10/31/04 at 10:45 a.m.

I was working with Jess yesterday and was able to get some solid yes and no answers with one finger for yes and two for no...but it comes and goes. That's okay...we will take whatever we can get. Halloween was one of Jess' favorite holidays. I tried to insert a picture of he, Curtis and Carson ten years ago but couldn't get it to work. He and Curtis always loved trick or treating. So, for Jess...

HAVE A SAVE and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

10/27/04 at 8:00 p.m.

We spent most of the day in the hospital. We tried to flush Jess' feeding tube last night and nothing would go through. I called the E.R. and they felt it was safe to wait until morning to bring him in. So, first thing this morning we took him to the hospital. They did another stomach exray and found the tube had made it's way back into his small intestine. The radiologist deflated the tube and pulled it back into his stomach. I can't wait to get rid of that tube. We are working hard on swallowing and head control. We then went for his scheduled EEG which will show any silent seizures (always a possibility with a brain injury) and it also shows activity in the different sections of the brain. We are saying an extra special prayer for good news. Please join us. Our best to you all.

10/25/04 at 7:00 p.m.

Jess and I had a good day on Sunday. He seemed to connect with all of the things I was asking him to do. He lifted his left arm 5 times for me (from the elbow to his hand). He tried so hard to move his legs and wiggle his toes. He also watched me stick my tongue out at him (which I would have never allowed) and now I so want him to do the same. He was able to put his tongue outside of his front teeth. We all cried, clapped and watched him put so much energy into these small movements. These are what they call "purposeful movements"....very important because the brain is responding to a command. Today I sat behind him and watched as he held his head on his own for a couple of minutes and was able to turn it so slightly to the left. Each day I just ask God to please let him connect to another part of his body...to please help him to remember that his body is strong. I see in his eyes that he doesn't understand why it is so hard to move or why he can't talk to me. Sometimes he gets so frustrated he just closes his eyes and then peaks out the corner of his eyes to see if I am still there. We take so much for granted.

I made the mistake of requesting all of his medical records from St. Al's. So much of the first two months are such a blur, I hoped to find some positive information to help us understand what is happening inside Jess' brain. I quickly realized and remembered I should just stay with my knowing that he will recover in his own time and that the facts are unimportant. It is what it is. So, we have some good positive movements and we await another good day. Jess is listening to Deepak Chopra's Quantum Healing. I recommend it to everyone. He also listens to Mozart, Beethoven, Native Indian music, meditation music and of course Rap, R&B and Maroon 5. Our days are full and our prayers are never ending.

10/21/04 at 8:17 p.m.

I can't believe it is almost Friday already. I am sorry I missed an update on Wednesday. As we speak Jess is on the phone with sound therapy. It is very interesting and hopefully very beneficial.

We took Jess downtown today to see the Wood River High School Homecoming Parade today. We were hoping it might trigger something so he would remember and wake up. It only triggered a lot of emotion in his parents. He was excited for his senior year and especially for basketball. We will watch him participate next year.

Unfortunately, Jess developed an infection and we now have him on antibiotics. The good thing about being in the hospital is it allowed us to run some important tests. They found 3 different bacterias that probably have been growing since we were at the Elks. And, we were unable to stop the "thrush" that develops from taking antibiotics so he is on a medication for that too. We also came to the conclusion that the reason Jess lost a bit of weight this month was that the feeding tube when it had moved into his intestine allowed the food to go directly into his intestine instead of his stomach so he was losing some of the nutrients. I think I said before "when it rains...it pours". It has to get better now.

The good things are...the therapist are noticing small improvements. He is tracking much better with his eyes. The posturing (stiffening that results from brain injury) is much less. He is trying to move little by little and he is swallowing better every day. And...we are here in the comfort of our own home with many caring people helping him. So, we take the good and let go of the rest.

To all of Jess' friends...have a fun homecoming and more importantly PLEASE drive safe!
Love, Pam, Chris and Jess

10/18/04 at 10:30 p.m.

Jess is doing much better. We are back to our daily therapies, feedings and interaction with him. Today we, with the help of our physical therapist, stood Jess up two times. He rests his chin on his dad's shoulder so Jess has grown to probably 6'2. He is too thin though and I am working with the nutritionalist to figure out how to put some weight on him. She said he is burning a lot of calories in the healing process. I am giving him almost 3000 calories a day. We also started a new therapy using quantum physics and it was good to have our acupuncturist back. Jess is much more relaxed after her visits. This journey we are on has many challenges...we keep hearing we will all be better for it...let's hope so. It was 4 months yesterday!

10/15/04 at 8:00 p.m.

Well, Jess and I took our 9th ride in an ambulance last night. He just didn't seem to be feeling very well on Thursday. We put him in his bed for the night and Chris started writing in his journal when all of a sudden Jess became very sick and heaved up a lot of liquid. Chris yelled to me, I ran to the suction machine and began suctioning his mouth in fear he was not breathing. I told mom to call 911 and within a few minutes the EMT's, ambulance and police were at our door. Luckily, he did start breathing and his vitals were good. We were afraid of aspiration so we took him to the E.R. It will be 4 months on Sunday since we spent our first terrifying night in the same E.R. before he was lifeflighted to Boise.

He had a lung exray and an exray of the feeding tube in his stomach. His lung exray was good but we decided to spend the night to check out the feeding tube. In the morning we had another stomach exray with barium and found that his feeding tube was blocking his intestine. A very kind surgeon released the balloon on the tube and pulled it away from the intestine. We also had a CT scan of his brain which showed no changes from the last one we had at St. Al's in July and blood tests which were also all normal. He had a flu shot on Wednesday which could have contributed to the nausea. After a long day, we brought him home tonight, just got him out of the bathtub and after 48 hours without sleep we are going to bed.

Before we say goodnight...we want to thank all of the medical professionals for their very kind, caring attention to Jess. Most everyone either knew of the accident or were there the night it happened and were very compassionate and kind to all of us. We again are blessed with wonderful people around us. Good night...

10/13/04 at 9:00 p.m.

We have been very busy as usual. There is always a lot of activity going on in our house. We met with Dr. Girnam (Integrative Medicine & Wellness) yesterday. She felt we were doing a good job with the different therapists we have coming and with the nutrition and supplements we are feeding Jess. She was great to do research for us in both western and eastern medicine. It is so important to combine both. She even found a place for Jess to swim with dolphins (his favorite) when he gets a little better. It is very therepeutic and the dolphins seem to know they are needed.

We are looking at rehab in Salt Lake or Seattle but because of the new insurance rules we may have to wait for Jess to respond more to commands before they accept him. I fear a lot of people in Jess' situation get lost in the system by being put in nursing homes without the stimulation needed to help them recover. And, it is all based on insurance rules. We received a letter from the Katie Beckett Medicaid in which Jess qualified for that stated they could not pay for the Elks Rehab. Hopefully, our insurance will pay some portion of the almost ,000 we owe. It is interesting how we pay for insurance all of our lifes and when you really need it they find all of these loopholes to say they won't cover this or that. We even found out that the life flight we paid for doesn't really pay for the flight...they pay for what your insurance doesn't. I bring these things up so you will be sure to check all of your policies and see what you would be covered for in our situation. We are amazed at what we didn't know.

The good news is both the acupuncturist who was out of town for a week and the cranial sacrial therapist who was out of town for two weeks thought Jess has made good improvements since they last saw him. One thing Dr. Girnam found in her research is that prayer works. Keep the prayer groups going for our Jess....please. With love....

10/10/04 at 9:10 p.m.

The last few days have been about the same except Jess is lifting his left arm by himself. He is getting a little stronger with his head control and neck muscles and he is still moving his toes. I was able to get him to move his legs a little. He seems to be moving his tongue more as though he wants to say something. We can't wait to get rid of the feeding tube in his stomach and start feeding him real food. The speech therapist told me I could give him little sips of crushed ice. He swallows well but it is still too soon to give him any other food or drink. The integrated medicine doctor will meet with us on Tuesday to discuss our next steps. We have a reevaluation at the Elks on Wednesday but we are not sure if he will be ready to go. We are looking into other rehab centers. My daughter, Jamie, and little Jahara went back home to Boise tonight. She has been helping me with Jess for the last two weeks while Chris finished the house he was building. We will miss her and our little granddaughter. Mom and dad really enjoyed having Jahara's here. It will be 4 months on the 17th since the accident. Our lives have definitly changed....

10/6/04 at 10:00 p.m.

It is amazing how many wonderful people have shown up to offer their help to us with Jess. We only wish we could have all of you do something. We are either not very good at delagating or are too overwhelmed to figure out how to ask for help. We so appreciate the offers and can only continue to ask for the prayers and the positive thoughts. It has been strange that many of the people we have come in contact with have had similar experiences with a loved one with a traumatic brain injury. It is unbelievable how many brain injuries occur daily. Kelsey mentioned today when Jess recovers they are going to start a research foundation for traumatic brain injuries. Jess always wanted to be an inspirational speaker for kids...maybe that will be his path.

I saw a picture of the car Jess was in for the first time today and cried. I want to put it on this website as a reminder to kids who drive too fast. The boys are lucky to be alive. And the damage was done at 53 miles an hour as far as they can tell. Please be careful and know how quickly your whole life can change in an instant. Good night...

10/4/04 at 8:00 p.m.

I am having a hard time updating Jess' website. The changes in his condition are very small so I don't have a lot of new information to pass on. It is such a hard journey that we are on. We are desperately trying to stay positive and know that we will see that miracle when Jess will be okay again. In the world of traumatic brain injuries the time of his healing is short...in our world the time has been an eternity.

Today a doctor in integrated medicine visited us. She is taking her extensive western medical background and combining it with eastern medicine to provide a wholistic approach to her patient's wellness. She is doing some research for us to help us decide the best path to take Jess on. We are hopeful that she can find some answers to many of our questions. In the meantime...I have found a speech therapist who will visit tomorrow. Jess is swallowing small sips of water and making sounds so we are hopeful she can help us find new ways to communicate with him. Time is our best friend and we are trying to be at peace with the waiting. I just can't wait until the day I get to tell you he is making leaps and bounds in recovery. Until then...we will continue to love him and pray for his complete healing every moment of the day.