A letter from Mary

Hi Everyone:

As you can all tell by Linda's post on Monday, Rick is progressing slow but sure through this unwelcome journey we are on.  He is working really hard with his occupational, physical and speech therapists. He has a lot more to do, but I am so proud of him and haven't doubted for one second he will recover from this.  The more "baby steps" Rick has, the closer we all are to having "Rick" back.  I have a few things to share with all of you.

First:  Thank you all so much for your continued Love, Support, Thoughts and Prayers for Rick, myself and our kids and grandkids.

Second:  I would like to share a story with all of you that has touched my heart today.  For the past 34 days I have asked Rick what he has eaten for lunch.  For most of these days he has told me he couldn't remember, or he didn't eat lunch.   2 days ago he told me he ate "food" (progress in my eyes).  Today he told me exactly what he ate for lunch.  This may not sound like much, but to me it meant the world.  Happy tears streamed down my cheeks over a Ham sandwich, some baked chips, chocolate pudding and a skim milk.  I will never look at Ham the same again.

Third:  My favorite quote has always been:  Live, Laugh, Love.  In addition to that quote, I have added:  Believe, Hope, Faith.

These  2 quotes and all of you have given me the strength to get though the past 37 days and will continue to do so.  For that, I Thank All Of You Very Much..

Love,

 Mary

What a difference a week makes!

Throughout his recovery process, Rick has always been able to speak and to recognize many of the people he knew before the accident. He has also been able to answer many questions presented to him correctly, some not correctly and some with a shrug of his shoulder or "I don't no." Yesterday was the first day that I visited that he actually engaged in conversation with those around him.

He was involved in the conversation.  Many times when we would see him, those around him would have conversations either about him or other subjects and he would either just stare ahead or go off on one of his rambling conversations about some obscure subject.  But yesterday he seemed to be listening in on those conversations and he made relevant comments.

During our visit, the Brewers vs Cardinals game was on and Rick sat in a chair and watched the game. If you remember the last time I visited, he had no interest in watching.  He read the score and even commented on the pitches, telling us when they were strikes.

Rick has been going outside for wheelchair rides around the hospital many times every day. Either one of his therapists or his family takes him around the block.  He really enjoys the change of scenery and has been less agitated about going  home. The fresh air really wipes him out and he has been sleeping better without the aid of medication.

Our children live very close to the hospital and when we were on our walk they came out and walked across the street to see Rick. Once they were close, he recognized them right away. They mentioned that they had been watching the baseball game and we asked them what the score was. Rick spoke up and announced, "Well it was 8-6 the last time I heard." It was so amazing that number one, he became involved in a conversation with seven other people and number two, he remembered the score of the game from when we were inside the hospital!

Our daughter  remembered that Rick loves strawberry ice cream and mentioned to Mary that a local ice cream shop was within walking distance. Rick said, "no, not today."
Ok Rick what would you like today?
"Coors light"

It was a wonderful visit and I was so happy for Rick and Mary and their family to finally see signs of real progress with Rick, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. While it is important to remain optimistic, Rick is still not completely healed, but his progress is starting to show.

His good friend Mikey also visited Rick on Sunday. Mikey is of Norwegian decent. His blond hair must have reminded Rick of one of his favorites shows, The Deadliest Catch and Captain Sig.  He sat down next to the bed and Rick looked at him and asked,
"So how's the crab fishing been?"

A Breath of Fresh Air

After having a rough day yesterday, today was a day full of positive events.  Today was the first day since he was transferred to Milwaukee, that Rick was allowed to go outside.  The weather even cooperated. It was warm and sunny and Rick's therapist took him outside for a while, during the day.

Later in the day, when Mary arrived, she also took him outside. He sat in his wheelchair and really seemed to enjoy the fact that he was able to finally see something other than the inside of a hospital.He was calm and relaxed when they decided to return inside.

Tomorrow, Rick's Occupational Therapist is planning some fun for him. She is very interested in softball, like Rick, and she coaches a team as well.  She is planning to bring a couple of gloves and  a ball.  She hopes that she can get him to throw the ball around a little bit.

Dale stopped in to see Rick this afternoon. He wanted to visit him and have some one on one time, since that is what seems to work better for getting positive interaction with Rick.  He still has a lot of healing to do, but there have been some really positive signs.

Dale was sitting next to him and Rick asked Dale if he had talked to Dale lately.
Dale said, "Dale who?"
Dale Boedeker.
Rick, I'm Dale Boedeker....

But then five minutes later they are talking about one of Rick's therapists. When asked what her name was, Rick responded, "Nicole....that's your daughter's name too."

Rick has a million dollar view of Lake Michigan from his room. He was standing looking out the window and Dale asked him how many sailboats are out there?
Two
That's right Rick, we should be out there drinking beer with a couple of girls in bikinis.
Rick just smiled ear to ear and replied,
"I usually go nude." :)

Recent Brain Scan

Last week, Mary met with the staff as usual on Thursday.  She was given a tentative release date of October 27, 2011 for Rick.  This only means that he will be discharged from Sacred Heart at St. Marys. They mentioned possibly transferring him to a Sub-acute facility for some more in-patient treatment and therapy.  It's a month away, so things can change a lot before that date.  I'll keep you posted.

Also, Rick had another brain scan done of his skull over the weekend. The results really didn't give Rick's family any more information than they had before.  He has multiple (10 or so) fractures of his skull.  Mary actually got to see this one and explained it to me this way. It looks like when you crack a hard boiled egg. There are many cracks running north and south and some are horizontal as well.
There is some fluid also that has accumulated, but not anything that they are going to do anything about at this time. They are simply going to continue to observe his behavior and will take another scan soon to monitor the fluid.

On a lighter note, Rick has been talking a lot about fishing lately. According to Mary, he watched most of the Packer game yesterday.


Saturday night, Dale and I were playing cribbage with some mutual friends of Rick and Mary.  Dale and Rick are legendary cribbage partners and they rarely lose. (hmmm) We texted Mary to let her know that we ladies beat the guys the first two games.  Rick's response was,
"I wonder why Dale didn't ask me to play?"  I think Dale and Rick owe us a re-match! Soon!

Midnight Snack

The other night someone didn't secure one of the screen panels in Rick's "tent" bed.  So about midnight he climbed out of bed, put his slippers on, and walked out of his room to the nurse's station, in the center area of the floor he is on.

The staff keeps a small refrigerator behind them stocked with cold food and drinks for themselves, patients and their families.  Rick walked right behind the desk, opened the fridge and helped himself to an ice cream cone!!  He took it back to his room and after eating it, went back to bed.

He had never been shown the fridge or told that he could have food from it.  The staff always brought it to him.  At one point, as he walking  the halls, he must have seen someone open the fridge.