Never Say Never

I have loved watching the Olympics. I enjoy watching the different venues, the skiing, the skating, bobsled, luge, and all the rest. I am fasinated and as I watch I ask myself, "How do they get their bodies to do those things?" I think even more than watching the events, I have loved the stories about the athletes. Many of these athletes have fought to be where they are. They have been badly injured, some have beat the odds to be on the olympic teams and some have lost loved ones. These athletes don't give up, they don't throw in the towel, they don't feel sorry for themselves, they just keep working, keep focused on their goals and get up and try again. They are all in Canada living their dream and doing what they love. Sometimes they mention that one of the athletes got their MoJo back or found their MoJo. I have wondered exactly what that is and wondered if I even have any MoJo! I as have struggled this last year, it has made me stop and think about what my goals and dreams are and what am willing to do to accomplish them. Just like these athletes we can always make a comeback. There are still things I can't do that I was able to do before the accident and I know what with hard work and determination I will be able to do those things again. We can get that Olympic attitude, the I won't give up, don't ever say never, just keep striving and working, attitude. Who knows we might even get our MoJo back. So remember to never, say never and like the saying goes, " With God nothing is impossible." We can do great things with His help, as He is the best coach you'll ever find!

1 Year Anniversary - January 22, 2010

Wow, can't believe that it's been one year since the car wreck. When we talk about things in the family it's always, that happened before the crash or after the crash! Our lives changed that day and we will forever remember that date. Jennifer had taken the time to plan a fun evening for all the adults in the family. She emailed everyone and called the Sandpiper, a really nice restaurant here in Idaho Falls, and made reservations for 5:00 pm on the 22nd.
Friday,January 22nd came, it was cold and snowy, and the doorbell rang about 11:30 am. When I went to the door, I saw Tory Alldridge getting back into the car, he & Ashley waved and then drove away. On my doorstep, I had a gift bag and a garbage bag. Inside the gift bag were 2 plaques & 2 wooded cubes. One plaque said, "Miracles Do Happen" and the other said, "We Have Shared Together the Blessings of God" One cube had the same design as the plaques and one had pictures of Neil and I on each side, tied with ribbon. Inside the garbage bag was a darling scrapbook with all the cards, letters, emails, pictures and memorabilia from the accident. She had made the nicest book, I was so touched and emotional. She had a letter in the front of it and when I started to read it, I cried. Stacey came just then and read the letter and looked at the book. She had come to do me a favor and cut my hair, which has gotten so curly since the accident it was driving me crazy. I was glad for the interruption and put the book away to read it by myself when no one else was around. Shayla brought her girls over for me to watch and I was glad to stay busy and play with them. Jenny & Jerod came over before they headed to the Sandpiper and brought me a gift. When I opened it, it was my leather jacket. I had received the jacket for Christmas 2008 and had it with me in the car the day of the accident. I had taken it off, and put it on the seat by me. I had not seen it since the accident. Jennifer had told me that she had it, it had a lot of glass all over it and she was getting all the glass out of the jacket. There was my jacket, all the glass was gone and I was so happy to see it again. That made me cry also, which made Jenny cry. What an emotional day already and we hadn't even gone to dinner yet! Neil and I went with Ashley and Tory to dinner and we had such a nice evening. Travus and Marci were there, Tricia (her hubby is a basketball coach and he had a game that night) Stacey, Jennifer & Jerod, Ryan & Marsi, Tyson & Shayla, Nick and Lisa, Ashley & Tory, My mom and Carlee (Stacey's daughter who was with us in the accident). We visited and laughed and were all so grateful to be together and all of us doing so well. Tricia had the rod taken out of her leg a couple of weeks before and she is doing really well, just taking it a little slower when she walks. A lot of us came back over to our house after dinner and visited. What a special day. I am grateful to Ashley for the time and effort that she put into making the scrapbook for me. It holds many memories, and as the first page in it says, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That saying really sums up how I feel about 2009. Many hard times, but also many blessings and good times. Thanks to my family and my Heavenly Father for all I have, I am truly blessed. To celebrate the anniversary, Neil and I are headed to Oahu, Hawaii with my brother Gregg, and his wife Anna. We are flying out of Idaho Falls, so as not to jinx our trip!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my moms birthday! Just wanted to make a quick post and tell her happy birthday!!! It is nothing short of a miracle that we were able to share this day with her. She is so amazing and we are thankful (daily) for her in our lives. Even though it is her birthday... she has given us the gift of her example and determination for life. We will treasure it always. Love you mom, all sixty years of you ;)

Mom is having some back pain, which is normal from the stint... but still isn't very fun :( Yesterday was a tough day for her, but thankfully she is feeling better today. That's a good birthday present I guess! No word on what the stone is made out of yet. She is scheduled to have the stint removed on Wednesday. They will take that out at the doctors office. She is SO glad about that. She says that once you get in that darn hospital... you can't get out!

A kidney stone!?

As if mom hasn't had enough fun this year... She thought she would top it off with a kidney stone. Between last week and this week she had three kidney stone attacks. Which means the stone was too big to make it out on its own, so it kept traveling back up to the kidney then back down to the ureter. Which causes an unspeakable amount of pain in the meantime. The last attack occurred at 3am on Tuesday morning, and she was in for a minor surgery at 11am that same day. Her docs decided that because the stone was a 8mm stone (OUCH) that they would go in and break it up and then insert a stint into the ureter to allow the stone or pieces of the stone to pass through with no pain (aaaahhhh). She was able to go home even that same day and is feeling great! She is up and moving and says she NEVER wants to do that again! They will send off the stone to see what it is made out of and hopefully tell her why her body made it and how to prevent her body from making more. She can't wait for that info :)

Drains, Drains go away!

I, Eja, am updating my blog. Ashley got me on the update place, so here goes. In June I finally got my last drain tube pulled out. I then waited for a week, went into the hospital for a CT scan. They wanted to see if the chest catheter was needed or if they could take that out. They looked and said, we'll take that out today. I now have no tubes! July and August have been good months for me. I only have the blood clot behind my left knee, but that's not been a big problem. I am feeling better everyday and able to go back to walking every morning and doing cooking and house cleaning, to certain extents. I have been so blessed!

I have wanted to send a big thank you for all the cards, phone calls, food,and money. They touched my heart and made me so appreciate people's thoughtfulness. Thanks for your prayers and fasting in my behalf. I can't tell you how much I have appreciated everything. I have been so humbled by all the kindnesses. I wonder how I would have ever made it through this hard time if not for all the caring family and friends I have. Wish I had words to express how grateful I am. Life is so good, I am enjoying getting back my strength. I have learned some very important lessons during these last 7 months. I hope I don't ever forget them or take life for granted.
,

A fast

Hello again. This Sunday is fast Sunday and we would be so grateful if you could please include Eja in your fast and prayers. Thank you soooo much for all of your concern, love, and support.

Inflammation, inflammation!

So sorry guys... life got a little crazy for a second there. Ok it still is crazy but I am making myself sit down and update all you poor souls out there who aren't getting the word about my sweet mom. Well, right now mom is having quite a problem with inflammation in her stomach, where her last surgery was done. Her doctors think that she started to do to much to soon, and now the muscle that was cut basically in half is inflamed. Bless her heart, she just started to feel so much better and was so tired of sitting. She thought doing a couple things around the house would be great! But her body didn't agree. With this inflammation comes a great deal of pain. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, she has been in a lot of pain. They took her in for a C.A.T. scan just to be sure that is what it was. They said the muscle is very inflamed and that everything else looked great. They started her on a new medicine yesterday that they are hoping will reduce that inflammation. She couldn't tell much difference yesterday, but today she felt much better. You could see that in her face. Poor little hunny! So- she currently has one drain tube, one tube that comes out of her chest (it is a stint placed in the liver, and can't come out until the drain tube comes out), and this inflammation. However, I have saved the best for last... her drain tube has been slowing way way down. It was producing anywhere from 75-100 ml every night. Then it was 50 for a while, then 35, 25, 20... and tonight was 5!!!! Yahoo!! We can't say for positive, but she will probably be able to get that out on Tuesday at her doctors apptmnt! She is sooooo excited about that. She says she won't know what to do with herself if she doesn't have any tubes coming out of her body. Right now, she packs it around in a cute little white bag that grandma Eva made her. It is a sight to behold. I'll put a pic on if she'll let me :) She can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. Now- we just need to get this inflammation under control and she just might get to be a normal woman again. She can't wait.
Ashley Alldridge

Down to just one ball!!

Mom went into see her doctor today and overall, the visit went well. He looked at the one drain ball that has not been draining for several days now and decided to remove it. So, she has only one drain now. We will just have to play the waiting game now and see when it stops so it can come out too.
She says she is a big girl now and has fired all her sitters as of last week. WOW! She is doing really great! She continues to do as much as she can and her strong will and faith are definitely what carry her. She really enjoys visiting so if you are around, maybe give a call or stop by.
Than you for all your support and love.

Mom keeps amazing us all! She got her turtle shell on and went upstairs to cook some gravy for her potatoes! That picture was taken on April 6th. Yesterday, she went on a walk to the corner and back. What an amazing woman!! She is currently fighting yet another bacterial infection with I.V. antibiotics but is doing quite well. It sure seems like infection is the name of the game. We have no idea as to why she keeps getting infections... nor does her medical team. They stay right on top of it though, thank goodness. Her back really hurts were she has so many broken bones and the problem is that she can't wear her turtle shell because it rubs on her incision from surgery, but if she doesn't wear it- then her back kills? she can't win for losing on that one! She is just as cheerful as ever though. What an inspiration she is to us.
She loves to see everyone so if you are in the area, drop by and say, Hello.

insurance won... Mom is home

Well... Mom did not have to stay in the hospital for the full course of her treatment after all. Her insurance company wouldn't pay for her to stay just to receive an antibiotic. The tricky part? The antibiotic has to be administered exactly every eight hours. So- mom was a little nervous to come home because then she had to depend on her kids and hubby to hook the medicine into her picc line three times a day! AAaaagghh! Home health still comes about three times a week, but they said they would not be coming three times a day to give her the meds, so they trained a couple of us kids how to do it. scary huh? She is looking so much better, and feeling so much better. She is very happy to be home. She will be on this antibiotic for about five more days and then they will re-evaluate and see if they need to continue or if they killed it. We hope for the second one!

Eja would like a "get out of jail free" card!!

This probably won't come as much of a suprise to most of you but...Eja is doing very well. She has been on a SUPER anti-biotic now for 3 days and seems to be fighting the infection great. She says she feels better now than before the operation so that is great to hear. Every day they put her through physical therapy a few times a day and that is going really well. Basically, she feels like she is in a high security prison where she can't leave, can't do things by herself, limited menu etc. She has been cracking jokes about being a jail-bird and we all laugh. They anticipate she will be there for about another week until the infection is gone. They will re-evaluate then and make a game plan accordingly.
Thanks to all of you for your continued love, prayers and support.

Day 3 after surgery

It has been a few days since Eja's last surgery and she is just fighting away! They have her out of the I.C.U. now and in a normal hospital room. Her organs and vital signs are looking great so far.
One slight set-back however...her doctors have found an infection. They are being very aggressive with it and have her on a VERY high-powered antibiotic. The largest inconvenience that she has with this is the fact that she must stay in the hospital for the full course of this treatment. We don't know right now just how long but her doctor said, "Don't be in a hurry to leave."
I spoke with one of her nurses today and she commented on what a trooper she is. We must agree!
As before, if you could keep Eja in your prayers, that will provide her with the strength that she needs and that can't come from anywhere else. Thank you so very much!

Eja had her surgery this morning. It took about 2.5 hours to do it. Her doctor was pleased with how everything went. He said that there was an incredible amount of infection present but was able to remove it all. A portion of the liver that was injured in the accident was also removed because it was not healing properly. Her gallbladder was removed also. Her doctor placed some additional drain tubes and does not anticipate any further complications. She is in the I.C.U. and will be there for probably a day and then she will need to stay in the hospital for an additional 4-5 days.
Thank you all for your love and prayers.

7 am surgery..

Mom met with her doctor today and as long as her blood levels are where they are supposed to be- they will operate on Thursday(3-26-09) morning at 7 am. The surgery will include: removing the gallbladder, cleaning up the liver (scraping all infection off, scraping off the dead portion that was damaged, they will not be cutting on the liver- just cleaning it up really well) removing any puss pockets of infection, and removing the drain tube that is currently in her side and placing one in her abdomen. Her doctor is very optimistic that this will really help the liver finally be on the road to recovery. She will be admitted to the hospital Wednesday and they will be doing blood tests all day to make sure that she is ready for surgery Thurs. morning. After the surgery she will have to stay for four-five days. She has gone through so much and we hope this will be the last operation she will have to endure! She is one tough cookie! Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. Mom is truly humbled by all the love and support that has been offered on her part. Thank You.

Yet another surgery...

When mom went in for her procedure last week, they were not able to place the drain tube because her blood was too thin. She takes Coumadin to keep her blood thin enough to fight the blood clots, however some of the other medicines she takes interacted with the Coumadin making her blood way too thin. It is back to where it should be now. They found a lot of infection so they did put a P.I.C.C. line in to administer a very strong antibiotic. They have also scheduled her for surgery on Thursday to remove her gallbladder and to place the drain tube that they were not able to place on Monday. Her gallbladder is full of infection and that is why they are removing it. She was feeling so yucky and having such high fevers, but she is feeling SOOO much better now. Yay! She's not exactly thrilled about having another surgery, but it's going to be good to get the infected gallbladder out and the other drain tube in to hopefully help the liver start to heal itself. You are such a trooper mom!

Over the past week or so Eja has been getting some pretty high fevers. Up until today, they could not figure out why. She had a CT scan this afternoon that showed an abcess on the back of her liver. Also, she has developed a bit of infection near an old drain site. Her doctors are going to perform a procedure in the morning at 7:00 a.m. to place an additional drain tube in attempt to aleviate the abcess and clear up the infection.
Once again, we would like you to join with us in thought as well as prayer for our Mom. Thank you all so much for your support.

Wow! It has been a while since we have updated the blog! Mom is doing so so good.
For those of you that are wondering about if you should visit her or not... you should! She is feeling so good now and loves to have company. It has been quite a trial for her to have to sit all day long. That is not something she is used to doing at all. So having company really helps take her mind off sitting!

She had a procedure done where they moved her drain tube that is connected to her liver from one spot to another with the hopes that it would slow down the drainage and hopefully come out sooner. It has been about two weeks since they have done that, and the drainage is slowing down a bit. That is great and she hopes that she will be able to get that out soon. She also still has the shunt placed on the other side of her liver, which has to be flushed everyday. She will be one happy woman when both of those will be ready to be removed. She was very excited the other day when she was able to get the lid of her cranberry juice all by herself. She hasn't quite worked up to her gatorade lid yet... that's a tough one. We have high hopes for you mom!

Eja has been home now for one week. What a week it has been! She definitely has been enjoying it. Her progress has been as constant as it has been in the past. We credit that to her being such a fighter! Her voice is better everytime that I hear her speak. She is such a sweet lady. Thanks you to all those who have provided meals. She sure can feel your love for her.
A few days ago, she noticed a tender spot in her lower leg. She told her medical team about it and she had an ultrasound to check it out. They did find two blood clots in her leg. Her doctor was very pleased that she has that filter near her heart to protect her from this becoming too serious. They put her on Coumidin and told her to keep fighting! Of course she will.
Thank you for all your love and prayers.

More on meals

A clarification about meals for the first two weeks Eja is home. We would like to give her children, siblings and extended family an opportunity if they wish.
Sorry about the ambiguous wording. Thank you so much!

Visitors and Dinners

Please make sure you look at the left side of the blog for some important things regarding Eja's visiting hours and meals.
For two weeks, we are reserving dinner time for the family and then we will keep you posted.
Thank you all for your love and support for this incredibly special woman!