Songs and Secret Gifts

"Many times we may find ourselves asking God to ease our burdens, eliminate the things that scare us most, and clear the path before us. We may wish He could bring the finish line just a little closer, or extend an upcoming deadline, or maybe even turn back time to rescue a loved one from an early grave. I KNOW He can do all of those things and much more. But how would we ever walk the road to perfection if we were always cradled in the arms of a Perfect Parent?

Rather than break Nephi's bands, He gave him strength. Rather than build an ark for Noah, He gave him wisdom. Rather than slay Helaman's enemies, He gave him 2,000 valiant warriors. God is a God of miracles. But rather than just do miracles around us, He does them THROUGH us. Therein lies the greatest miracle of all--the miracle to become."

- Benjamin Smith, friend of Becky Johnston

Friday, Day 10 (according to ICU reckoning):

Timothy is moving out of the ICU!  They would have moved him Friday night, but they had a staffing problem.  We'll let you know what room he'll be in when we get word.  ROOM 106! (11:00 am)

Timothy had this song stuck in his head and randomly started singing it.  I got a bit of it on video.  Tobuscus on Youtube: Sideburns Song.

We tried the lotion to ease his discomfort from the IVs.  It worked pretty well, although he only has one pick line in now.  Instead, he was complaining about his legs.  Apparently they have been cramping.  So I took the lotion and massaged his calves.  He was very appreciative about that.  

 Timothy's book and his water bottle that he had been looking for ever since the accident.  Dad got them from the wreckage.  Also on the table to the left of his water bottle is one of his breathing exercises.  He breathes in to see how many mL his lungs are capable of holding.  The nurse said he can't do that exercise enough.  It hurts his ribs when he tries really hard.  A normal person should be able to do 2500 mL easily and Tim is working on getting 1000 mL.  He's made it there, but not consistently.

 The poster from Monte, Lisa, and family.  Tim swears he has seen multiple posters like this in the other rooms of the ICU (he hasn't left his room :) ).

Warning: Creeper photo to follow - This nurse had just relinquished care of Timothy to an Intermediate Care nurse who came in to help the understaffed ICU. So she wasn't coming in the room anymore and I thought Tim would like a picture of her, just so he could remember.

 Chai, one of Tim's nurses, who Tim thinks is his age.  She told us she's 32 but that when she was 25, people thought she was 12.  Tim thinks his nurses are "crankily." Chai is very matter of fact and doesn't sugar coat anything and let's Tim know when he's done something wrong, like pull another line out.  He's been grumpy the past few days, at least when I see him.

"I've never heard you be so grumpy like this with anyone but family."
"That's because I've never had painful, broken bones... It's just family and broken bones."

 Timothy eating the only thing he orders for meals: a chocolate shake. "It's convenient." Picky buster.  He's on a regular diet.  So he's back to being the picky eater he is normally.  Before all of his chocolate shake meals today, Dad got him a Kit Kat from the gift shop.  He ate it gradually, but enjoyed it.  I had a chocolate bar from IKEA in my purse and gave him some in the evening.  He didn't want any more because it made it more difficult to swallow because it was so creamy. :)

Tim with his Yoda mug that Jake and Kelci Cowdin brought for him one of the first days in was in the ICU.

This bag of peaches and basket of toys and candy were left for Tim and we have no clue who his benefactor is.  Timothy gave a couple of the peaches to nurses.  Dad says Timothy gave one to Christina, the really nice nurse who Tim thought was out to get him when had had that terrible night.

Mom has been doing pretty well.  We had the home care nurse come in.  Her collar bone is swollen around the break.  We are going to need to remind her that she isn't allowed to use her left arm.  Her sling shifts around and sometimes falls off of her elbow and arm and she starts using her arm to support herself getting into and out of bed and chairs.  We need to keep reminding her.  The physical and occupational therapist should come today (Saturday) to see Mom.

Mom has been a bit disoriented still.  I can tell she's frustrated because she doesn't know what to do, or what is going on, or what she can do about her pain, and she's never liked to be an imposition to anyone.  She has asked several times what her job is.  Daniel and Ben have jobs around the house, Dad was at the hospital, and I was taking care of Mom.  She doesn't like feeling useless.  So we told her that her job was to heal and get better.  "I can do that." :)

Pain and Perception

Timothy had a really rough night last night.  He was in a lot of pain, the IVs were irritating him, everything he was attached to bothered him in some way and he felt like everyone hated him and was out to get him.  He went so far as to bring his toes up to his bound wrists in an attempt to undo them.  And he succeeded!  The nurse attending him that night put "security" mittens on him and socks on his feet so that wouldn't be possible.  Think again!  He got the mittens and the socks off and had his toes underneath the wrist restraints where his IV's were, but he was caught just in time.  They wrapped up his needles with gauze and that rubber tape material they use to keep the gauze in place when you give blood so he couldn't access them.  Then they restrained his ankles as well.  What a Houdini!

Later that night, he was yelling and screaming at us (Dad and I) because he was so frustrated.  He thought he was dreaming.  He thought we weren't real and only what he thought rational was the thing to do.  My dad tried to talk some sense with him, but Tim came up with a great but difficult retort: "Should I follow my own internal directions or follow someone who could turn out not to be real?"  He kept asking us to take off his restraints and when we refused he would give us a "Timothy-rational" reason why we should or say "Why not?" in a very painful voice.  It was hard to seem him so frustrated and in so much pain.

Timothy had his chest tube taken out this morning.  This afternoon the physical therapist said he is just waiting for the doctor to give the word and they will have him moving around.  I don't know if that means walking with a walker, learning how to work a wheelchair, or something else that involves him not bearing any weight on his left leg.  But the physical therapist he had today was really good with him and knew exactly how to talk and work with Tim.  Timothy was in a better mood this afternoon too.  He wasn't nearly so agitated as last night.  Next time that happens (cross your fingers it won't) we'll try some music; maybe some hymns, primary songs, or classical pieces he's played on the violin will help him remain calm.

Mom is doing well at home.  She's very relieved to be home, but she, being the woman she is, feels a need to have a job/chore/task and to be doing something useful.  I don't exactly know how dexterous she is with her hands at this point, but I'll talk with the occupational therapist tomorrow to see what we can get her doing so she doesn't feel so useless.  Even if its something like making jewelry, a hobby of hers, to keep her mind off of her present state.  We'll see how that goes.

We have her set up in the family room with a bed so we can keep a good eye on her.  Its close to the comfortable chairs, the kitchen, the bathroom, everything she needs to access and where most of the family cross paths.  She'll always have someone by her to take care of her.  I'm sleeping on the couch right next to her through the night.  Hopefully this set up won't last long and she'll become competent enough to have an opinion of her own.  It's good to have such a close eye on her, though.  We love our Mom and are very grateful to have her back home.

This is after he first removed a line with his toes, but before he got the "security mittems" and tried to go after his IVs a second time so his ankles aren't restrained.  Sidenote: Tim asks all of his nurses (female) how old they are.  Either they are flattered with his guesses, think he's flirting, or jokingly (or maybe not so jokingly) tell him off for asking women their age.  I think he's only had the one male nurse in the ICU, and he mixes him up with Alan.  I don't think he's ever asked him about his age. 
"Pokemon are real."
"Nope, I'm not awake. I know this must sound strange to you guys but its true."
"Pinches don't wake people up."
"Movies aren't real life."
"What if we touch you, do you think we're real?" "You'd be real to my tactile mind."
"Reality keeps on changing."
Monte=No clue
Lisa=Kiss
Amy=Himself
Bandit=Himself
Hopefully Tim doesn't ever remember the accident.
"Oh, not you too?!"

Grampa singing to Tim. Now we have both songs on video.  :)

Mom

Mom is being released from the hospital as I type.  She should be back in less than half an hour! YAY!

She's home!

Now to get Tim home...

Tentative Transfers

 Alan and Beth visited last night, I just forgot to post this one.

Wednesday, Day 7:

 Timothy striving to eat his sandwich.  He was in a bit of pain.  He has been pretty loopy.  He may not remember this either.

 After eating a little bit, he finally got a bit of an appetite. Thank goodness.  He'll get better in no time.

The bishopric visited this evening.  Tim is still in the ICU.  They may release Mom to come home tomorrow, but nothing is definite right now.  She will have some home care: nurses, physical and occupational therapists, etc coming to the house.  Once Timothy is out of the ICU, he may be transferred to a rehabilitation room at McKay Dee Hospital.

Physical Therapy and Family

Tuesday, Day 6, still:

Mom got to do quite a bit of exercise.  She walked around a lot and Marilyn, the physical therapist, got her doing some new exercises and put her on the step machine.

Sorry I didn't spend enough time to figure out how to rotate my video. :)

Timothy smiling at the note Nathaniel Gillis wrote to him.  I read it to him while he was out of it and loopy, but I don't think he remembered it.  So he read it a few times when he was back from being a loopy lad. 

Monte, Lisa, Amy, Brian and Kyle brought a poster for Tim.  The caption at the bottom says, "The big yellow one is the sun!"

Timothy without a fever!  Yay!  Unfortunately, he had a fever again by the end of the night.  The nurses are keeping a good eye on him.  He was coherent enough to see some family.  He's still in the ICU, so he can't have regular visitors just yet.

Here is the Calvin and Hobbes comic that Tim referred to at the end of the video: http://bestofcalvinandhobbes.com/2012/03/calvin-wonders-about-cow-milk/

Brian Regan "Sorry you are feeling so blank inside."

We finally caught Grampa singing to Mom on camera!  He sang a different song than he did in times past.  We love listening to Grampa sing.  Mom was remembering it earlier and reminded me of the song by singing it just like Grampa does.