Sunday, May 31

You know when you are running a Marathon some miles just seem to come so quickly and yet others seem like they will never come.

I would have to say at this stage in the running we have just completed mile marker no. 3 (I better remember that so I don't have to run that one all over again - cannot even imagine having to run the same mile 2x in the same day). And what a big one this one is:

Today, Sunday, May 31, 2009, a cap was placed on Deano's trach (yes I know it wasn't trace - corrected as soon as I realized). There are no words that I can find today to express how huge this feels for so many reasons.

First let me tell you something that I thought was pretty funny. My Dr. stories. Anyway, today when the Dr. walked in the room; he gave his standard "He's doing good" and I have been practicing to be okay with that. AND THEN, the Dr. says we are going to cap the trach today. I said to the Dr., "are you sure it's ok?" He then just looked at me and said "Yeah, I am pretty sure it is okay". Everyone there laughed.

So, now his throat and vocal cords can really begin to heal and we will know what the path will be with his language. And if everything starts to heal and he is swallowing then they can begin to orally introduce some nutritional liquids and then if he handles those well the feeding tube can be removed.

The cap will stay in place right now for emergencies and to allow Dean to be suctioned. If he does well over a period of time (don't really now what that is)then the cap can be removed and that hole will close up.

I am so excited about this. Huge, huge, huge step in his recovery.

Oh, and the more tubes that can be removed; the more rehabilitation work.

And today, Mark of Mark and Karen visited with Deano and Mark and Deano were having a conversation about music. Mark is going to burn a few CD's for Deano and was trying to find out what style of music he (Deano) enjoyed. So, Mark indicated to Deano 1 finger for Yes and 2 fingers for No. First question: Do you like electric (I think that's what it was) music? Dean held up 2 fingers (no). Now I wanted to make sure Deano understood. So, next question: Do you like the Who? (I already knew the answer to this question, of course). Dean held up 1 finger (yes). This is all great news. Did I mention how excited I am?

Aunt Sylvia and Papa John haven't seen Deano for 1-1/2 weeks and they noticed as did my Mom and Grandma Jo that when Deano smiles now more of the right side of his mouth is moving.

Oh, and Dean looks much more like Deano without the trach collar on.

I'm so excited; I'm about to loose control and I just can't hide it!!!! (I think the actual words were "and I think I like it"-Don't know if I am ready for that one yet)(Maybe tomorrow).

On a personal note this weekend was interesting for me because I had to get back to trying to live my life with Riley. We didn't have milk and I ran out of laundry detergent, etc. So, I had to make Costco run along with the super market and putting gas in my car, etc.....

P.S. Papa John I heard what you said :-) and sometimes we just don't have a choice.

P.S.S. Hey Uncle Jim (Colorado Uncle Jim not Seattle Uncle Jim), so much for the Loogies or was it Denver Nuggets. Well I guess we can say loogies now - good thing they were already home. Now they don't have to pout on the flight home.....To bad to sad :-()

Saturday, May 30

June Gloom already:

Something about this weather I just love.

Not much to say today.

Good evening everyone..................

Friday, May 29

Wow we are quickly approaching the end of another month.

Funny (not like haha more like ironic or should I say isn't it ironic) how I am measuring time on Deano time. Boy he should be laughing his ass off right about now. I cannot tell, however, if it (time that is) has stopped, slowed or accelerated.

I guess when you are running 26.2 miles the only thing you can do with time is run faster or slower (for what ever that is worth).

My mom and dad were with Dean today and Deano was sitting up again in his special chair.

When I saw him this evening I think he was tired and probably needing to rest.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Won't you be my neighbor. (Just thought I'd throw that one in)

Thursday, May 28

This afternoon when I saw Dean, I was suprised to see him sitting up in his room. Not by himself and in a special chair and sitting up. He was looking around and working on acclimating himself. They put him back in bed before I left and he had been sitting up for almost two hours.

Now when they put him in this chair we can take him outside for some fresh air.

Stay tuned................

Wednesday, May 27

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

And yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnn!!!

Deano definately not feeling well today.

That is it; that is all (just for tonight).

Tuesday, May 26

Here's the deal:

Since I seemed, to again, run out of lyrics it seems, I am now relating to sports (for all you sports fans out there). And I am thinking today might be more about the challenges I am faced with (and that in no way is intended to deminish the challenges facing Dean).

So I never played football and I was no good at basketball. So, since I have completed 3 marathons and 2 1/2 ones I figure running might make for some good analogies.

Okay so here goes it's race day (April 3) and the adrenaline is pumping and you are nervous and excited because you know you have trained for this day. Now I have only run the LA and it takes apprx. 15 - 20 just to get to the start of the race. The first couple of miles you have to make sure not to trip over anyone or anything.

Now this is where I am in the race right now: Probably, between miles 3 and 4 the crowd starts to break up and you are trying to get comfortable at your pace and the ipod (well actually not the ipod because I never ran a race with an ipod) so the walkman is set to the channel that is going to give the most bang for your buck and you are just settling in. And then, AND THEN, it happens, the chatter: omg this is going to be a long day, did I train hard enough, maybe I shouldn't have eaten that one cookie 3 months ago because I can feel it in my belly right now, do I have to pee or am I just nervous. Are you cut out for this or maybe I could just give up right now and catch the bus and that would be okay, no shame in that, I tried, and there is always next year. Why did I think I could do this. Omg I am already breathing hard and tired and then everything starts to hurt.

Okay so that is where I am at right now. Just had to get it out.

On a better note I saw one of the nurses this evening and she told me Deano said "Okay". What I couldn't get out of her was did he mouth it or was it an actual sound. No matter, I guess, Okay is Okay and he seems to be doing okay for now.

Riley had his AllStar game this evening and sad to say his team lost. A lot of his team mates from the regular season were on his all star team. And that team improved so much - one thing they needed to work on, however, was shooting from within the key (did I say that right). A lot of missed shots when everything you are shooting is from the 3 point lines. Anyway still very exciting to see Riley progress.

P.S. Thank you, Evan George, Ingraham High School, Class of 78 for the beautiful flower you sent to Dean.

P.S.S. Hey Uncle Jim, what did you say?????

Monday, May 25

Hey all you sports fans out there......

We have basketball, baseball and the French Open started this weekend and don't forget the LA Marathon:

So if we were playing football, I have been told that we are actually in the second quarter of the game. The first quarter being the life and death quarter and getting Deano stabilized. The second quarter is where we are now. And that would be working with Deano and attempting to remove all the tubes from his body, ie: feeding tube, trach, etc... The third quarter being total rehabilitation, learning to talk and walk and eat and reestablish Deano in everyday living and the fourth quarter would be he comes home and we all live happily ever after.

Depending on what sport you fancy and some sports have timed quarters; the difference here is that our quarters do not have a set amount of time and some quarters will take longer than others and, of course, I would want the fourth quarter (happily ever after) to last the longest. So if I was running a Marathon (and I have) I would say we were entering the part of the race where you have probably settled your nerves and you are just settling into your race pace and hopefully enjoying the cruz.

So these past couple of days we have not seen any big, big changes and that is good because we are not going backwards either. With the exception of the temperature he was running when he first transferred to his new "Sacred Place of Healing" he has been infection free and that is what he really needs right now. The respiratory specialists were taking the cap off the trach to suction some of the phlegm and the Dr. no longer wants them to do that. The Dr. believes Deano's cough is strong enough for him to cough it all the way out on his own. I don't know if I mentioned previously, the ventilator is not even in Dean's room.

Dean's attempts to verbally communicate are very visible now. We even took the lap top into him and that was a little frustrating for him - we need to try and get all the angles a little better for him.

Now that Riley can see all these fabulous signs of healing in his dad, Riley is really pushing Deano. I don't think he really understands with a brain injury all this is going to take time and his brain is still healing. Hell, I am 45 and I had no concept of this either. With all the things that Dean is trying to do, you or I can see that he is becoming more frustrated and rightly so.

So keep cheering and being in the stands or the playing field with us because Aunt Rose is absolutely right we all need the love and support.

Lets go defense...................................