January 14, 2010
Hi Everyone! Dad has asked me to update this site so that everyone can see his recovery.
Dad has been doing so good!! He is now at Craig Hospital in Colorado and has been there since October. Craig’s is a leading rehab hospital specializing in spinal cord injuries, a perfect place for Dad.
For the last month Dad has been in Craig’s out-patient program living in an apartment on hospital grounds. Since October Dad has improved SO MUCH!! The therapy he is getting is incredible, he has gotten to do so many different activities all with the purpose of therapy. He has been scuba diving, going bowling, even playing rock band. :-) He has been on a full-time therapy schedule since he got there, among his many activities: riding a stationary bike that has electric stimulus, so if he doesn’t ride he gets shocked :-) and doing lots of pool therapy where the anti-gravity is very helpful.
Dad gets to go home at the end of this month and he is going home walking!!! He is on crutches and has leg braces, but HE IS WALKING!!! Dad calls them his magic legs ;-)
Thanks Everybody for all your thoughts, prayers and well wishes!!!**********************************************************************************************
Hey Everyone, Jeff's daughters here, thanks so much for all the well wishes, prayers and support. He's improving everyday and slowly getting his movement back, but it's going to be a long hard road and looks like he'll be here in Anchorage for a while and in recovery long after that.
For those of you that don’t know what happened here’s an update: He was in a motorcycle accident late Saturday (8/22) night. He was coming home from Fairbanks and was 3 quarters of the way when he crashed; he crashed on Peridot Rd near Universal Welding. He has no recollection of the accident, his first memory is when he woke up in the ditch and it was getting light outside. He was unable to move so he lay in the ditch for about 10 hours before he was found and 911 was called. He was taken to FMH then in Med-evac to Providence Med Center in Anchorage that same night. His diagnosis is spinal cord injury; his spinal cord is swollen and bruised the worst of it in his C4-C7 vertebrae. He's getting surgery next week sometime, looks like on the 8th, to help him along. He has very limited movement in his body and is on bed rest, but for the hour a day that he gets physical therapy and they sit him up for a bit. His therapist say that he is improving leaps and bounds every day, but he still has a ways to go. His Doctor has said that it could take up to a year for him to get back any normalcy, but we all know Jeff and he’s planning on being back to normal in no time ;)
His spirits are up and he's joking with us every day and he likes his pain meds ;) though they do knock him out, which is good he needs as much rest as possible. With his long hospital stay he is incurring an increasing bill and a family friend is in the process of setting up this website for donations. Dad isn't too keen on the idea as his pride would prefer he handle it alone, however we hope this can be something he doesn't have to worry about and he can concentrate on his recovery. I know that times are tough for everyone right now, but every little bit will be helpful and MUCH appreciated. Thanks for everything!
With all his resting in bed he has a lot of time on his hands, therefore is having us check his email and facebook, so we are keeping him updated as well as updating his facebook for him, so look there for updates.
Thanks again for everything!!!
The beginning of recovery...
...and 5 months later recovery is progressing immensely!
Road
to
Recovery
August 09-
