The long awaited update

Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long, it just seems like the last few weeks are a blur. As for John, I left last wednesday so what I know now is what has been passed on. Before I left Portland he seemed to be doing pretty good. He had seemed to be getting really anxious, and on the monday before, they took him off the ventalator and he was breathing on his own completely, so he only had a mister that was over the trach blowing in good air. It was hard to know that I was leaving him and will not be able to be there to see and help in his progress. Before I left, I told him I was leaving and that he needed to work with all the people who were there to help him get better. He looked like he was trying to mouth something when I told him I would be leaving, and got frustrated. He can not talk even if he wanted to because he does have the trach. I got back to CO late wed night. After I left John got infection really bad and was running a temp of about 40degreesC. They took his drain out that was measuring his innercranial pressure which could have also been a major source of infection. He seemed to be lethargic since he had the infection, probably just his bodies way of trying to recover from it. They did move him to a different area called TRACU which is the step down unit for the Trauma ICU he was in, and will hopefully start with the recovery and therapy process. Our family and friends also worked to get him moved out of his house and into storage as his landlord was a pretty big jerk about it all. Other then that there hasn't been much other change that I am aware of. I talked to my mom tonight and he said he opened his eyes more tonight then he has since he got the infection. He goes for a MRI tomorrow. We are still praying and hoping for the best. John is a fighter and will all hope, by the end of this he will be as close to the John we all knew. Keep him in your prayers and thoughts. I will try to do better at updating now.

As for me, I made it home to AR. Halia did great considering all the traveling we have done in the last three weeks. We were in at least 7 different places in 15 days. We are worn out and glad to have made it home. I start back to work tomorrow.

Jake is doing good, he is doing base security at the base he is at. He said it is already really hot there and working outside he is getting a nice tan on his face and arms:)

I hope everyone is doing well. I will update again soon. I will also add pics that we did get on the trip. Halia is saying so many words now, she repeats everything we say. She is doing a lot of signs now. She is lots of fun, and growing up so fast. Now is just the task of getting her into her routine again.

I will write again soon.

Will update...

Hey all, sorry I have updated the last few days, honestly I was taking some time for me. I left Portland Wed and feel like I have been traveling constantly, so I spent some time with friends. I am in route to AR right now, so I will get back on tomorrow night and update all of the last week or so. Check back, and bare with me:)

Well everyday seems to bring something different. Starting Saturday John has started to open his eye and track us for a brief time. He also seems to follow commands like to squeeze our hand or point to let us know that he hears us, however not every time. The doctors remain optimistic that John will recover and wake up from the coma. They are still predicting he will stay in somewhat of a coma state for two to four weeks. The awakening portion of a coma is traumatic on patients and they go through periods of agitation and stress. He has had several times where he seems to want to say something or do something and just can't get it out or can't find the right words. He has had a few downs of course as well, but with each step forward there will probably be two steps back and we have to prepare ourselves for that. We are just trying to stay strong, and as hard as it is, give him the rest he needs in order to allow his body to heal, which means that we limit our visits.

Thats all the news for now. Thanks so much for all of the comments and prayers, etc. It is so nice to know that there are so many people who care, and the stronger our support system, the easier it will be for John to get better faster.

March 1 update

Well it is so hard to write and try to update or put into words how I am feeling. The last few days John has looked a lot better. He is not nearly as swollen, but we have been trying to let him rest more in hopes that he will come along and hopefully the more rest he gets the sooner he will wake up. We had some good news from the Coast Guard. He got his promotion and will be making chief, which is a huge step for him. They came in today and pinned on his pin for him and are doing a ceremony for him (with the family) on this coming Wednesday.

As for us, Jake made it to the desert and seems to be doing ok so far. He will be working three days on, one day off for the duration of his deployment.
As for Halia and I we are hanging in there. She has been really good under the circumstances and Emma(my bf) came to help out with Halia and be here for me. It has been great to have her with us and just have someone close. We spent last night in the ER(at the same hosp) with Halia because she fell at the hotel and hit her head on the side of the fireplace. The initial shock of it was upsetting and she cried, but we held her and bandaged it and she completely forgot about it, even in the waiting room. Then after two hrs of waiting they put some numbing cream on and put three stitches in. That was one of the hardest things as a mom to hold your baby who doesn't understand why she can't move and listen to her scream just because she was being held down. I think she was actually more afraid of just being held down than what was actually going on. She was a trooper though.
That's all the news for now, but I will update in the next day or two. Keep checking in on us and leave comments. Thanks to everyone who is praying for us and keeping us in your thoughts.

Another day....

another day (Feb 29th)
Well yesterday seemed to be the first day that I think everyone was kind of at ease with the situation, if thats possible. John looked good compared to what he had. A lot of the swelling went down in his face and hand especially, he seemed to respond more when we asked him to sqeeze our hand, and even seemed to get that half smile he gets. We are hoping each day will be improvement. Right now is just his way of catching up on all the sleep he doesn't get. I will continue to update.

Updates....

This crazy world...
As most of you know this week has kind of turned our worlds upside down. I had planned a trip to CO to visit friends and family because Jake was going to be deployed and I thought it would be nice to have the comfort of "home". Well last wed.(feb 20th) we recieved a call that John(my oldest brother) had had an accident and fallen down stairs and was in ICU in critical condition. He has severe head trauma and has remanined in a coma since the accident. Friday I left for CO and was there for a day, to fly to Portland on tuesday. We made it here and headed to the hosp to see him. I can't say I really knew what to expect, but you never think you will see your own family look like that. It becomes almost like it is not reality, like we are just going through the motions, but that it can not possibly be true and we will wake up to how things were. He has seemed to make some improvement over the last few days, but still remains in critical condition. He has had two surgeries, one a little more serious, that allowed for the pressure he had to have somewhere to go, and the other to help get the tubes out of his mouth by having other access. We are all praying for a miracle and that he will wake up and be on his way to recovery. But right now, it is just a waiting game, when and if he wakes up, then how he is neurologically when he does.
I want to thank everyone for the prayers and support. I am sorry I have not been able to get back to everyone as we can not use the phone in his room, and by the time we can it seems to be tedious to tell the same story over and over sometimes. Please feel free to call and I will return everyones calls as I can.
Please pray for a quick recovery, and God's grace and will be on him. Right now all any of us can do is pray.
Thank you for everyone who has helped and allowed for me to be out here, by watching the house, dogs, cats, etc. I appreciate you all more than you know.
Please also keep Jake in your prayers. He left Sunday, and make it to the middleeast yesterday. It was very hard for him to leave at this time, but unfortunately duty calls, and he is needed there. He will be gone for about 6-8 months, so I will keep you updated onthat as well.

How adorable is she?