Finished the year with a Success!

Rachel is out of surgery and recovering nicely. They were able to set and fix her right tibia, but along with the break of the bone there was additional damage to the patella tendon and a small chip on her patella (knee cap). They decided it would be best to just take the small piece out, and it was insignificant enough that there were no necessary repairs, over time it will take care of itself. Also, looking at her right foot which has been swollen and in the same position now since the 15th, they decided to put some external fixtures on it to stretch it out so there is less damage to the ligaments and tendons in the days to come before that surgery. Hopefully she will get in a full nights rest and her body can do its job.

Again hope you all have a Happy and Safe New Years- Cheers : )

New Year's Eve Surgery!

We wish you all a very happy and safe New Years! May everyones' 2010 start off warmly with family, friends, hugs, laughter and positive memories of 2009, and high hopes for 2010.

And remember to Drive save tonight, Robet and Rach showing us how : )

After a very long wait on "stand-by", being an add on and going through OR prep she is FINALLY in for her Tibial Plateau Fracture procedure on her right leg. This is a long and intensive surgery since there is so much movement in the knee area, it needs to be perfect to decrease any chances of long term pain down the road. She has a fracture at the head (top) of her Tibia that will need a few screws and pins to secure it to the outer portion of her Tibia in order for it to be held in place and create stability.

Wednesday "Jack is back"

Rachel has had another busy day. She has been pretty restless lately, trying to get comfortable and tired of being in bed for so long. Today she has been down to get some vascular tests to ensure that the filter near her heart is doing its job and blocking any possibilities of blood clots, she also went down to get her cast readjusted to ensure that her broken fingers are being taken care of properly on her left hand. She is now getting her hair washed and cleaned up, I'm sure she will feel better and ready for a good long rest which is much needed after an eventful day like today. And last but not least one of Rachel's good friends Jack is back from a lil' trip to Oregon, she was happy to see him. We always love the little smirks she throws out at us!

Surgery Result for Monday

Rach is out of her surgery and is in recovery for a while. It all went well and she will be back up in her room, hopefully for a full nights rest. She may be back into surgery as soon as tomorrow morning to work on another big one, her right Tibail Plateau fracture, she will need all the rest she can get tonight. She is definitely on the right track for a full recovery.

Rach is just now in for a procedure on her lower left leg. This is supposed to be her shortest one yet. They are doing some work on her left tib/fib (shin) area and some repositioning of her external ankle fixtures until they can get in to do the whole procedure when the swelling subsides. She has had some restless times but always finds some good rest in between to help her heal.

Saturday

We hope that everyone had a happy and safe Christmas, enjoying all the family time! Rachel and family had a good day, pretty relaxing and full of smiles and happy thoughts from friends and family. Rachel had a good day today- she was awake for quite a while just chatting away. The Docs have lowered her pain-killers a bit so she is a bit more with us. It is nice to hear crackin' some jokes and checking up on people. We're hoping her progress will continue to go up!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! We hope that you enjoy all of your family time and take in each moment! Rach is doing well today after a very much needed peaceful night!

Christmas Eve

She had a bit of a restless night last night, but as usual took a good solid nap before the wheeled her off for surgery. They were about to start the surgery and checking her vitals, when they discovered that she has a high fever and decided it would be best to hold off today. I told Vivien I think this is her telling the Docs that she needs another day of solid rest before another surgery. She will be heading back up to her room here in a bit to rest for the night.

We wish all of you a very, very Merry Christmas to all of Rachel's family, friends and everyone else supporting her at this time! Have a wonderful time with all of your holiday plans!

"Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect."

~Oren Arnold

This is a picture of our exciting rides to school, The Scoot Scoot, the oversized bed/chair with wheels she got to sit in tonight while she ate.

According to Viv, Rach has had the busiest day so far. She had 2 exercise sessions with both her occupational therapist and her physiotherapist . She had dinner and she ate the most she has yet. Rach has been doing very well and chatting up a storm with everyone. And after she ate, she was feeling a wee bit livelier, I asked her if she wanted a thumb war, and then she beat me, dead serious I wasn't even ready it. Its a definite bonus when she surprises us with a little bit more of her personality : )

Wednesday

Rach had a bit of a restless evening and lead into the night. She was resting well early this morning, and is dong a bit better. She has daily stretching with one physiotherapists and was doing well with that range of movement this morning.

Its Taco Tuesday...

Well sort of- She did pass her swallow test and is now allowed to drink little bits, and even had a wee bite of applesauce. She still has to have her feeding tube in for a while longer to make sure that she can the appropriate amount of calories to try and catch up with the last few days. She continues to impress us with all of her progress!

Tuesday's definitely Nap day!

After her very long surgery yesterday Rach is going to be having a very restful day today. She has been moved out of the ICU and into the ACU (acute care unit). This means that she is doing better and getting stronger each day and no longer needs to be "hooked up" to as many things to be monitoring her, which is a good sign! Right now she needs as much rest as possible and visiting her is going to be very limited, please check with the family first.

**Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the officers who were shot last night and are now here at Harborview**

Longest Adventure Monday for her yet...

Rachel has finally come out of surgery! Been a long day for her, and for all of us. We found out that the actual surgery was a combination of her humerus (upper arm), her elbow, and some of the tendons in the area. There are a total of 3 plates in her elbow that will stay in permanently. They said that she is doing very well and will be taking her up to her room in the ICU for a good nights rest.

Officer Chris!

We had a nice surprise as we were sitting in the OR waiting room for Rachel, a visitor! Officer Chris of the WA State Patrol came with flowers and a card for Rach. He was the officer who was traveling Eastbound I-90 and witnessed the "Acura" go over the median. He said that it was raining so much that he hardly saw her go over, and with the little bit of a hill he didn't actually see the collision. He immediately went to the turn around and returned to the scene. She was unconscious when he got there, he did his best to comfort her. He also told us that the Fire dept. did a wonderful job and had her out very, very fast, and she was out of there in no time! What a wonderful blessing to have such a nice officer be the first one there for her and for him to come and make sure that she is doing well. Thank you VERY much Officer Chris, you don't know how much you have done for her and us just by being with her for those first moments!

Adventure Monday!

Rach is just about to head out for her own Adventure Monday- they will be taking her to the OR here shortly to do the procedure for her left humerus (upper arm). She will have a plate and a screw or 2 to set it permanently. She woke up a bit before heading down and I was able to talk to her a min, told her I'd be back after her surgery she said "Thanks, I'll be right here". We're still not sure how much she will remember or when she will remember one day to the next, but it sure is nice having her recognize family and friends who have come to support her.

Monday Dec 21st-

First off its officially the last day of fall today and Old man winter has arrived, won't be much of a weather change here in the Northwest, for those of you following from far away- and thank you for all your support of Rachel and her family!

The doctors have come and made their rounds this morning as they do every morning. They are pleased with Rachel's daily progress. The nurse cleaned up her chin and she is looking better, something she will be very happy about.

Rach has been doing well today. She's been awake a bit more with some silly requests, but has also been able to answer questions of pain levels and comfortability. The occupational therapist came in to do some assessments on her, there isn't much they can do at this point except find a baseline to start from and keep track of any progress that she makes. It's very nice to have her talking more, little bits of Rachel are starting to shine through, and she most definitely has not lost her bite!

Sunday Morn

Some of her team of Docs swung in this morning to do their daily check on Ms. Rachel. She has a small fever, now but they are still planning on doing a procedure on her left arm sometime tomorrow.

I brought her favorite blanket from my house this morning and went in to say good morning to her I asked if she wanted it. She woke up enough to open her eyes, give me a lil' smirk and she said yes to her new blanket! And quickly back to sleep, tired girl.

-Yet another Adventure Monday, just a lil' holiday ice skating downtown! I didn't know she was such a stud and once had her own pair with pink hearts on it that she used in the rink her dad would make in the winter in Canada.

Sassy Saturday!

Rachel woke up this evening and was chatting it up. We all found out that her favorite TV show is Melrose Place, we don't think she has ever watched that! And her favorite funny movie is Dumb and Dumber. She is able to answer questions, and say what is hurting. They gave her some more pain-killers and she is back to sleep but will be waking up occasionally. She is also on a feeding tube and no longer a mask to assist in her in breathing.

Got her hair did...

The nurse washed her hair and cleaned her up a bit ago and she woke up. She opened her eyes for her daddy and asked for mom. She said that her arms sore and opened her eyes for me when I came in minute later. These little moments with her are great signs!

Saturday

Rachel had a good night and was officially taken off the respirator. The other day was a miscommunication and they had just lowered it enough to see how well she was breathing. Today she just has a breathing mask on and is entirely breathing on her own and comfortable.

She is also waking up a bit periodically so visiting her will be limited. People are welcome to visit the family and chat with each other but we can't guarantee that saying hello to Rachel will be possible.

Post Surgery

Everything went well she is out of surgery and on her way back up to the ICU ward. Days total accomplishments include: femur, left and right wrists, and bound 2 fingers together for therapy to start. The Dr were pleased with how well things went and we will be able to go in and see her soon. We will send her all your best!

Additions to first Surgery

We just got word from the OR that the setting of her femur went well and they asked for consent to work on both of her wrists. Her right wrist had a small break on her ulna (outer bone) and it was above the the joint. Her left wrist however is broken on both the radius (leads to the thumb) and the ulna, again both above the joint, faster healing time since they are both above the joints. They will both have temporary pins in them that will be taken out in a few weeks. They will begin physical therapy on the upper ends of her fingers as soon as possible. She is still in surgery, but should be out shortly.

Friday is Femur Day!

Rachel has just been taken into the OR for her first of many operations. They will be fixing her left femur. There will be a permanent rod in her leg with screws at the top and the bottom. They will also attempt to fix her left wrist (time permitting) and will be washing out her right leg wounds. This is going to be a 3-4 hour procedure. In great news, they were able to take the brace off of her neck, meaning that there is no spinal damage to be concerned with! She also opened her eyes yesterday/this morning and was wiggling her thumbs and toes. These are small, but wonderful accomplishments for her so far! Continue the thoughts and prayers- they are working splendidly!

-This picture is from one of our Adventure Mondays at the top of "Little Si" in North Bend.

A Clarification on the Title "Thats what she said"

For those of you who know Rachel well, and talk to her on a regular basis, we know she gets stuck on "sayings". As long as I have known Rach, "That's what she said" has been a coined phrase of hers, she even has a shirt that says it. She will find any opportune moment, or not and to say it, with great excitement and pride, might I add. As silly or ridiculous as is sounds sometimes you can't blame a girl for trying! I thought that this was a perfect name for this blog, seeing as we are all waiting for 'what she/he says', whether its a Dr, Nurse, family or friend, and especially Rachel! She is an amazing girl with and epic sense of humor and I one hell of a best friend. I'm sure that throughout this time she would not want us to miss out on an opportunity to use her beloved phrase, we can't let it go to waste! Keep the smiles coming!

Just a short update-

The Doc said that Rachel was strong enough to see how she does breathing on her own. They took her off the respirator and she's doing well- Breathing on her own! This is a big first step into getting our girl back. She is semi responsive during this time, we're asking her to try and open her eyes or move her thumbs. The next steps we are all anxiously awaiting.
We had more family Sheila and Nikola, and friends who make are not only supporting Rach but everyone around her. Thank you to everyone's kind words, thoughts, and prayers!

Crash Article

Here is the site from Komo4

Thursday Dec. 17th

As of last night Rachel has made some good progressions. Her swelling has gone down a bit and she is starting to look more and more like the Rach we all know and love. They have taken the Fiber-optic out of her head which was monitoring the small bruise, which means there is no damage to it and the Dr felt confident enough to not constantly monitor it. There is also a chance that her right wrist is fractured and they have put it into a temporary splint. They will be waking her up throughout the day to again check her responsiveness.

Bringing everyone up to speed

Tuesday Dec. 15th-
Rachel was struck by a possible drunk driver on I-90. She was brought immediately to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She was taken into surgery right away to assess the internal bleeding. There was damage to her small intestines, large intestines, and colon. Once the proper care was given her Trauma Team considered her stable enough they could then assess all other injuries and temporarily set the breaks and send her up to the ICU where she has been recovering since. She has a Pilon fracture (shattered) left ankle, broken left femur, 2 breaks on her left arm, broken left wrist and a few fingers as well. In addition, she has mid-foot breaks on her right foot, right knee is fractured where it meets the upper shin. There was minor bruising in her brain.

Wednesday Dec 16th-
Rachel was maintaining a stable level throughout the day and into the evening. At one point Nurse Margo woke her up enough to assess how coherent she may be. Once she was able to wake her up she was asking Rachel if she could hear her, and if she could show 2-thumbs up, and she did! This is a good sign that she was able to respond to commands.
Late in the evening they wheeled her off to take more X-rays and Cat Scans. There is some damage to her carotid artery which can over time heal itself, but they will be following up on her to see the severity of the damage. They also found that she has a small break of her jaw. There will be no surgery until she is considered stable by all members of her Team. We are very thankful for the group of Doctors that are taking care of her. She is in the best hands we could ask for, Helen the head nurse even braided her hair!

So far Rachel has had wonderful support from family and friends! Her Safeway crew has made many appearances Rita, Stacey, Jack, Jake, Mark and Mike and friends of them Tony, Jessica, Brittany. I (bestie of Rach) have been here with Sam, Vivien and Robert nearly the whole time. My family and other great friends of Viv, Peggy have all been patiently awaiting any and all news of Rach. I will do my best to keep this updated to pass on the information to all of you.