Big things are starting to happen!

Today Rachel made a trip back to Harborview. Not entirely sure what was to come out of this orthopedic  appointment, all we knew was 1 of 4 casts was suspected to come off. When we rolled into the room, the doc told us that ALL 4 would be coming off for a while for x-rays. What a lil' fresh air does for someone!  After the x-rays, head to toe might I add, finished she received some great news. She would be in a soft-cast for her right wrist, and put into boot/splints that are removable on her feet. I was off to my own appointment and missed this announcement and she phoned me with great excitement! It was such wonderful and unexpected news for her, and us all! Not only did the x-rays reveal that her limbs are healing quickly so is her jaw- she has been cleared 4 days early to eat nearly real food. Pizza tonight! This girl of ours is truly one in a million and good things are happening faster than expected for her, and she deserves every wee bit of it!

Bake Sale!

Rachel has been doing great- better and better each day it seems! She has gotten some outside time in a wheelchair and loved it! Safeway has set up a bake sale for Rachel this weekend 30th and 31st from 10-6. Come stop on by the North Bend Safeway this weekend if you have time : )

All settled in!

Rachel is all set in her new place, a roommate has already left and she has the room to herself now, which is great since there are so many visitors now that she is a hop, skip and a jump from home. She is liking it so far and ready to get to work with Physio so she can get home. Rachel has continued to be very strong, full of perseverance and an amazing attitude! Hopefully she will keep up the mental strength and the physical strength will follow in stride to a full and speedy recovery!

"Snoqualmie Valley here we come" -Vivien

Moving Day! We just received notice that Snoqualmie Valley Hospital has a room ready for Rachel to move to today. How wonderful that it is so close to North Bend for all of Rach's family and friends. This is the next big step for her recovery process, and we're all very excited to see how she continues to progress : )

Still doing well-

She's doing well and making progress. Rachel continues to impress me every day! She rarely, if ever complains, she puts on a good face for all of her friends, and still has a wicked sense of humor keeping us all smiling. Her friend Jessica came in today and painted her nails for her, she loved it! Its been so nice seeing friends, and family especially last week with the special visit of Grandma Margaret and Uncle Tom from Ireland. She's looking great for her recovery process, and the doctors continue to be impressed with Rachel's continued improvement.

Keep on Keepin' on : )

Making Progress

Rachel is doing well today. She had a pain block on her right leg from the surgery and they turned that off this morning and will be physically taking out the actual blocks this afternoon. She is also off the morphine and on to taking pain-meds orally. Slowly but surely she is being freed up from the med machines that have been taking care of her. This is great news- meaning that her body is starting to recover well enough that it is starting to take care of itself without external assistance. She may be discharged sooner than later at this rate. A lot of it depends on where she will be able to go from the hospital since home is not an option due to the number of serious injuries, going to a place with more individual assistance will help her recover faster.

Keep on Keepin' on!

Rachel is having another pretty good day of recovery. It is refreshing knowing for the time being there are not set surgeries scheduled and that she is on the full path of recovery, with hopefully no hiccups to come. Its going to be a long process and Rachel is going to continue to need all of the prayers, thoughts and positive vibes she can get. Everyone has been wonderful so far, and we can't thank you all enough for all of the kind and caring words from all over!

And a very Happy 17th Birthday to Rachel's cousin Leigh!

Recovery Day

Day after her last surgery and she is doing alright. Rach is in a lot of pain today but the nurses are doing their best to keep her comfortable and as close to pain free as possible. This morning she went down for an ultrasound to ensure that she has no blood clotting from the surgery and taking the filter out yesterday, and to add some fluff to her right wrist cast for more comfort. She is going to need a full day's rest bring her back to where she was before the surgery- which was great, and she'll be back on track to the ol' recovery path.

Double Trouble : )

Rachel's surgery went great! The procedure today was to repair her right foot, take out the filter for blood clot prevention and remove 2 staples out of her head from the fiber optic cable she had from week 1. Her foot was pretty beat up "it was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together" said the orthopedic surgeon. Everything went swimmingly and she is still in recovery but should be out shortly.

Today was a super day for Rachel and I! We both had surgery, she had her last of 6 and I had my 1st and only. I have been struggling with 2 herniated discs and have basically been laid up for the last 2 weeks, barely getting to see Rachel daily. I went in for surgery this morning right after Rachel started and ironically saw her in recovery after I came out of my anesthesia, I was awake but she was not. I am feeling a million times better and ready to sit next to my Bestie every day now : )

Time to Feast!

Rachel made a big step today! They were able to take her feeding tube out which means that she is consistently getting enough nutrients and calories. Rach is going to be so much more comfortable for her and now she can hit some of those cravings she has been having. She is still set for surgery sometime today or tomorrow. This will be her last big surgery! The only ones left will be the smaller less invasive just to get the temporary hardware out.  

 

Family from the Homeland

The past few days have been a little tricky for our girl Rach. Thankfully there haven't been any complications, just part of the healing process. She is doing her best to maintain a good attitude, as are we, but pain adds in a whole other emotional component.
Some very special visitors from the homeland are arriving today who have had quite the adventure through all of the weather to get here and visit Rachel and the family. Her Grandmother and Uncle are coming in today from Ireland. Perhaps this will be the first of many boosts to get through this. It has now nearly been a month since Rach arrived at the hospital- I'd say pretty good timing for an emotional pick-me-up!

Full day's rest- she'll take it!

Rachel is still in quite a bit of pain from her left leg operation yesterday. She is on more pain-meds, self administered now. Its great seeing her have more say, how she is feeling, what she needs, and what she is ready and willing to do. After each surgery, each day of recovery is getting her a wee bit closer to getting starting full rehabilitation.

Another one done-

Rachel is out of her long surgery today and into recovery to double check everything before sending her back up to her room for a much needed long nights rest.

Just a few more surgeries to go-

Back in for another surgery after a few days of waiting. Today they are going to finish up her left leg. They will be taking the external fixtures off and setting her left tibia/fibula, also taking out the fixtures from her ankle from the Pilon Fracture. She will have some permanent hardware in her foot/ankle and will be in a cast to ensure a perfect set after the surgery.

Its looking like it will be 5-6 hours long with recovery time after before she heads back up to her room to celebrate her amazing mother's birthday.

A very Happy Birthday to Vivien!!!

Rachel's Free Day

As Rachel called it yesterday, today was her "free day". She had the usual check ups by the nursing staff, and 2 new visitors that really showed us how great she is progressing. A Physical Therapist and an Occupational Therapist came in to get her moving a bit. She sat up on the edge of her bed today dangling her legs for the first time, there were some minor tests for flexion and extension of her limbs, and things she can do while laying in bed. She was a riot the whole time, keeping those docs on their toes, oh, and of course doing the best she could. What a great day leading up to another big one tomorrow with the surgery on her right foot. Without any set backs thus far, Rachel is truly on the road to a full and healthy recovery. In addition to her positive attitude and taking things in stride, our thoughts, prayers and strong belief in her full recovery continue to help daily.

The waiting game continues

This is one of Rachel's first sailing adventures : )
Rachel is still doing well, resting and hanging in there. We found out that the possibility of her right foot surgery for today has been postponed to Thursday. We are finding out how patient we all really do have to be and Rachel has continued to be a prime example of how we all need to act. Hopefully these extra days of rest will ensure a fast and healthy recovery from this next surgery!

A well mannered woman-

Rachel has been so patient and appreciative towards all of her nurses, family and friends who have been there for her. The past 2 days have been great for her and those around her, resting well, chatting away and still keeping us on our toes. She/we waited all day long on stand-by for surgery on her right foot, however she never did end up making it in today. She is again on the waiting list for tomorrow. Apparently Mondays are busy days at the hospital, especially after holidays. Rachel has been incredibly polite and thankful towards everyone helping her and very happy to see her friends and family. She truly is an inspiration for everyone in a similar condition, and for us in our everyday lives to be appreciative for all we are blessed with.

Sunday Funday!

What a day for our girl! She was the most alert she has been yet, carrying on conversations, very excited to see friends and family who stopped by, lots of smiles and laughing from her. She is starting to take in a little bit at a time of the whole situation, but still struggling to retain all of the information, and will for a bit longer. Rachel is also starting to question the nurses and try to have some understanding of what she is going through. This is a big step of her recovery so she will start to understand the detailed process to come.

Saturday

Hope everyone's first few days of 2010 have been super! Rachel is recovering well from her surgery on Thursday. However she is in quite a bit of pain from the external fixtures (like big carpenter clamps holding things in place). They are meant to set the tendons and ligaments in her right foot to be stretched out and prepared for the next surgery, tentatively set for early next week.

And if you look closely at the determination in her eyes to stay on that Longboard, we know she has it in her to be strong through all of this : )