Hi, all. It's Katie here. I just wanted to thank all of you for your tremendous love, prayers, and support. Below is a Christmas letter update I sent out to friends and family and wanted to include all of you who have been praying for me.
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Hello Dearest Friends and Family,
Wow! What a year! I’ll have to say I’m glad to have it over with, but there were so many great things that happened. We began the year with the news of our upcoming child that was due in July. What fun news to share with the girls. At the time of the announcement Tayler was 6 and Aubree 4. When the news was first announced to the girls, Aubree immediately asked, “Can I hold the baby standing up?” That is so her! I actually seemed to be healthier this pregnancy than for the girls. Those of you who know me well know that I spend most of my pregnancies with my head in the toilet.
It was good that I felt better this pregnancy because we headed to Disney World in February! What a vacation! I’ll never forget it and I hope the girls don’t either. We stayed at a Disney Resort, and hit Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom all multiple times. I believe the girls rode every roller coaster they were allowed to ride. Some of the roller coasters have a 40” requirement. Since Aubree is 39” I had her wear shoes with a 1.5” thick heal. It worked to get her on all but once. There were a few roller coasters only Dave and Tayler were allowed to go on together, the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Epcot, Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, and Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. To hear more about our amazing trip, see photos, and get recommendations for your own trip to Disney World, check out our blog at burstingblooms.blogspot.com.
Something else that kept us busy last winter was taekwondo. Both the girls took classes here in Ankeny. (There are cute pictures of this on the blog as well). They both enjoyed these winter outings, broke boards, and advanced in belt levels. They also took basketball last winter but have decided to bypass it this year. We currently have too much going on to push them into it! After being at school all week, Tayler likes her Saturday mornings at home. This is hard for her dad and me to understand. J
This last summer Aubree played softball. Tayler took the year off. We spent Saturday mornings in May and June watching Aubree. Tayler and I, and sometimes Tayler and Grandma Sue, would play catch for thirty minutes to try and see how many we could catch in a row. Tayler’s record is over 100 in a row!
A yearly highlight for us is always Okoboji. My Grandma Janice takes the entire family each year. This year the youngest was only three days old---our own little Sawyer Jackson, born July 8th. Aubree made her first Okoboji trip at only 10 days and now Sawyer tops her at 3 days old! As you can tell, Okoboji is a family priority. I actually came home from the hospital on Wednesday and Dave and the girls took off for Okoboji on Friday morning. I started crying as soon as they went out the door and had to call Dave to turn around and come back and get us! Sawyer and I stayed in the room most of the vacation, but I’m so glad I went. I still got to spend time with the family and take the girls to the amusement park. I can still say I’ve never missed a summer!
Within a couple days of returning home, the remainder of the year took a gigantic nose dive. I began having horrible headaches a week after Sawyer was born. I’ve always struggled with headaches, but this was much worse. On Thursday evening, July 17th, Dave took me to the emergency room. While in the emergency room I slipped into a coma after which the Dr. ordered another CT scan that revealed massive brain bleeding. They immediately called in a neurologist who agreed that she needed to do immediate brain surgery to relieve the pressure growing in my head. The surgery involved removing a piece of my skull to allow the bleeding and pressure to escape. The really scary thing was that no medical professionals thought the surgery would keep me alive and if it did I would probably never wake out of the coma. Well, the good news is I came through the surgery and as far as I can tell, I’m not in a coma anymore.
This is where I would like to pause and thank God for healing me. The surgeons working with me all thought I wouldn’t make it, but God brought me through. The previous year I had been studying a lot about God’s desire for his supernatural intervention in our lives. One thing Dave and I have come to believe is God’s promises for healing. A few verses that have been committed to memory are:
Psalm 103:1-5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!(1)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits(2)
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,(3)
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,(4)
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.(5)
The faith and belief for a miracle was put on Dave since I was in a coma. The elders of Two Rivers Church, as well as countless others, prayed over me and for me for God’s miraculous intervention believing that it would happen. God acted on my behalf, in the name of Jesus Christ, and healed me. As I improved throughout the day the nurses were ecstatic and excitedly informed my family and friends of my progress. They told them, “This shouldn’t be happening.” Praise God! I have no doubt that without his intervention I would not be here today.
One of my main purposes for this letter is to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. We truly love you! Since the beginning of the accident, so many people contacted Dave to see what they could do. In case you aren’t aware, I will throw out a few examples. I won’t mention names because I don’t want to leave anyone out. I had a relative that sent a huge treasure chest of dress up jewelry for the girls. I had a friend who dropped off the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted to my hospital room. A still unknown individual dropped off brand new backpacks for the girls packed with their school supplies. (I would love to know who you are! Please, please tell.:) Different friends took the girls swimming, to the Science Center, to the Fair, and to the zoo. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Summer is a time of year a mother desperately wants to do these things for her kids, and I was unable. They were hurting so much with their mom in the hospital and my dear family and friends stepped in to love them. After school started two other friends became responsible to make sure the girls made it safely to and from school each day. We had family move in for months to take over primary care of my children, including my brand new baby! Most of us know how much work new babies are. We love you all!
Thank you for helping my family care for the kids. This allowed so much more time for Dave and my mom to be with me at the hospital. How thoughtful of you! Thank you so much for making that possible. We needed it so badly, and the kids needed it as well. We are eternally grateful to you. God bless you!
Another incredible blessing has been the meals. We have had supper brought every other night since I went in the hospital in July all the way to the middle of December. Thank you ladies of Two Rivers Church for organizing all of this. Also Coldwell Banker and the Board of Realtors distributed huge segments of these dinners. I knew my co-workers at Coldwell Banker would step up to take care of my family, but I was completely taken aback by all that was given by the real estate community. Tons of agents from other offices, as well as my own, brought us meals and covered my open houses and my brother Kyle’s so he could be with me. I am so thankful to work with the Realtors I do. What an awesome bunch! You are such a loving group of people! Thank you!
We have also received countless gift cards to help with the extra financial burden. These have arrived out of the blue and have been so appreciated. Thank you so much for your generosity in this area as well. My desire was to send out individual cards thanking everyone. I apologize I have been unable to get that done. Please know we are so extremely grateful for your generosity!
I’d like to thank the hospital workers who lovingly cared for me day after day, the hospital and outpatient therapists who encouraged me along, and the friends and family who would spend the night in the hospital with me. I spent two months in the hospital but not one night alone. My mother took up residence at the hospital after I went in. Thank you all who gave her a rest. She rarely needed to spend the night because there was always someone there to watch over me. Thank you so much for giving up your time with your family to watch over me and remove that burden from my family. Thank you to my countless visitors who came to check up on me because they care. I will forever be grateful.
There are so many people to be grateful to for so much. If I didn’t mention specifically what you did for me, I am sorry. It does mean so much to me, but I did have a brain aneurism. I can’t remember it all. J I wanted to save this final thank you for the end. Thank you my dear friends and family for all your prayers in the name of Jesus! They have brought me to where I am and will continue to bring healing to me. I know when people get better it’s easy to stop praying because new issues arise. I’d like to let you know that I still covet your prayers. The convoluted arteries in the neck that caused this to happen are improving but they are still dissected. Please pray that those straighten out and become normal. Also, my vision in one eye is still blurry. I believe God will completely heal me. Please join me in believing prayer. Thank you!
In conclusion, my family is doing well. I am so thankful for each one of them. I think a near death experience causes you to appreciate loved ones so much more! Davey is enjoying the band and speaking at Two Rivers, hunting, his job at Life Brokers, and his family. Tayler is loving school this year and is great at everything she tries. Art is her favorite subject. She is extremely tender hearted toward everyone and everything. Aubree is enjoying her first year of all day school, kindergarten. She is young for her grade but doing so well. Her teacher had nothing but good things to say at conferences and she looks forward to school each day. She is also currently involved in gymnastics. She does great and they keep moving her up. Sawyer is now almost six months old. What a joy! His smile lights up the room. I suppose it helps that he is now sleeping through the night. I am finally done with therapy and headed back to work. I’m so excited to get back to life as I remember it. I really miss selling real estate.
May God bless you all our dear friends and family! We will be praying God’s blessings upon you this year. If there is ever anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. We love you all and would love to show you love as you have showed us. Have a great 2009!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
NEW POST!
I know, I know, I am the biggest slacker in the world. I know it, so I won't even try to defend myself.
Things continue to go very well for us on the "Katie" front. Every day she gets a little bit better. Her memory is very good (I can no longer lie to her about what a great husband I've been all these years, she knows better). She still struggles a little with remembering things that happened today, but even that is getting much better. Her left eye still has a little bit of blurriness, but that is improving as well.
She is down to one therapy now, speech (cognitive). Physical and occupational are all done. Her speech therapist continues to be amazed at Katie's ability to reason and think at a very high level. Speech therapy will be done by the end of the year.
One thing to pray for is while Katie was in the hospital her drivers license expired and she will have to take a written test as well as a driving test before she can get her DL back. This will be challenging for her as her reading is still a little on the slow side.
Good news on the "brain" side. Another angiogram (sp?) was taken and it appears that her arteries are beginning to straighten out. The vascular Dr was very pleased with the results and said that the dissected artery where the bleed took place is healing nicely. Also, she does not have any other convoluted arteries in her body, which is a good thing. The clots are still in her leg, but the Dr's are no longer worried about them "traveling" to somewhere else in her body.
Katie is still on Cumadin for the clots and blood pressure medicine, though they have been able to reduce the BP medicine as her body regains normal function in this area.
Her hair is growing back nicely and most times we can hardly see the scar. Pretty soon we won't be able to call her "spiky".
Kyle and Karen moved back to their home about 3 weeks ago and so far we are managing. Katie's mom lives in the house directly behind ours, and she has been a lifesaver for us. She comes over during the day and helps with Sawyer and takes Katie to her Dr's appointments. This has allowed me to go back to work (as I write this I am in a hotel in Kansas City on business). We couldn't do any of this without Sue!
As far as Sawyer is concerned, he is doing great. For the most part he is sleeping through the night (8-9 hrs a night) which has been great for us! One concern with Sawyer that I haven't told you about is that he has a slight heart murmur. We knew this from the day that he was born and I have taken him to a pediatric cardiologist and they have confirmed that he has a "floppy valve" in his heart. So far there haven't been any issues with it and we go back when he is 9 months old for another echo of the heart. The Dr is optimistic that he will grow out of this. So, we pray for him regularly. Just as with Katie we trust God for his healing and are not worried. Otherwise he is growing and is a very happy baby. You should see his huge smile!
Thanks again to all of you who continue to serve us by bringing us meals, this continues to be a huge blessing for our family! Also, thanks to all of you who continue to pray for us as we know that God hears the cries of his children and does good things for those that love Him and are called by His name.
Things continue to go very well for us on the "Katie" front. Every day she gets a little bit better. Her memory is very good (I can no longer lie to her about what a great husband I've been all these years, she knows better). She still struggles a little with remembering things that happened today, but even that is getting much better. Her left eye still has a little bit of blurriness, but that is improving as well.
She is down to one therapy now, speech (cognitive). Physical and occupational are all done. Her speech therapist continues to be amazed at Katie's ability to reason and think at a very high level. Speech therapy will be done by the end of the year.
One thing to pray for is while Katie was in the hospital her drivers license expired and she will have to take a written test as well as a driving test before she can get her DL back. This will be challenging for her as her reading is still a little on the slow side.
Good news on the "brain" side. Another angiogram (sp?) was taken and it appears that her arteries are beginning to straighten out. The vascular Dr was very pleased with the results and said that the dissected artery where the bleed took place is healing nicely. Also, she does not have any other convoluted arteries in her body, which is a good thing. The clots are still in her leg, but the Dr's are no longer worried about them "traveling" to somewhere else in her body.
Katie is still on Cumadin for the clots and blood pressure medicine, though they have been able to reduce the BP medicine as her body regains normal function in this area.
Her hair is growing back nicely and most times we can hardly see the scar. Pretty soon we won't be able to call her "spiky".
Kyle and Karen moved back to their home about 3 weeks ago and so far we are managing. Katie's mom lives in the house directly behind ours, and she has been a lifesaver for us. She comes over during the day and helps with Sawyer and takes Katie to her Dr's appointments. This has allowed me to go back to work (as I write this I am in a hotel in Kansas City on business). We couldn't do any of this without Sue!
As far as Sawyer is concerned, he is doing great. For the most part he is sleeping through the night (8-9 hrs a night) which has been great for us! One concern with Sawyer that I haven't told you about is that he has a slight heart murmur. We knew this from the day that he was born and I have taken him to a pediatric cardiologist and they have confirmed that he has a "floppy valve" in his heart. So far there haven't been any issues with it and we go back when he is 9 months old for another echo of the heart. The Dr is optimistic that he will grow out of this. So, we pray for him regularly. Just as with Katie we trust God for his healing and are not worried. Otherwise he is growing and is a very happy baby. You should see his huge smile!
Thanks again to all of you who continue to serve us by bringing us meals, this continues to be a huge blessing for our family! Also, thanks to all of you who continue to pray for us as we know that God hears the cries of his children and does good things for those that love Him and are called by His name.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Wednesday morning
Well this last weekend was a great one. Busy, but a very good one. A week or so after Katie's surgery someone brought tickets for us to go to Adventureland here in Des Moines. It's our local amusement park. So on Saturday morning Katie, the girls, myself, and Sue all got packed up and headed to the park. The weather was great, and other than the large crowds, we had a wonderful time. It was good exercise for Katie, and she even got to go on a few rides. Of course my fearless little girls had a blast as they always do. We had lunch there and then headed home around 2:30 as Katie was wearing down and needed her nap.
On Sunday I always head to church much earlier than the family as I help set up and practice with the band in preparation for our Church service. Church was good, but we had to head home as soon as possible to get everything ready for Katie's party. I mowed the grass and a bunch of people from church came and helped set up chairs, tables, and the grill. Sue and Karen cleaned the house and by 5:00 we were ready to go. The morning had started out cloudy and cool, but by the afternoon the sun was out and it was near 70 (kind of reminds me of Katie's situation). As the sun went down we built a fire in the fire pit, and a bunch of us sat on the back patio and talked until around 9:00. We had a number from Methodist hospital show up and it was so good to see them all again. Mac from the radio and his wife came, and Christina from Channel 5 came and did a follow up story on Katie. Katie did a great job with the interview and of course, was the hit of the party. All together we guess 100+ people came throughout that night. It really was a great time and Katie had a blast.
On Tuesday I took Katie to her therapy sessions as Sue had a Dr's appointment to go to. While we were with the speech and physical therapist, Katie ask if they thought she would be done by the first of the year as she is wanting to get back to work. Both said that she would be done with them before that. Katie was excited as this shows that she continues to improve and is close to being able to do all the things she used to do.
Good news on the baby front! For the last week Sawyer has been sleeping through the night! He goes down around 9pm and doesn't get up until 6am. All I can say is, "that's my boy"! So, I've been getting up with him in the mornings and I have been enjoying the time with him from 6-7am when the girls need to get up for school. Every morning he wakes up with a big smile on his face, makes my day.
I know that I don't post as much as I used to, and I know that has not endeared me with most of you. But, while things are going well, there just are not as many changes as there used to be. Katie is getting better every day, but in small ways, not big ones (I'm also working full time now and not sitting in a hospital room looking for something to do). Just rest assured that if something bad happened, updating the blog would be one of the first things I would do. And the same would be true if something really good happened.
The other day Katie bought some thank you cards as she is feeling really guilty about how much everyone has helped us but we (meaning I) have not sent out any "thank you cards". I tried to tell her that we tried to keep track of what everyone had done, but by the first couple of weeks it was basically out of control and we couldn't keep up. So, on behalf of Katie and the family, I want to say thanks so much to all of you for everything you have done and are doing (we had Famous Dave's delivered last night, thanks Hanson's!).
On Sunday I always head to church much earlier than the family as I help set up and practice with the band in preparation for our Church service. Church was good, but we had to head home as soon as possible to get everything ready for Katie's party. I mowed the grass and a bunch of people from church came and helped set up chairs, tables, and the grill. Sue and Karen cleaned the house and by 5:00 we were ready to go. The morning had started out cloudy and cool, but by the afternoon the sun was out and it was near 70 (kind of reminds me of Katie's situation). As the sun went down we built a fire in the fire pit, and a bunch of us sat on the back patio and talked until around 9:00. We had a number from Methodist hospital show up and it was so good to see them all again. Mac from the radio and his wife came, and Christina from Channel 5 came and did a follow up story on Katie. Katie did a great job with the interview and of course, was the hit of the party. All together we guess 100+ people came throughout that night. It really was a great time and Katie had a blast.
On Tuesday I took Katie to her therapy sessions as Sue had a Dr's appointment to go to. While we were with the speech and physical therapist, Katie ask if they thought she would be done by the first of the year as she is wanting to get back to work. Both said that she would be done with them before that. Katie was excited as this shows that she continues to improve and is close to being able to do all the things she used to do.
Good news on the baby front! For the last week Sawyer has been sleeping through the night! He goes down around 9pm and doesn't get up until 6am. All I can say is, "that's my boy"! So, I've been getting up with him in the mornings and I have been enjoying the time with him from 6-7am when the girls need to get up for school. Every morning he wakes up with a big smile on his face, makes my day.
I know that I don't post as much as I used to, and I know that has not endeared me with most of you. But, while things are going well, there just are not as many changes as there used to be. Katie is getting better every day, but in small ways, not big ones (I'm also working full time now and not sitting in a hospital room looking for something to do). Just rest assured that if something bad happened, updating the blog would be one of the first things I would do. And the same would be true if something really good happened.
The other day Katie bought some thank you cards as she is feeling really guilty about how much everyone has helped us but we (meaning I) have not sent out any "thank you cards". I tried to tell her that we tried to keep track of what everyone had done, but by the first couple of weeks it was basically out of control and we couldn't keep up. So, on behalf of Katie and the family, I want to say thanks so much to all of you for everything you have done and are doing (we had Famous Dave's delivered last night, thanks Hanson's!).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Radio Show
Mac has invited Katie to be a part of the show tomorrow and Katie has agreed. So, Katie and I will be in the studio on Friday the 26th. My guess is that we will be on between 2-3, but the show actually starts around 1:20.
www.983wowfm.com
www.983wowfm.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday Night
Ok, here's the latest. No real big changes in the last week or so, but everything continues to be going very well. Katie's days consist of rest (lots of it), therapy (both with therapist and at home), playing with the girls, and trying to keep up with what Kyle is doing with her real estate business. So far Katie is doing great with everything.
So far no more TIA's. Basically all of the Dr's say that we are doing everything that we could (blood thinner and blood pressure meds). It's possible that more could happen, but so far nothing has happened and we are basically not worrying about it anymore.
The issues that still persist are short term memory and vision. However, both are improving nicely. It was so neat the other day on the way to church Katie actually remembered giving birth to Sawyer. She was so excited as all of the details of that day came back to her. Even though I say her short term memory is a problem, she is still much better than a week ago. Her left eye is still a little blurry, but it too is much better then it was even a week ago.
The biggest issue for Katie right now is probably tiredness. We're not sure if its residual from her injury, or a side effect of some of her meds (her blood pressure med has a common side effect of tiredness), but Katie needs a lot of rest. She takes a big nap in the afternoon and is usually in bed by 8pm. Being tired all the time keeps her from doing her therapy as hard as she could and keeps her from being as "sharp" as she could be.
We've meet with a lot of Dr's in the past few weeks and all are happy with how everything is going. On Tuesday we meet with Dr Carlstrom. Basically he did not have a lot of answers (not that we were expecting a lot), but he said that it's a real possibility that this could happen again. He also said that everything could heal up and be just fine for the rest of her life. We're going with the latter. It was cool to see Katie's response to this. She was not worried and was confident that God would fix everything in her head and that she would be fine.
I went down to the hospital last week and walked around to the different departments to make sure people knew about the party. Everyone I saw said they knew about the party and most said that they are coming. So, we are excited to have a bunch of people over on Sunday and to be able to say thanks to everyone from Methodist. I even swung by their PR department as they are wanting to put Katie on the cover of one of their internal magazines.
FYI - I will be on the radio this Friday with Mac from 2-3pm. You can hear it online at www.983wowfm.com
So far no more TIA's. Basically all of the Dr's say that we are doing everything that we could (blood thinner and blood pressure meds). It's possible that more could happen, but so far nothing has happened and we are basically not worrying about it anymore.
The issues that still persist are short term memory and vision. However, both are improving nicely. It was so neat the other day on the way to church Katie actually remembered giving birth to Sawyer. She was so excited as all of the details of that day came back to her. Even though I say her short term memory is a problem, she is still much better than a week ago. Her left eye is still a little blurry, but it too is much better then it was even a week ago.
The biggest issue for Katie right now is probably tiredness. We're not sure if its residual from her injury, or a side effect of some of her meds (her blood pressure med has a common side effect of tiredness), but Katie needs a lot of rest. She takes a big nap in the afternoon and is usually in bed by 8pm. Being tired all the time keeps her from doing her therapy as hard as she could and keeps her from being as "sharp" as she could be.
We've meet with a lot of Dr's in the past few weeks and all are happy with how everything is going. On Tuesday we meet with Dr Carlstrom. Basically he did not have a lot of answers (not that we were expecting a lot), but he said that it's a real possibility that this could happen again. He also said that everything could heal up and be just fine for the rest of her life. We're going with the latter. It was cool to see Katie's response to this. She was not worried and was confident that God would fix everything in her head and that she would be fine.
I went down to the hospital last week and walked around to the different departments to make sure people knew about the party. Everyone I saw said they knew about the party and most said that they are coming. So, we are excited to have a bunch of people over on Sunday and to be able to say thanks to everyone from Methodist. I even swung by their PR department as they are wanting to put Katie on the cover of one of their internal magazines.
FYI - I will be on the radio this Friday with Mac from 2-3pm. You can hear it online at www.983wowfm.com
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Update
The other day while Katie was at one of her PT sessions, she had an "episode". Basically her speech slurred, she became disoriented and confused, and lost some strength. The initial thought by the therapist was that she was low blood sugar. They got her some juice and things returned to normal soon. The next day (Friday the 12th) Katie went to her Dr. The Dr did not agree with low blood sugar, but rather thought it was a TIA. A TIA is best described as a "mini stroke". Same symptoms as a stroke (and low blood sugar), but does not last very long and has no lasting effects. So Katie and Sue headed right down to the ER to get checked out. The ER Dr's ran all the tests as well as a CT scan, and everything checked out fine. They agreed that she probably had a TIA, but do not think it was due to a small clot, which is the most common cause. So, they sent Katie home and advised us to meet with the neurologist soon.
What was really neat through this is Katie's attitude. At no time was she worried. In fact she even stopped for a sandwich between the Dr and the ER! I'm trying to talk to her on the phone to find out what is going on, and she's yelling at the drive up guy telling him what she wants on her sandwich!
So we were reminded once again that God is in control and for us to worry is really an exercise in futility. Basically there is nothing we can do other than pray that God will continue to heal Katie and prevent a bigger stroke from happening (TIA's often signal a more serious stroke).
What was really neat through this is Katie's attitude. At no time was she worried. In fact she even stopped for a sandwich between the Dr and the ER! I'm trying to talk to her on the phone to find out what is going on, and she's yelling at the drive up guy telling him what she wants on her sandwich!
So we were reminded once again that God is in control and for us to worry is really an exercise in futility. Basically there is nothing we can do other than pray that God will continue to heal Katie and prevent a bigger stroke from happening (TIA's often signal a more serious stroke).
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