris has certain goals to meet and yesterday he was meeting them and passed them. I hope today will be even better. Us Mothers never satisfied !. His lab reports continue to baffle his doctors . They are still off the mark they indicate a heavy blood loss, but he has not lost any veintle blood nor is he pale or listless. More tests today. I'm taking this time to thank everyone for their cards, donations, visits, E-Mail ( I love it -hi Cretia ) prayers, phone calls, your constant faith without you I would be lost. Barb |
Hi everyone! Sorry there was no fax yesterday. We had a stressful day. All of Chris' lab reports were "not normal" and he was making a lot of noise-moaning and groaning and we weren't sure why he was doing it. We don't know if he's in pain or if he is discovering his voice or what. But, we didn't have a very good day and I didn't pass that on to all of you. This was on Wednesday. On Thursday, his labs looked a little better. He was still groaning almost constantly. But, there didn't appear to be a medical reason. One of his doctors said it could be a good sign-that maybe he was trying harder to come out of his "cage." I certainly hope so. In any case, he did very well in therapy. Delores and I were very happy with him sitting up and making many different sounds. It was so nice having Delores visit all week. Taking care of Chris is a lot of work-but we all do it out of love. |
Hi Everybody! We had a good day Monday. Chris had no health problems and he was alert most of the day. The morning was not very productive, but the afternoon was. Delores, Chuck's sister, is here with me now-she's from Milwaukee. Chris was awake all the time. Since he passed his swallowing tests last week, the morning staff gave him macaroni and cheese to taste. He was too sleepy to do much. He did take one bite , chewed and swallowed. But, at the 2:00 he ATE applesauce-several bites-and he sat up on the side of the exercise mat for over a minute. He sat very straight with his head up and very alert! It was great. So we are all very excited. We are making small steps here-hoping to back into the agitation phase. So far we haven't seen any evidence of that. Soon I hope. Barb |
Good Morning: I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Summer will be over before we know it. So get out, go somewhere, have fun, and be happy. We had a good weekend. Chris had company from home. Deanna and Julia came on Saturday and brought him ginger sauce from the Geishe restaurant, which you all know is one of his favorites. It is our Chris Trickle Birthday Party place for the last 6 years, excluding this past May. But with God's help we'll all be there next May for his birthday. Anyway, he got to taster the ginger sauce and eat a little bit of a blue otter pop. He did really well with chewing and swallowing. But, the great thing was his "talking"! Actually, he doesn't make words, but he's trying. Sometimes we're all sure he is saying real words. On Sunday, Chuck's sister Delores came from Milwaukee. She'll be my helper all week. It's so good to have her here. Love, Barb |
Hi All: Chris had his swallowing test yesterday. It was actually on x-ray of his head and throat and it was projected to a monitor and recorded on video tape. He took the berium from the teaspoon with no trouble. We were all watching the monitor and guess what? He swallowed beautifully! The solution passed exactly where it was supposed to! The whole room was so excited. Three people from the unit had test today - at least one did not pass. Hardly ever do brain injury people pass the first time. Bill Wishard, he was in the next room last year (he always comes to see Chris) came to visit and he said it took him several times to pass. He has been recovering for 3 years. He organized the 1984 Olympics in L.A. He no longer can handle a large job like that one, but he does work now, walks, talks and everything. Today was a really good day. I hope it continues. Love Barb |
Good Morning: Our day was full of analyzing lab reports from Tuesday and Wednesday. Chris had a fever on Tuesday morning and all the doctors went into action to run all tests so they could nip any problems before he experienced any major difficulties. There were some adjustments made to medications and all seems well today. He may have had some bronchitis showing up on Tuesday. It's so hard for the doctors to really track what goes on with Chris. There are so many things that can happen with an injury like his. We had good therapy sessions today. He "practiced" taking "slushy" orange juice from a spoon. He is scheduled for a swallowing video tomorrow. This means they will be tracking some liquid to be sure it is going to his stomach and not his lungs. It is a big step towards actually eating. We're all anxious to see how he does. But, in confident he will pass with no problem. Barb |
Good Morning Everyone: Sorry that I've missed a couple days. I was in Las Vegas on Monday. A member of Chris's rehab team from the hospital here and Chuck and I visited 2 hospitals in Las Vegas. When Chris is able to communicate and talk we may move him back to town. We didn't know when that may be. We had an extremely exciting weekend. On Friday Chris started to really use his voice. He was certainly letting his therapists know he did not like what they were doing to him. It was so loud you could hear him all over the unit! Then he started throwing his body in all directions. We had to line his bed with pillows. It was exciting because as brain injury people wake up from a coma they go into a phase called agitation. They can be very loud and very abusive. They may spit, swear, and be obnoxious. Chris was doing all these things. We just couldn't understand him. Now he is calm again, but we expect he will start again. I hope it is soon, I want him to wake up!! |
Hi Everyone: Tomorrow marks 6 months since Chris was hurt. Once again it's so difficult to believe. The night it happened is so fresh in my mind. I remember every minute of that night. But, I truly hope Chris never remembers a thing that happened that night. It would be horrible if he spent the rest of his life remembering how he got hurt. Chris did really well today. Early this morning they drew blood and ran several tests. Then adjusted the medicines accordingly, all lab results were in the normal range and his x-ray of his lungs was good. His gay reflex and his ability to protect his air ways worked perfectly and he is well now. During the day he stood in the standing frame and ate about _ of a blue otter pop. He actually took 2 bites, chewed and swallowed spontaneously. We were very excited. In the afternoon session he had another otter pop and made lots of noise. Everyone thinks something will happen soon. Barb |
Good Morning: Well today we've gone our 1 step forward and 3 steps back. Chris was pretty healthy this morning but still pretty lethargic because of the change from Delatin to Tegretol. Due to some lab tests it was decided to add 2 extra doses of medication within a couple hours of each other. Chris's stomach couldn't handle it and he had some activity similar to a seizure and started vomiting. Since his trach was capped he may have aspirated (fluid into the lungs resulting in pneumonia). We'll know by tomorrow when another X-ray is taken. It's actually 1:00 a.m. and I'm still in his room. He's vomited twice and I'm to nervous to go to the motor home. But I need to go and sleep because the doctors are aware and will be here early. Before the medicine problem we were having a good day. He stood in the standing frame and sat on the edge of the mat and held himself up several minutes. He is also cleared to brush with toothpaste! Isn't that amazing? We live in a crazy world where this is possible. Barb |
Hi Everybody, I hope you all are having a good summer. I really miss the heat of Las Vegas. But, this past week has been more like home. The temperature here is in the 90's so I am happier. Everyone else is melting. Everyday we try and try to get Chris to recognize sounds, sights, or touch. We made popscicles for him to taste and today he actually took two good bites out of an orange gatoraide one. Boy, did he have a surprised look on his face. We also brushed his teeth today with actual toothpaste! He's not in so much danger of aspirating. Isn't it strange to be talking about such a simple thing as brushing teeth. Every little small item we take for granted will have to be re-learned. We thought Chris could not smell but tonight when one of the nurses had a piece of pizza and held it up to his nose he started smacking his lips! Who knows! Barb |
Hi, Chris and I have had a long day. The first therapy session this morning was not eventful. Chris was still sleepy looking and did not do anything new or different. But he did repeat things he was already doing. Such as rolling onto his back by himself and using his torso muscles to maintain a sitting position. During PT, Tish, Dina and her daughter came. It was good to see them. They worked with Chris for about an hour to get him to try to do a peace sign. I'm sure we've all seen him "flash" up that peace sign to someone. It's a Chris Trickle thing. During the 2nd session the therapists worked with Chris with items familiar to him like a tennis ball, the steering wheel of his car and a "sheetie" - also a bottle of water. None of that was real successful. So, they are making medication changes during the next 3 days. By Friday we should see an increase in alertness. We never want him to reach a level and not go higher. Barb |
Another Monday - Another week. Happy Birthday Gloria - Be Good to Yourself. It's actually Sunday night. Chuck and I just finished putting Chris on his side and getting him settled for the night. He's a little more alert. But, he's still not back to where he was the beginning of last week. Hopefully, tomorrow morning we'll find him wide eyed and really awake. His does of dilatin has been adjusted and we'll see what happens. It's finally warm here. Sami and Talina were here for the weekend and we enjoyed a "full" day and night at Disneyland. Chris had pretty good therapy sessions on Friday and Saturday. He did sit at the edge of the work out mat with his feet on the floor. He was able to hold himself up for a couple of minutes. On Saturday he stood in the standing frame and took a couple good bites from a Dr. Pepper popsicle. He had "rare" friends visit this weekend. Bob Garner (El Cajon - Thanks for the cookies). Nick and John (Bakersfield), an John and Marge Higly (Las Vegas Speedway). Thank you all. Barb |
Good Morning: Another month has passed. It's really hard to believe our lives could be going like this. Soon it will be August the 9th and it will mark 6 long months. We never would have been able to maintain this long without the support and love of our friends and family - and our employees and our customers. In case we've not said thank you recently - Thank you all. It's really hard to read Chris today. He was so mellow and quiet all day. So much that we couldn't get him to participate in therapy today because he was so sleepy. We may have to call his surgeon and get a cat scan to be sure we don't have a problem with the shunt. Late this afternoon while Chuck and I went to eat, his nurse came in and asked Christ for a "High Five" - There were 2 nurses in his room - he raised his hand for a High Five and squeezed her hand on command! You just never know when he'll do something. We really need it to be continuous. Love to all - Barb |