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.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Week Seven

So now that we are home things seem to move much slower then when we were in Phoenix, so there is less for me to write. This week has been pretty slow, with us at home most of the time.

Last week Friday we had our evaluation at Casa Colina and they are still waiting to hear back from our insurance company on how many days per week they will approve for him to have therapy. I am hoping for at least 3!

Yesterday (Thursday) we had doctors appointments. In the morning we saw the primary doctor and she let us know the results of Lenny's x-rays and blood tests. Great news, the fracture in his neck had healed and he can take off the neck brace, which means he can start growing back his goatee! This makes him very happy. On the flip side, the pain in his face has been increasingly getting worse, so they had to increase the slow release pain medicine that he is on to help him make it through the day. He has been getting a lot of feeling back in his face which is why we think there has been increasing pain. He is still pretty puffy on the right side of his face as well. He asked me yesterday how long I think his face is going to hurt. All I could say is a long time!

Since he has not been going to therapy we of course have been doing it here at home, and yesterday while he was doing "standing with the walker" he decided to take some steps. He walked from the little couch to the front door, it was slow and more of a shuffle then a walk, but it was beautiful! I didn't even have to push him, he did it all on his own and he was so proud of himself! He walked along and I follow him with the wheelchair in case he gets tired and needs to sit down. It is amazing the progress we see each day!

We also went to the eye doctor yesterday to check on his eyes and the double vision he has been experiencing, and the doctor said his eyes are looking great and his double vision is improving. They put him on some drops because his eyes are watering all the time, probably because his right eye does not blink all the way anymore from the right side paralization of his face at his eyebrow.

Next week we of course hope to be starting therapy, and he has an Ortho appointment on Thursday to talk about his legs healing and see about his weight bearing. Things are moving right along.

I am planning to post on Fridays now to update on how the week went, unless of course something great happens during the week. I am going to try to video him walking when he does it again and post it on here and I am going to take some pictures this weekend.

We are loving the visitors and hope to see you all soon!
Love, Lenny and Nanc

5 comments:

  1. We are so happy to hear that he is cruzing right along with his healing!!! It great that he is in such great spirits! Thank you for the update, the girls say hello and keep up the good work!
    Hugs and Love to you both,
    Tina, Jordan and Aspen!

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  2. lenny keep up the good work.you are doing so good,i miss you so much at work,its not the same without you.chip is watching out for us at work and doing a god job,we love him,but miss you,so get well soon,love you friend rebecca. nancy all i can say is lenny is lucky to have you,you are awesome.god bless you.

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  3. Such wonderful news. You two are awesome in your love for each other, the determination you share and your zest for life. That is why there has been such good progress. I have been wondering about any facial pain you might be feeling Lenny. I guess it is part of the healing process, but I'm sure it really sucks. We are just so glad you are still with us. Me, Shawn, and Leah hope to make a trip to see you soon. Shawn is going out of town this weekend, he has a pending surgery in a couple of weeks, and I have a mini reunion with my Clem cousins this month also. I will let you know ahead of time when we can all get on the same page to come visit you. I'm am so happy for you guys. Love to you both.
    Aunt Sharon

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  4. I am so excited to hear the news of Lenny's progress. The determination he must have to keep pushing forward even though he is not yet in rehab is unbelievable. Both of your strength in this ordeal has been something everyone needs to take note of. When we all think our problems are unbearable we need to look at what you both have been thru and how you have made it thru each and every day. I love you both and pray that Lenny's pain in his face becomes easier everyday. All my love!!!

    Mom

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  5. Ok.. so sucks that Lenny is in pain.. Great that the Lakers won game 6.. I don't know if it was my own meditation and prayer and/or the Gnome working overtime.. lol funny also, I say Jakie in "Overhaulin'" twice.. I hope he gets some royalyties from that.. lol he has some real lines in the show.. so cool to see him in real life, all I've see are photos.. Well, I hope things turn around quickly for Lenny and I hope he starts feeling better.. I miss you and will try to make a trip this summer for sure..

    Love you,

    Melisa

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