Move to Tampa

Friday, December 16 Hello Friends I have been quite busy lately, so I am sorry that I have not updated this in awhile. We have been on quite a rollercoaster ride during early Dec. Gary and I moved into housing next door to the Shepherd Center. He has been attending daily rehab sessions and he has learned quite alot. Gary LOVES this because he has continual challenges. Therapists even come over to our apartment and give him tips and pointers on how to do things more efficiently. Gary is getting in and out of his wheelchair by himself, has learned to shower and dress himself and now can get into and out of the car. He is also still learning to play guitar. BUT the only song he knows is "Happy Birthday Dorothy"...which he has been practicing for 3 weeks now. Dorothy's birthday was December 8!  When he graduated from the inpatient program they gave him an award "Most Likely to Direct his own Care". He said "I don't know if that was an award or an insult." Next week he will be moving to Tampa VA hospital as an inpatient...we don't know much more about that yet. I am so grateful to Gary's brother Randy who came to stay with Gary while I went to see Hali graduate from UNF. What a joy that was. I am so proud of her! I don't know how she worked, put herself through school and helped Gary and I like she did!!! What a woman! We were all sad that Gary couldn't be there, but he very generously paid for the party. What a guy! Unfortunately my mom Doris has been in Hospice in Dallas for almost a year. Mom passed away yesterday. Miraculously I made it here in time to say good bye to her and tell her how wonderful she was as a mom. I am so grateful for that. I am also grateful to my brother, sis in law, and niece for taking such great care of my mom for years. We will all miss her and especially right now her Christmas cookies. Those of you who knew her know that she was just about the nicest person in the world. She will make such a great angel! This is probably my Merry Christmakwanzakah note to you all...so Happy Holidays.  Judi and Gary

Making progress :)

Thursday, Dec 1

A lot has happened since I last wrote in this Blog. I'll try to be brief as I know the Holiday season is approaching and folks get busier each day!

Gary is making good progress in his physical therapy. He has earned to transfer in and out of his wheelchair...into and out of bed, into and out of the shower and is working on the car and sofa. The more he does all of these activities the better he will get. Gary is continuing to want to do everything for himself to become more independent. His daily activities are quite exhausting because he tries really hard to do as much as he can.  Of course lots of repetitions will help to build his strength.

Gary's general health seems to be improving as his body copes with all of the changes. The nurses and staff are wonderful at the Shepherd Center and he is so grateful for all of the help he has received.

We finally know what our next step is...and it is exactly what Gary was hoping for. 

Dec 5 Gary will be discharged from the hospital and move next door to the Shepherd Center "Day Program". This means both Gary and I will be living in an apartment - on our own. He will go to rehab during the day at the Shepherd Center and continue to make strides toward independence. Who knows what I will do? I may blog myself silly.

At some point - probably in the category of several weeks later - he will move to a VA hospital in Tampa. Long story, but since he is an Air Force veteran the US govt will help with medical expenses. First he has to get admitted to a VA hospital so we will need to take that step sometime in the future. After that the plan would be to come home, but there are no time estimates yet.

Several of you have asked about Gary's spirits.

I think he is doing very well considering everything he is coping with right now. One of the many blessings at the Shepherd Center is that there are many people in different circumstances. Of course there are people who are in better shape than Gary- younger, lesser injuries, temporary damage. However probably the more significant impact is made by those who are in worse shape than Gary with much greater challenges. Part of the comntinuing therapy is discussions among patients and during this time they share their stories. Gary is always moved by these people such as a young man who cried because he could never have children, another man who wanted desperately to hang Christmas lights for his children but won't be home in time, a pastor who has been in traction for over 3 months and hoped to get the screws out of his head out last week but didn't. Not to mention the folks who are on ventilators, have no use of their arms, or can't speak because of the level of their injury. Gary feels he has alot to be thankful for...and I am thankful he is still around.

We both are thankful for our family and friends.

Here is a list of just a few of our recent angels:

Hali and Nate came to visit Gary in Atlanta during their Thanksgiving holiday. Gwen sent special music and arranged a photo of Stephanie Abrams to be sent from the Weather Channel - Gary thinks she is great!!! Beautiful plants from Hussein and Nargges, and flowers from the Bastardi family.

An inspirational CD and letter from Jim. Gift cards from Maria and Joe, my brother and his wife and Gayle. Yummy pies from Jan. I am sure I am forgetting so many thoughtful people.  Please know that it is just a lack of organization my part. Thank you to everyone who is helping us through this challenge!!

Sorry I guess this wasn't so brief. OOOPS!

Judi

More angels

My angels list is so long!!!

My father Bill, his wife Dorothy, my brother Bill and his wife Carol came to our house for a week. During this time they all acted like they were indentured servants. They did all the normal cooking and cleaning as well as painting furniture, washing windows, screens and cars, organizing paperwork and sheds, pruning, weeding....you name - it they did it!!! Hali and Bax chipped in and the only time anyone stopped working was to give me a bridal shower and celebrate my dad's 89th birthday!!! I am so grateful to them all for such love.

I'll list the "angel friends" later....

-Judi

Hello and a belated Happy Thanksgiving!

It is Sunday afternoon. Gary and I just attended a church service here at the Shepherd Center. Each Sunday is a little bit different with various pastors and even current and former patients participating. We enjoy the variety of services.  

Gary had had some ups and downs in the last week. Mostly ups!!! He has been working hard on transferring from his wheelchair to bed, to a shower seat, and even in and out of a car. When he got in the car we didn't go anywhere but we practiced for the future. I passed my training to get a "push pass" which means I am allowed to take him out of the hospital - to any distance I could push him. Unfortunately, so far we haven't gone anywhere because he has a urinary tract infection, and hasn't been feeling very well. I am sure this will pass as today is better than yesterday which was better than the day before.

Sorry I haven't blogged too much lately, but I have been putting it off until I knew more about what the immediate future holds. This method isn't working any better than it did in college when I would put off writing my papers hoping that magically I would know more tomorrow.

Here is what I know so far:

Gary was given a discharge date of Dec 6.
The original plan was to transfer him to the "Day Stay program" here at SC. In this program we would both stay next door in an apartment (where I am staying when I am here). I would be responsible for all of his care and he would come over to SC during the day to continue his therapy. We hope this will be the case, but it isn't certain as they do not have space for him at the moment.

It was then planned that he would go to the VA hospital in Tampa...but he was turned down for that facility for various reasons....so now they are trying again to make space for him in the SC Day Stay program. We are just waiting TRYING to be patient. 

Anyway, I hope you have all had a good Thanksgiving with loved ones.

Judi and Gary

Gary's address

Hi everybody!  I wanted to make sure that you have Gary's address(in case you want to send a congratulations card for their wedding or other words of encouragement:))  Thank you for all of your support; it means so much to my mom and Gary!!!  I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

-Hali

Gary Gammage

Shepherd Center
2020 Peachtree St NW

Atlanta, GA

30309

Wedding Bells!!!!

Monday, Nov 14

So sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I have been so busy.

I have been back and forth to Atlanta several times, my family is visiting from Dallas and North Carolina, and Gary and I got married!

Yes, you read it correctly.

On Friday, 11 11, 11 at 11:11 am we tied the knot. We really didn't plan it to be that time or date but NOTHING we have done lately has been all that planned by us.

My friend Jan planned the whole thing and she did an amazing job! I could go on and on about all the stuff Jan had to do to get it done. She sweet talked an armour-plated bureaucrat into figuring out how to get a marriage license without both parties appearing at the courthouse. ("We'll just do it the same way we treat criminals in custody".) Somehow she got a judge to come to the hospital on his day off and she provided cake, refreshments, a bouquet, helped me get a ring (now there's a story for another day), took photographs...and I am sure MUCH, MUCH more!!! I was in such a fog that I can't remember everything she did, but

Jan was amazing!

For once I was speechless during the whole ceremony. The most noteworthy comment was from one of our favorite nurses (Cynthia of the slingshowerplasticbag fame) said "Now there is a real love story!" And I cried some more.

Gary is doing better each day. He is up in his wheelchair and getting to therapy several times each day. His arms are not as strong as they used to be but he is determined to do everything he can. Right now he is working on being able to transfer in and out of his wheelchair. Sitting up alone still eludes him, made more difficult by a brace on his torso. The brace is to assure his spine receives extra support. Although the brace itself is uncomfortable, Gary is hopeful that it will help protect him until the spinal fusion/reconstruction/fractures heal. He will eventually get the brace off if all heals properly. Gary's spirits seem better as each hurdle is cleared, but he is still worried that something else will go wrong. Of course I am convinced that the worst is behind us.

Gary's schedule seems to be operating on a more regular basis now. Consequently I will be entering comments into the Blog less often. I plan on doing an update roughly every few days up to a week.

As always we are both grateful for your thoughts and prayers,

Judi and Gary

Finally, a good day.

Tuesday, Nov 8

Gary is having a good day today. He went to therapy this morning and he will go to more this afternoon. He is feeling stronger since the surgery and very motivated to do as much as he can. Of course nothing has been easy for him throughout this entire process and post-surgery is following the same course. They are continuing to watch him closely so nothing interferes with his healing. Today's concerns are the possible formation of blood clots in his legs and urinary tract complications. As he begins to feel better his fighting spirit is returning. I told the nursing staff it was great for Gary that he is beginning to act like his normal self, but bad for the staff because now he will be more like the old Gary - he'll be a pain in their butts. Those poor nurses won't be fast enough or get enough done or make quick enough decisions. He was already anxious because he wasn't early for his first therapy appointment.

Sunday he woke up and the first thing he said was "Since my right arm works pretty well but my left arm is weak, I think I am going to learn to play guitar." It is interesting to me how the smallest thing can now seem so significant. I am so grateful to hear Gary talking about the future with some enthusiasm in his voice!

The Shepherd Center offers a variety of classes to educate patients about their injuries. Gary went to one class yesterday and reported it was designed for those folks without a medical background but he said it helps to get him out and about. Reading between the lines that probably means he could have taught the class.

The angels for the last few days are: Hali, Carol and Jan for talking me home from Atlanta (and filling me in on Herman Cain, Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky - I know Joe and Jerry from when I worked at Penn St - EEEK! what a mess). Thanks to my neighbor Steve for showing me that the lawn mower wasn't broken, we just needed to use the choke. Special thanks to Jan for doing all kinds of stuff to help me when I am in Atlanta. And to Peter and Nancy for suggesting that I do this blog. It has helped me so much to keep up the communication.

Thanks to you all for caring about Gary!

Judi