Andrew's Recovery Part 7

Life Care Center of Littleton did not seem exciting to any of us.  The family was bummed that Andrew could no longer stay at Craig Hospital and a Skilled Nursing Facility did not seem like a good fit for some one weeks away from turning 31-years-old.  Andrew was by far the youngest person there; many other residents well into their 70th, 80th or 90th years of life.

Littleton was also even further away from every one, Craig had already been a long drive and we were adding an extra 30 mins.  LCCL was not even our first choice however they want to take him in and we liked that they wanted to work with him.  I had looked into another SNF and they had said they wanted to take him.  A nurse from that facility attended a family meeting by phone and then the next day I received  a call from the facility director telling me that Andrew's condition was "too critical" for them.  To this day we do not know what made them decide that.  It could have been the medical records. Since we were looking for Andrew's 5th facility we learned that medical information and history does not always transfer the same.  It took forever to get facts straight most the time, like that he was involved in an auto accident and was not on a motorcycle or he has two sons not a son and daughter.

At first even the kids did not like visiting LCCL.  Miles would cry and Avery would run around crazy getting lost in the figure 8 shaped building, unless of course it was ice cream parlor day.  It was tough on Andrew too.  Therapy now happened 7 days a week and then the rest of the time he was left bored watching TV. Cognitive therapy started to become easier however his math skills were still not even close to what they used to be.  He had to call me up on the phone to ask me how you solve 3 digit multiplication problems.... he used to help me with my college math.


Range of motions was staring to be less of a problem.  Andrew was also gaining strength in his arms to wheel himself to dinner in his wheelchair.  People enjoyed working with him and being in his company, his determination refreshing.

Andrew was once again allowed to come home (to his Dad's house) for Christmas.  This time he was able to transfer himself from his wheelchair to the couch to be more comfortable.  A few weeks later we celebrated his 31st birthday when I brought food from home to LCCL for the whole family.

Christmas time on the couch @ Dad's

Part 6 of Andrew's recovery

Part 6 of recovery is one of my 'favorite' parts.  Andrew was finally moved to Craig Hospital right before Halloween 2010.  Every one was excited for the move and I have to admit I was a little nervous.  While waiting for Craig Hospital to have an opening we learned of all the great outcomes that had come from Craig and I was hoping for the same thing for Andrew.

Craig Hospital specializes in TBI (traumatic brain injury) and spinal cord injuries.  It is a hospital that helps people regain their life. Craig helps people and their families recover and adapt into their new life.  I can't even describe the people and families we met while Andrew was there.  I enjoyed every visit and a lot of burden had lifted being around people who were going through the same things.  I did not care that I now had an hour drive to come visit. Craig hospital helped make staying in the hospital pleasant with activities and families were welcome to participate in those activities as well as therapy.

While at Craig the main focus with Andrew was adjusting medications, gaining range of motion and cognitive therapy for his TBI.  At first I think the cognitive therapy was the hardest for him.  He is a very smart man and learning new tasks and retaining information had never been a problem for him before.  He now knew this was a problem and I think knowing the problem was difficult for him.

At this point Andrew was also relearning how to feed himself, write, and to take care of his personal hygiene.  He was gaining strength and motion to wheel himself through that halls of Craig in his wheelchair.  Fatigue was still a problem and often other people would have to wheel him to therapy.

For the first time since May 11th 2010 Andrew was finally able to leave the hospital (on a pass) for something other than doctor visits.  A 3 day pass was given to Andrew for Thanksgiving; 6months and some days since the accident.  My father-in-law rented a van for the wheelchair and because there was no way we could bring him home (37 stairs just to get in) we took him to his dad's house.... the house he grew up in.  There were still some stairs however it was not 37 of them and Judy taught us how to safely get the wheelchair up and down a few steps.

The only downside to being at Craig was the short visit.  Because of our insurance Andrew was out before Christmas.  Even though the stay was helpful, Andrew's goal to walk had not happened... he had barely worked on standing.  We had no place to take him home to.  Sadly (at the time) we had to give in to a perk of our insurance and send Andrew to a Skilled Nursing Facility.  Our insurance allowed 100 days 100% covered and that was our only choice..... Part 7.

                                                Halloween at Craig

                                          Thanksgiving!

                                             Family in our Craig-made tie-dye shirts

From the archives!

I found this blog post on my facebook page. I thought it was funny. The title is Last Day of 2009.

 LAST DAY OF 2009

 On the last day of 2009, I find myself awake in Avery's twin bed with Miles poking my face. The dance of musical beds. Miles ends up in bed with us, then Avery... Avery kicks me out and squishes Miles, so Miles and I move to Avery's bed.

Soon after I wake up a diaperless toddler comes running in followed by a groggy husband that heads straight for the diaper box. As soon as I get up out of bed Avery starts saying "cochet cochet, yum yum" witch translates into chocolate chocolate, yum yum. Who does he think I am, chocolate for breakfast... ok so it worked one day last week when he learned being cute and saying chocolate meant his momma would give in. Sorry little boy no chocolate in the house, you ate it all. So he resorts to grabbing the Tigger PEZ dispenser his grandpa gave him for Christmas. "PEZ, PEZ!" Sorry kid you ate all the PEZ too, eat some cereal.

Later we get ready and go to the store. On the way to the car I have my hands full. I am trying to stop the toddler from eating the snow that someone finally sprinkled a blue icemelt on and trying not to drop the baby who also wants to play in the snow. Finally they are both in the car yippy.

Once at the store people politely offer me their cart as I walk through the parking lot... thanks but no thanks, I need the cart with the car in the front and the seat up top. While in the store a different situation people pushing through the isles like they are the only ones in the store and such. But I am happy that every child I hear crying through out the store is neither one of mine.... thank you very much.

All done at the store, leaving the parking lot on to a one way street... OH S*** LOOK OUT MORON YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!! No not me, some moron heading straight for me, I honk at him and stop and he waves at me and turns into the parking lot he came from, great!

At home both kids are sleeping in the car. Trip one: grab Miles, the box of wipes and one bag. Transfer sleeping Miles to crib. Trip two: grab Avery. Transfer sleeping Aver to bed. Trip three: grab three bags. Trip four grab the last two bags. (the bags are reusable canvas and packed full) Each trip has 20 + 3 + 14 steps, so 37 steps times 4 trips....

The kids stay asleep for me to put the groceries away... Miles is up but goes back to sleep after a snack... but both kids are up to interrupt Momma's soaps.

That's it so far.

Happy New Year

Part 5 of accdent recovery

After Andrew started talking a lot of things changed.  Up until then we had no idea what if any damage the stroke had caused.  The good new was that for sure without a doubt Andrew was awake and functioning.

In the beginning of this new stage Andrew often got confused. When asked how old he was he would say he was 23.  Then they would ask him when he was born, January 3rd 1980 (the right answer).  Then they would tell him it was 2010 and re-ask his age and he would still say he was 23.  He knew Avery and Miles were his childrens' names but would say he had 4 children.  He gave his dad's home address when asked what his home address was.

Sometimes he was searching for words. However, we were usually impressed at what he would come up with as a replacement.  For example Andrew wanted  his dad to shut the window shades and said "Can you help me with my outdoor illumination?"  

Next step was to get into Craig Hospital.  We found a giant hurdle.  Even though Andrew was mental ready for Craig Hospital his body was not.  His muscle tone was so tight he could barely move even with physical therapy.  This was because of the stroke.  The doctors increased a muscle relaxer called Baclofen and that seemed to help with the muscle tone.  Andrew's doctor discussed the possibility of a Baclofen pump.  This pump would be inserted into his abdomen and the medication would be delivered into his spine.  This way the medication would not have to travel through the blood stream when he would take it orally.  

Andrew decided to go for it.  The first steps of this process were horrible.  University Hospital was going to do the surgery and there was some miscommunication with Kindred.  University told Kindred that Andrew should not have any Balcofen in his system so they could do a test to see if the pump would work.  Instead of stepping the dose down slowly they took Andrew off the medication all at once.  They did not inform us that they were going to do this.  It was horrible, Andrew going through withdrawl.  He was hallucinating and getting angry that we did not believe him.  We were so angry when we learned why he was this way.  

The good new was the test showed Andrew was a good candidate for the pump.  He was back on the medication and we waited for the the surgery.  Finally in October the pump was in, the surgery healed and Andrew was on his way to Craig Hospital.  Memory was improving even though is was not perfect.  Things were getting there.

 Day 113 after accident (Location Kindred)

    Family visit - 1-year-old Miles sleeping on Daddy's bed.  (September 10, 2010)

 Almost 3-year-old Avery visiting with Daddy (above) and again sleeping Miles (below) September 30, 2010

Part 4 Andrew's recovery after accident

When the social worker at University Hospital had told me that Andrew was stable enough to move out of the ICU he had only been there 2 weeks.  I was really confused as to why we were moving him out of the hospital, however I was happy to know he was stable.

The social worker told me to look at Kindred Hospital.  She told me I could look other places if I wanted to, but Kindred was the best.  I took my in-laws with me and we went to Kindred.  The facility was older than University Hospital but I felt good about the move so we said ok.  It was now July.

My mom and I took the kids to the hospital to see Andrew.  Miles was sleeping, Avery was running around but Andrew was watching him.  Avery had his stuffed Ponyo toy.  Ponyo is a sweet movie if you have not seen it.  We think it brought Avery some comfort,  Ponyo is a magic fish and she has magical healing powers.  I had explained to Avery that his daddy was really hurt and was away to get better, and we think he brought Ponyo along for that reason.  The kids would come with me every now and again.  Kindred was called "Daddy's house." 


Then there was the day that I lost it.... the social worker at Kindred came to see me while I was visiting Andrew.  She had told me that they felt he was no longer improving and they wanted to move him to a new facility, a Skilled Nursing Facility.  This was in August now and exactly 3 months since the accident.  She said I needed to find one right away because they wanted to move him the very next week.  After she left the room I could help but cry hysterically, right in front of Andrew.  "I need you to get better."  I cried.  We knew he was understanding us and trying to communicate but they did not seem to see it.  They were not satisfied with his ability to nod to answer "yes".

Two days later my in-laws and I were scheduled to tour a SNF.   Deak, Andrew's dad, and I both stopped by Kindred first.  A nurse named Noelle came in to the room and surprised us by asking "Does he talk your ear off?"  He started to tell her that we have not heard him talk since before the accident.  "Oh he can talk," she said, "he can say 'hi'.  Say 'hi'  Andrew."

"Hi Noelle." he said.  Even Noelle was going to cry, he remembered her name.  He said even more, but we had to leave for our appointment to view the SNF.  We saw it and did not like it but that was ok we were now excited.  I had return home to the kids but I received a call from my mother-in-law telling me I needed to bring the kids and come back to Kindred.  As soon as I walked in the room the first thing Andrew said to me was "I love you." I am still crying about this one.

Andrew later told me that he thought he was talking to us the whole time, he did not know we could not hear him or that he was not talking.

 * 90 days after the accident while at Kindred.  This was before Andrew started talking.  I had just given him a hair cut.  This was also the first picture I took of him after the accident.

Part 3 - Andrew's accident.

Sorry I have not gotten around to posting the next part of this story.  I also apologize if I repeat anything I have already written or even leave out detail.  Another disclaimer, I don't reread before I post so please look past my typos and such.

So much happened and yet not much happened in this part of the story.  Andrew was still in a coma and the hospital was working on stabilizing his vital signs, his cranial pressure and his lungs. 

It seemed like months already but the cranial pressure monitor was finally removed 2 weeks later.  The next day they were able to do the tracheostomy and feeding tube and finally an MRI 2 over two weeks after the stroke.

One day before one month since the accident Andrew finally got surgery on his right femur.  The next day was supposed to be surgery on the left femur, however they found infection in the hip from the initial surgery a month before.  So the day was spent cleaning out the infection and the surgery was moved to 6/15.  After the surgery Andrew was now stable enough to move to University Hospital ICU and out of Denver Health SICU (surgical ICU). The move was due to insurance.  Most of us were happy about the move... it was something new... it meant he was recovering, he was near more people who could support him, he worked for University Hospital.  I had happy memories of University, both boys were born there.   

My worst memory of Denver Health was after Andrew was no longer a patient.  We had a finally meeting with Doctors who had treated him.  My mother-in-law was having a difficult time handling and processing all the had happened... I mean this was her 'baby' and I think we all get that.  At this meeting she asked "I want you to be honest, do you think he will recover?"  Most doctors gave an honest answer, they thought he would recover and be ok, but they had no way of knowing how much recovery.  What I am getting to though I could not believe, one woman looked directly into his mothers face and said. "If he recovers, he will never recover to the cognitive function he was before.  He may be a 'vegetable' for the rest of his life."  You don't say that to a fragile woman, to a fragile family.  I agreed with the others in the room... "we don't know, hope for the best, he has age and intelligence on his side."


Once stable at University Hospital the doctors took the sedation off. Slowly Andrew emerged from his coma.  Some of us could see his was there.  His eyes seemed to show expression even though the rest of him could not seem to move.  He also started to show signs of 'storming'  (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14998101) and we were told even though it looked bad it was a good sign.  This meant his brain was trying to heal.

I got to spend the whole day of our 7 year wedding anniversary at the hospital.  It was one of the best days so far during recovery.  I came in the room and had to walk in front of the bed and across the room to set my stuff down.  Andrew's head moved and he followed me as I moved across the room.  What an improvement.

After 41 days total in the ICU (DENVER HEALTH and UCH combined) Andrew was off the ventilator and stable enough to move facilities once again.  Next stop was Kindred Hospital.     

Andrew's accident pt 2.

After shock had set in, we finally started wondering what had happened.  Family members called to talk with the police officer that had called me on the day of the accident.  At the time he could only give us a little information because they were going to have to investigate... no witnesses.  He said he would let us know when the police report was finished and when we could come pick it up.  All he could tell us at that point was the accident was a head-on collision, the other vehicle was a Jeep Commander and where they towed the car.

I went with my dad to look at the car and retrieve items from it and also take pictures.  Many people were worried about me seeing the car, but I had too.  I had to see what the car looked like, why was Andrew hurt so badly?  I am debating about posting a picture of the car on here so after you read what happened you can show it to people who might need to see it.

The day I went to get the police report...  I was so angry that day, and the crazy thing about that was we did not have all the information then either.  First page gave me the name, date of birth, insurance, car type, ect. for the other driver along with the same for Andrew.  The other car was then called vehicle 1 and Andrew's vehicle 2.     The second page read:  Driver of  vehicle 1 stated that he 'was looking down at an address and he must have crossed the center line and hit'  vehicle 2.

LOOKING FOR AN ADDRESS!!!!! Later during the other drivers trial he also admitted to being on the phone, a business call, while on his way to a client meeting.  There is also strong speculation that the driver was speeding too.  The accident was on a frontage road next to I-270, a very curvy road.  The accident was right on a curve.  No one had seen it happen but some drivers who were approaching on I-270 saw debris flying in the air, pulled over and helped at the scene... a nurse and a former EMT.

Andrew does not remember what he was doing on the road that day.  We can only piece it together.  Our bank statement shows he got some lunch, and his work badge was at home. So maybe he was going to get his badge.


Sorry now I will backtrack a little.  Five days after the accident (May 16) was my graduation from Metro State.  I cancelled my party but decided to walk at graduation anyway.  I was thinking about not walking months before and Andrew said I had to and would regret no doing it... so then I felt I had to walk still.  I called to check up on Andrew in the morning and everything was the same, stable but still not enough.

I had my phone on me just in case, and I needed it.  People were walking on stage to get their diploma and my phone rings.  "Shawna, a nurse noticed that one of Andrew's pupils was dilated larger than the other.  We took him for a CT and he has possibly had a stroke and there is fluid on his brain.  We are calling to get verbal permission to place a monitoring device in his skull."  Soon after I was called up for my diploma.

At the hospital we learned that Andrew had suffered some mini strokes.  The strokes were caused from fat cells that got into the bloodstream.  The fat cells escaped from the breaks in femurs (long bones have fat cells).  Usually if that were to happen the lungs filter out the fat, and since Andrew's lings were so badly damaged they could not do the job and the cells went to the brain.  If you want to do more research look up the term 'fat emboli'.

So now I am in the part of the story where we are waiting for Andrew cranial pressure to stay normal.  The hospital staff can not lay him flat for long periods of time or his pressure would go up.  They still can not do the remaining operations on his legs because of his lungs and now the cranial pressure and not being able to lay him flat. Also because they can not lay him flat he also can not get a feeding tube into his stomach or have a tracheostomy so the breathing tubes are not continued to be shoved down his mouth.