An Update and Difficult Times

Jeff is back at the Sharp rehab facility and the week has had its ups and downs. The doctors are working to find a good balance of his medications so he gets relief, but is still alert and progressing.

While he is still experiencing problems with his nerve functionality, early tests show that Jeff's muscle strength is still good in his arms, shoulders, hands, etc. He is struggling with appropriate feelings and full control over his motor skills. 

However, doctors and rehab staff are hopeful that with time and hard work, he'll leave there a second time with the same strength and abilities as the first time. 

Jeff's attitude is positive and strong as he tackles the tasks in physical therapy and occupational therapy. Amanda is by his side and so is Joan. 

Sadly, their dog Jaks is no longer with them. He was an 11-year-old 100lb. Lab, but developed some complications due to a tumor this week and there was just nothing to do. Amanda was with him in his last minutes and she said he was calm and peaceful. 

A death in the family is the last thing they needed right now, but Amanda is focusing on all the good memories and fun times with the "little man." Jaks was a very special dog and will always be with anyone who knew him. 

What a blessing that the dogs got to visit with Jeff at the rehab center yesterday. 

This is NOT Defeat: Jeff Needs Us

Jeff is poised for another very long climb to get back to where he was a couple of weeks ago. He needs this army of support more now than ever!

The surgery went as well as can be expected. However, Jeff's strength and mobility of his arms is going to take a lot of time and effort to recover once he gets back to the rehabilitation center. He is still dealing with significant limitations.

In addition, he is experiencing some complications from the surgery and fighting to get through the healing. He has some blood clots in his legs and they are challenged to keep his blood pressure normal.

This latest trauma to Jeff's spine is like starting over from the first one on January 3. The doctor compared Jeff's spine to Ali's head - "It can only take so many hits and each one is a big blow."

So this is a call out to all of you to bring back that outpouring of love, support, thoughts, and prayers that helped him power through then. He needs to know that this is not defeat - we won't go for that and neither will he if we can help hold him up with our love.

Do what you can: visit if you are local (call Amanda first for the best times), put your posts on this blog, send a card or letter, make a donation, dance a Jeff jig...whatever you can do to send your love and strength! Keep it coming!

Out of Surgery: So Far, So Good

Jeff is OK and out of surgery. He is resting now and we won't know much until Monday when he is awake and further assessment can be made.

The shunt is in place and there are NO signs of permanent nerve damage to his arms and hands.  Raise your hands in the AI-ER!

The doctor said shunts can be a little tricky because they can clog and/or move, but the surgery was as successful as could be and feelings are optimistic.

The glass is half full, people. Get some rest and send Jeff your thoughts and prayers.

Surgery served with a side of Hope

Even through all the pain and stress, Amanda found the positive spin to this recent setback. She has decided it was a blessing in disguise to uncover an issue that was already existent around Jeff's spine. The earlier you catch Syringomyelia (please don't ask me how to pronounce that one), the better chances of diminishing possible permanent nerve damage. If you want details, click on the funky word to read more, but the gist of it is: 

There is a cyst around the damaged portion of his spinal cord due to the trauma. It can cause pain, weakness and a variety of other symptoms.  Interestingly, it can also cause issues with sweating and for those of you who have been around Jeff - he has had some issues with one half of his face sweating randomly. 

Jeff will have surgery on Sunday. Doctors will put a shunt into the injured portion of his spinal cord to minimize possibility of further damage. This will help to drain the fluid that has built up. 

Doctors are hopeful that he will regain the functions in his arms and hands that he had when he left rehab. 

Please - No phone calls or texts since he can't use his hands right now.

As you all know, surgery around the spinal cord is always very serious and we know Jeff's body has been through so much lately, so channel your strength his direction now and on Sunday to help him through. 

Lots and lots of prayers and positive thoughts, and don't forget to give thanks for the discovery and the work of these wonderful medical professionals working on our pal. 

Call for Thoughts and Prayers

Unfortunately, Jeff had a fall from his chair last night that resulted in some pretty serious bruising of his spinal cord and additional swelling.

It was very scary. Amanda and Joan had to call 911 and get medics out to the house to help him and transport him to the ICU. When they arrived, Jeff was unable to even wiggle his fingers.

They are still in the ICU today and Jeff has limited mobility in his arms at this time. Doctors are unsure of what comes next.

They are taking necessary steps to make Jeff comfortable and continue to assess the situation. They have him on a constant drip of pain medication. In addition, he is getting extra vitamin K and a strong dose of steroids to help him heal.

I was truly at a loss for words when speaking to Amanda this morning. I hope some of you can find the words to ease some of their pain and worry right now - because they all need it.

They need all our energy right now.

Back At The Adkins/Puppy Compound!

Just a quick update to all of my fans (supporters)... I'm at home once again!

This is the first actual update on the blog that I have typed and updated myself.. so please be forgiving!  lol

So after a week of MRI's, CT Scans, WPC, radio-active blood infusions... anti-biotics and steriods... NOTHING!  5 doctors (very good doctors) standing around scratching their heads.  Now, they did identify an area of my spinal cord above the injury that is swollen.  It does have the potential to effect my arm and hand movement... BUT IT WOULD TEMPORARY!  Once the swelling went down, I would get anything I've lost back.  So kinda good news. 

The Doctor that did the initial surgery on my back and added the hardware believes this swelling has probably been there since the time of the accident or not long after.  He also believes that another MRI will not show any reduction in swelling anytime soon.  These spinal cord things take a long time to heal!

So I had been there from Monday night until Saturday morning and had not been in my wheelchair.  I had been on other chairs.. commode chairs, shower chairs, etc.. without any pain.  So we decide to try the wheelchair.  With doctors, nurses, Physical Therapists and family witnessing, I get out of bed and in the wheelchair.  In less than 10 seconds I'm back in unbelievable pain... in less than a minute the pain was so bad I started shaking.  They had me do some neck mobility to see range of motion.  I could barely turn my head to the left and right, and I couldn't look up at all.

BREAKTHROUGH STORY!

Again, everyone kind of scratches their head and the group breaks up... EXCEPT PHYSICAL THERAPY!  My PT guy Ed (great great great guy that I had worked with during my first stay) says lets try a few things.  So he starts working on my neck with some stretching and massage with his thumbs.  Not deep hard pressing or anything that is creating any pain.. he called it "blocking".  He worked each vertebrae moving up one at a time.  During the process he has my try more neck movement.  Within about 10 minutes I was able to look straight over each shoulder and look up!  There was still a limited range but this was a major improvement.  I started feeling a lot better... there was still some pain, but nothing like I had been experiencing 20 minutes before this.

So we decide to roll around the hospital in the wheelchair and see how I felt.  During the trip we ran across one of the doctors that was in my room to witness the pain.  So I show her the range of motion in the neck and I explained to her what Ed (PT) had done to make this happen.  She was pretty amazed at the difference and the improvement, but still skeptical.

We get back to the room and my momma points out that all of this pain started happening a few days after I got home and progressively got worse... which is also when they gave me this "loaner" wheelchair and seat cushion.  So then we all think... could this really all from a new wheelchair and seat cushion?  BOTTOM LINE:  Momma knows!

The seat cushion that I used for the six weeks that I was in the Rehab facility was EXTREMELY different than the loaner cushion.  In Rehab we had tried several different types of seat cushions to see what would work best... keep in mind there are at least 400 - 500 different types available.  The one that seemed to work best and the one I sat on everyday for six weeks was very dense, firm, contoured, molded... almost orthopedic.  The loaner cushion was a very soft, off the shelf, square pad that all of you would think was very comfortable.

Sunday morning I call the Rehab facility to see if we can borrow the cushion that I used while I was and they were more than accommodating.  Amanda picked it up and brought it back to the hospital and we gave it a shot.  It was an immediate difference.  I still had some pain, it was hard to get situated a little... but nothing like how I had felt the day before.  I knew this wouldn't be immediate, your body and spine take time to get used to different things... but using it for the past few days has made a major improvement! 

I'm sitting in my living room typing this blog, surrounded by my puppies, and I'm virtually pain free! 

The team of doctors have decided there is nothing left to do except send me home to see how this goes.  I'm still on a steroid, but it's just because they have to slowly taper it down NO ROID RAGE!  They want to do a follow up MRI in a month or so to keep an eye on the swelling, but again they're not convinced it will be an issue.

We have already set up some physical therapy here at home starting tomorrow and the PT at the hospital showed Amanda a few things that she can do to help out so that the neck and back don't get stiff.. and if everything progresses I should be back on track.

I'm hoping this was just a minor set-back and I can get back to healing and getting stronger.  Amanda and I have a lot of future plans and I'm not going to let something silly like this slow us down!

Thank you all once again for all of the support, prayers and love!  You will never truly know how much I appreciate it... I'm not even sure I have the capacity to show you!  The only thing I know I can do is work as hard as I can to get as better as I can and be the best person, friend, drinkin' buddy, pain in the butt, cousin, uncle, brother, son... and the best husband in the world to the greatest wife you could ever ask for! 

I love you Amanda!