The Accident

On 4/16/2010 at approximately 10 to 10:15pm, my Lenny was involved in a serious boating accident. There were 6 occupants of the boat, all were injured. Both Lenny and his best friend Jakie sustained life threatening injuries and were airlifted to trauma centers, Jakie to Las Vegas, Lenny to Phoenix.

I received a call at 1:45am informing me of the accident. I then spent the next 2 hours trying to find him and find out what happened. After calling two hospitals I found Jakie, and then called his mom and she took it from there. I still couldn't find Lenny, so I called the Lake Havasu Police and they got back to me in about a half an hour telling me he was in Phoenix and that the social worker would be calling me soon. Next came the longest 20 minutes of my life. Waiting to hear....

Lenny sustained the following injuries - Completely fractured face from the upper jaw to above the eyes, broken neck, broken ribs, collapsed lungs, and severely broken legs. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I spent the next several minutes rallying friends and getting to YiYi (that is what Lenny calls his sister). We all headed to Phoenix and below I will update you on his condition, how we are holding up, and have a way to communicate with you to keep you updated and be able to answer your questions and be able to get the support we so desperately need from all the wonderful people that love him.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Week Two - Thursday

So as you already know we started the morning off in the surgery waiting room. The way they have families monitor their loved ones in surgery is pretty neat. Lenny was assigned a number "9109" and they have a screen that shows their number and if they are in surgery, post op, discharged, etc. So as we watched the screen I watched him go from in surgery, post op, then discharged. I tried to be patient and give the doctors time to come down and tell me how it went, but after 30 minutes still nothing. I decided to call the SICU and see if Lenny was back in his bed, sure enough he was there. I told the nurse that we hadn't heard anything from the surgeons and she was shocked. She said to come up to the SICU waiting room and she would call plastic surgery. When we got up there the nurse came in and told us that Plastics would be up to talk to us and that they were sorry. After another 30 minutes they came up and told us that the surgery went fine and that the infection was not bad. They actually used a toothbrush to clean it out. Funny huh? So it was 11 by now and we decided to go have lunch as we aren't allowed to see Lenny until 2.

Got back at 2 and he was awake (and when I say awake that means that now when I come in and say "Hi Lenny" he wakes up a little and squeezes my hand) I talked to him a little bit and then he drifted back off to sleep. We went ahead and left and headed back to the hotel.

I received 4 more envelopes today from work friends and friends of Lenny. I cannot wait to get home and meet those that I have not met, see those I miss so much, and hug each and every one of you. I will never be able to thank any of you enough for all your support.

I called Lenny's Case Manager at County today to check the status of moving him tomorrow, as I need to know the plan and every step involved it in. As most of you know I am pretty controlling that way. I have this horrible controlling personality flaw. If I don't know what is going on I tend to freak out a little bit, so to avoid the freak out feelings, I decided to call. She told me that a case worker from the other 2 hospitals would be coming over to the hospital tomorrow to review Lenny's case and we would go from there. Wouldn't you know it but a couple of hours later the case worker from the other hospitals called me. She had a lot of questions about our medical insurance and she will be coming over tomorrow. That is a call I will be anxious about all day tomorrow.

At the evening visit Lenny again woke up for a little bit, but not long. It is a HUGE improvement from 2 days ago when he was just out completely every time we visited. We stayed with him for a little while then he was sleeping so we left.

At the night visit he was really awake. He stayed awake the whole visit and we started Lenny Charades again. He asked the typical questions, how long will I be in here? when are we going home? He wants me to stay with him, and tonight was one of those nights that he would not let go. I kept trying to slip my hand away when I thought he was asleep, but no go, he just grabbed on again. At one point he had pulled my hand and Yiyi's hand onto his stomach and interlaced his fingers over our hands so we couldn't get away, but he started to fall asleep and we tried, and nope, he grabbed on again. Here is a good one for you, he kept pulling on my shirt and we were trying to figure out why, I figured he wanted some clothes on. You see, crazy me, when I left to come out here I packed Lenny some clothes, like I was just going to fly out here and pick him up and bring him home, so I do have clothes here for him. I asked him if he wanted boxers, and he just kept pulling on my shirt. (By the way, he can't have ANY clothes in the SICU only that stupid gown that he just keeps pulling off.) So anyways, back to my point, all of you that know Lenny know that he is ALWAYS HOT, he keeps our AC so low it is crazy, well tonight we finally figured out HE WAS COLD! He keeps pulling off the gown so they have just been keeping a towel over his manly parts, well he wanted a blanket. I almost fell over. The nurse brought him a blanket and he pulled it up over his stomach, and finally relaxed a little. I asked him if he wanted me to turn off his little fan and he said no, he just wanted to cover up a little. 

It is so heartbreaking to have to pull away and say goodnight, I think I told him goodnight 10 times tonight trying to get him to go to sleep, but it wasn't working. Finally we were over our visiting time and had to go, so I said one final goodnight and kissed him goodbye and pulled my hand away. Now for the heartbreaking, as you walk away from him his is putting his hand out reaching for me, I just have to turn around and go, and remind myself this will all be over soon. We asked the nurse to give him something to relax, because most visits that end like this have resulted in bad nights. I helped him move around a lot today and now I can smell him on my wrists and arm, it gives me such a warm feeling inside. I miss him so much, and I want to be with him more then 30 minutes, 4 times a day. Soon enough, soon enough. I just have to keep telling myself that.

Things are progressing, and he is back to his calm self and is just focused on healing. He wasn't tied up today which is always good, and overall it was a good day. Another day down, woo hoo, and another day closer to us coming home. Thank you again for all your kind words, encouragement, and love. I couldn't do this without all of you to keep me going. I stare at the blog and call the front desk for the mail a million times a day. I just love reading what you send in the mail and what you post on the blog.

I talked to Jakie again today and he is progressing slowly as well. He is taking a couple walks a day with the nurses, but as you can imagine he is in a lot of pain with the broken ribs, clavicle, and his right hand. Every breathe is difficult. Please keep Jakie and Lenny in your prayers for fast healing. 

Goodnight and love to you all!
Nancy

Remember to tell someone you love them!

6 comments:

  1. Good Evening Nancy,
    I am glad to read and hear the last couple of days have gone well. Lenny thank you for being a great patient and improving on the bed side manners. While you don't realize it right now. Even in this condition you, I am sure are a great blessing to this team of doctors and nurses who are helping you to recover at this time in your life... But I don't want to miss the ultimate thank-you and that is to God.. For his healing touch on your body. He is the great physician any how. Nancy this is a wonderful blog you have created and I know that in the end of all this you and Lenny will be able to look back on it and see this journey as not just a challenge for you both but a growth opportunity for all of your friends, family,co-workers and doctors and nurses a like. You both will gain many blessings and friends from the Unites States over! Remember as human beings we are all ultimately part of each other in the spirit of humanity by the kindness and the love of which we have learn to show to each other. So in closing the verse for today. Bear each others burden for in this you fulfill the Love of Christ. Prayers going to all of you Lenny, Jakie, Nancy and the others.
    Love Patti.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just wanted to let you know I dropped by, and that total strangers out here rooting for him. Dennis will explain who Melanie is. Much love to all of you and thank you for doing this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nancy:
    Tears came to my eyes this morning as I read your blog on Lenny's progress. I have been so concerned the last two days. All of our prayers are being answered. I love you-I hope the transfer to the new hospital goes well. The next step will be the transfer to California and I think you will be surprised how soon that happens. Stay Strong and take care of your Lenny he will be well before you know it.

    I love you,
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are on my heart everyday Lenny. Your sweet nature has always been there. You were the sweetest baby and little boy. But you are also tough. You are making progress even though it is slow going. Your health will return and with that, everything that is you will return.

    You are doing a fantastic job of caring for Lenny Nancy. I'm glad your controlling nature is popping through. I know you will make sure that Lenny will continue to get the best care. In this case your flaw as you labeled it, is a good thing. lol!

    I know that you and Shelly are exhausted, but you have exhibited the colors of what a loving family does in time of crisis. I thank God for both of you.

    Love,
    Aunt Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  5. Each day Lenny is healing. It is great for him to rest it helps so much for him to heal faster. Hope today was a even better day!!! Hang in there. Wow its been 3 weeks!! It's amazing how great he is doing and his friend Jakie are doing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Nancy, it's Val from Fort Mohave. Scott & I have been reading your posts for the past couple of days. Thanks to the world of Facebook & honestly a bit of curiosity, I came accross you & Lenny. The mamories all came flooding back & then the heart wrenching post about the accident. I know it has been a very long time That we have seen eachother but know that you & Lenny are in our thoughts & prayers. I wish to all of you much streghth to pull through this. I can't help tearing up just imagining how hard this had been for you & thinking about how dificult it has been & will be for Lenny. I will still be following the progress & I hope that the road to recovery will besmooth and not real long. With much Love & Hugs! Scott & Val

    ReplyDelete