Monday morning 11-28-05 --- More Pain and Vomiting

We are disappointed this morning.

Dan spent the night with more pain and vomiting. He says he is passing another kidney stone.

I hope that is all.

It had been so nice to see Dan well for the Thanksgiving Weekend and we hope this episode will pass before Dan's sister Penny visits from California this coming Wednesday.

Dan goes out! Friday 11/25 and Saturday 11/26

Yesterday, we went to the Colorado Springs Southeast YMCA as a family. The kids and I went swimming and Dan (with Mike helping him) used the handicapped restrooms and got to take a shower. Our house's bathrooms have not had a door large enough for the wheelchair to get through, so Dan has had to take sponge baths since he left the hospital. Now that we know Dan can get to the YMCA without too much problem, he'll get showers! Yippee!

Also, today, all of us visited my parents' house in Larkspur, so Dan has been "out" twice for more than trips to the doctor or hospital.

We are so happy to be together as a family again!

Thanksgiving Day!

Our family had the BEST Thanksgiving Day!

My parents came and we ate in the dining room and Dan was able to sit in his wheelchair all day and we had a feast.

We are so happy that Dan is well and with us. Our fear that we may have had to spend Thanksgiving at the hospital did not come true.

Happy Thanksgiving -- Hurray, Hurray, Hurray!

Thanksgiving Eve -- Dan is better!

Good news -- the pain and vomiting have stopped and if the source was really just a kidney stone (not related to THE ACCIDENT), well, the kidney stone has been passed this afternoon!

Dan didn't need to have surgery afterall and our family will have a Happy Thankgiving!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Dan not getting better -- 11/22/05

Dan is not getting better; however, there is some hope tomorrow: he will go to a doctor in the morning who may be able to figure out what is wrong. He has not been able to stop being in pain for a week now and keeps vomiting. It has been discouraging. We had thought earlier today that he'd have to return to the hospital and stay overnight, and we are grateful that he can be treated as an outpatient tomorrow. We do hope we can have Thanksgiving together as a family.

Dan still not well -- Sunday 11-20-05

Dan did go home late Thursday night from the ER and..

...Friday, he was home, but still in horrible pain and vomiting
and yesterday morning he returned to the ER. He was home again by Saturday afternoon on a new medication that hopefully will stop the vomiting.

Sunday, he slept a lot and was still in pain. We will try to get an appointment set up with his regular doctor on Monday or Tuesday.

Dan rushed to hospital by ambulance 11-17-05

We don't know quite what is wrong, but Dan was rushed to the hospital by ambulance yesterday. He was in severe pain and was vomiting constantly.

We spent hours and hours in the emergency room while the doctors tried to figure out what was/is wrong.

We still don't quite know -- it could be Dan is passing multiple kidney stones. This recent set back could have nothing to due with Dan's accident and the related injuries, but we are not quite sure. It's was "strange" and "not fun" to return to the hospital again yesterday.

Dan did go home late last night and..

...today, he was home, but still in horrible pain and vomiting.

Continue to pray for Dan. Jo Ann and the children are so, so tired. Dan's brother, Mike, has done an incredible job of helping us and Dan and continues to stay at Dan's side all the time.

No, Dan has been unable to eat any meals with us for two days now; in fact, he has been unable to eat or keep much down.

We do hope he gets better soon, especially by Thanksgiving. Tonight marks exactly 9 weeks since THE ACCIDENT.

Dan can eat all his meals at the table now!

This past weekend, Dan was determined to sit in his wheelchair and eat at the table with us for all of his meals and he succeeded! It was so neat to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together as a family and not see Dan get tired.

Also, Dan has joined us at the table for two different Shabbat meals (11/4/05 and 11/11/05). It has been so special to be together as a family on Shabbat once again!

He also went outside a bit on Saturday afternoon and even pushed his wheelchair on his own a bit and talked to neighbors!

We are excited about Thanksgiving now since we have so much to be thankful for!

Dan describing his feet

Here are some photos of what Dan's feet look like as of November 7, 2005.

A photo of Dan at home about 7 weeks later

Dan looks pretty good for someone who fell off a bridge 7 weeks ago and was near death.

It's Been 6 Weeks since THE ACCIDENT

Today is Friday, October 28, 2005.

It's been SIX weeks since Dan's accident on Friday, September 16, 2005.

It is a miracle he is alive.

It is a miracle that he is not paralyzed or brain-damaged
or...or...or...or much more hurt...or...

Anyway, it is good to have him inside our house.

Thank you all for your prayers. Continue to pray for a full recovery.

Right now, it is very difficult for Dan to do more than lay down and
transferring to his wheelchair is really hard.

His feet will take along time to heal and he's also dealing with being a temporary diabetic (this may be permanent).

He is feeling pretty good today, but he's been very ill since he arrived home on Tuesday, 10/25. It was encouraging today to see him feel better!

He is so, so tired, but he is able to talk on the phone for quite awhile. Feel free to call Dan at our home number which is 719-527-1015.

Dan came home today!

Today, Tuesday, October 25, 2005, Dan came home!

He is not able to walk and is very, very tired, but he is HOME!

He came home in time for lunch and ate dinner with us. He visited with the children and also rested.

It will now take several months to recover and walk again, but it is so good to have Dan back inside our house!

Surgery on left foot successful

At 9:00 PM on Wednesday, October 19, Dan was scheduled for surgery on his left ankle.

The surgery was completed at 1:30 AM and was successful. So many of Dan's bones were broken and they were fixed one by one.

On Thursday, October 20, Dan was in terrible pain for much of the day.

The good news is that if all heals correctly, Dan will be able to eventually walk again (maybe not perfectly, but he'll be able to walk) and even skate!

Also, there is a good possibility that Dan will come home this coming Tuesday, October 25!

Another day at the park

My parents visited Dan and we all went to the park on Tuesday, 10-18-05. Doesn't Dan look GREAT?!!

Dan's first time outdoors and a haircut

Last evening, Annabelle and Rebekah and I met Dan and Mike at the park next to the hospital and took an evening stroll around the park. Mike pushed Dan's wheelchair and we talked and talked.

How wonderful that Dan can go outside again for short strolls!

My hairdresser, Gail Montoya, also came to the hospital earlier today and gave Dan a haircut. He looks so much younger now. The long shaggy hair had made him look old and tired. Now, even his head looks like it has a new beginning!

I told Dan last night he'd been in a coma for two weeks; he was shocked. He had no idea he'd been out all that long. It has been 31 days since the accident.

(There was a full moon out last night; I remember the nurses and Chaplain saying that the weekend of Dan's accident there had also been a full moon and it seemed like there was more activity at the hospital that particular weekend.)

A Miracle Did Occur!

I wrote the following message on 9/25/05 to many, many people because I knew only a miracle would make Dan better:

"Please pass the info below anyone who knows me and Dan and who may
care.

My husband Dan was in a horrible accident on Friday 9-16.

There is a very small chance he will live.

Please pray for a miracle. Or please just pray.

We have 3 children (6, 9, 11) who need to grow up with their daddy.
Here's a recent website with their photos:
http://catsonice.blogspot.com/
and here's one I did in Dec 04 on our family:
http://jumpspin.com/dec04/

JO ANN Schneider Farris"

On Sunday, October 16, I learned a true miracle did occur! My father is a physician, and he explained to me what was happening to Dan during the week just before he "woke up." Dan's fever had become so high and his coma was no longer induced; Dan was dying. Then, suddenly the fever disappeared (the medical staff thought an IV line was infected that could have caused the fever, but they weren't sure) and Dan began to breathe on his own and then he suddenly woke up!

I remember playing "There Can Be Miracles When You Believe" from the movie PRINCE OF EGYPT in Dan's hospital room. A miracle has truly happened!

Dan's brothers visit and Joel is "Tiger of the Day"

Dan's brothers, Jack and Pat, visited Dan the weekend of October 14--16. They flew in from California just to see Dan. They spent the day with him at the hospital.



On Saturday evening, October 15th, Joel got to be Jr. Tiger of the Day at The Colorado College Hockey Game! It was a really big honor. My parents showed up at the World Arena just to see Joel! (They had just arrived from Chicago before the game.) Dan's brothers also came to the game to see Joel!

The children and I did not see Dan on Saturday since I felt that seeing Dan's brothers and the children all in one day was going to be too much for both me and Dan. Instead, we just had a nice Saturday at home and rested before the game.

It was absolutely fantastic to see Joel skate with the big CC Tigers in the Opening Ceremonies and watching the game with the children was so fun. I missed Dan's presence at the game; it seemed odd to do such a wonderful activity that we'd always done together as a family without Daddy.

Ate dinner with Dan in the hospital cafeteria

It turned out the car lights did not have a problem. I had been so upset about what happened in Rehab that it seemed I just didn't understand how to turn the car's parking lights off and when the parking lights were on, the other lights in the car didn't work!

However, it took me a long time to get over being so upset by a Rehab nurse named Quentin. What really upset me was that Quentin had told me to be quiet so he could give me his side of how things were done in a hospital. He made me feel stupid and unimportant and didn't seem to have any idea of what my family had been through.

I called Dan on Friday morning and told him I would not visit him again in that Rehab unit. I was really, really upset. The conversation with Quentin had made me decide that I would never enter the Rehab unit again.

Dan was in no shape to deal with this issue, but did talk to someone in Rehab and they called me and worked out that the children and I could have the hour of 4--5 PM daily to visit with Dan. They also began to realize after talking with Dan that he was not mentally able to handle important issues and promised to have someone contact me and inform me about what was going on with Dan. I calmed down just a bit.

So, later that day, we went to the hospital and Mike brought Dan down to the cafeteria in his wheelchair and we had dinner in a quiet spot of the cafeteria as a family.

It was the first time there were no interuptions and Dan talked to me and the kids and he even ate fruit with us!

It was really great and now that I don't have to go in the Rehab unit again, I feel a peace.

Yom Kippur

Thursday, October 13 was Yom Kippur.

We went to the Children's Service at Temple Shalom in the morning and then went to the hospital to visit Dan.

We were at the Rehab unit a long time that day and at the end of the day, I was shocked that the Rehab nurses had scolded Dan for having his family visit too long. We had been promised that we would get to take Dan outside in his wheelchair and that promise had not come through and we had waited all day for that event.

I called the Rehab unit as I drove home asking to be calmed down since I believed there had been a misunderstanding and I ended up getting extremely upset.

Then, when we returned home, I thought I couldn't turn the lights off in our car (we had just got our car back that day after it being in the body shop to repair the damage from the accident) and had to call AAA to disconect the wires so the battery wouldn't burn out. I was convinced that the auto body shop had done something to the electrical wires that caused this problem.

Larisa picked us up for a Break Fast and we were there very late, but it was good to eat something after being so upset. Larisa made wonderful food and the friends there made me feel loved.

When Larisa took us home, I cried and cried. I seemed to have hit a breaking point.

Rehab

On Tuesday, October 11, the kids skated at Chapel Hills in the morning and Betty Knight took the girls to Brownies in the afternoon.

Joel and I went to the hospital. Just as we arrived, Dan had been moved to a wheelchair, but it didn't go well, and he threw up, so Joel and I didn't stay long.

We returned later that evening and visited Dan with Betty, Kelli, and the children.

Dan was very talkative. I decorated his room with the children's artwork and the cards Dan had received.

I helped Dan call his sister Penny, his parents, and his cousin Jim and Aunt Edna.

We left his quite late; it was almost 8 PM.