Cris' Club House

It's time for an update of sorts. . . . but first let me introduce you to "Cris' Club House". A.K.A. his comfy zone. . .his chill place . . . .his healing space. . . .I could go on and on. Good friends loaned us a hospital bed for his recovery time and it's helped so much. It has a remote that he can hold in one hand (he couldn't reach to push the buttons on the railing in the hospital) and he holds the TV remote in his other hand. What's not to like? Notice the relaxed posture. Yup, it's working.

There's a chair for visitors, balloons to add cheeriness, drinks, snack, cordless phone--it's all good.

The weekend went very well starting with his first major outing to Em's house to watch the BYU game with Sherod. As you can see from "The Shederton's" post, he had a great time. Sunday Cris felt stable enough for me to leave him alone while I went to see Owen and Liesl in their Children's Sac. Mtg. Program. I fed him lunch and then went to our stake conference. He did really well with all his remotes, phones, etc. in his club house. Each day gets a little easier with the transfers and he's eating and drinking much better.

Today was our first trip to the physical therapist for the pelvis. Results: Since there are still orders for no weight bearing on the left leg, we have homework assignments and won't go back for another 3 weeks to start learning to walk again. This is actually OK with me as I hear PT's get paid well (that'd be me) so I'm thinkin' a really good Christmas gift is coming my way. The elbow PT starts tomorrow, we'll see what they say about that.

Our ward family insists on bringing dinners this week and at first I felt it was unnecessary as there's just the two of us and food is NBD. It has, however, really helped, both in terms of great meals and moral support. We're in that in between phase: post trauma, pre-back-to-normal---much better but still emotionally fatigued. Again, we thank all of you for your love and support. Over and out.

FFF-looks just like Memzy's FFF--right?

Who does this look like? Refer to Memzy's FFF posted today. Yup, Crackers looks like his dad. This picture was taken Oct. 2004. Jack was almost 4 years old. He has the same kind heart as his dad but not quite as mischievous. Just my opinion :)

We got our "Get out of Jail" pass today!!!!

Today was our best day since 10/18---Cris was released from Mercy SNF and sent home. We are so happy, grateful, giddy, joyful, etc. etc. I worked with the Physical Therapist for the last 2 days proving I could transfer him from bed to wheelchair and back to bed. I passed!! And we got sprung.

The nurse took out his staples before we left. Really cool to watch and didn't hurt a bit.
See how good it looks? As Charlie said--it's a cool Crankenstien scar.


The ride home went well and he commented on how "the colors are so vibrant and beautiful". Hospital rooms are drab--do gettin' around it. Emily met us at home to be my safety net while getting him out of the car and settled. It all went very well.



Score!!! Home at last. He's lost a little weight, no appetite, but that can be fixed soon enough.

Trick or Treat at the SNF (heretofor know as Skilled Nursing Facility)

This is Jack dressed as the kid in the Tree house books. He's obsessed and on book 36. Love him.
Riley as a cool 60's hippie. Love him.

Carlitos as the obligatory alien. Not a stretch for him. Love him.

Papa loved having the kids come visit on Hayyoween. His costume? The perfect patient costume. I was going to wear a cute nurse outfit-----maybe not.

Becca and kids were so cute. Owen was Anikin (sp?)--Liesl was Ariel--Clara was piglet, Gramma was Gramma, Becca was Mommy. Love them.

Little Miss Clara was her darling self. Love her.

Fun times. Cris is doing well and progresses a lit bit each day. We estimate another week or so.

FFF In honor of Memzy and Halloween :)

Halloween 1986. Becca had a halloween themed birthday party. Can you pick out Emily and Becca? (and Chewy)
Halloween 1985--the politically incorrect homeless person and angel. LOVE IT!!

Thursday's update

I know you must be getting sick of pictures of Cris in the hospital but these are legit--new ones. Notice the "shirt" and tom-terrific jammy pants and the smile and the almost straight legs. Physical therapy today went really well. He's gaining strength and balance and the pelvis is mending and doesn't hurt as much.

Now this picture is important for two reasons. 1) He's casually sitting on the side of the bed airing out his back and bum from the constant laying-down-position. 2) I took the splint off his arm today to give his wound some air time. The zipper is on the under side and can't be seen in this picture. His arm is still a bit swollen but it looks great. We did our usual "range of motion" exercises and it was NBD (no big deal). Tomorrow we're hoping the nurse takes out the staples. Not to worry--I'll have my office staple remover in my purse just in case. Tomorrow's pictures should be really cool of the "filleted arm".

A special shout out to Nathan and Annalisa for their super surprise package yesterday with very special chocolates. He now has a candy "drawer" by his bed and feels right at home. Thanks to Gramma Decker for the Dewars ice cream gift cards. We had yummy sundaes today. He's collecting the greeting cards in his drawer and likes to review them when he gets bored. Thanks so much for all the well wishes. All is well and we're moving forward. Love to all, Carol

Physical Therapy Rocks!!

Yesterday Cris went to the PT ROOM and worked with "Ian". Getting from bed to wheelchair is difficult and sometimes painful but he is glad to do it.

LOOK--He's standing. Awesome Dude!! Absolutely no weight on the left leg/pelvis for a month.(Maybe pants would have been a good idea)

Today (pants included) he did different exercises and they didn't hurt too bad. Notice the mouth helps the left leg move better. Way cool socks.

Charlie decided he would exercise with Papa and make his muscles strong.
Loved the bouncy ball.
Notice all the beautiful cards from grandchildren. All other cards are greatly appreciated but not worthy of wall art. (grandkids, click on this picture to enlarge and see your cards :)The beautiful plant and balloons are from the Jeppson Family. Much appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Today I took off the splint, cleaned his arm, being careful not to touch any staples, and took another picture to document the healing process. It really does look cool.

Transferring from bed to wheelchair was MUCH better today and he is very encouraged. He had several visitors today and lots of activity and felt really good about it. His strength and endurance is increasing every day and we are very encouraged. Thanks so much to everyone for all your love and support.