Update March 29th 9:01 am

I know that it has been a few days since my last blog, so I'll catch you all up on what's been going on. I'm back home with the kids for a few days, which is bitter sweet, so nice to be home but hate to be here without Ace. I'll be going back to be with him in a few days.

Back to Acey's progress, rehab is going to be so good for Acey, they are constantly working with him, whether it's the OT, PT, Recreational Therapy, and Speech Therapy, Doctors coming in to chat, trying to eat and trying to gag down his ensure which he hates, he always working on something, just swallowing is a chore for him. In the past few days Acey has started throwing up in the morning, yesterday it was starting to occur more often, so they have put him down one notch on his eating, so he is back to soft foods only. We are hoping that this will help. His bowels are working much better, GREAT NEWS!! So today the whole Therapist team will meet together and go over their plan of attack, then later this week I'll be back down with Acey and have another meeting with everyone and then we should have a better idea on what we're up against.

Update March 26th 11:00am

Acey had a ruff start to his morning, he threw up his breakfast, I asked his what was wrong and he said, "it was gross". So the nutritionist just stopped in to see what Acey would like for breakfast and snacks and I told her he liked chocolate muffins, well she has never heard of a chocolate muffin before. She said where would you find a chocolate muffin? COSTCO HELLO, she was looking just as strange at me as I was at her, it was pretty funny.

Acey's got a pretty heavy work load today 7:30 am -9:00am OT, 11:15-12:00 PT, lunch, 1:00pm-1:45pm Speech, 2:30 pm-3:15 PT again. By the end of this coming week we will have a better idea of how long he will need to be here for.

Good news today is that he is not going to be eating oatmeal anymore! And he was able to put on his shirt!!!

Update March 25th 10:59 am

We are so excited for today, we can hardly stand it! Rehab here we come!

Update March 24th 12:17pm

The spinal tap that they did yesterday results came back, the protein levels have not gone down like we were all hoping for. Which means there is still infection, it's gone down slightly but the levels are still pretty high. They are not sure how long it will take for the infection to leave only time will tell.
Some good news is that Acey's staples are coming out today! The incision looks great and Acey just saw it for the first time just a few minutes ago and all he could say was "WOW that's ugly". Some other good news is that he will be going to Rehab tomorrow. He can't wait to get to work on rehabilitation, the sooner he gets started the sooner he can get home. He can't wait to see all his buddies at the Merc in the mornings and can't wait go out for dinner with his State Championship team.
We just want to thank all the people here at the University Hospital that have helped him progress to the point where he can move to the next step, which is rehab. The team here is amazing to work with and have been a huge blessing in our lives. Everyone from the Neurologist, nurses, aides, eyes doctors, infectious disease, surgeon, scientist, radiology, OT (aka"Beth"), and PT, medical students & house keeping, they are all amazing and thank you!!

Update March 23rd 9:18 am

The Doctors just left and when I say doctors I think I counted 11 of them!!! They have told me they're just like Grey's Anatomy but they're just not as good looking. It's interesting to be at a teaching Hospital and see how things are ran and how they teach the up and coming Doctors. So, they said that his MRI that he had yesterday looked great, there was no new damage that they could see, and maybe a little bit of signs that it was starting to heal. Great news! So, today Acey is getting another spinal tap which will be now 4 total, and we are hoping that the infection is gone. Normally spinal fluid is crystal clear just like water, but Acey's has been cloudy with a tint of yellow, which is of course is not normal. We are anxious of course to see how it comes out, that should take place later this afternoon. As for the rehab they are thinking he won't go over there until later this week or this coming Monday. They would like to see him get a little more alert and build some strength back up. Once he is rehab then he will be working all day trying to regain what he has lost, which we are all excited for. Yesterday he also went to the Moran Center where they checked his eyes once more, and they said his eyes look great no damage to them at all. We are hoping that once his brain heals that his eyes will be back to normal right now they jump around so much that everything is blurry. We won't know anymore on the eyes for a couple of months, we are just hoping that his eyes will calm down soon.

Update March 22nd 9:21 am

Sorry about no post yesterday the Internet was down. So, I'll update you on the last two days. The doctors have let me know more then once that there were going to be ups and downs, well yesterday we had both. I'll start with Sunday, he was laughing and joking it was like we were well on our way to recovery, and then Monday hit us hard, Acey was really tired and not feeling as well as the day before. The physical and occupational therapist came in and worked with him for awhile and decided to see if he could stand and walk. He went about 10 steps with help from 3 people, he had to rest for awhile then made his way back to his bed. He said that he couldn't believe it would be so hard to walk. His balance is still very poor and his eyes are still jumping around which doesn't help. His head is starting to tremor every once in awhile, and the Doctors are not sure why this is happening, if it's because of being tried or if it has to do with his brain injury, so we are keeping a close eye on that. Yesterday early evening the Doctor came back to see Acey and access him once more, they told us that there is still a chance that there is permanent damage done, and that he may not gain back his motor skills. This was not the news any of us wanted to hear. They said that in the next couple of months we would have a better understanding of the damage that had been done and what long term effects there will be if any.

So today is a whole new day and lots going on. Acey is getting another spinal tap to see if the infection is gone, and possibly having another MRI to look at his brain and see if the swelling is getting any better. He is also heading over to the Moran building to have some tests done on his eyes to make sure that he is not losing anymore of his sight, and hopefully they can figure out some kind of glasses that will help him see better.

I told Acey today that we needed to make a list of all the blessings that we do have, sometimes we just have to stop and look at the bigger picture (which at times is not real easy to do). But it didn't take long to start listing all the blessing that we do have, Acey still alive, he has a sharp mind he is still strong, he is not blind, he is a hard worker, we have 3 wonderful kids who are healthy, we have the gospel in our lives and know that our Heavenly Father is watching us and we are not alone, that we are a family forever and this is just another learning opportunity, Acey and I have a wonderful marriage and we are best friends and are growing closer to each other everyday. While being in this hospital we have seen a lot of tragedies around us and we are so fortunate for the knowledge that no matter what we will always have each other, and that our family will be together forever.

Because of Acey's rare condition, Acey and I have to decided to keep him here for his rehabilitation. University Hospital is well equipped to handle his needs and specialize in Neuro rehabilitation. Plus all of the specialist are right here and they are watching his progress and helping us all along the way. Even though he will not be close to home we feel this will give Acey the best chances of regaining mobility.

Update March 19th 4:57pm

Hello Everyone!!! What a great day so far! Acey is doing so good each day he gets better and better. I told him last night that I couldn't wait till morning to see him improve, and he did! The Doctors came in this morning and told us that the feeding tube can come out. He has been eating on his own for a day so we are all thrilled. Plus he gets his catheter out today so he is now completely free from all tubes, and IV's. We are hoping that this week he will be getting out of the Hospital and then he will be going into a Rehab facility. We are not sure how long he will have to be in Rehab, they say it's hard to tell with brain injuries on how fast it takes to recover. So good news for here on out!!! And soon we will be closer to home if Twin has what Acey needs.