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.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Week Two - Wednesday

Today has been a day of new turns. Lenny has an infection in his neck from one of the incisions from when they installed his trach, so he will go in for surgery in the morning for them to clean it out really good. Nothing serious, they just need to make sure it is all cleaned out. I am not sure what time he will go in for surgery, but they said I could be at the hospital at 7am to see what time he is going in.

They talked to me today about his placement. They are going to be transferring him to a private hospital (he currently is in County Hospital) here in Phoenix since his surgeries are over and he is healing well from the surgeries. He will stay in the private hospital ICU until he is off the ventilator then we will talk about bringing him home to a rehabilitation center in California. They asked me today how I planned to have him transported home. Seems that is not covered by most insurance plans. Yikes, so I can't afford to fly him home, as a medical flight is enormous, so we will have to transport him home by ambulance, which will be anywhere between $3000 and $8000 dollars, depending on the amount of care he will need during the transport. I took a big swallow when I heard how much it was going to be, but I will make it work. 

When we visited this morning he was still sleeping but knew we were there, and in the afternoon when we arrived they were exploring his neck infection, so we had a wait a little while. After that they had us sign authorization for his surgery tomorrow. We had a nice visit with him, he was peaceful and resting, but was awake so I talked to him a bit. He has been so much more relaxed today and they did not tie his arms down even one time.

We saw the plastics doctor today and asked about the eye stitches. They said they like to leave them in as long as possible because this way his lower eyelids do not droop. I don't think Lenny would want that so we told them thank you. 

At the evening visit he was sleeping, and at the night visit I talked to him for a little bit and then said goodnight. I told him I would be downstairs why he was in surgery and see him right after he woke up. He held my hand really tight which felt so good.

So another day down and another day for Lenny to heal. His spirits were good today and we are one day closer to coming home.

Love you all, Nancy

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for the wonderful update.....God bless both of you.

    Bonnie

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  2. Nancy:
    Your strength is a quality that I will admire all the days of my life. Your love for Lenny is something so special that I am sure will get Lenny through this in no time. I love you so much and am so proud of you. His surgery will go fine and to me it sounds like as soon as he is off the vent he will be on his way home which will make your life a little easier to have him in a hospital closer to your own surroundings. I am very grateful that you have so many friends that will be there for you in California to give you moral support. As you wait tomorrow for Lenny to be out of surgery just keep telling yourself we are almost home. Before you know it that will be the case.
    As for the ambulance costs I trust that God will provide a way do not worry. Everything is going to be ok.

    I love you
    Mom

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  3. Yeah for Lenny. Good to hear that he is doing so much better and was able to calm down a little. I can only imagine how frustrating everthying is for him. And that's what you do for him is keep him calm and relaxed. I look forward to hearing more good news tomorrow. Take care

    Liz

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  4. Every day is another day of Lenny's body healing and there is so much healing to be done. We continue to pray for healing for Lenny and strength for both of you

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  5. God will provide the money to bring him home.

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  6. Regarding transportation. Maybe see if you can get a membership like reach reachair.com that's the website 40.00 for individual and 45 for familyto be a member. Maybe cantact them and ask it would be a huge savings for you. I know they service California but you might want to call and ask about transportation.

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  7. From Terri.
    I surely do admire you for the what you are doing for Lenny. You are such a godsend to him. I give you both strength and courage. Words cannot express how my heart goes out to both of. I surely will pray that you will get Lenny to California for his healing and rehabilitation. There will be a way. Love terri.

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  8. You need to set-up A trust for Lenny. At any bank that people can make donations into. Then we can make fliers, and get people to make donations.

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  9. Dear Lenny,
    I hope you are doing better today, my mommy reads me your updates everyday. I want you to know that I love you and miss you. I hope you get to feeling better soon.

    Dear Jakie,
    It was nice of you to call Nancy, I know that made her very happy when you said "What up dork". I hope you are feeling better. Please get better soon so we can do fire crackers together on July 4th.

    Dear Nancy,
    I hope that you won't be so sad about Lenny and Jakie. I know that they will be better soon. I think of you all everyday and I pray for you. You are in my heart Forever....
    I love you
    Love-
    Kodie xoxoxox

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  10. You whisper in Lenny's ear that I said he better hurry and get better so you guys can get home or I am not going to be blonde anymore.

    Nancy, Wow to see the love and support is amazing. Things will be just fine you will get your Lenny home. I miss you and I am so sorry that this has happened to Lenny. So sorry Nancy.

    Love, Julia

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