After Dad wheeled himself 56 Feet from his room to the end of the hall & into the therapy room, he continued to impress us with his arm strength. This is like a pedaling machine but with your arms. Josh told Dad to try & do 2 pedals...So Dad went ahead & did this for 3min. straight! It was a HUGE day for all of us! All the nurses & therapists were coming over & congratulating Dad for his accomplishments! Thank you for working so hard Dad!!! We love you so much!

This is the video I took of Dad yesterday Feb. 26th. Like Sonja Added in the post below, he worked SUPER hard, & we were all so HAPPY and PROUD of Dad! The Occupational Therapist was Josh...LOVE him! He was so great at encouraging & pushing Dad to accomplish this! Dad said that the day before he got so tired & dizzy that he passed out, and he has never done anything like this so far. To see him push himself this far was amazing! He says that having his family there to encourage & support him helps sooo much!!! WAY TO GO DAD!!!

The gigantic wheelchair milestone

Yesterday was a big day for Dad. He wheeled himself from one end of the hall to the other end. Amberlie and her 2 daughters were here to cheer Dad on and encourage him to "go,go,go!!!" HE DID IT! Today is Friday, Dad is very excited with his progress. His nurse told me how well he is doing and all that he's accomplishing. His positive attitude has been KEY to his progress! Dad says that he's working really hard and is soooo appreciative to all of his nurses and physical therapists for EVERYTHING they do to help him. He's going in to surgery again on his back today (infection reasons). So, he's anxious to get that over with and we're hoping that no more infections occur in that area. With the ultrasounds on his right arm and shoulder, we're hoping that that pain will begin to subside. The P.T. have been careful but consistent on working with Dad's arms and strenghthening them...aside of all of his pain there. Dad's days are now consisting of: 1 hour + session of speech therapy; 1 hour + of "activities of daily living"; 2 hours + of physical therapy; and an hour or more of occupational therapy EVERY DAY. BUSY, busy, busy! Please come and visit Dad! He loves to see all of his wonderful family and friends. It's best to visit after 4 p.m.:) We love you all! xoxo Sonja

Moving Forward....

Dad has been on the 12th floor for a week now. The mood up there is so much less "critical" and more positive in my perspective. I say this because there are way less screens with colored lines moving up and down and all around! Less beeping noises. It feels like he is finally moving forward and making progress you can track by simply looking at Dad. He is talking great now too. Dad has always been very articulate so I am not surprised that his speech has come back so quickly. Dad is so diligently working on his swallowing because improvement there means EATING and DRINKING!!! He still has his wish list of consumables hanging up where he can dream! He reminds us almost every visit..."Jamba Juice, Dr. Pepper with lemon, spumoni ice cream, guacamole." 

Think about how hard it would be to be unable to eat for over a month now. He still has such a desire to do so and it is like torture on his face when he talks about it. I can only imagine!

I have had some really nice talks with Dad these last few visits. He is opening up to me more than ever before and on a more meaningful level. I appreciate it so much. 

Love you all!!!  

Heidi

some pics of loved ones on Valentines Day w/ Dad =)

TO REHAB, IT IS.....hip,hip, hooray! =)

I just spoke with the Rehabilitation staff nurse. They are finally moving Dad today up to the 12th floor Rehab. (still in the Tower bldg.). Hip, hip, hooray! Dad is excited to get going with rehab.! Call Dad's cell phone if you have questions. I answer those msgs. daily. Please no visitors until they have him moved up to rehab. this afternoon. The transfer will take place from now until 3 p.m. this afternoon. From here on out, rehab. asks that only family comes to visit & help before 4:00 pm. each day (that is extensive physical, occupational,and speech therapy time). FRIENDS ARE WELCOME BETWEEN 4:00-10:00 p.m. Thank you so much for all of your love and concern. Thanks for your cards!! We read them over and over to Dad. They motivate him, and put a smile on his face everytime, so keep them coming! =) xoxox SONJA

Kirby, I wanted to write you a letter about the experience I had last night visiting you on Valentine’s Day. If this forum is too public, I apologize. I just know if I post it here someday you will read it. I want you to know how I felt last night.

Seeing you last night brought to my mind the story of Ammon and King Lamoni in the Book of Mormon. If you remember, Ammon agreed to be the servant of the King and was assigned to guard the royal flocks. Not soon after, while on duty a group of Lamanites came and scattered their animals. All of the servants, except Ammon, became overwhelming fearful and scared. Who could blame them? The last time this happened all the servants were killed. Ammon, on the other hand become excited. He saw an opportunity to show King Lamoni the power of God and thereby be able to teach him the gospel. Anyways, you know the story.

Kirby, someone has scattered your sheep. Things have been taken away from you that will not be returned to you in this life, and it was of no fault of your own. The natural reaction would be the same feelings that the servants of King Lamoni felt. They were full of fear, anger and sorrow. When we walked into your room last night, you were crying. You were recounting the accident in your mind expressing the feelings you had while you were stuck in the car. You were reliving the pain and the dim outlook of your situation. As you said, one of the emergency workers said you were a goner. To my surprise though, you were not full of anger or sorrow. You were expressing your extreme gratitude for your life and the fact you were given a second chance. You were counting the many simple and wonderful blessings that our loving Heavenly Father has blessed you with. I felt like I was looking into the face of Ammon that night. I could see God’s Spirit beaming out of your face. I could feel the Saviors love flow through you. A love you choose to accept. You were beautiful to me. It’s something I will never forget.

Now there is much work to be done. It won’t be easy, if you remember Ammon had to slay 6 men with his sling, slay one with his sword, cut off the arms of many and then gather the flocks. Just know you won’t be doing it alone. I don’t know what God’s will is for you for the remainder of your life. Perhaps it’s to bring those around you closer to each other and to the Savior. If it is, you are already working miracles.

We love you and are proud of you,

Rob, Heidi, Blake, Brinklie and Hallie.

In Good Spirits!

Dad did so well today! He was in such good spirits. He had great care today too. His nurse Jeanna was a real cutie. He's had her a few other times and she takes such good care of him! 

Dad was so reminiscent of his childhood, telling stories and sharing memories along side his Brother Gary. They laughed, they cried, they each took turns at the memories. I sat back and captured what I could in the memory book we write in each time we visit his room. I think he'll like reading it in the near future. 

I think Dad looks so good in this picture. You can see a slight smile. Gary was so ecstatic when he walked in the room and heard Dad talking through his valve (button). He got a little giddy and dove right in! Dad loved every minute of it!

Uncle Gary, Sonja and Heidi (me) spent the evening chatting with Dad, learning some physical therapy for Dad's legs, and plastering Hearts all over Dad's room! His window is especially impressive! I of course spaced taking a picture so that will come later...hopefully tomorrow.

Let's all do a "Heart Attack" to Dad's dreary hospital room =) xoxo

Hey everybody! We're doing a "heart attack" in Dad's room throughout this week...Decorate a valentine heart for Kirby and drop it off to one of us kids or take directly to Dad's room. Please participate!!! It will be wonderful for him to get nice messages from all his amazing friends and family! Any questions, call Dad's cell and leave a message...I check them everyday and relay the messages to Dad for you =) I can even put your name & a message on one of the hearts if you live out of town. The more the marrier! Thank you so much! & HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to YOU!! XOXOXO Sonja

"OH YA"

One of my favorite things Dad says and has been saying for a while is "oh ya!". He could just answer the nurses question with a yes but instead in true Kirby fashion he says "OH YA!". I like it!

Today was a tuffy for me. I quietly walked into the hospital room and Dad was painfully crying with his eyes closed. He didn't know I had come in. I went over to him and tried to comfort him. After some spelling and lip reading he let me know that his right hand and entire arm including his shoulder are in terrible pain. Last night they did a CT on it and didn't find anything so they are going to do a MRI. They suspect there could be some nerve damage. Even lifting his finger gets a huge painful response from Dad. 

If you go to visit please don't move his arms around or do any kind of "physical therapy" with him. This is a direct order from the P.T and O.T..

Thanks for your help with this.

Today Dad was so busy. He had Physical and Occupational therapy, Respiratory therapy, and Speech therapy. He did such a good job especially considering his painful right side. The therapists told me that he is one of their best patients because he doesn't question what they ask him to do..he just does it. They said many of their patients complain or say no to their suggestions. They also said that they think this shows that he can see the big picture and that's why he tries so hard. 

During Speech therapy he told us about many of the places he has danced the West Coast Swing. He also talked about the many different styles of this dance. He said he was "hot on the dance floor". He even smiled at the thought of it. Sweet.

When I left Ryan (the nurse whom we all LOVE) was shaving his goatee per his request. We tried to talk him into "handle bars" but he said to shave it all off! Sorry Ryan, maybe next time! (Ryan also has a goatee and was trying to live through Dad with the handle bars because his wife won't let him have them! funny!)

Hopefully he will be moved up to Rehab at the beginning of this next week. We are hoping for the best. Part of the goodness of this move is not only his improvement but that he can look forward to a more scheduled day. He'll know what time things are happening which I think will be a nice change from the randomness of the ICU. 

Thanks for all of your love shooting our way! XOXOXO

Heidi

Tuesday's With Daddy

My official day with Dad is Tuesday. I go see him on other days too but that is my specific day to be up there with him the bulk of the day! 

I spent yesterday up at the hospital with Dad. He was so tired because earlier the physical and occupational therapists strapped him to a "table" and stood him upright. This exercise was for several reasons. It was to help the blood flow to his heart, stimulate muscles and help clear out some of the fluid in and around his left lung. In the morning a scan of his lungs was taken and found his left side to be absolutely flooded with fluids. This caused them to remove the smaller trach and replace it with a larger one to assist Dad's breathing. They are saying his lung is completely "collapsed". The good news is...later that evening they took another scan and it came up looking like the many things they did during the day helped. 

Dad was exhausted from all of this "excitement" and his throat was sore so he didn't talk much. I just washed his face many times, scratched  his goatee (sp?), gently massaged his neck, held his hand, swabbed his mouth with some minty freshness sprayed on it...(he loves this), and talked or read lips, rather. I am becoming a professional lip reader actually! I can make out the most complicated of sentences. I may have a future in it!?  Dad sometimes gets frustrated and just closes his eyes for a few breaths and then is ready to try again. I wonder what goes through his mind as we guess things completely unrelated to what he is trying to communicate? "wish these kids would have studied more"....

I have enjoyed my time with Dad and have told him so. It has been a time of reflection as well as unknown visions of the future. We just keep supporting him! He has said several times that he does want to survive and "fight for life" were his latest words. It's good to hear that he is glad we made the medical decisions to keep him alive and moving forward through so many procedures. 

He is a fighter and we are all so proud of him! Keep him in your prayers please! 

XOXOXO

Heidi (his #5, best looking daughter ;)

Look who's talking now! :)

We were with Daddy for hours yesterday and he had his "speaking valve" on his trach. the whole time. He is speaking in sentences now and more alert, for longer periods of time. It's hard for us when he doesn't have the speaking valve in place because none of us are very good mouth readers:(. He gets frusterated too when we don't understand what he's trying to communicate. It's exhausting for him. So, hopefully this week, his breathing will improve enough that they will be able to leave the speaking valve on all the time. That would be great!...for all of us, as well as Dad. BTW. everyone keeps asking about the accident. "No" he doesn't remember it right now. Please stop asking him. You can imagine that frusteration. Also...He has not been moved to Rehab. Unit yet. He is still in the Tower I.C.U. 5th fl. Trama Unit of I.M.C. Hospital. The icu prefers only family visitors, but I know he's appreciated those of you who've chosen to visit anyway. You need to call me for "the code" to visit. Try your hardest to be positive and uplifting. All he needs right now is love and optimistic support:) We're all rooting for Kirby that he'll improve and stabilize enough to be moved to Rehab. this next week, so he can really "begin" his uphill road to recovery:) I know we're all praying for that everyday! He will really need us all then! It will be exhausting and emotional. Thank you for your cards and blog comments. I read them to Daddy yesterday & he loved them. xoxo Sonja