Dan's Hands

It has been a little while since I have updated Dan's status in part because he is doing so well. He has had an appointment about the hearing in his left ear and they believe there is dried blood behind the eardrum, so the Dr. Has him putting olive oil drops in that ear which has loosened some of the blood and it has come out so that is improving. The neurological testing went well and the eye Dr. said the muscles around his left have been causing the vision issues in his left eye and that has been getting better. So lots of good news.
He was scheduled to have the pins removed from both hands Thursday, but his left wrist developed some serious swelling and pain. So we went to the Dr. Today and he was immediately concerned and the infection could undo all the work he did in that wrist. So he put Dan in surgery today, removed all the pins from both hands and cleaned out the left wrist joint. They took a culture and will give him an iv antibiotic based on that culture. Unfortunately because they have to be so aggressive and use iv antibiotics he will be in the hospital a week or two. Dan is in great spirits and the Dr. was quite optimistic. He is in room 3616 in Flagstaff Regional Medical Center, keep him in your prayers.
Dan's parents are coming in tomorrow so pray for their safe travel.
Kris

Two More Weeks

Dano went to the Dr. today regarding his wrists and goes back in two weeks to have the cast and external fixator removed. He will be sedated, but not completely out and said he would be able to kind of watch the surgery. I'm not sure what that means, but sounds like fun. The Dr. also said in his right had he will most likely have most or all of his mobility in the motion for swinging a hammer, but will lose some the other way...if that makes sense. The Dr. was excited about getting to see and talk to Dan, his last visit Dan didn't see the Dr. that did the surgery but an associate. Dan's belly wound is looking really good and you can see skin growing back in and it is getting smaller all the time. Dan has been doing well and keeping busy working in the camp store and other jobs that don't require any lifting. I am still amazed that he is doing this well in such a short period of time...simply a miracle. His eyesight is improving, but he his still going to see an eye Dr. down in Phoenix on Monday, I am anxious to see how that turns out.
K

The Anger Button

Don't press the anger button!!

My friend Jim and I have realized after much research that there is a very tender spot that is directly linked to the extreme anger part of the brain. We discovered this by some "friendly" slaps to the button. Someone who will remain nameless (although that person is very close to me) "playfully" slapped Jim on the back of the head...twice. After the second time my friend came to me and explained how big of an issue this was for him and his ability to manage his anger. I then passed this on the "nameless" person mentioned above. Then it became personal! I unintentionally made a comment referring to my friend Jim as a lady (this is unusual because these comments are usually intentional). He then slapped me in the back of the head, not hard just a gentle slap at the anger button...I got angry instantly and it even caught me off guard. It was at this point that we had a highly intelligent discussion regarding our extensive brain research (basically 3 slaps on the back of the head).

There must be a nerve from here to the anger part of the brain. We are in the process of sending this study to the AMA as I am sure they are interested in the extensive process of testing we have done. If you have any anecdotal information you would like to add please feel free to contact me.

Don't Slap me Dookie,

K

Karl and Shyla Update

I talked to Karl this morning and here is the latest info.

Shyla should be released today, she has a broken arm as we already know and either a badly bruised foot or it may possibly be broken. There are not spinal/brain/internal injuries. She does have some tenderness in her neck but they have taken the neck brace off and she doesn't have any serious injuries. Karl, Shyla and her Dad will be headed back to Prescott as soon as she is released. She will likely have the arm set in CA, but will have the foot further checked out here in Prescott. At this point it looks like they will have to meet the deductible for the auto insurance, but the insurance will take care of everything else. Pray for their safe travel and that they would be able to locate Shyla's wallet. Karl sounded good and things are so much better than they could have been.
K

Dan Barker Medical Fund

I talked to Michelle today and can give better information regarding the medical fund for Dan. At this time we have raised $10,500 for Dan's expenses and have used about $3000 to pay bills. As far as we know from the insurance company Dan has a $2000 deductible that has been met. There is also $4,000 max out of pocket for "in network" bills and $8,000 max out of pocket for "out of network" bills. We aren't sure what has happened so that that has been in or out of network, but the max out of pocket total is $14,000. Going forward Dan is going to try and stay in network, but with all the medical that he has been through it is safe to try and raise the full amount. So many people have been so generous and it is greatly appreciated. If you have further questions don't hesitate to ask.
In him,
Kris

Karl and Shyla

If you don't know, two of our summer staff were in a rollover car accident on CA today. Karl was driving and said he thinks he dozed off for just a moment and they went off the shoulder into soft mulch. The car rolled, Karl was buckled in and was unhurt. Shyla was thrown from the car and landed fortunately in the soft mulch and was taken to the hospital. At this point they have done lots of tests, but have only found that her radius is broken. All the other tests have come back negative. All positive news, there is still a chance of her having other injuries but from what Karl said not necessarily likely. Shyla's Dad is on his way driving from Prescott. Karl is going to continue to send me updates and I will post them on my blog. Praise God that things weren't worse and continue to pray for Shyla. Also pray that her Dad would have a safe trip.
Kris

Not For the Queasy

So Dan and I went to Flag on Tuesday and had a good time, I gave him a lot of crap and he gave it back and we laughed a lot. The Dr. who did the surgery to repair his intestines is a great guy. He came in and asked Dan if he was still using the tube in his stomach, Dan said no and the Dr. said let's take it out. Dan was not mentally ready for that and while the Dr. was pulling it out Dan was laughing and in pain. It was pretty funny to watch. The Dr. also allowed Dan to get rid of the wound vac. Dan just showers daily (an improvement right) and puts neosporin and a dry dressing on his belly wound. I put a picture of it down at the bottom if you are queasy you may not want to look. The Dr. was very clear that very few people could have survived that fall. It is really sobering to talk to a Dr. who sees a lot of people in ICU say Dan one of very, very few people who have survived that. The Dr. also told Dan to walk (trying to walk more everyday), eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day whether hungry or not and stay busy around camp doing what he can.

Yesterday Dan went to the Ear, Nose, Throat Dr. and did better than expected on the hearing test. He is hearing tone out of his left ear, but can't understand language. The Dr. took dried blood out of his ears, but there is dried blood behind the eardrum in his left ear that is causing the problem So Dan is putting a few drops of olive oil in his ear to loosen up the dried blood and then will go back in early September to have it removed. Hopefully he will regain all his hearing back after they remove the dried blood. Notice I said he would hear, not so sure if he will listen.

With his hands he has 2 more weeks with the external fixator on his right hand and the cast on his left. After that they will look at doing surgery on both hands to remove the pins and the he will have a splint of his left hand and a cast on his right. Going to be a bit on the wrists, but he is doing pretty well in spite of it all.

Dan has had some fun with "pre-fall" and "post-fall" - if you ask him if he remembers something he will as if it was pre-fall or post-fall...or if he has forgotten something he will blame it on being a pre-fall memory. Life is good and Dan is really doing well.

Thanks for your prayers for Dan and the support. Don't forget to check out what Chris Herrington is doing to raise money for Dan and pitch in if you can.

Kris

Notice where his bellybutton has moved to and in the upper right you can see where the stomach tube was located. The Dr. said that the red in the wound was created by the wound vac so that skin could grow over it.

Dan Update

I am sorry I haven't given an update on Dan in a while. He is doing really well, just having him walking around camp, helping in the store and talking makes me forget that I even need to give an update. As you can tell he is doing great. He will have casts on his hands for another 3 weeks or so then he will have to have surgery to remove some pins in his wrists. He has the braces off so slowly he is beginning to eat more solid food. I am taking him to the Dr. today in Flag so I should have a little more information to share after that.

On another note we are continuing to raise money for medical expenses. We know that the max out of pocket is $10,000 but think there may be some additional expenses that are not covered by insurance. Dealing with insurance companies can be a bit challenging at times so I apologize for the lack of information.

Chris Herrington has a plan to help raise money for Dan I appreciate his willingness to sacrifice and do something for Dan like this. Head over to his blog and check it out and support Chris as he supports Dan.
http://nehuskerfans.blogspot.com/2009/07/dan-barker.html

Kris