November 23, 2006

Today we went as a family with Jesse over to some friends house for a very nice Thanksgiving dinner. This has to be the best Thanksgiving day ever for us.

Jesse won't go in to the rehab hospital until next week, but we do have some exercises to do with him here at home. They tire him out and his knee gets sore, but he is motivated to regain strength and range of motion so he is willing to work at it.

November 22, 2006

Jesse came home today! I (Jesse's dad) went in to Elks rehab to pick him up just before 9:30am. We had to take care of the discharge stuff, get his belongings, and then get over to the orthopaedic surgeons office by 10:30am. It had been two weeks since Jesse's heel surgery and it was time to take x-rays and remove the stitches.

Boy, Jesse has another railroad track of a scar. This one runs along his foot and then up the side of the heel. The x-rays show that the heel is heeling well and so is the his femur. (I'll comment here that the amount of titanium in Jesse is most impressive.) The difficulty may be in Jesse's elbow. Brain injury patients create lots of bone around injuries and that is happening in the elbow. This extra new bone seems to be limiting Jesse's range of motion in his arm. Only time will tell how the arm ends up.

Jesse's speech therapist tells us that he continues to make really good progress. She will continue to work with him and test him.

The goal of the inpatient rehab was to get Jesse well enough to come home. Now, the goal of his rehab is get him as funtional as possible...with the end goal of him returning to school.

We rejoice and give all praise and honor and glory to our Lord Jesus. He didn't have to let Jesse survive the accident, but he did. One prayer that Jesse is asking God is why, what plan or purpose does He have for him. God will answer that prayer.

November 19, 2006

Yesterday I (Jesse's dad) was able to take Jesse out for a drive. He had learned how to get into a car on his own using a sliding board from the wheel chair into the car. We had a nice time just driving around Boise while we talked. We are getting excited about Jesse coming home this Wednesday.

A friend of the family made a ramp from the entrance walkway up to our front door. That was a great blessing since I don't have wood working tools. Jesse continues to improve. He does get tired easily though. His brain is still working quite hard to remake connections that were lost in the accident and that energy takes its toll on Jesse. His therapist told him that he should expect to tire easily for quite some time. The time frame for most brain trauma patients to get their energy back is at least a year. Jesse's therapist thinks that because he is recovering more rapidly than most that time frame might be shortened somewhat. Tomorrow Jesse's mom and I go into the Idaho Elks Rehab for a few hours of training to prepare us for bringing him home.

November 15, 2006

Yesterday we learned that the Idaho Elks Rehab wants to plan to send Jesse home with us next Wednesday the 22nd. They have ordered a wheel chair that will fit him well. Debbie and I (Jesse's mom and dad) have to go in to the Idaho Elks Rehab for several hours of training to make sure that we will be able to care for him. This Thanksgiving home coming will be very special for us all. We truly give all the honor and glory to our most wonderful Lord Jesus for helping Jesse get better.

November 12, 2006

Yesterday I gave Jesse a haircut and helped him with a shower again. He continues to make progress, although it will still take a while before we can bring him home with us. I found our game of Abalone (It's a great strategy game that you play with marbles on a board...) and I played Jesse. I beat him. I will have to savor the win, because I fear that he will soon be back to beating me with ease. I took him outside for a short stroll too. That is when I took the picture of him in front of the Idaho Elks Rehab. I wanted to share some pictures too of the hospital where he was in California and of some of the people who came to visit him.

This is Arrowhead Regional Medical Center where Jesse was for 3 weeks...

This is the helocopter pad where he would have come in that Sunday morning...

These are Mr and Mrs Casey who came to visit...

This is Jesse in front of the Idaho Elks with his fresh haircut

Brooke and Roy visiting Jesse at Arrowhead

Josh and his friend visiting

The Dawson gals visiting

November 10, 2006

Last night I was able to help Jesse with a shower. It was the first real bath he has had since the accident. He really felt better afterwards to be actually clean, not like when he would have sponge baths earlier. From my perspective I flashed back to the very first time I helped Jesse with a shower. It was in La Ceiba Honduras. We had left the remote base of Ahuas where we lived to come out to the city for a weekend get-away and the hotel didn't have bath tubs...only showers. That was eighteen years ago. I never thought I'd be helping Jesse like this again, but I am so very grateful for the opportunity to do so.

Idaho Elks Jesse in the Rehab Hospital plane on

at night way up to
Boise

Jesse's mom and

sister Hannah
when he first

arrives at

Idaho Elks

Jesse's first

excursion

with us in a

wheel chair

November 8, 2006

Debbie and I (Jesse's dad) met yesterday with the rehabilitation team at Elks. I'll try to relate the highlights here. Basically, Jesse is doing quite well. There is a thing called the Rancho Scale. It comes from Rancho Los Amigos rehabilitation hospital in Downey. It is a cognitive scale and runs from 1-8. Jesse's speech therapist puts Jesse at a 7. He is tracking and his memory is improving daily. There is still work to go, but she is very encouraged. The rehab team hadn't realized why we had asked for an evaluation from a neuro-opthamologist, but when we told them that his vision had really come and gone when he was at Arrowhead they told us that they would watch for more symptoms. Since he can now put weight on his left leg the Physical therapist thought training him in getting into and out of a wheel chair and how to get around in it would go better. The neuro-psychologist thought that Jesse was doing well too. He asked what kind of student Jesse had been and then he mentioned that it might be a bit of a rush for Jesse to get back to UCR by the spring quarter, but that he thought it a very doable goal for Jesse to get back there by the fall. We asked about helping him with driving, and that is something that they do also.

Right now Jesse is feeling a fair amount of pain from the repair to his right heel. That should ease some over the next few days. He will see the orthopeadic surgeon in two weeks and then he'll remove the stiches from that wound.

We are so amazed about how good God is. We do indeed thank and praise Him. Thank you too to all who have been such a great support to us this past month. We love you all...

November 7, 2006

Yesterday Jesse had surgery on his right heel.

Idaho Elks Rehab asked us if we had an orthopeadic doctor here to look after Jesse. We told them no and so they found a good one for us. He basically told us that, after looking at Jesse's x-rays from Arrowhead and taking a new cat-scan of his foot, he didn't want Jesse to have to put up with a foot that could be repaired. Jesse was a good candidate and so he went in and put back the heel bone into the shape it was supposed to be. The operation lasted about 3 1/2 hours. I was very glad to hear Jesse's voice when he finally came up to his room. Jesse is at St. Alphonsus, which is about a 15 minute drive from Elks Rehab. Hopefully he'll go back to Elks this afternoon.

This doctor is more aggresive/proactive than the doctors in California. A couple of other things came up as he was examining Jesse and talking with me about his treatment at Arrowhead. One concerned Jesse's elbow. He wanted to take the brace off so that Jesse could move his elbow and wrist as much as possible. The other concerned Jesse's knee. The brace that Jesse had been wearing for lateral stability apparantly has done its job, because there was no lateral instability in Jesse's knee now. It does appear that Jesse has PCL damage to his knee though and the doctor is concerned about general damage to the joint (sorry that I can't remember exactly what it was he told me...). He ordered an MRI of Jesse's knee to that he could evaluate the soft tissue damage. The Doc told me that he looked at a film of Jesse's femur while in surgery and he thought it was looking good. He told me that brain injury patients often make bone quicker than otherwise. He is considering letting Jesse put some weight on his left leg. Not that he can walk yet, he is still non-weight bearing on his left arm and right foot, but so that it would be easier for him to transfer into and out of a wheel chair.

I'll write more as soon as I can. Debbie and I (Jesse's mom and dad) have an appointment today with the Rehab team. I think that this is where they'll talk to us about their evaluation of him and their treatment plan.

We continue to give glory to our God for the wonderful gift of Jesse to us. He is not ours to keep. We know that. He is really merely on loan to us from God. We do bless the Lord for what He is doing. God is so good...and He doesn't have to be you know. We don't deserve any of his blessings, but we are truly grateful. Praise the Lord.

Email from Jesse

Jesse sent an email out on Friday. I though it would be encouraging for you guys to see what he wrote. So I'm posting it here (with his permission):

Hello friends!

Thank you for being so caring for me, and talking to me and visiting. I really appreciate it. My mom actually helped me get a hold of your guys' addresses online today, which made me really happy.

I just wanted to give a special thanks to my roommate Roy Tinker for putting up a blog online for me that people can look up whenever they want to. I am really thankful for him and his thoughtfulness.

Well everybody, I am ok and am just in a hospital for a while, and I can't wait to see you all when I get back to California. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think I have missed, because my address book was rather barren.

Thank you so much everyone, and I can't wait to see you all later. Take care!

Jesse

Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. (from Psalm 118, NIV)

November 4, 2006

This is Jesse's dad speaking. Since Jesse is now up here in Idaho I am going to try to keep this blog current.

I will start my contributions by backing up somewhat in the story. Our current situation back here in Idaho owes many thanks to our Lord for little things that happened along the way.

My first knowledge of Jesse's accident came as we got home from church on October the 8th. There was a message on our phone from Arrowhead and also a message from Lee, one of Jesse's room mates. As Debbie and Hannah and I began to process the information a numb sort of reality began to set in. I called my younger sister in San Diego and asked if she might be able to meet me...for what I didn't really know. I was able to catch a flight that evening and got to Arrowhead by 10:0pm. Jesse was still in surgery...he went in at 6:00pm. We waited till 3:00am when we saw him being brought into ICU. The orthopeadic surgeon told us about his injuries and what they had done to repair them. But, I remember as I walked back to see my son that I really wondered if that was going to be the last I would see him. I do remember telling our Lord that if He wanted to call Jesse home that it was okay with me, but if He wanted him to still live then that would okay with me too. I found myself ever so thankful for the nineteen years God had given us together. I did, and still do, praise God for the gift Jesse has been.

Well, the next day (Monday) Roy's parents were talking with me and they mentioned that they had a friend who was a neuro-surgeon. I asked them if they would mind asking him if there might be something I might ask or do? As a layman in this situation for the very first time I knew that I didn't even know what questions to ask. Richard (Roy's dad) did call him and he talked with me and said he would drop by for a visit!

On Tuesday the 10th Dr Rouhe came into our lives. He listened as I told him how Jesse came into the hospital at a 3 on the Glascow Coma Scale, had improved to a 9 and then slipped to a 5. He asked the nurse a few questions and watched Jesse's reaction to a few things. Then he told me that it was not unusual for someone to get worse before they got better and that he thought Jesse would be fine! I was afraid to believe him. He later told us that very few people recover from this deep of a coma and that we were seeing a miracle. I am okay with miracles.

It was the next day the 11th that Jesse was able to give a "thumbs up" to a verbal command and shortly after I got a call from Arrowhead's neuro-surgeon telling me that she thought Jesse would recover fully!

Dr Rouhe came to see Jesse and us one last time shortly after he had been transferred to a regular hospital room. As we mentioned our desire to get back to Idaho soon if possible Dr Rouhe mentioned that he had a friend who was a neuro surgeon in Boise. I called him asking for his thoughts on Rehab possibilities in Idaho compared with Loma Linda. He told me that he thought rehab was good in Idaho and as he heard about Jesse's story and that we work with MAF he offered to help in any way he could.

It was because of the Lord's leading to contact Dr Rouhe for advice and his mention of a friend in Boise that we found out about Idaho Elks Rehab Hospital. They were able to admit him and there he is today.

I want to express our deep gratitude and appreciation to my manager at MAF Paul Bergen (and many others too) for all of his/thier work in coordinating an airplane ride so that Jesse could enter rehab in Idaho.

I will give a recap of our journey this past Monday from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center to Idaho. I signed Jesse's discharge papers about 8:15am Monday and the non-emergency stretcher-van transport picked him up just a few minutes later. I went with Jesse in the van to San Bernardino airport where we were expecting an air ambulance from Boise to take Jesse and me to Idaho. The airplane showed up and we were able to get Jesse into the plane and then load all of his personal belongings from his apartment in the plane as well.

One important consideration for Jesse right now is whether he needs surgery for his right heel fracture. He had a cat scan yesterday and they'll let us know tomorrow if he needs an operation. He continues to improve and we continue to give God the glory. He allowed Jesse to live when He didn't have to.

Friday, November 3, 2006

Today Jesse sent an email to several of his friends. I emailed him to ask if I could post part of it on here. Other than that, I haven't heard anything since Monday about how he's doing. He wrote that he's grateful for all the people that have visited him and talked with him, and he's looking forward to seeing everyone again when he comes back to California.

I found a short poem by John Piper about the grace of God:

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,
Nor flight from all distress, but this:
The grace that orders our trouble and pain,
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

Thank God for the grace he has shown to Jesse. God is so good!

Finally, I have pictures from last weekend. Here goes:


Jesse with cousin Melanie and her daughter Sydney


Jesse with cousins


Jesse with roommate Roy


Jesse with cousin Cameron

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done (from Psalm 118, NIV).