Justin's story

Where to begin. Because we did not immediately start this blog, some of the dates may be off by a day but the key points of trials and tribulations remain the same.

Most of you know the beginning of Justin's journey and the main reason for creating this blog site. (Thank you Ms. Henri for your suggestion and direction with this). It was early July 3rd, 2009. We received our phone call at 3:50a.m. saying we needed to pick Justin up from Enterprise Medical Center, he had been in an accident, was fine but groggy and needed someone to drive him home. This was not typical--there had been no middle of the night, wake from your sleep, something is wrong feeling---no heart-sinking 'accident' reaction, we dressed, woke our niece telling her we had to go to Enterprise--by God' grace she asked if she could ride with us rather than stay home by herself. We had our moment of awakening when we entered the hospital and was told he was having CTScans done, then we overheard paralysis and transfer to SE AL Medical Center. An MP was there, questions about if anything troubling had been going on in his life, alcohol was mentioned, no seatbelt was mentioned, he was awake and responsive but didn't remember what had happened. By 7:00am he had been transferred to SE where Dr. Woodham, neurologist with a great reputation was waiting to rush him into surgery for injury to his C6 vertebrae and spinal injury. We were told immediately quadraplegic with "small chance" of walking again. After several hours of surgery, he becomes one of the many members of the CCU ward on a ventilator. Saturday morning finds Dr. Voss reiterating the C6 damage with minimal chance of recovery. We finally asked what 'small' and 'minimal' meant--5% chance of recovering from paralysis. By 4:00 pm July 4th, we are called in by pulmonary because his chest x-rays show rapid decline in function and the "D" word is used as a possibility of what we may be facing. We were advised not to expect immediate results if he were to fight this latest set-back; this would be at least a week in coming back with his lungs. By July 5th we were seeing signs of improvement with a Peep 7 at 60% oxygen and arm movements. By July 6th, he was at Peep 7 with 40% in which the doctors had said 30-40% was great. We were amazed--our prayers were being answered and recovery seemed imminent. By July 7th the doctors were so pleased, they reduced his Peep to a 5 and we continued to see him improve to a Peep 5 with 40%. Joy was running rampant and prayers being answered. Arm movement was awesome and Justin's personality was delighting all that knows him (military brotherhood, family members and friends). Dr. Purvis ordered a pointer board for better communication and expressed the possibility of removing him from the ventilator.

Then came the days filled with requests like "take me home", "I'm hungry" and then ultimately "what's wrong with me". We skirted key issues like getting infections cleared up and lungs strong and healthy but Justin is smart--he started realizing he couldn't feel certain extremities but for every time we thought was the right time to fully disclose specifics something happened. A set-back in oxygen or a high fever or more cultures because they couldn't figure out the causes of certain issues. What the doctors anticipated would happen on July 4th and didn't was finally rearing its ugly face.

By nighttime July 8th, he spiked a 105 fever, lungs were worst they had seen yet, 100% oxygen at Peep 7 was again ordered, a 2nd bronchioscopy was ordered which he fought severely--he had to be completely sedated due to his obvious agitation. July 9th he's quiet, uncertain of what's happening but rebounding. Many, many visitors praying, lifting spirits and/or simply staring at him with silent hope for improvement. By July 11th, he's on a good day--well enough that we determine he deserves answers, clarity to what doctors say yet encouragement that says God can perform miracles and 6 states are praying for him. He doesn't remember any car accident, realizes he can't feel his legs, knows he has strength in his arms yet no control of wrists and hands. Understands his custody of Preston hasn't changed after contact with the Judge, gets emotional over some issues but still continues to show us that Justin personality we all know and love.

Monday July 13th starts well, I return to work (which he understands and acknowledges is okay) for morning hours while his Dad visits with him, then we fill the afternoon and evening visits with morale-boosting. The day ends with another rough night--foam develops in his lungs, pulminary adema is mentioned, MSRA was already mentioned 2 days earlier, his spirits are down. They treat these issues but he continues with mucus buildup and his breathing becomes so strained he is back at Peep 7 with 100% oxygen. Another bronchioscopy is ordered, this time he doesn't resist.

July 14, Tuesday--Dad makes his routine morning visit. Respiratory was in the room and his bed had been changed yet again. The nurses can't seem to agree on which bed is best for his lungs, bed-sores and spinal alignment. Justin is sprawled out like he owns the place and his oxygen is reduced to 85% at Peep 7. He's alert, his color looks better, has a slight fever but was not in pain and breathing better, as confirmed by his nurse. He was finally converted over to a PICC line which relieves IVs from running into both arms/hands and concentrates one central line with 3 IV access lines running from one arm. The pointer board proves unhelpful as he can't control hand motion but can truly show his strength with his arm movements. HIS EYES CAN TELL YOU ALOT most of the time, Mama isn't too good at scherades though.