Update on Jamie

I just wanted to take some time and update my amazing followers on Jamie.

Saturday the 16th was the accident. I already posted about my experience with that night.

Sunday the 17th my parents came into town to check on the both of us. I hadn't slept in 28 plus hours. I was exhausted. I couldn't even function. I did manage to sleep for a few hours, but when I called to check on Jamie the nurse M was such a jerk to me that I packed my bags and drove right back to the hospital. I told nurse M that the sergeant and I were some what restricting visitors because he needed rest. Nurse M told me that was not my decision and I had no say in the matter. I was furious! Then he had the audacity to go and wake Jamie up and talk to him about whether or not he wanted visitors. So then I had Jamie calling saying visitors were fine. Yes I know they are fine, but moderation in all things my dear!!! (besides he was drugged he doesn't even know what was happening.)

Monday the 18th we were told that Jamie's blood levels were borderline low. We declined transfusion because we figured they would improve through out the day and we would be ready for surgery in the morning. By Monday evening my parents returned and my mom stayed by with me and even spent hours in the waiting room. My dad gave Jamie a blessing with help of another man in his department. It was a very special moment and a memory I will never forget. My dad drove the 2.5 hours back to his home and like I said left my mom to be with me. As the evening progressed we learned that Jamie's blood levels were now low. Things were getting more serious. The transfusions were needed. Sure we could decline, but that's risky. Taking someone else's blood is risky. We talked about it and took the transfusions. 3 units of red blood cells and 2 units of platelets later his blood was back up to what it was that Monday morning. During all this we had that silly nurse M again. This time he was a little nicer. I asked for a blanket for my mother who was out in the freezing waiting room and he brought me one, but said this isn't allowed so just don't ask again. As I was leaving for the night (because they wouldn't give me a chair to sleep in!!!!!) I asked the nurse to please call if there were any changes. He said but I'm just his girlfriend so they would have to call his mother first. I told him that Jamie signed a medical power of attorney to me and that you would not be calling his mother first! It was in the chart plain as day and that's what Jamie wanted.

It was now Tuesday morning, the day of surgery, and they decided to do another Red blood cell transfusion to make sure he made it through surgery. My mom and I sat in the waiting room and played Uno which in a family tradition while someone is in surgery. (kinda sad that we now have a tradition for surgery in our family.) After surgery the surgeon came and explained that when they placed the plate in the front the back corrected itself and did not need a screw, but the ligaments would need time to heal to hold that back into place. He said no walking on the left leg for 10 weeks. Dr M (the surgeon) was always nice to me during this whole process and I appreciated that. I had to wait an hour while he was in recovery. Then they took him to ICU again. They didn't let me back for another 45 mins. I was livid! I was yelling at everyone. I told the volunteers that this hospital was terrible and my hospital was better. When the volunteers had their little shift change they were talking about me as I sat with my mother 5 feet away. I almost went even more crazy after that. Finally the nurse came back to get me. Once I saw Jamie I felt so much better. He was groggy and hoarse from the intubation, but he was alive. I saw him with my own two eyes that he was alive!!! This nurse was actually pretty nice and I did appreciate that. Around 5 I had to leave with my mom so we could drive the 2.5 hours to go to my parents so I could attend school on Wednesday. When we got to my parents we had a call saying my debit card had been used for fraud. Just what I needed!

Wednesday the 20th... They let Jamie walk. I flipped out! Jamie wasn't really responding to my texts and I had to take a math test and I couldn't concentrate because he was not allowed to walk. The police officers that were on watch didn't know any better and they went along with it. (this incident set us up for a major downfall later on...) I called my mom crying and yelling. She called the ICU herself and talked to the nurse. After my test I called the nurse myself. She said she was not in there but assured me that they followed the surgeons orders and he did not walk. Bull crap. Some therapists let him walk to the door and back with a walker! Mind you... his left leg is non weight baring for the ligaments to heal and the right foot is broken so he should not be baring all his 220 pounds of muscle on a broken foot!!!! I had class all day long, but ran to the bank to deal with my debit card. I returned back to school. During my lab portion it began to snow... I lost my mind at this point. I was crying and a mess. IT DOESN'T SNOW IN ARIZONA!!!!!! People kept coming up to me letting me know that the roads were closed. I didn't know how the heck I was going to get back to Jamie, but I needed to get back! I had to get back! After class was over I returned to my parents house. My mom said the roads were closed. I looked online and the road I normally take was reopened. I figured it must be okay because it's reopened. By this time the sun was shining so I felt good about driving. I got to just the point where you go through the mountains and it started snowing so crazy!!!! I went through the mountains about a mile in and my cars slipped. And then it slipped again. I have never prayed so much in my LIFE!!!! I was so scared that I wasn't going to make it back. At one point we came to a dead stop in the road for over an hour. As I sat I didn't have reception to tell everyone I was safe so I just did my homework. I got out and stretched and tried to stay calm. Eventually I made it through the mountains. What is usually a 20-30 min ride took almost 2 hours to get through. When I reached the other side... They had the road closed again. I made it to the hospital where they had moved Jamie to a regular unit. I stayed the whole night with him and took care of him. The only thing the nurses did was pass meds. I did everything else.

Thursday the 21st Jamie was feeling a lot of pain. They warned us that 2 days post op would be bad pain. We asked for minimal visitors due to pain.

Friday the 22nd I decided I needed to go on leave from work. I'm still not sure how I'm going to pay my bills because I don't have any PTO, but I just put my faith in God. Jamie sat in a wheelchair and we went and toured the rehab unit that he would be staying in. Later he was indeed moved to a new room in the rehab unit. This room was SMALLLLLL!!!! We could barely fit in there!

Saturday the 23rd... the doctor and therapists all came in to do assessments. Tom my favorite therapist came in. Jamie was adamant that he was allowed to walk because he walked the first day after surgery. I kept saying no you can't walk. Tom called Dr M. NO WALKING! STAND PIVOT TRANSFERS ONLY!!!! (And he had to wear a boot during that transfer) Jamie was not too happy.

Sunday the 24th. Jamie was going stir crazy. The new room was too small. He had just been laying in bed for over a week now. He hated everything. He took his anger out on me. He said that it was all my fault that he wasn't allowed to walk. That I pushed too hard for him not to walk. He couldn't understand why the therapists the first day would ever make a mistake about him walking. Sorry sweetie, but they did. I had to let him know that it wasn't okay for him to be mad at me. I get that he is mad. It's okay to be mad, but you can't take it out on me when I'm the one taking care of you!!!!

Monday the 25th I had class. Jamie apparently was fighting with the therapy people. I figured he would. He is so ornery these days. I'm sure they deal with that a lot.

Tuesday the 26th I scored clinicals in the ER. Something I already knew and loved. I had so much fun! I can't believe it! Jamie... still ornery. Rehab is going though... He is in and out of the wheelchair more!

Wednesday the 27th. Test over nursing. Managed to score a 91 percent even with everything else going on. I realize that maybe there are angels helping right now because there is no way I can being doing this all on my own. I returned back Jamie's to watch his daughter run track and take video for Jamie. Then later I headed to the hospital to keep him company.

Thursday the 28th. Today was the day to be discharged! They did some therapy with me and him together so I could learn how to get him in and out of the car and how to get him up and down steps. He had swelling under his incision so we had to wait for Dr M to come and check it out. Around 4 the nurse came and said to just plan on staying another day. I lost it. I said why. She said something about home health and how it wasn't set up. I said no way. We don't need home health right away and that should be no reason to keep us in the hospital. She rambled something more that I couldn't even hear with all my anger built up. I told her this is ridiculous that if that were the case then we should have been told in advance that we had all day for someone to come and talk to us so get the social worker in here or get a supervisor. The social worker came in and told us that no we were just waiting on Dr. M and that he could do the at home care paperwork tomorrow and we did not need to stay for that. Finally at 5 the surgeon showed up. He pushed on Jamie's incision and decided that there was blood under and it needed to be drained. So... he got an 18 gauge needle and a 60mL syringe and took over 100mLs out of blood and fluid. INSANE! I can't even believe it. We were told to watch the area and see what happened, but that we could go home!!!! We finally got home around 8ish or so. I still had to get the pain meds from the pharmacy and get Jamie all set up with everything.

Friday the 1st the medical supplies arrived. (oh I forgot to mention that the nurse told us we couldn't go home because he didn't have the supplies yet, even though we had what we needed for the time being. Turns out that someone from the hospital told the company he was not going to be discharged that night! I promptly let the company know that we would be home and I would sign for the supplies in the morning.) Jamie's friend came over to check on him and helped me remove the glass door from the shower so I could install the new shower seat. I ended up installing the toilet safety rails, the shower seat, a shower curtain rod, a shower curtain, all while doing multiple loads of laundry. Jamie slept on and off. His sergeant brought over dinner and his gear he was wearing that night. I still don't understand how he is not dead! Another officer brought over a second dinner and both meals were excellent! It's nice because I was able to get things together for left overs and freeze some of it.

Saturday the 2nd Jamie and I relaxed. He pain was under control. We have a little pattern down. He is doing so well at home. He went outside to the back patio. It was nice to just be outside for a minute or two. He is doing so good at wheeling himself. The home health nurse came along with the physical therapist a few hours later. I was embarrassed because the house hadn't been fully cleaned yet, but they didn't seem to mind laundry on the couch and some dishes in the sink.

Sunday the 3rd Jamie is doing AWESOME! I cleaned the house and finished the laundry and made it perfect for him to be able to manage himself until I get back on Wednesday. I thought it would be fun for us to go get the mail together. His drive way is EXTREMELY steep! I don't know what I was thinking really. When I had to push him up the drive way he was cheering me on and was laughing with me when I got to the top. It was fun to laugh with him again. This is our life after all. We can't just fast forward through the next little bit. We have to just take things as they are and love it and each other.

Here I am back at my parents ready for school tomorrow. I'm worried about him. (Of course) I am still in shock over the whole situation. Someday it will hit me. I am thankful for everyone's prayers and kind words. It has been a hard journey and we see the sunshine coming through the clouds!