The Power of Cake

Yesterday, May 27, Sara and I celebrated our 19th anniversary. We had a steak dinner in my room and I baked a german chocolate cake earlier in the day. It was part of my therapy as I had to stand in the kitchen to mix it up, frost it and do the dishes. Sara and the kids said it was very good and they were impressed that Dad actually baked a cake.

Yesterday they hauled me back to Maricopa County Hospital for a "check up" on my burns. I was not very excited to return to "county." Although the burn center and surgeons are some of the best in the country the wound care at Health South is wonderful. The good news is that the folks at county agreed that my burns are healing very nicely and were happy with what they saw.

I am working hard in physical therapy and have three hours every day. Thanks for all your visits, kind words and prayers. They are a great support. More Later . . .

Shane

Back in the Saddle

Today was a good day. I got back into my therapy routine after three days off. I had three hours of physical therapy today, I did lots of stretching and walking. Tomorrow I go back to county hospital for a check up with my burn doctors, I am not looking forward to going back, but this is part of the process. They need to evaluate my wounds. Thanks for the continued prayers and support. More later....

Shane

Sunday Afternoon

Our family together

Jake's birthday was yesterday, and he turned 4! We had cake and opened some gifts, thanks to B&H&R for all of the birthday fun. We took a quick minute to snap a shot of all of us together, and I have so say, we look pretty good. Shane's surgery went well and he started a new round of blood thinners to break up the clots, so we will see how they work. He is hoping that therapy will re-start on Monday without any other delays.

His legs have improved so much over the past 10 days, they are nothing short of a miracle. Thank you, for the prayers for Shane, and our family!
-sara

35 days out

Today started out like any other day, breakfast, bandage change and therapy. About half way into therapy I had to have an ultra sound to check for blood clots in my legs. Unfortunately, I have at least one in each leg. My doctor is putting me on a higher dose of blood thinner. My doctor is also going to a have a vein filter inserted tomorrow afternoon. This will stop any clot that may move from entering my lungs. I am also getting a blood transfusion tonight to help with my anemia. It feels like I am taking two steps backwards today. However, it is good that they found the clot. I will be back in the normal routine in a day or two.

Thanks for your prayers and kind words

Love

Shane

Wednesday May, 21st

Great to hear from all of you. I enjoy your thoughts and kind words. Today was a busy day. They took all my staples out of my legs today. I think the graft stapler at Maricopa was trigger happy. I was able to walk 500+ feet today with the assistance of a walker. My sweet wife brought me Tia Rosa's for dinner. The salmon taco and chips and salsa tasted great. Sara also took me out for a nice walk tonight. I enjoyed the fresh air and the cool breeze.

I had some nice visits today. It is a blessing to be at this rehab hospital.

More later

love

Shane

Power of a shower

I was able to take a real shower for the first time in 31 days. Yeah! I got a hair cut today as, well. Thanks J & K. Overall I am feeling pretty good today. I was able to do 2 hours of rehab today, which included walking, leg stretching and the arm cycle. My strength and endurance is improving every day. The doctors looked at my wounds today and described the improvements as miraculous. I still have a long road ahead but am getting better every day. Thank you for your continued prayers, thoughts and support for my family and me. Prayers are being answered.
Shane

Saturday May 17th

Shane is sleeping, so unfortunately you have me writing the post tonight. He had a pretty productive day for a Saturday in rehab. Saturdays are a slower day for the therapists, but Shane did get a solid hour of walking, stretching and upper body strengthening. His wounds look pretty good and seem to be improving each day. He gets the day off tomorrow, so maybe I can get him to write the post.
-sara

News From Rehab

Today was a good day, I officially started rehab. I worked on walking, stretching and increasing my strength. Although, rehab will be a challenge, I am looking forward to participating in my recovery. My challenge will be my patience and taking it one day at a time.

Jake and Haley visited tonight and they brought a lot of energy into my room. It was great to see them and give them hugs and kisses. I enjoyed reading all of the cards and blog comments from so many of you. The outpouring has been humbling. I thank everyone for all of the prayers, love and support shown to me and my family. I have felt your prayers. I miss you all and can't wait to be home.

-shane

28 days (4 weeks)

Wednesday May 14th

We started a new chapter in our get well book today, Shane left the Maricopa burn center and moved into a rehabilitation center. He will have lots of occupational and physical therapy (about 3 hours a day) and other types of recuperating therapy as well. The new facility is clean, quiet and the food is actually able to be eaten. These are all good things in recovering, right? Well, Jake got to finally see his dad for the first time in 27 days!! It was really sweet to see Jake's eyes light up when he got to see him. He was a bit shy about getting up on the bed to sit by him, but he did give Shane a big hug before he left. Shane has a long road ahead of him, with some peaks and valleys I am sure, but I hope that even after this accident, we will remember to appreciate the small things in a day that really bring us joy. We are so blessed!
-sara

Monday, May 12

Shane passed his swallow test today!! No more tube feedings and taking medicine the easy way, now he has to take it like the rest of us. It was sooo nice to see his whole face without tubes dividing it up. I took his picture today so Jake could see his dad, and was he so happy to see him, but he did feel bad when he saw dad's big band aides on his legs. Tomorrow, he should be getting back up on his legs after the past 5 days off, due to surgery. His grafts continue to look good and he is ready to get to work, in the therapy room. Thank you to all of you who read and post comments, I know that Shane will appreciate all of the words of inspiration left by so many of you and I have to say that your comments have helped me each day, especially when its been a hard day. So to all of you I say, "Thank you and I love you".
-sara

Super Saturday, May 10th

Today was a great day....Shane's voice is strong and he sounds like himself again. His sense of humor is back as well. The skin grafts will be looked at tomorrow, so we will find out if the second graft will be as successful as the first. Madison got to spend two hours with Shane today and tell him about her elp field trip to San Diego this past few days. She really enjoyed her time with her dad today and noticed how fast the time went. I hope that Shane may feel the same in how fast the time will fly by in the hospital, yeah right!
-sara

May 9th, 1st day post op#2

Today was a really good day for Shane. He looked really good and sounded just as good. His voice has gotten noticeably stronger and he really is more himself today than I have seen so far. They grafted an area of about 10%, maybe a bit less, but that was the 2% left from the previous surgery and then the rest was grafting that didn't take from the 1st surgery. So we will pray that this will be his last surgery. I think that changing his pain medication was a big help to facilitate really seeing and visiting with him today. He is more at ease and is not anxious about his current situation. If the grafting looks good, it is possible that Shane will be moved to a rehabilitation center by the end of next week. We will know more by Tuesday. Today was a blessing to see and hear him look and sound better. Thank you for all of the prayers in Shane's behalf!!
-sara

The end of week #3

Shane stood up today with the help of a walker and a couple of extra pairs of hands, but none the less it was great to see him standing. I was and am very proud of him!! He has his second skin graft surgery in the morning, they are going to graft around 10%, I hope. Thank you for all of the strength, prayers, and love all of you have shown. I have needed it more than you know.
-sara

May 6th

Sara is asleep on the couch, so i will pitch in for her. Today was another tired day for Shane, but he was able to sit up in a chair for a while. He will have his 2nd skin graft surgery this week to finish the rest of the skin grafting. All of your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated by Sara and her family, and if you would like to pray for something specific, pray that Shane's throat will heal quickly so he can get the feeding tube out so he will be able to eat and regain his strength.
-Jessie

Cinco de Mayo

We were hoping to celebrate with tacos, burritos and chips and salsa today, but Shane is still having trouble with his throat....to much stuff getting into his lungs and lots of coughing. So we will have to wait for a third throat study and a better outcome. Otherwise, he looks better and his voice is growing stronger everyday. His 2nd grafting surgery is tentatively set for Thursday. But that decision will be made for sure Wed. afternoon. He did sit in a chair for about 45 minutes and was super tired when he was done.
-sara

May 4th

The kids had a great visit with their dad today. When we got there, he was sitting up in a chair waiting for us. The kids were able to see him look pretty normal and more importantly give him a hug and kiss on the cheek. Life almost seemed normal with all of us in one room. Jake should get the chance to see his dad maybe by Wed. or Thur, he is hoping for Wednesday of course. Shane enjoyed the visit today, but he is very tired. But, all in all today is a good day

May 3rd

Today was a day of lots and lots of coughing. Which is good for Shane's lungs, but he was really tired of coughing! His voice is getting stronger every day and he is turning into a really good conversationalist. Tomorrow will be the first time the kids(except Jake) have seen him in about 10 days, and they are very excited. We are so blessed, thank you for the prayers!
-sara

May 2nd

I got to see Shane sit on the side of the bed and dangle his feet today!!! But the best part of my day was getting a hug from him! It was great to see him upright. He is still having a bit of an issue with swallowing....his throat muscles don't want to work as good as they should yet. Shane is really tired and not able to sleep so he got an Ambian tonight....lucky duck!
-sara

two weeks ago today or day 14

Shane got to see more than his room today. He got into a chair and was taken over to ex ray, he was very happy to look at something other than his room, and he got to get out of bed. He is sooooo tired today from all of the new activity. I think he is ready for a steak dinner, but his doctor says he needs another day or two to rest his throat. On a funny note, two of Shane's nurses asked if he was a litigator? I replied with a yes and they laughed. They told me that he was trying to argue his case with them as to why he should be let out of bed. Of course he did not win that motion, but I think he has agreed to be a good patient. It is hard to believe that the crash happened two weeks ago today, we still have such a long road ahead, but he has come so far in a pretty short time. But, I still have to think about this one day at a time. Thank you for your constant prayers and thoughts for Shane and our family.
-sara