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.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Week Three - Tuesday

Today is such a whirlwind that my head is still spinning and I don't know where to start.

I arrived at the hospital for the morning visit and things were the same. He was semi-awake and I cleaned his eyes, got him some water to sponge into his mouth of course and had a regular visit. He was tired and was going to nap until I came back this afternoon.

When I got there in the afternoon the doctors were doing rounds so I asked if I could stay until the doctors came around to do rounds because I had so many questions. Right after I got there the occupational and physical therapists came. They wanted to do a swallow test on him and then talk about getting him to sit up at the side of the bed. For the swallow test they gave him some cranberry juice and because it is red they can see if it goes down the wrong pipe. He passed! He was so happy to have the juice he decided to give sitting up at the side of the bed a try. He sat there for about 10 minutes until he laid back down. It was an amazing site to see him sitting there with a cup of juice.

The doctors came finally and we found out that the wires on his jaw will be cut tomorrow. Great news. After they cut the wires they will try to get him eating some food. Tomorrow he will be transferred out of the SICU and into a room which is great because I will finally be able to stay with him all day. Now for the best news, since he was finally off the ventilator and only doing the "aerosol" they have decided to start him on "trach trials". That is where they disconnect all the tubes and put a cap over his trach so he breathes through his nose and mouth instead of the trach. They will keep it capped as long as he keeps his oxygen level over 91.

They let me stay after the doctors left, so today I was able to stay from 2pm until 6pm. It was fantastic! You will remember from above that he can now swallow, so he is finally able to drink water through a straw. About a half hour after they had capped the trach he signaled me that he wanted more to drink. When I walked up to him with the water I heard the most wonderful thing ever.....he talked to me. "Juice" is what he said. He wanted some juice instead of water. Since the trach is capped he can talk, he has to talk through his teeth of course because his jaw is wired shut, but he can talk. I almost fainted I was so overwhelmed, as was he. It was an emotional moment for both of us. It took him a while to get the hang of it, but before I knew it we were having conversations. I have to lean close to hear him as he is pretty quiet as you can imagine, but I cherished every word.

My head is still spinning from everything that has happened today. Once he talked to me I don't think I stopped smiling for an hour. We started talking about all the different sign language things I could not get, but he said I got most of them eventually. I had to leave at 6 because they were going to do shift change for the nurses, but I said good bye and told him I would be back in a couple hours.

When I got back for the night visit he was watching the Laker game. It was great to hear him cheer them on "Come on Pau" "Right on Kobe". It felt just like being at home. He was really tired I am sure from all the excitement today, so when I had to leave cause my time allowed was up, he had me turn off the TV so he could go to sleep. You know he must be tired to turn off the Lakers. He asked me what time I would be back in the morning and told me to drive safe. I kissed him on the cheek and said goodnight and told him I loved him, and I heard him say "I Love You Too", something just 18 days ago I was scared I would never here. Scared I would never have a moment like this with him.

Now I know we have a long road to go to get him back to normal, and I am not discrediting that, trust me when I say it weighs on my mind constantly, but we are getting there day by day, one day at a time.


Love, Nancy

14 comments:

  1. Tears of joy stream down my face as I read this! Thank you God is all I can say! Prayers are being answered!

    Go LAKERS!!! We are now watching the Lakers! Lol

    I don't have words to tell you how excited I am for Lenny, for you. I can't wait to hug you both! Please tell Lenny we love him. I will continue praying each day that his journey through this is smooth and as painless as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Nancy:

    Things are sounding better everyday I am so happy for both of you. I know you have a long road to recovery however just take 1 day at a time and you are 1 day closer to your dreams.

    I miss you......

    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is seriously the best news I have heard since the accident. Please give Lenny my love and let him know I will continue to pray for his recovery
    as well as your continued strength.

    Love
    Renee

    ReplyDelete
  4. Praise God! This is awesome news! Please tell him I have been thinking about him daily. Tell him I'm sorry the years have slipped by and we have lost touch. I'll definitley be down to visit when you guys get back to CA. Nancy...Thank you so much for being there for him. I get home from work at about 1130 at night and the first thing I do is read your post. If you wanna make him smile, tell him "soft.......and squishy" Make sure you pause. He'll know exactly what it is. Just one of many memories I have with him. ttyl

    -Zack

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great news, I had to hold back the tears of joy when I read this news. Please give Lenny a hug for us. Although we do have to talk about changing his gnome to the celtics, but we can do that afterwards. Let's Go Boston!!! ;)
    With love George, Kym & Devyn Goldey

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is so awesome to hear the news!!! I cant begin to think how amazing it was for you to hear his voice!!! I am so happy that you finally have some happiness coming through your words on this blog....we follow your blog every night before bed, kinda like a bedtime story with a .... to be continued at the end of everyday, with the last few days getting better and better! Soon we will be able to read about you both being home kind of like the fairy tale ending :) You are both amazing people and deserve to have the happily ever after...... especially after all of this! Cant wait to read the days to come!

    We Love you both and will continue to pray for you both!

    With tons of hugs and love,
    Tina, Jordan, and Aspen

    ReplyDelete
  7. What wonderful news! You're doing great and I love the updates.

    praying for you both
    Double G

    ReplyDelete
  8. Marianne HerreraMay 5, 2010 at 7:34 AM

    Happiness! Happiness! Happiness! I new when I talked to you yesterday things were going well I could hear the excitement in your voice. Reading your blog for Lenny this morning I saw the excitement in every word. Today will bring new excitement the removal of his wires on his jaw and watching him take that first bite I wish I was there to see your face and his. God has truly blessed you both. It is funny how we all take the little things in life for granted and now we are getting so excited out of a first bite of food. This horrible accident I am sure has taught us all one very hard truth to never take one minute of our lives for granted because you never know when something or someone can take those minutes away. I am so happy for Lenny he must be feeling that he is finally on the road to getting his life back. Nancy your strength is such a quality that we all admire and will always cherish about you. The way you always put others feelings first and are always treating others the way you yourself would want to be treated. I Love you nancy and am so proud of you.

    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  9. Awesome news Nancy - God is good!! Tell Lenny that Bill & I are so happy for him- he is a fighter!!! I am sure this is also because he has the bestest cheerleader cheering him on! :) Blessings to you both Bill & Marlene

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow! how wonderful! I am so glad he is doing so well... I can't wait to hear tonight how he feels when the wire is off his jaw... Does this mean I get to bring him food? I'm so excited for you both! I have to go to cali this weekend, so I will try to make a visit on Wednesday..

    Love you - Love Melisa

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is great news. I could imagine how much you were smiling because that brought a big smile to my face just reading it. I am so happy for you and for Lenny. Things will only get better for both of you from here. Thank you again for keeping us updated. I love to hear how great everything is going.
    Susan Duda

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great to hear he is doing better Nancy...you have been in my prayers since I found out about the accident. Hang in there and trust God..he is still in control...hugs

    Gina Roldan

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow...It's a good day indeed

    ReplyDelete
  14. OMG Nancy that is Fantastic news!!! I'm speechless. I know words can't describe how you are feeling. It is so cool to hear that he was able to watch the Lakers Game last night too. They kicked butt!! Can't wait to read what happens next.
    Love Ya,
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete