Things are going great!

Lenny has recovered nicely from his last surgery in December. They removed cartilidge from his ear and rebuilt the lower lid of his right eye. His swelling has gone down, but there is still a little left. The doctor said all of the drainage lines that we have in our face, well he doesn't have those anymore as they were all crushed, so it takes longer for swelling to go down in his face. He goes back to the doctor on January 26th and they remove the tube in his left eye and stitches from the right.

It is truely a miracle where we are today. Thinking back to when this happened almost a year ago I would have never imagined he would be doing so well today.

He is having some problems with his knees because the screws go right through them, so back to the doctors we go. They do not want to remove the rods from his legs, but he may have to one day if this keeps up.

Love to you all.

Nancy

Sorry to have stopped posting!

I was reminded the other day that some people do still check here to see how Lenny is doing....and I had just stopped posting updates. I have to confess that part of the reason is that I am scared of the blog. Going back and looking at all those posts of when we were in Arizona made me hide from the blog. I know, silly, and I should not have left you all in the dark.


Lenny had surgery on left eye to repair the tear duct that was crushed during the accident. The insurance did not approve Lenny to go to UCLA so everything has been done at Loma Linda. His doctor is wonderful, the same type of occular plastic surgeon that did the repairs after the accident. In October Lenny developed a bad infection in his left eye that caused him to be hospitalized for almost a week, and then result in the surgery to repair the tear duct which was the source of the infection. They installed a small clear tube drilled through his nose and laid it into his eye. If you look in the corner of his eye you can see the tube, at first he could feel it and hated it, but he has grown used to it. They will remove the tube in another couple of months.

They are submitting for approval to the insurance for his right eye reconstruction. This is the eye that the eyelid does not function properly so he needs a reconstruction there to repair it. The doctor tells us they will take a part of his ear to repair the lid. We will know more after it gets approved. Hopefully he will have it at the end of December or after the first of the year.

One of the worst long terms effects of the accident for Lenny has been trying to sleep. After the injuries to his legs and fracture in his neck we determined that he just cannot sleep in a flat position anymore. We had to go out and buy an adjustable bed after trying foam wedges, pillows, etc. which was just a failure after failure. I shopped around and we found a firm foam adjustable that he liked, and I am glad to say for the first time since the accident he doesn't seem to be waking up in horrible pain. Please let it keep working for him. 

Times are very hard for us now, Lenny's medical co-pays have been drowning us, but we are trying to hang in there. One day this will all be over and everything will go back to normal. Lenny and I both think 2010 sucks and has been filled with tragedy, and we are looking forward to the new year. Here's to hoping 2011 shows better times for Lenny and I!

Love to you all,
Nancy

Long needed update!

Sorry to have taken so long to post anything, but as you can imagine things are very slow and go now with healing.

Lenny is walking perfectly now. He was using a cane but just this week he has given up the cane. Therapy continues for his body to regain all the muscle he has lost. He is starting to venture out more, he can't quite get in and out of his truck yet so he uses my car and I drive the big truck when he is going out and about. He has been going into to work for a few hours a couple days a week just to ease into things. He still doesn't have the stamina yet and still needs a lot of muscle rebuild.

On the downside the problems with his right eye have been getting worse. This morning he went to see a surgeon and he will need two more surgeries. One on his lower eye lid and one on the tear ducts of both eyes. He will have the one for the eyelid soon and the other will have to wait a while. It is very invasive and they want to make sure he really really needs it.

So, I will let you know when he has the surgery.

Can you believe it has been 14 weeks!

So here we are, 14 weeks since the accident. It is almost hard to believe that so long ago I was writing the most difficult things in a time I never thought I would make it through.

Lenny is doing WONDERFUL. He is walking with a cane as he can. Some days are better then others, but it really is a gift to see him walk.

The facial pain seems to be under control with the Neurontin, and we are waiting for his referral to UCLA to repair the eyelid that won't close.

We are doing great, happier then ever. This whole ordeal has really taught us both a lesson about life. Number one lesson, there will never ever ever be alcohol involved with boating, AT ALL!

Our biggest struggle through all of this is financial of course. With Lenny not working we are drowning. We have enough to pay bills, but his medical expenses are killing us. How can there be a co-pay due for EVERYTHING! But in the light of things with everything we have made it through we will get through this. I am working as much as I possibly can trying to earn every penny possible, and Lenny just needs to focus on getting better.

Thank you again to all of you out there, we couldn't have gotten this far without you.

Love,
Lenny and Nancy

Great News

The Orthopedic doctor released Lenny to start trying to walk with the walker...Woo Hoo! One step closer to healing.

Week Twelve

This week has unfortunately been a week of bad news. Lenny has been having trouble with his right eye, so I had to get him into the Ophthalmologist on an emergency visit. A white spot has been growing on the brown part of his eye and it has been getting increasingly red. The doctor took a look and the problem is that Lenny is not able to close that eyelid all the way, especially when he is sleeping, so that is causing the problem. They prescribed him two eye drops to be put in 4 times a day, and an ointment I have to put in at bedtime. He will need to see the doctor every week to see if the infection growing in his eye is subsiding, and he will be referred to UCLA eventually to repair that eyelid that is not closing.

He is also having problems with his teeth and jaw, so he has an appointment with an Oral Surgeon on August 3rd. His teeth are not lining up on one side at all and he is having a lot of pain.

So in the future we are possible looking at 2 more surgeries for his face, eyelid and jaw. We will see.

Tuesday Lenny sees the Orthopedic Surgeon to check the status of his legs healing. We are hoping for good news that will progress him towards walking again.

I went back to work this week and I am so glad to be back. Lenny has been doing great with the exception of Friday. I had to get to work early because I had a meeting and he was still sleeping when I left. When I got home he was feeling awful and sleeping most of the evening. When I went to get his night dose of pills I realized why he felt so awful, he forgot to take his morning medicine! The first day he was supposed to remember and he forgot, I bet he won't do that again!

Things are progressing slow and steady. Until next week,
Nancy and Lenny

Week Ten and Eleven

So when I came on here today I realized my post from last week was not on here, I must have not pushed the right button, sorry for that.

As I mentioned before they started Lenny on a nerve medication called Neurontin, which is there to help dull the nerve pain in his face. Last week they increased his dose from 2 times per day to 3 times per day, and this week they increased him to 4 times per day, and great news, it seems to be helping. You can see that the pain has eased a little when you look at him, so that is a bit of a relief. His right eyebrow is starting to gain function which makes him happy, at first it would not move at all and now it is moving quite a bit.

He is getting around the house really good now with his scooter. He can pretty much do everything he needs to do each day as long as I leave things out on the counters for him. I go back to work on Tuesday and I can't wait. I never thought I would say those words, but I am. I started making some work appointments today and it is the first time I have felt normal since the accident. It will be tough and I will have to keep a tight schedule to get my work in and Lenny's appointments, but that is a piece of cake compared to what we have been through.

Thank you again to all of you that are following Lenny's progress. It has been slow right now, which makes it a little boring, but the next steps will show themselves on July 13th when Lenny sees the ortho doctor again. We are hoping they release him to stand and start walking.

Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July!
Until next week,
Love Nancy

Go Lakers

The newest addition to the family....I ordered him today! WAY TO GO LAKERS!

Week Nine

This week has resulted in severe facial pain for Lenny. He saw the doctor and they took X Rays and started him on 2 new medications to help dull the nerve pain and an antibiotic just in case there is any infection starting. We hope to find out more next week on what is causing the pain and any chance of it getting better.

As you read last week the doctor told Lenny no standing on his legs until we see him again on July 13th. Lenny started therapy at Casa Colina and because of his weight bearing status his OT therapist just pretty much gave up on him. She said there was no point in working with him if he can't stand, which I was pretty much disappointed in. They could have helped strengthen his arms more, but they are the experts. His PT has changed to be pool therapy which he starts next week until he can put pressure on his legs again.

It is so amazing to see how far he has came since we got home. He is pretty self sufficient now for most things with his electric scooter which gets him all around the house. His head and leg incisions are about 90% healed and now we are working on moving the scars around to make sure the scar tissue gets broken up.

With the neck collar off now he has starting growing back his goatee, which makes him very happy, so right now he is all scruffy growing back all that hair! He also started stretching his ears again to get those earring back in. How nice it feels to be getting back to normal!

Other then that just another week of healing has passed which is Fantastic!

Now if I can transfer your prayers to Alaina's son Noah for the next weeks ahead. He is going in for his Bone Marrow Transplant on July 1st with a 40% chance of success rate, so he really needs your prayers!

Love, Lenny and Nancy

Week Eight

We have gone a little backwards this past week. Lenny saw the Orthopedic Surgeon on Thursday and his legs are not healing as they should be, so, absolutely NO pressure on either leg for one month. They are worried that when he stands he may be putting to much pressure on the rods and screws and they don't want any to break. So on July 9th we go have xrays, and on July 13th he sees the doctor again.

The pain Lenny is feeling in his face is progressively getting worse. Some days he barely even talks it hurts so bad. He sees our doctor on Monday to talk about it, so hopefully they will be able to do something for the pain. All we can imagine is that the nerves repairing themselves are what is calling the pain.

He starts therapy at Casa Colina on Tuesday, which is good. They will work on strengthening his muscles.

Next week I hope to report that the pain in his face is under control! Until next week....

Love, Lenny and Nancy

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

Week Seven - Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was a glorious day, Jakie and his family came over. It was wonderful to see them. Jakie stayed until night time and it was miraculous to have them both sitting in the living room watching the Laker game like normal.

And as you can see the Laker Gnome is happily sitting there watching the game with them. It was wonderful.

Lenny gets very comfortable on the couch now and of course his dog never leaves his side now that he is home. 

We have had many visitors and it has been fantastic. We hope to see more of you soon.

This next week Lenny will be starting therapy at Casa Colina as soon as the insurance authorizes the number of days per week he can go. He will also see the Ophthalmologist and I need to make him an appointment to see the Ortho doctor and he needs to have blood drawn. Other than that same old stuff. LOL.

Week Six - Wednesday & Thursday

We're HOME! There are no words I could say to explain what it was like to come through the door yesterday at our home. We cried of excitement to see our kitties. It was priceless. We were so overwhelmed of the kindness of our friends and neighbors for all they did for us to arrive home. There was even a big banner hanging over the TV welcoming us home. I will post some pictures of everything tomorrow, I am just to tired right now to look for the camera plug LOL.

The drive was easy. Lenny was really good about doing his leg exercises to keep that blood pumping. Yiyi and Gary followed us home which was comforting to know we weren't alone. My dad was here when we got home, it was great to see him and our neighbors as well! The rest of the day went by quickly, and before we knew it we realized how tired we were, so we were both asleep by 10.

This morning for the first time in the 3 weeks Lenny and I have been together since the accident I was up before him. I woke up at 7 because I needed to organize his phone book of a medical record we brought with us for his 10:30am doctor's appointment. I could hear him snoring away in the living room and it was so comforting to hear him sleeping, no one coming in to take his blood pressure, tell him to get up, etc. Well I was heartbroken to have to come out and wake him up at 8, but he needed to start the morning procedures to be ready to go to the doctor. He could tell I hated doing it to cause he gave me a hard time about waking him up all day! Always the joker.

Oh, and I forgot to report earlier, while we were driving home we were notified that our insurance company has authorized us for outpatient care at Casa Colina, which is fantastic news! They specialize in the kind of care that Lenny needs! We have our first appointments on Friday!!

The doctors went well, we were there a while because of course there was so much to say, so much to do. Our next steps: blood work, xrays, ophthalmologist appointment, ortho appointment, medication follow up, and of course therapies. Just as we expected. Lenny asked me when we get a break and I told him when he is all better! (But we will have a break this weekend of course, I just refuse to waste a perfectly good weekday).

It was been FANTASTIC to have visitors. We both are just loving it! Please let me know when any of you would like to come over and visit! We are ready for you, first asking me, first served LOL!!! Just call me or email me nancerz@verizon.net!

Love to you all,
Nancy & Lenny

More pictures to come tomorrow! He is looking great!

Week Six - Monday and Tuesday

So here we sit, tick tock tick tock, waiting for bedtime so we can get up and morning and break out of this place. LOL.

Yesterday was a quiet day, the normal stuff. We practiced getting in and out of the car and he did it with ease. My car is just the right height for him.

Last night was a horrible night. He was up most of the night with a stomach ache and he was miserable. This morning he had therapies and we had to leave at noon to get to the hospital for his clinic appointments. I actually got to drive him tot he doctor and for the first time in almost 6 weeks we felt a little normal. It was great preparation for getting him home tomorrow to. Yiyi and Gary arrived tonight to follow us home, it made Lenny feel better that we were not alone in case anything happened.

So tomorrow is the big day, we are coming home. I say those words and almost don't even believe it could be happening. Some piece of normal in this crazy world we have been living for almost 6 weeks.

Some of you have been wondering if I will still blog now that we are going home and the answer is YES. Lenny's journey to getting better is not over and I know so many of you care to see his progress. I will do a lot of pictures of therapy, after all we need to see him walking in the next few months!

Can't wait to see all of you that we can!
Love Lenny and Nancy

Week Six -Saturday & Sunday

I cannot believe that we have started week six since the accident. My how far we have come.

This weekend Lenny had visitors, Ricky and Liz & Dennis and Crystal. They arrived Saturday and he was really happy to have them here. Kyle and Junior came out last weekend and it has been very therapeutic for him to have friends around.

We were talking today about almost being able to go home. We are so ready that today we were laughing that this must be what prisoners feel like when they are coming to the end of their sentence. LOL.

This weekend friends really rallied at the house to get it ready for our return. Tim & Allison installed the ramp, Mel & Kelly brought the medical equipment, Yiyi & Gary brought the hospital bed over and got it set up, just one thing after another. Alaina is going grocery shopping and Jen is installing a handheld shower before we get home Wednesday. So much stress off my mind, thank you all!

Tomorrow Lenny learns how to get in and out of the car, he jokes that we should make a break for it, but the whole reason why we are waiting until Wednesday is that he has two doctors appointments on Tuesday. We plan on leaving right after breakfast on Wednesday to get home ASAP.

3 more sleeps until we are on our way home (as Logan would say!)
See you soon! Love, Lenny and Nancy

Week five - Friday

This morning they brought me all of Lenny's prescriptions to fill before we went home. 11 of them! I took them to Walgreen's dreading what would be covered and what wouldn't, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. $150 for two weeks supply. That is all they will give us from here until we see our primary doctor back in California. Let's hope it is still only $150 when they give me a months worth!

Lenny had double the PT today and did 2 hours because he missed yesterday when we were at the doctor. He stood up quite a few times which is great, but is not really wanting to take any steps yet. Once we get to our primary doctor in California she will refer us to therapy out there so he can continue to work at walking. Other then that it was a typical day here in the hospital.

I ordered all of his medical equipment today for home which was a little over $500. I think the medical field really makes a killing! Did I tell you all how much the first bill I got for Lenny was.....$460,000 from when he was in the ICU. Crazy!

We are so anxious to be home that we are a little stir crazy here now. We so just want to be at home!
5 days and counting!

Love, Nanc

Week Five - Thursday

I know, I know, I am late. I was just so tired last night I fell asleep without updating, and with you all waiting to hear how the visit with the Orthopedic Surgeon went.

It was an early morning as the transport van was picking us up at 7am. We got to the hospital and waited a long time before we saw anyone. They took X-Rays of both of his legs before we saw the doctor. The doctor let us know that his femur is healing beautifully. The tibia however is not healing as well and needs more time. They have changed his weight bearing status from the right leg to the left since the femur looks so good. So today we get to see how he does putting weight on the left side. Hopefully good.

Other then that it was a typical day. We are pretty bored since we found out we are going home soon and I think we are both really anxious!

6 days and counting!
Love, Nancy

Week Five - Wednesday

Today has been a magnificent day! We started PT early again today at 8am, and they wanted Lenny to get up on the regular walker but he refused. He is so scared to injure his leg since it hurt him so bad the last time they made him stand up. So instead he opted to stand up with the electronic walker that you saw him in the picture with yesterday. He stood up 4 times and on the 4th time he took about 6-7 steps. It was a beautiful site. He is still a long way from walking, but baby steps is the way to go.

This afternoon we found out that we have been assigned a "discharge date", yes friends we are COMING HOME! We will be leaving Arizona on the 26th to go home. Words escape me on how excited we are. In the same breathe I am scared to take him home. A new obstacle to overcome. So many wonderful people are working to make our home ready for our return. Medical equipment, ramps, groceries, meals, it is wonderful. It takes some of the edge off the worry of just getting him there. Over the next week I will learn how to give him shots, we will be practicing getting in and out of the car, and just some normal minor things. The hospital here is already working on getting us referred into his outpatient therapies here at home and I made an appointment for our primary care physician for Thursday the 27th. So basically we aren't even home yet but are already getting busy! They are discharging him as non-walking as he has a long road ahead of him with that. So they have ordered him a wheelchair for us to take home with us and a transfer board to get him out of the wheelchair.

There are so many of you that want to visit and we want to see you all, but please make sure you let me know either by email (nancerz@verizon.net) or phone that you would like to come so we don't get 20 people in one day. Also please give us a couple days to get settled. Lenny is still really worn out and gets tired easy, and the trip is going to be a toll for him. BUT, please do not withhold asking to come visit because you think you will be bothering us, that is not the case, just give me some notice and give us a couple days to get settled. Some people have stopped calling me because they think they are bothering me, no one bothers me and I love hearing from you.

And out next piece of good news, Lenny has an appointment tomorrow morning with the Orthopedic Surgeon for the pain/popping he is having in his left leg when he stands up. We were scared we wouldn't be able to see a surgeon until we got home so we are happy. I will let you know tomorrow what we find out.

So what a day! Now we are in countdown mode to go home, 7 days and counting!

Can't wait to hug you all! Love Nancy

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Week Five - Tuesday

From Lenny:
I am a lonely Laker Fan in Suns Country. Thank you everyone, I am doing good. Everyday is better, everyday I am a little stronger. I can't wait to be home and see my Dog.

From Nancy:
Today we found out that the insurance has authorized Lenny to stay in rehab until next week. He has doctors appointments with the surgeons on the 25th and we should be heading home after that. We are very excited. I think secretly we were kind of hoping to get kicked out so we were forced to go home, but fate has shown us that Lenny is where he needs to be to get better.

Today in Physical Therapy Lenny stood up with the electronic walker thing...see picture:

He still cannot put all his weight on his left leg and no weight on the right leg, but this was a big step for him. He stood the first time for about 2 minutes then he stood up and down 2 more times. It hurt a lot and he had to ice it after that.

We are still waiting for an appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon, hopefully it will be soon now that the insurance has approved us.

Well until tomorrow, have a great night everyone.

Love, Lenny and Nanc

Week Five - Monday

So Sunday we woke up at the usual time to have breakfast. During breakfast they came and told us that they wanted Lenny in Therapy at 8am, which did not give us much time. He did 2 hours of physical therapy and then we headed back to the room to rest for an hour before lunch. While we were resting we told the nurse again that the shower was broken. We had told them yesterday but they aren't able to fix it on the weekend. (When I was taking a shower Friday night the handle just came off and the hose starting spraying everywhere, it was quite amusing.) So she told us that they are going to move us to a different room. Now as I was happy to hear we would get a working shower I was sad to hear that I would have to pack up everything and move it to another room. Who knew we had accumulated so much stuff! So now we are in a room that is made for just one person, pretty much the same just a little smaller. Lenny and I really laughed that we had said how excited we were for Sunday to just relax and have nothing to do, huh, it seemed like one of the busiest days we had!

Today was a typical day, Lenny was an overachiever and did an extra 45 minutes of physical therapy which is good. Still no news on seeing the surgeon for Lenny's legs that he is having a problem with. Turns out we are having insurance problems now. My company changed providers on May 1st and now the new company is giving us a hard time because we are "out of network". We don't know what is going to happen, as they may not let us stay here. We will hopefully find something out tomorrow, they told us not to worry that they are on our side and will help us fight this, but I am really stressed waiting to hear what our fate is. Lenny says that if they want to move us he wants to just get in the car and drive home, and home is not ready for us to be there yet so that stresses me out to. I hate situations that are out of my control!

As I am sure many of you already know, Jakie has been readmitted into the hospital. Saturday he had shortness of breath and turns out he has a blood clot in his lung. They will be running tests and treating him for the clot and Lenny and I are hoping he is home again really soon.

Nights are becoming difficult again, and I am sure we will both be stressed tonight about our fate here, everyone pray for good news, as I really want him to do more work here. Also we have to see the neuro doc and the plastics surgeon on the 25th which really needs to be done to finalize his face surgery and neck break. After that appointment we were planning to come home. Well, here's hoping!

Until tomorrow, Love Nancy

Week Five - Saturday

Last night Lenny slept pretty good, which means I slept pretty good of course. He only woke up twice!

Our day was the usual, Lenny had PT and OT today, no speech which he was happy about. Our day was pretty uneventful, just another day of Lenny working hard to get better, to get home.

He is still complaining of course of being uncomfortable and asked me today to go an get him something for the bed, so I went and got him a memory foam thing for the bed, he seems to really like it.

As I mentioned before they have changed him to not put any weight on his legs until we go and see the orthopedic surgeon that did his surgery. He is having this weird popping in his left knee that is causing him pain. We are waiting for an appointment, they haven't been able to get him one yet because my company just changed insurance providers and now they have to re-authorize everything with the new company. Hopefully we will here something Monday.

Well, if I don't post tomorrow night it is because nothing eventful happened. I imagine tomorrow will be pretty boring because there are no therapies, what he doesn't know yet though is that I am going to make him do his exercises... He He.

Love, Nancy

Week Four - Friday

So here we sit still in Arizona and four weeks have passed since the accident. Sometimes I look around and don't even know the life I used to lead. Now my days and nights are filled with trying to help Lenny get through this. It is a weird feeling to think how simple life really used to be before the accident, and how you take it for granted. Get up, go to work, hang out with friends, watch TV, all like clockwork. Now we barely sleep, keep on schedule for Lenny's therapies, and help him with every little daily task that we all can do easily. Even brushing his teeth is a chore for him, and I can see he feels helpless. I am pulling from every piece of my insides to stay strong and never let him see any sleepiness or sadness on my face and we are making it through day by day.

I thought today I would walk you through our day, as it is becoming pretty repetitious. Every night we receive Lenny's therapy schedule for the next day so we know what time he has to be where. We wake up each day (after our many wake ups throughout the night) at 6:30am as breakfast is at 6:45. I go down to the cafeteria and get Lenny's breakfast and bring it back to the room to him. Then I go back and get my own and we eat breakfast together. After breakfast I take the trays back to the cafeteria then proceed to get him up and ready for the day. Today for example we had PT at 9am and OT at 10am. Lenny does all his grooming (brush teeth, wash face, etc.) in bed because he has this great tray table with a mirror in it. Then he gets dressed (I had to buy him all new stuff because of course he had only been wearing a hospital gown since they cut off his board shorts at the accident scene). To get out of bed Lenny uses what is called a slideboard. It is a piece of wood that is about 2 feet long that we put under him, then he slides across it from the bed to the wheelchair. He has gotten really good at it.

At 9am we went down to PT and his therapist was assigned another patient besides Lenny so since I knew all of his starting exercises I was his PT coach for the first half hour doing his leg exercises. Then his therapist teaches him a few new exercises every day. At 10am we went over to OT which seems to be different kinds of things every time he goes. Some days it is puzzle type exercises, some days it is upper body workout, some days it is how to do normal day to day things like take a shower (which we know how to do now). Today he did upper body strength exercises and he did excellent. I told him that next time we will have to take a picture to share with you all.

At 11am is lunch and the procedure is the same as breakfast. Today at 1pm he had speech therapy which is where they put him through exercises to test his brain functionality (memory, problem solving, etc). This is the one he hates the most because he feels they ask him questions for 5 year old. I just keep telling him it is part of the healing process and to just hang in there.

After speech today I helped him take a shower before getting him back into bed (we all know how much Lenny loves showers). After his shower it was time for dinner at 5pm and the procedure is the same as breakfast and lunch of course. After dinner he took a nap for an hour and then we do more little things like brush teeth, etc. Most of my day is spent adjusting pillows, rubbing feet, legs, back, because he is so miserably uncomfortable. If I could do anything for him it would be to make him feel comfortable. Last night I went to Target and bought him a blanket like one we have at home and 6 pillows. He thinks the rubber pillows they have here in the hospital are making him sweat so he asked for different pillows. Even with all of that nothing seems to keep him comfortable for more then 5 to 10 minutes. It seems that as soon as I sit down I am right back up fluffing a pillow or getting him something.

He takes all his medicine at 9 in the morning and night, so at about 10 every night I turn out the lights and try to get him to go to sleep which lasts about an hour at a time. Last night he did really good and only woke up 3 times, he thinks it is because of the blanket and pillows I bought him, and I hope so. I cannot tell you what a helpless feeling it is to see him hurting and so uncomfortable all the time knowing there is nothing I can do but fluff a pillow or get him something to drink. I guess I am feeling a heavy heart today, wanting to be able to help him so much more then I can, and trying to put aside all my own feelings in all of this. I keep wondering when I will stop waking up wondering if this all was just a dream.

We miss everyone and home so much, Lenny got some flowers today which made him smile, and Mishell went over to the house today to overnight Lenny his Laker jersey's so he has them by Monday. It is really funny that Monday starts the Western Conference Finals and it is Phoenix vs. Lakers and we are here in Phoenix. He really wants to live it up with the Laker stuff here in his room so he will be glad to have his jerseys.

Tomorrow we start all over again, and I will try to get some pictures for you all.

Well it is about that time to get him to try to sleep, good night all.
Love Nanc

Week Four - Thursday

Well as the days pass here at rehab there is less and less to say. Not much different happens day to day.

We went over the XRays with the doctors today because Lenny is having such pain in his left knee. The doctors think that the Fibia bone may be moving causing him the pain as it takes time to heal of course. We are waiting for an appointment to see the Orthopedic Surgeon that did the surgery on Lenny's legs. Until then he is no longer allowed to put weight on his legs. Since he cannot put weight on his legs he did a lot of muscle strengthening today in PT.

Mishell went home today so now I have to try and find time to fit in a nap (unless hopefully he will start sleeping through the night). Today I got a 20 minutes nap in while he was in speech therapy (which he despises because he feels like they are asking him stupid questions).

Last night Lenny kept waking up in cold sweats, and I think it is from the medicine. Lenny thinks it is from all the rubber and plastic on the bed and pillows. So today I went to Target and bought him some cheap pillows and a blanket for the bed under the sheet so he won't feel the mattress. I cannot understand why he doesn't sleep through the night, he is on pain medicine, muscle relaxers, benadryl, a sleeping pill, plus a ton of other things. Here is to hoping tonight is the night....

Until tomorrow! Love, Nancy

Week Four - Wednesday

Last night was a bad one - he only made it about an hour at a time sleeping, and at 4am it took him an hour and a half to get sleepy again. We just say and talked the whole time, it was funny. 6:30am came early, but we had to get up and get breakfast and get him dressed as he has his first therapy at 8:15.

We got to physical therapy and they started him off with a bang. They had him stand up with a walker, which he is having a really hard time with. As I mentioned before he has lost 43 pounds of muscle, so his arms do not want to hold him up. He stood for a minute then sat back down. When he stands he complains of extreme pain in his left knee. He also said it keeps popping which hurts like hell. The therapist got him up again for a second time and he made it a minute 15 seconds. By then he was hurting really bad. They put some ice on his knee and then did some strengthening exercises laying down.

This afternoon we finally opened the images discs that the hospital gave me from his stay in County for his future doctors. Below you will find the images of his broken legs. (If you click on them they get bigger)

Tibia/Fibia Compound Fracture

Femur Fracture

As you can see his breaks were really serious. Hence why he is having such a hard time standing, let alone walking. Today the Doctors had a conference to discuss Lenny's progress and course of treatment. From today we are looking at 2 to 3 more weeks. Hopefully 2 weeks, maybe sooner depending on how he progresses, but only time will tell. 

Mishell has to go home again tomorrow so she is going to be checking out of the hotel. Since I am here in the hospital every night now there is no reason to keep it. I am trying to lay low here in the hospital so they don't kick me out. 

Some people have been inquiring as to where to send things to Lenny, so if you are looking for the address please email me at nancerz@verizon.net. 

All in all we are doing well, and as promised here are pictures....

 Our Home (we are trying to make it comfy, but all we got from home is the gnome)

 Lenny Day 26 

 Go Lakers!

Good night all....We love you!

Lenny & Nancy

Week Four - Tuesday

Today we had our first visit to "clinic". A transport van came and picked us up and took us back to the County hospital that Lenny was in to see his doctors and surgeons. They removed the stitches from his head that go ear to ear over the top of his head from his facial reconstruction. There were several areas that were still seperated, so they had to put in some new stitches. He also had stitches in his neck removed from the infection surgery he had a couple weeks ago. So, he was almost stitch free - but they had to put some back in his head.

Last night he actually had a 3 hour sleep section, which is the longest since we have been in the rehab. I was so happy when he woke up that it had been 3 hours.

Other then that today had no therapies because we were gone for so long to clinic. Tomorrow he has 2 hours of PT and 1 hour of OT and 1 hour of ST, so it will be a busy day for him and he will be tired.

After we got back from clinic I went back to the hotel and napped for a couple hours since YiYi is here it gives them some quality time they so needed since she was gone when most of his progress started and gives me the much needed sleep. I feel like I could sleep for 2 days straight LOL.

Lenny and I have talked about posting a picture, so we will probably be posting pictures tomorrow night so stay tuned!

Love Nancy & Lenny!

Week Four - Monday

Hello all, This is Lenny's sister Mishell, Yi Yi for those who know Lenny. I returned to Phoenix last night and it was so wonderful to see Lenny doing so well, Nancy has been staying in the rehab hospital with Lenny since he was transferred and she has not been getting much sleep. I thought that now that I was back, She could get some sleep. Lenny and I had to run her out of the hospital and force her to go back to the hotel and sleep. She was so worried that she was going to miss something. I can not say enough about her love and devotion for my dear brother. We are so lucky to have her in our life. I thank God for her everyday. Nancy has asked me to write the blog tonight since she was resting most of the day. So here goes.

Lenny is in great spirits and is focused on getting home to California. He had  Physical Therapy this morning and he did great. I am very proud of him for working so hard even though I could see the pain on his face, He kept going. It is amazing to see how well he can move his broken legs. What a tough guy.


His Speech Therapy also went well, It is wonderful to see that his mind is working great. He does not have any problem at all. They are just watching to make sure that his brain was not injured.

Last was his Occupational Therapy, he was clearly tired from the long day but still gave it his all. He is making great progress and he will be home before we know it. I finally got him back into bed at around 4:30. He was looking forward to the Laker game tonight. Thank goodness they are winning at the moment. Nancy got back to the hospital at around 5:30 and brought us Red Robin for dinner, Yummy.

I was so worn out from our long day that I went back to the hotel for some rest. I do not know how Nancy does it. She is Super Woman as for as I am concerned. I am and have always been a Nancy fan.

I want to thank each and everyone of you again for all the love and prayers and gifts that you have send our way. We will never forget it. We would not have been able to make it as well without all the support from our family and friends. I am sure that Nancy will be back blogging again tomorrow.

Good night all. We love you so much, Lenny, Nancy, and Yi Yi

Week Four - Sunday

We have learned today that Sunday is a slow quiet day for rehabilitation. No therapies.

Lenny still did not sleep well last night. The longest stretch of sleep we got was an hour. He seems to sleep for an hour then wakes up and it takes about 30 minutes to get him settled enough again to go back to sleep. We did that all night long.

Wake up call is really early here, breakfast is at 6:45-7:45am so they come in at 6:30 and wake us up. We had breakfast and then proceeded to start the day. We got Lenny up and in the wheelchair, he was going to be getting a shower today and we decided he needed to shave before the shower so I ran to Target. We also decided that we would shave Lenny's head. They shaved off a large strip for his facial surgery and the rest of it is getting long and is full of yuck and he keeps messing with it, so off it was going. Then he was off to get a shower which he has gotten very good at. His range of motion is coming back as far as his ability to move around.

They weighed him after the shower, 243, he was 285 the day of the accident. His muscle is just deteriorating. His arms and legs are so small which is weird for Lenny. He legs have always been rock solid. So, therapy will be rebuilding those muscles that his body has eaten over these past few weeks. Plus, who knows how much that goatee weighed LOL.

The doctor put him on a sleeping pill today so hopefully tonight we will be full of good dreams and no wake ups.

Yiyi is on her way back and should be here soon. She hasn't seen Lenny since he barely opened his eyes and said "juice" so I know she will be all smiles when she sees how far he has came.

Tomorrow will be full of therapy again, so here's to hoping for great progress tomorrow!

Love and miss you all, Nancy

Week Four - Saturday

Tonight's blog will be short, as I am exhausted to the core. Last night Lenny was up every 20 minutes to half hour. Hot, cold, thirsty, had to pee, just plain old uncomfortable. I have a hard time sleeping to begin with because I am afraid I will miss him calling my name for something. This will get easier, it is all just so new to him of course.

This morning he woke to have breakfast and then speech therapy which is when they do a bunch of brain questions to make sure he is ok. He hates it, but I explained to him it is just part of the deal to get better. After speech therapy we learned that they were coming in to change out his trach to the smaller one. Well good news, once they got in there they felt that HE DIDN"T NEED THE TRACH ANYMORE AT ALL. We were so happy. So they removed the trach, cleaned it up, and put a piece of gauze with tape over it. He has to put his hand on it and push in when he is talking and coughing, but he is so much more comfortable.

After the trach was removed it was time for all his medicine and immediately following that was lunch. He was getting so tired he barely ate his lunch. Finally he stopped fighting it and went to sleep forgoing the rest of his lunch. He slept so good I could not believe it. The nurse came in at 12:30 cause he had PT at 1pm, I told her how tired he was and they decided to skip the other two therapies today. He slept good and woke up a few times for the typical things, but for the most part was right back to sleep after he got what he needed. He woke up about 3 and we just talked until some friends came over to bring us dinner which was so nice (thank you again Kym & George).

Lenny watched the Laker Game of course and was glad to see them win. Tonight was the first game where he had his Laker Gnome watching the game with him which he liked.

So here we are at the end of the night and my eyes are burning as I stare at the screen. Here's to hoping we both get a good nights sleep.

Love, Lenny and Nancy

Week Three - Friday

So here I sit, three weeks since the accident. Things have changed so much this past week it is just amazing.

Last night was really rough. As I wrote yesterday he was complaining of pain in his right knee. It continued throughout the night so he barely slept. He cannot get comfortable no matter what. Between the pain and coughing from the trach he is not getting any decent continuous sleep. I am so glad that the hospital is letting me stay here with him all day and all night, as it helps him when he needs the little things. He's hot blankets off, he's cold, blankets on (yes I said he's cold which I never thought was possible), he's thirsty, he has to pee, on and on. Overnight the nursing staff is limited so if you push the button you better push it an hour before you need anything cause that is how long it takes to get someone.

All the "therapies" were good. Physical Therapy resulted in him using this really cool machine that lifted him up by his hands and arms to a standing position without any weight on his legs. Technology amazing. The gym for the physical therapy is really nice with lots of high tech equipment. They were not really aggressive with him which was nice for him. By the 2nd hour he had to go that knee was really killing him.

They had a psychologist come in today and talk with him about the accident to see how he was dealing with everything. She asked him a lot of questions and it was great to see he was not showing any signs of depression. He just kept saying he was going to be alright. She was worried about his lack of sleep and they are going to talk with the doctor about giving him something to help him sleep.

Speech Therapy did a lot of checking today to make sure his brain was ticking correctly. He hated all the questions as they were something out of kindergarten, but he was a trooper and answered them all, but he kept looking at me like "is she serious". I just nodded so he would keep going. He of course passed with flying colors thank goodness.

Occupational Therapy was just some lights on his knees and ankles for the pain. I didn't know how that was occupational therapy, but he seemed to enjoy it.

The respiratory therapist was looking at his trach today. At the hospital he had a size 8 trach, and before he left they changed it to size 6. Tomorrow he is going to size 4 and then Monday or Tuesday they will take it out completely and let it close up. It will take anywhere from a week to a couple months to close up, it just depends on what his body wants. The funny thing is that he will just keep a band-aid over the hole until it is closed up. You would think a hole in your throat would require something more serious then a band-aid.  

Today he talked to Jakie again and was so happy that "Fatboy" was going home today. It was nice to see him so happy.

So all in all today was progress made, as everyday will be. The doctor has upped his pain medicine, added a muscle relaxer cause his back is hurting from being in the bed, and added something to help him sleep. So he just took a cupful of pills and hopefully is off to la la land so we can get some sleep tonight.

Today I showed him all the Get Well Cards he has received and told him of everyone's generosity. Again we can't thank you enough. I have moved hotels to be closer to the hospital to shower and such, so if you want to mail something let me know your email address and I will tell you where to mail it to him. If you have mailed something to the other hotel, don't worry, they will call me to pick it up.

We love you all, Nancy and Lenny!

Week Three - Thursday

Let me start by saying sorry if there are a lot of typos, I cannot get on the internet here in the hospital tonight so I am typing this on my Blackberry.

Last night was a little difficult for Lenny. He is starting to feel all the pain and really discover everything that is wrong with him now that he is out of the SICU. He is used to automatic pain medicine that he has to ask for now, so after he had slept about 5 hours he woke up feeling awful about 230am. The nurse let us know that when he sees the doctor in the morning they will put him on an extended release medication so he doesn't have that problem again.

Today was all about evaluation. It started in the morning with speech therapy. They work him with speaking obviously and his eating. That part has been pretty simple so far.

Next came occupational therapy and a shower. He was ecstatic to take a shower. They got him out of bed and into a shower chair and wheeled him into the shower where he soaped up and washed off. After the shower we needed him to stand up again to get into the wheelchair. Now his right leg is toe touch only, and his left leg is weight bearing as tolerated. Well after originally getting him out of bed he was compplaining if his left knee hurting badly and he didn't think he could stand up. We finally convinced him to try just for a second and we got him into the chair. Great progress.

He stayed in the wheelchair for a while and as the afternoon went by his two doctors came (rehab and medical). It was a lot of evaluation as they learned about Lenny. He will see those doctors daily. After the doctors were done he had lunch and I was actually able to eat with him as I can buy a meal here. We had grilled cheese with tomato soup. It was good.

After lunch his Physical Therapist came, he was very nervous because he did not want to stand up again because his knee was hurting so bad. It started with just some evaluation to see how his strength was, but she definitely wanted him to get up. So she had him get up and take a couple steps to the bed so he could lay down. He hated it because his knee is really hurting.

Tomorrow he will have 2 hours of PT, 1 hour of OT, and 1 hour of ST. It should be quite a day. We are still on the estimate of 2 to 3 weeks before going home. We are counting the days!

Until tomorrow! Love, Nancy

Week Three - Wednesday

So as I write to you tonight, I am sitting here with Lenny. Today Lenny was transferred to a sub acute rehabilitation hospital here in Phoenix, well Scottsdale actually. I bet you are asking yourself how we got here, so let me tell you about our day.

I arrived this morning to find Lenny sitting in the chair he hates eating some soup. I nearly melted. I had just missed the doctors as I guess they did rounds really early this morning and he wanted me to talk to them as a lot had happened this morning. One of the doctors came over and told me that they stood Lenny up this morning. There were 3 men and Lenny was still to weak. Lenny told me it was one of the hardest things he had ever done, he had never felt so much weakness in his body. Because of this they were ready to send Lenny to a rehabilitation center. Lenny and I talked with the case worker to decide what the next course of action would be that would be best for Lenny. If we stay here in Phoenix Lenny will be able to stay with his specialists. It is estimated that he will only need 2-4 weeks of rehab, so Lenny and I decided the best thing is to stay here. The money we would spend to transport him home is substantial as I mentioned before, and we would have to find him new specialists, and have to deal with the insurance. If we just transferred him here, life would be much easier, and frankly, I want him to stay with the doctors that fixed him. Dr. Lattieri, Lenny's facial reconstruction surgeon is a rare find now a days, as it is a dying specialty since airbags were installed in cars. It seems since the airbags not nearly as many facial fractures are seen, so you can see why we want to stay with him.

Our case worker went to work on placing him, and by the afternoon they were there interviewing us. They wanted to know Lenny's history and things like that, they also had to make sure they got insurance authorization and all that good stuff. The rehab hospital required that Lenny have a different type of trach tube, so they had to change it out and taught me how to clean it. I had to learn a lot of things because at the rehab hospital he wasn't going to have a nurse at the end of his bed at his back and call anymore. The rehab hospital accepted him and now we sat in the hospital and waited for transport. While we waited the plastic surgery team came and unwired his jaw. He was so happy. They numbed him up similar to when you go to the dentist, so after they did it he couldn't feel a thing. They wanted him to try eating, but of course he couldn't because he was so numb, so we had to wait a little over an hour for him to try. A while later they asked him again and he was ready to try to eat. They brought him chocolate ice cream. He mowed it down! Now that they saw he was eating correctly, out came the feeding tube from his nose. I am proud to say my Lenny is now tube free.

Around 5:30 the ambulance showed up to transport him. I ran back to the hotel because I had forgot my computer charger. The new hospital is about 30 minutes from the old one so it is quite a trek. We are working on getting my hotel room transferred closer as a month was already paid for, so hopefully that will happen tomorrow.

I got to the hospital about 6:30 and he was already in his room and watching the Spurs/Suns game. Typical Lenny. The nurses were doing a shift change so there was no one yet to help us, and he was hungry, thirsty, and had to pee. It took them till about 7:30 to finally help him out, but they brought him some water, mashed potatoes, pudding, and yogurt. After not eating for almost 3 weeks he was pretty happy.

So here we are pretty up to date. This hospital is very lenient on the visiting hours (which are 8-8 by the way woo hoo) and they are so nice that I am able to SLEEP OVER! I asked Lenny what he thought and if he wanted me to stay. He said it would be great if I could stay tonight with him. This is all so new being in a new place and I think he feels better having me here in case he needs something. They showed me around and where I can get him ice and drinks and such. The hospital is so clean and new and really seems like a wonderful place. In the next 24 hours we will get a schedule of his therapies that I will take part in since he will come straight home from here. Great news huh! He can't wait to go home. He missed the cats and the comfort of his own bed, but we will be home in a few weeks!

So as we speak I am sitting on a little bed right next to Lenny's bed. He is sleeping peacefully and for the first time in a long time I feel a little peace in my heart. The knot in my stomach is less, and I can see the path towards the future and know that we are going to be ok. I don't think there are many people in life that find the happiness that Lenny and I have. We have hurdled so many obstacles in our 12 years living together, this one being the biggest, but this one has taught us both what we mean to each other and everything we have ever taken for granted in each other comes rising to the surface. Never again.

Good night all....or good morning depending on when you read this. Tomorrow we embark a new journey towards coming home.

Love, Nancy

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

Week Three - Monday

Lenny is definitely in the fast lane towards recovery. When he decided he was ready, he meant it.

I arrived this morning and as usual he was really sleepy. He had done fantastic overnight with the vent trials which was great. I told the nurse the questions I had for rounds so when I visited in the afternoon we may find the answers. It has been two weeks since his facial reconstruction, so the jaws being wired shut should be done any day now. They removed the staples from his legs this morning and they are healing up nicely. He has learned to suction his own mouth, he has this long tube like you see at the dentist to suction inside his mouth. He is finally coughing things up on his own so he can now suction them to, it is pretty funny to see.

When I arrived at the afternoon visit I was so excited to learn that they removed his catheter! He hated the catheter so he was glad to have it removed. Another piece of exciting information, they are going to keep him off the ventilator as long as he can go. They were going to be putting him in the chair he loves so much and let him watch some TV to make it easier. The Case Worker from the other hospitals was there to review his case and see where they want to move him to, but I haven't heard anything from them yet. 

At the evening visit he was still going strong off of the ventilator. Now, when I say he is off the ventilator it means they have the machine on pause, he is still all hooked up and they have what is called "aerosol" on to help keep moisture at the trach and in his throat. They have allowed me to give him a small amount of ice water on a little sponge into his mouth, so that is what he wants the second I get there. Well they don't want him to have very much of course because items in his stomach can make him nauseous and we can't have him getting sick with his jaw wired shut. Everytime I give him a little I say that is enough and he gives me sad eyes and the just one more finger, I keep telling him that he is going to get me in trouble but I give him one more. I am a sucker.

At the night visit when I arrived he was sleeping and STILL OFF THE VENTILATOR! Woo hoo! He woke up after I was there about 10 minutes and can anyone guess what he wanted? Water. So I got him some fresh ice water and we proceeded to play "you have had enough" with the sponge. He was in good spirits and smiling at me. His right eye is starting to open a little, he says it is a little blurry but I think that is because it is still really swollen. All and all he is moving right along. I am hoping to get his jaw unwired tomorrow, so that is the goal.

I see the families coming in on day one of their tragedy and I remember our day one like it was yesterday. Here we are 17 days into Lenny's recovery and we are now in the positive. I see the families in the waiting room for the SICU upset and crying just as I was in the beginning. Today I stopped and talked to a large family of about 20 that was in the waiting room so upset that a male in their family had received substantial head trauma. He was on his way into the long surgery like Lenny had on his face. I told them I was sorry to interrupt them, but I wanted to let them know what miracles these Doctors and Nurses had performed for my Lenny, and they told me they appreciated it, and that it helped to hear the words. My heart poured out to them, as I totally can relate to what they are going through. This hospital from appearances is very run down, but the staff in this hospital are #1.

I again wanted to thank you all for helping me through these rough weeks that have passed and the months we have in front of us. This situation has changed me and made me realize that it is easy to take life for granted, and I hope that anyone reading this can think twice before EVER drinking and operating or getting into a car, boat, motorcycle, whatever it is. We were lucky, but there are many families out there that have not been so lucky, and trust me when I say, I never thought this would happen to us.

Love, Nancy

Week Three - Sunday

Today was a big jump towards ventilator freedom!

At the morning visit Lenny was sleepy, but awake enough to know I was there. We chatted a little but mostly I stood there while he rested. You can see him fighting sleep now by his eyes. It is like now that the one eye is open he feels he needs it open all the time.

By the afternoon visit he was in the chair that he hates. It looks like a bed, but the feet are down at the floor. I don't know why he hates it, he just does. He was looking around a lot, because in the chair he can see the whole area he is in and all the people. I would think he would like that, but he hates that chair. His nurse told me he had only been in the chair for an hour and they want him in it as long as possible to help keep his lungs clear, but all Lenny wanted to know is when he can back in the bed. She told us it would be a couple hours and he gave us the "ok" hand gesture. He understands. So now for the best news of all, the doctors come through about 11am and they changed his vent trials. Today Lenny has been off the vent for 3 hours, then on for 1 hour, and it keeps rotating 3 off 1 on, etc. etc. and he has been doing fantastic!

This afternoon my friend Melisa came to the hotel and brought me a home cooked meal, Turkey Chili with Cornbread. It was wonderful, thank you so much! All I eat is take out or microwave food so it was FANTASTIC to have a home cooked meal.

At the evening visit he was back in bed and out for the count. I know he is out when I arrive and I take his hand and nothing. I was so glad he was resting. The nurse told me as soon as he got back in bed he was out.

At the night visit he was fully awake and we chatted away, well I chatted and he did Lenny Sign Language. I read to him the recap of the Laker Game today (GO LAKERS) and he was glad to hear they had won. I updated him on how things are at home and just some stories about friends here and there, it was so nice to have such an exchange with him. Before we knew it our time was up and I had to go. He was happy and smiling and we said goodnight.

Each day that comes is just better and better, as to be expected. We are on the road to recovery, it is going to be a long one, but we are going to be just fine.

Lenny and I love you all!

Week Three - Saturday

Today was a remarkable day. It started off this morning with a visit to Lenny as usual. He was sleepy but......drum roll........HE OPENED HIS EYES! (Insert loud cheers here) His left eye opens quite a bit, and the right eye barely opens as he is still very swollen on that side. I asked him if he could see me and he said yes, and when Yiyi said hello he looked over to her and smiled. It was priceless. A moment that we will surely never forget, nor all the moments we have to come. His mouth opening, talking, walking, etc. Yiyi said it best when she said it was like watching a newborn learn everything for the first time. I guess it comes with our feelings of how glad we are he is alive. We are so lucky!

Lenny is back on the vent trials today going strong for 2 hours on and 2 hours off. He is a champion!

When I came back to the room I had 3 packages from Lenny's cousin Shawn. He sent Lenny a Laker Book that I can read to him, and sent me a bunch of little odds and ends of things to do. Word search books, magazines, little crafts, snacks, movies, so many things. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Everyday I am shown that over and over.

At the afternoon visit he was sleepy still but he still woke up a little. Yiyi talked to him a lot and loved on him because she was going to be catching a flight home for a few days to take care of some business. We were so glad he was awake enough to communicate.

After I dropped Yiyi off at the airport I ran some errands and came back to the hotel room to wait till my next visit. At the evening visit I brought the nurses cookies, they work so hard I figured they deserved a treat. Lenny was sleepy so we didn't talk much, but he would open his eyes every so ofter to make sure I was still there.

When I came back to the hotel after the visit I had some dinner and sat and did a word search, boy the time just flew by! I forgot how much I like to do those puzzle books.

The night visit was amazing. He was awake the entire time looking at me and for once I never seemed to run out of things to talk about with him. I guess with him looking at me it was just easy. We talked a little about the accident, and how all the other occupants of the boat were doing, I read to him how all the NBA Playoff Teams were doing and who was eliminated in round one, I told him all the people who had been calling, sending cards, sending love on the blog, etc etc, and he nodded each time. I told him I loved him and that I was sorry I don't say that very much, he squeezed my hand so tight and nodded that he knew I loved him. I can't explain what an amazing interchange it was between the two of us, and made me feel alive again for the first time since this happened. Lenny and I have never been very good at mushy and lovey, but since this happened it seems to just come natural. I guess in hard times the truth always shines through. Lenny and I have always been attached, from the moment we met, and through all the bullshit we have always been Lenny and Nancy, and we always will be.

Love you all,
Nancy

Week Two - Friday

So here we are, two weeks gone since the accident.

Lenny did not get moved to a new hospital today. My company is in the process of changing insurance providers and they won't move him until they have the new insurance information, so they will talk to me about it again on Monday.

Today was a good day for Lenny as far as the vent is concerned. He was off the vent this afternoon for 1 hour and 40 minutes, and when we visited him tonight he was off it again. We were allowed in at 8:30 and he had already been off for 30 minutes, they are trying for 2 hours. His oxygen level was 100% which is FANTASTIC and we need him to stay above 91% so he is doing great! Other then the vent trials they are doing there was not much change today. He was sleeping for our first two visits, and for the evening and night visit he was asking about the Lakers again. At halftime when we were there the Lakers were up, but watching it right this second Lakers are down by one, WOO HOO, Gasol assists Bryant to take the lead. 0.5 to go.....hold on while I watch the rest.....YEAH LAKERS WIN ROUND ONE! Now I will call the nurse so they will tell Lenny. They laugh when I call for such funny reasons, but Lenny will love that news! So back to Lenny, he is progressing well day by day and I am hoping he is off that ventilator in the next week!

I have tried to focus on moving past the scary feelings I have had for the past two weeks and look forward towards the rehabilitation plans. Now I need to focus on the changing of hospitals, when I can take him back to California, where we will place him, getting things ready for him to come home, getting a wheelchair, building a ramp, and on and on and on. It is kind of nice to have other things to plan. Tomorrow I am going to start working on the quotes to get him home to California. The problem with getting them is I don't know how much care he will need during the trip, but at least I can get some idea on who might be the best company to go with. I am also fortunate that someone I work with knows someone that works for a transport company. We are so lucky in so many ways.

Today I received another letter in the mail, and I was sent roses from my old high school friend that lives here in Phoenix that has been so wonderful. Another old friend that I haven't talked to years sent me some old memorabilia that would make me smile and the newspaper article from Lake Havasu. I can't tell you how lucky Lenny and I are to have all of you in our lives. I hope to be able to return all this love to each and every one of you someday, but until then please know that all of you that take the time to check on Lenny by reading this blog will always hold a special place in my heart. I am going to have a HUGE gathering once Lenny is all better and please know that everyone will be invited, old friends, new friends, everyone.

Tomorrow Yiyi goes home so she can go to the doctor and take care of her home. It has been so wonderful that she has been here with me for the past two weeks. We have gone through this together, and thanks to Gary handling everything we made it through. They will be back soon though, but I am hoping we are coming there before they have to come here.

Now we look toward the future and the rehabilitation, next item on the checklist - Off the ventilator.

Until tomorrow night - Love, Nancy

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!

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

Week Two - Tuesday

Well here we are, the end of 11 days since the accident. Sometimes it still feels like day one, but I am glad it is not.

Today was not very eventful, Lenny has not made much progress with the breathing. For the past two nights during the night they have had to bag him and bring his oxygen level up. They don't exactly know why it happens, it just does. The lowest setting on the vent is 40% oxygen. We need him to stay at 40% oxygen for 24 hours for them to try vent trials again to get him off the vent. He did great today during the day so lets all pray for a great night.

He is healing so well. You see the bruises slowly fading and the left side of his face almost looks like him again. We are waiting for an answer from the plastic surgery team on when the stitches will come off his eyes, as I think once he can open his left eye he will feel a little better. It will be a little while for the right eye I am sure as it very swollen. On the original plan his jaw was only to be wired shut for 2 weeks, so that only leaves us 5 more days, can you believe it has already been that long? I hope we are on the same plan.

Lenny has pretty much been asleep when I visit for the past two days. When that happens I feel really nervous that he hasn't communicated much with me. Well today at the afternoon visit he was a little more awake and he did communicate with me. I asked him if he was listening to me and he shook his head yes. I explained to him that he needs to remember that getting angry and frustrated only prolongs his stay in the hospital. I need him to be calm and no matter how pissed he is to remember that this will be over soon, and everything everyone is doing is what needs to be done. I also told him to take deep breaths so we can get him off that ventilator. He nodded yes and squeezed my hand. I hope he remembers.

So this evening I brought cookies in again for the nurses. We want them to be extra good to our Lenny and they deserve it. They are all so nice and so good at their jobs.

WAY TO GO LAKERS! They heard my cries and won by 24 points! The gnome is at work! Now lets clench the series! I called the hospital just now and asked the nurse to tell Lenny when he was awake. She said no way cause that makes her unhappy LOL, I have to remember I am in Suns country here. But she said she would tell him. Heres to a good nights sleep for Lenny!

Love you all, and I will hopefully have some good news tomorrow about his eye stitches.
Nancy

Week Two - Monday

So today was a rough day. We arrived at the morning visit to learn that Lenny had a rough night and they had to turn up the oxygen on his vent. Which means that he will not be doing any vent trials to get off the vent today. Also, he had pulled out his feeding tube that goes in his nose and down into his intestines. This means they would have to put it back in, which was not going to be fun for him. He was sleeping the whole time we were there because they had given him medicine to calm him down. So basically he took a big step backwards overnight, not life threatening steps backward, but progress steps backward.

Upon arriving back at the hotel I had a package from my work. It was full of gift cards and positive words that brought tears to my eyes. How could I be so lucky to be part of such a wonderful family. I love you guys, and wouldn't be able to make it through this without you.

When we arrived at the afternoon visit the nurse told us she tried to get the feeding tube back in but has been unsuccessful. He hates it, of course, so they were having a hard time. He was pretty much out of it all day because of all the medication for pain and to relax him. They are not sedating him because it would not be helpful to his breathing recovery, but he is getting pain medicine and something to help him relax. Plus every time he gets excited it just takes to much energy out of his and he is even more tired.

In the afternoon I received 5 more Get Well/Support cards and I can't thank you all enough. Alaina's daughter Chloe had even colored Lenny a picture of a cat cause she knows how much "Yenny yikes kitties". It was priceless. I spent the afternoon busily writing out thank you cards for all the donations I have received towards Lenny's care. I am speechless with gratitude to you all for your prayers, love, and support.

At the evening visit I was so excited to see him because he had been out of it all day, and when we walked in the nurses told me not to wake him. They had put the feeding tube back in after a two hour ordeal and he was pissed. He tried pulling everything out including the breathing tube so it had been a rough afternoon. So we only stayed a few minutes so as not to disturb him. At this point I was starting to melt down after this trying day, and on top of it all he really hasn't been communicating with us much in the past few days. I was a little glad two days ago when he was out of it and not asking me about the Laker Game (they lost by 20 and that was news I did not want to report), but now it was just getting to be a long time since I really felt his presence there. All we get is about 20 seconds of him squeezing my hand tightly and then he is back to sleep. I know he needs his rest and I want him to get it. I am just missing him. This whole ordeal scares me so much that I don't know where to channel those feelings. Those of you that know me know that I have become very good over the years on holding everything inside and just pushing it down, but I have not been able to push this down. It all sits in my stomach, or at least that is where it feels like it is, and never goes away. I am sure I will find a way to deal with all of these feelings I have inside, but as of right now I just feel like ......  I don't know what. A lot of me feels like I have no reason to feel all these feelings because at least he is alive, but it all still hurts so much. There are so many aspects of this hurting me that I don't know how to deal with, but none of that matters, only Lenny does. Lenny getting better and coming home. I can't even imagine at this point being at home in our house without him there if he has to go to rehabilitation center for his legs. I am scared for what he is thinking inside his head when he is awake, he has a feeding tube in his nose, a neck brace, a breathing tube into the trach in his throat, his jaw wired shut, his eyes are stitched closed, two broken legs, and his hands are tied down to the bed. It must be awful for him. He can't see, can't talk, and can't move. I know it could be worse, but it must be torture for him in there.

At the night visit he was still asleep, and I just stood there and held his hand lightly so I didn't disturb him. They had turned down the oxygen on the vent so vent trials can resume again tomorrow. I stood there and studied his face as the swelling is going down slowly and the bruising is lightening. His skin looks beautiful. We got so lucky to have such a fabulous facial reconstruction surgeon. The only thing that I can think he will have different when this is all over is the scar that runs from ear to ear over the top of his head and his nose. His nose looks beautiful, but it will have some scarring and maybe some changes to his nostrils, but for the most part he looks great. They had told us so much awful things to prepare for when we were on the way here for his face, but it was all mostly his nose, which they fixed before we ever even saw him. I am glad for that. I imagined his face was all messed up like hamburger meat, but it isn't, it was just his nose and that is fixed. Everything that is wrong with his face is under the surface. We won't know if he will need more facial work until after he has healed more. He may still need a plate behind his eye to keep it from sinking back, he already has one underneath to keep it from sinking down, but for the most part the worst seems to be over. Now just the healing. The doctor joked with me when he was doing the facial surgery if we wanted the big holes in his ears he has stretched out stitched up. I told him no way, he already lost his goatee which was his pride and joy. He has been growing that for 10 years, and I don't know if he remembers it is gone, but when he does I know he will be disappointed. I have not seen Lenny clean shaven EVER, I don't even know the last time he has seen himself clean shaven. LOL. 

Today was a rough day, tomorrow will be a better day.

Love to you all, Nancy