Ride the Divide

Justin here...  We took Christian out to a movie called "Ride the Divide" on Tuesday evening at Brewvies.  All went off without a hitch!  Ride the Divide is about a mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide.  Total length of the race is 2,700 miles +/-.  They started in June and finished in July/August.  Most of the group actually dropped out and didn't finish, but 6 (or 7, I forget exactly) of them went the full distance.  One guy, the winner, finished for his 5th time and has since finished this race a 6th time.  The guy's a true FREAK OF NATURE!  There is no race support, everyone is on their own, so if there's a problem, breakdown, loss of direction, etc. you're all by yourself to figure it out.  Some travel in groups, but others travel alone for the duration.  Since the racers carry all their own gear, they can only carry enough food and water for a couple of days.  At times they're without food and water until they can get to the next small town with a grocery or convenience store and re-supply.  100 people have tried this race/route and only 40 have completed it.  Cool movie, would recommend you all go see it (you can purchase it on Blu-Ray too I think). 

For those that know Christian well, can you imagine him doing this race?  I know I can :-)!

Mike Dion, Ride the Divide Racer, Red Meadow Pass, MT.

New Wheels

  

            Shoulders and core muscles are now strong enough so Chris can take advantage of a new wheel chair with a lower back.  Less chair means it's lighter and more maneuverable.  All good. 

            Monday afternoon after PT we loaded into the car and drove up to Buckner Company for a surprise visit.    Christian works with a fabulous group of professionals.  Our planned few minutes of visit turned into more than an hour but it was sure worth it and wonderful to see caring coworkers and friends.   We'll be back!

            Here is video recorded today (29-Sept-2010).  Pretty good progress with walking; smoother, farther, less huffing and puffing.  

      

            Thanks to those who have taken time to come by.  Christian is fortunate to have great friends supporting.  It means a lot.  We feel your faith and prayers for us.  Thank you. 

With the help of IMC physical therapists, Misty and Brad, Christian prepares to negotiate the stairs. (29-Sept-2010)

JAILBREAK!!!!

Justin, Christian's brother here.  Mom let the cat out of the bag that I've been the man behind the curtain on most of the posts.  Not that I was trying to remain anonymous, but didn't really figure it was that big a deal who was writing, only that you all were getting the details you wanted and needed :-).

Christian and I spent Friday evening together and we went on quite an adventure!  I arrived about 5:30pm to spend the evening and first night shift (8:30pm - 2:30am) with Chris so that Jessi could go to Park City for some R&R and to run a 10K race in the MUD on Saturday (I forget the name of the race at the moment).  Chris and I had talked earlier in the week about maybe trying to get out of the hospital for dinner or a movie, and when I arrived Chris was excited to go.  We transferred him from bed to wheelchair, grabbed a few essentials and headed for the car.  Spencer, Dad and I were able to practice car transfers (from wheelchair to car and back) with Christian earlier in the week, supervised by the PT staff.  It's actually quite easy getting in and out of the car.  Christian does most of the work and I just give a little help with balance.

Once in the car, we headed for Olive Garden at Fashion Place Mall as Chris was in the mood for pasta.  We didn't even get off the IMC campus onto 5300 South when Chris felt like he may have to go #1 :-).  I replied that this would be no problem, we could just pull into a parking lot on the way and take care of business.  We got onto 5300 South, then turned South on State Street when Chris stated that he thought we may need to turn around altogether.  It appeared that the urge to go #1, had quickly turned into the urge to go #2 and we didn't have the proper essentials to take care of that in a parking lot along State Street :-).  We flipped around, headed back to IMC, transferred to the chair, rode the elevator up to floor 12, rolled back to 1216, buzzed the nurse and took care of business!  That took about 30 minutes.  I thought Christian may have been a little deflated, not to mention tired, after that so suggested we could just do dinner in the cafeteria downstairs, but he was still game for a trip outside the hospital, so we headed for the car again.

We didn't get to Olive Garden until just before 7:00pm and it was a ZOO!  Quick change of plans and we headed to Macaroni Grille across the street.  Christian had the Pasta Milano and I had the Sausage Salentino, preceded by some bread dipped in oil, vinegar & pepper.  I have to say that I pretty quickly mastered the "two fork" way of eating dinner.  I used an alternating bite method, one for Chris and one for me which was actually a nice change from my normal method of shoveling in as much food as possible, as quickly as possible (this was also Christian's method of eating prior to the accident).  Chris agreed that this is a more enjoyable way to eat dinner, although not convenient if you're in a hurry, which we weren't. 

We got back to IMC about 9:00pm and Chris got into bed for the night.  Unfortunately with us being out a little late, he didn't get his meds until close to 10:00pm so he had some muscle spasm issues early in the night, but otherwise the trip out was a BIG success!

Saturday we figured we were on a roll so we headed to Sugarhouse BBQ (one of Christian's favorites) for lunch.  Misti and Kris, Physical Therapists from IMC, came along so we could practice navigating some real world obstacles.  After a lunch of beef brisket, pulled pork and baked beans we headed over to Sugarhouse Park.  Chris walked (with a little help from Misti and I, mostly just for balance and to keep him from falling and cracking any more vertebrae) through the parking area, up the curb, across the uneven grass to the volleyball court and back.  As you can imagine Christian was pretty tired after this and fell asleep in the car on the way back.

Overall, a nice weekend! 

A Mother's Love & Rocks

Christian’s mom (Sheila Deputy) here. I wish I could take the credit for writing this blog, but can't. It is Christian’s brother, Justin, that has written 90% of what has appeared on this inspiring blog. 

I apologize for taking so long to add my comments. First of all, it took some time to get my emotions together-imagine that. And, time to figure out how to put all the thoughts I’ve had into words. So, here goes!

Christian is our firstborn child. From day one he developed many of the typical “eldest child” traits. He’s been focused, driven, spiritually strong, a positive example, and a mentor to his three younger siblings. I’ve always felt that it is these traits that made him the man he is today. This may sound like bragging, and honestly, it is, but Christian (except for the 6 ear infections in the first year of his life-which caused very little sleep on his part and his parents), has been a joy to raise.

Lest you think that he never did anything wrong, think again! (Nope, I won’t tell on you, Christian.) It’s just that, as he grew, Christian continued to raise the bar, mostly of his own accord. For instance, one goal Christian set early on, was to earn his Eagle Scout award. With little to no pushing or prodding on our part, he reached that goal at 15.

School wasn’t easy for Christian. He had to study hard, and apply himself to get decent grades. At the beginning of Christian’s sophomore year in high school, he made the decision that he wanted to get GOOD grades. Christian wasn’t a straight “A” student, but with hard work and determination, and his desire to surround himself with like minded friends, he had many semesters on the honor roll.

His life has continued to be filled with “set a goal, work hard, and reach it” kind of moments. LDS mission, Christian left one month after he turned 19. College degree, got it done in 8 semesters, exactly. Dream job as a fly-fishing guide, no problem, got an interview via phone, and was hired at a fly-in lodge in Alaska. Outdoor activities, you name it, Christian does it, and he does it well. This work, serve and play ethic has continued to this day. Getting married took Christian a little longer (well, at least according to his mom), but Jessi was most certainly worth the wait.

Several years ago Christian joined the Salt Lake Rotary Club, where his Dad is also a member. He, at the time was probably one of the younger members of that large and historic Club. No worries there. Christian soon got to know everyone, served on committees, and found his niche working with Rotary Exchange students. The students all love him (can you imagine that). Christian’s also been active in the Big Brother Big Sister program.

On to ROCKS. You’ve heard the expression “like a rock”, or “rock solid” or “rock foundation”?  Mike and I live in a small community in the Sandy area called, Granite. So named because the area is full of huge granite rocks. I have several of those granite rocks in my yard that look at every single day. They are rough, varied and look indestructible and impenetrable. Inside my home I have several amazing pieces of cut, honed and polished granite. Each piece looks different than the other, and very different from the rugged rocks outside. What makes them all so different and beautiful? It all depends on what’s inside. It’s the chips, veins, swirls, variations, stresses, and colors inside that make those large, strong, rough rocks so incredibly gorgeous when they are cut, polished and honed. From the first day that Christian had his mountain biking accident, the journey that he’s been on, has reminded me of those granite rocks. On the outside, Christian is a big, strong, rugged granite rock. Just like the ones I have around my home. Right now he is gaining some new chips, veins, stresses, and colors. All will help him continue to be “rock solid”, and most importantly, more beautiful inside.  It’s that focus, drive, and determination that Christian developed early on in life, that will see him through this journey. And having Jessi at his side!

I love you so much, Christian. You make me proud to be your mother. May God bless you. This I know, you are solid as a rock, and each day, even more beautiful inside.

MOM

More Good Progress (Ho Hum)

(Christian's Dad here...)  We're really loving this idea of things going better each day.  We recognize there are no guarantees but improvement sure beats other possibilities; we are thankful.  Christian continues to amaze and inspire us with his dedication and determination. 

Physical Therapist, Adam, is a big fan of walking everywhere and under his care we see Christian walking farther each day.  Today they walked almost completely around the 12th floor.  In the video I recorded 3 days ago, Chris walked 30' until his first rest stop.  Today, his final segment walking back to his room, 265'!  This has us smiling.  It has Christian breathing heavy, sweating AND smiling. :-)

During therapy "stand-up-sit-downs" Chris needed a back rest - perfect job for me.

Occupational Therapist, Josh, had Christian working on arms today.  These are arms that 2 weeks ago couldn't move.  Amazing. 



We continue our thanks to the Lord above for His gracious love and we acknowledge again the faith and prayers of so many who are rooting for Chris on this journey.  We express our love to you.   

Stats

As of this morning here are the stats.

Total Visits - 16,722
Unique Visits - 4,758
Pageviews - 31,343
Average pageviews - 1.87
Average time on site - 2:29

Web Browsers Used:
Internet Explorer - 48.91%
Safari - 27.93%
Firefox - 14.21%
Chrome - 5.15%
Mozilla Compitble Agent - 2.42%

Connection Types:
DSL - 32.83%
Cable - 30.07%
Unknown - 26.81%
T1 - 8.70%
Dial-up (who knew anyone still used dial-up?) - .86%

A Walk On The Wild Side

The therapist suggested Christian walk to PT today.  I think it's now going to be an every day thing.  Dad was assigned to follow close behind; wheel chair at the ready.  So the video is short (but sweet).  It took 3 rest stops but he walked the whole way.  Yahoo!

VISITORS WELCOME 3:30pm - 5:30pm

Come one, come all, Christian's door is open, during certain hours of course :-)!  Please feel free to drop in and say hello to Christian any day of the week.  He will be available between the hours of 3:30pm and 5:30pm.  We ask you do your best to stay within these hours, as before 3:30pm he's busy in therapy and after 5:30pm he's eating dinner, getting a shower and getting ready for the night.  He is on the 12th floor of the J.L. Sorenson Patient Tower at Intermountain Medical Center (IMC) at 5300 South State Street, ROOM 1216.  Christian, Jessi and the rest of the family look forward to seeing you all!

A Day In The Life... (recorded Sep 14, 2010)

A day of gratitude

For those of you following the blog, may tomorrow or whatever day you read this on, be a day of gratitude for you!  A day of thanking God for all of the little things we all take for granted, the things which Christian no longer does.

When you awake and rise from bed without effort (well maybe more or less effort depending on your age), give thanks.  As you stride effortlessly into the restroom for your morning business, be grateful that you can do so without relying on others and generally on your own timetable.  Be grateful for being able to brush your teeth, eat your own breakfast, drive your car to work (or the gym or to get a haircut or wherever your daily duties may take you), turn on your computer and communicate freely with the world, pick up your phone when it rings, scratch your nose when it itches, go out for an evening jog or bike ride, stand up and walk outside for a breath of fresh air whenever you so please, drive your car back home in the evening, hug your wife or husband and/or your kid(s), sit down in your comfortable living room lounge chair to read the paper or watch some television, pick up the remote to change the channel, change into your pajamas for a comfortable night's sleep after a long day, etc. etc. etc. you get the idea.

If you share in Christian's struggle with these daily goings on, may you be grateful for the free country we live in and beautiful planet we live on.  Almost everyone can find something to be grateful for.  Christian is such an amazing example of this.  He's grateful to be alive among many other things.

We ALL have much to be grateful for in spite of the many challenges we face every day.  May all of our spirits be lifted as we think on all of the little things we take for granted each day.

Stand Up (Guy)

Matt here...

I got to drop in on Christian again yesterday. It’s pretty astounding how much progress he has made since last time I saw him. He could squeeze my hand, fully move his legs when asked to show off, and was even moving his arms and hands. It seemed like a quantum leap to me, and I couldn’t help but say, “holy cow, man! You’ve made some huge jumps.”

                Christian mentioned a few things that brought me back to earth a bit. While it may seem like huge jumps to someone like me who sees him about once a week, he get somewhat frustrated by what he perceives as slow and steady progress. I guess it’s all about perspective and his considerable drive. He did, however, express pleasure in standing all the way upright yesterday, supporting his own weight.

                I’m not sure of the details (if they have to balance him, etc.) but he stood up for about 15 seconds before feeling lightheaded. He was pretty pumped about that. I would be too, considering his condition on the trail hardly more than 2 weeks ago.

                We got a little time to ourselves and I asked him a fairly serious question. I know he’s a strong guy, but I wanted to ask him myself, “how are you… I mean, mentally? Are you holding up?” His response was pretty funny. He essentially said that he was doing great but he had one thing in particular that sometimes got to him – motivating to get up in the morning and begin working out. I couldn’t help but think of how much effort that takes when able bodied, much less wiped out from the day before, waking up from sleeping pill induced slumber, and having to get right back on the table.

                The good side of that problem is that his life has now taken on a much more regular feel. He essentially gets up, eats, prepares to work out, works out, eats, works out some more, eats, prepares to sleep, and goes to bed. It sounds almost like a professional athlete. It was great to see him in such a “regular” state of living, if that makes sense. I think he and Jessie will get most of their old rhythms back, even with Christian being in the hospital.

                He also mentioned that his brother is shooting some video today to give everyone an idea what his PT looks like. It will take a day or so to edit the video, but look for something soon involving Christian’s exercises as people have expressed some interest.

                The best part of his progress for me includes all of the tubes being gone, his breathing being back to normal, and his voice having returned. I know that stuff is old news, but we got back into our familiar patterns of conversation and just plain hanging out. That means a lot to me.  This episode has reminded me that although we biked, skied, and traveled together, the real reason we are such good friends has to do with his intelligence, attitude, and general ability to give good advice. All that seems to be back in full force.

Riddle Me This!

Gilbert (brother-in-law) and Justin (brother) had the "night shift" last night.  We've broken these into two shifts, usually from 8:30pm - 2:30am and 2:30am - 8:30am.  Chris slept most of the night comfortably and sleeps more each night.  The nurse comes in every 2 or 3 hours to turn him in bed.  This just consists of taking two pillows from under the right side of his body, putting them under the left side of his body and vice versa through the night.  He can almost sleep right through these turns.  This in turn allows whoever is on the night shift to sleep some as well and we all know that, sleep = sanity.

Here's a quick riddle for you.  How is now Christian similar to a steel belted radial tire...???  See below for the answer :-).

Breakfast this morning consisted of some NASTY looking scrambled eggs.  Christian wanted Chalua hot sauce slathered all over them, he always has a taste for something spicy.  The eggs were chased down with some Frosted Corn Flakes, a yogurt and some apple juice.  The feeding tube is completely gone so he's got to eat all his meals to get enough calories.  This will be a hard task if they're as unappealing as the one this morning.

The nurse measured the circumference of his thighs and calves this morning.  This is something they monitor closely to make sure one leg is not loosing more muscle than the other.  His left leg is slightly larger than the right, but nothing to be alarmed of at this point.

Today in PT they hooked him up to a motorized stationary bike and ran that for several minutes.  They also connected his arms to an electric stimulation machine which causes specific muscles which the machine is connected to, to flex.  In this case, they raised both of his arms up in the air, pretty cool machine :-).  He continues to work VERY hard during PT.  He has even challenged his PT team (a Physical Therapist and an assistant) to get him transferred from his bed to his wheelchair faster so they can have more time in therapy.  The nurses have agreed to try to get him in his chair BEFORE the PT team comes so they can just grab him and get to work!  We hope to put some video of one of his PT sessions up soon.

Jessi went back to work today for the first time since the accident.  Chris had to spend some "alone time" before and after the morning PT session until Jessi's Dad, Rik, came in the early afternoon.  Imagine sitting in bed alone in your room and not being able to lift your arm up to scratch your face, stand up and use the restroom if the urge arises, flip on the TV with the remote, stand up to look out the window, etc. etc. etc.  That's what Chris faces when he's alone, so we're doing our best to be there for him at all times.

Now the answer to the riddle...  Christian is similar to a steel belted tire because he's now TUBELESS!  That's right he doesn't have a SINGLE tube in his entire body.  The catheter was the last to go.  Though the bladder muscles aren't 100%, he can feel when it's time to go, but be ready, when the warning comes that it's time, it means NOW :-).  The doctor was ready to make a campus wide announcement on the PA system when they realized Chris could feel the urge to go, we're told this is a HUGE step in the right direction that many with injuries similar to Christian's never take.

Until next time. 

Go Utes!!

So, today was the first day that I have really been away from the hospital during the day.  It wasn't very easy for me to leave Christian, even in the very loving, capable hands of Sheila and Mike.  I'm pretty sure all three of them were conspiring to get me to go to the Utah game.  For those of you that don't know, Christian married into a pretty devout Utah family.  He has been, for lack of a better word, dragged to all of the games since we started dating.  I think he started out indifferent and was just being a good sport, but now I actually think he loves it as much as I do.  Anyway, I went to the game while Chris and his parents spent the day together.  It was fun and the game was great, but I can't wait until Christian is ready to come to the games again.  Go Utes!

That little story is not the reason I am writing tonight.  This morning I went to visit Chris before the game and I helped Chris do some stretching and muscle work.  He did great and as like most days we saw a little more movement than the last.  Today he had a little extension in his wrist.  That is HUGE, we haven't seen much in his upper extremities since the accident.  After the game my mom and I went back to the hospital to visit before bed.  We were visiting and there was a knock on the door and to our surprise it was the Life Flight team.  Laurie was one of the flight nurses that helped get Christian off of the mountain.  He remembers her above him during the flight.  She said that she helped him with his breathing during the whole ordeal, talked him through it.  She said she's been thinking about him a lot, because that when they were getting out of the helicopter he said "I'm going to make the most of this".  They were excited to see that he was true to his word and making the best of this situation.  It was pretty amazing to be able to meet and thank the people that saved his life.  So thank you Laurie RN, Gordon RN, and Rich (pilot) for doing what you do...saving fabulous people like my husband. Anyhow, Christian started showing off his moves to the them and he moved his arm, his whole arm, using his bicep!  Another first.  It is so amazing to watch his hard work pay off.  From morning to night his movement gets better.  Sure there may be days when we don't get as much as the last, but as of now we're on the up and up and no one can stop us.

Chris and I have talked about what we are supposed to be learning from this and how it has changed our perception on life...thus far.  I can tell you that from minute one when Matt showed up at our house to take me to the hospital my view of this life changed, instantly.  I will share just a couple of the many lessons we have learned.  Love unconditionally and without limits.  Live a life of no regrets.  Wear a helmet :).  Patience.  Befriend a EMT today.  I could go on all night, but I'll save a few for Chris to share with you at a later time.  

A quote to sleep on..."God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."  Henry David Thoreau

All my love.  Jessi

Visit Christian on Sunday 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

A number of you who are nearby have expressed a wish to pay a visit to say hello and encourage Christian. Tomorrow, is the day. The Sunday therapy schedule is a bit lighter so Chris will be up in his wheel chair and is excited to greet you from 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm.


Intermountain Medical Center, Sorensen Patient Tower (that's the tallest of the buildings); 12th Floor Rehab Cafeteria (not to be confused with the main floor cafeteria). Ride the elevator to the 12th floor; push the button to open the doors into the patient area and walk all the way around to the east side. The rehab cafeteria faces east with a view of the mountains and has room for lots of visitors.

It'll be nice to see you!

A Few Words From Christian... (recorded Sep 9, 2010)

Our Hard Working Guy Shows His Grit

(Christian's dad here, again.) We've enjoyed a couple more days with good progress to note. Christian has been on a "real food" diet since the trache tube came out on Tuesday. He's done good work getting back into the groove with the eats so they pulled the feeding tube last night. Yahoo!


Here in the rehab clinic, there is no rest for the weary. Each day brings multiple therapy sessions; Physical, Occupational, Recreational, etc. Each therapist approaches healing from their perspective and each brings specialized knowledge and help. Christian has shown already that he's here to work hard and get better. And let me tell you, it's hard work. In a 30 minute physical therapy session, Christian puts out all he's got. Then he rests up until the next thing on the schedule.

  Christian on the tilt-table working with IMC physical therapists, Lindsie and Denise.
 
The hard work is paying off. He is able to give more help now when transferring from bed to wheel chair and when sitting up. He stood with the help of the tilt-table today for more than 15 minutes and with almost no light headedness. Not only that, he's straighter and stronger each day as his core muscles strengthen. Earlier he could only stand for a few minutes and not as much upright. Each day they take him a little farther. We recognize and savor the improvements. Today he tried a push against the wall in front of him to move his wheel chair. Back he went. As of now backward is easier than forward. The therapist worked on this a little with him and suggested maybe we can get him a rear view mirror and a blinking light. :-)


Yesterday he enjoyed a visit from Terry Buckner and Sandy Reed, from his office, The Buckner Company. They consulted on work items that need attention. Christian feels fortunate to belong to a great company and to have wonderful co-workers and clients who are taking up the slack while he recovers. I know he's anxious to be back in the saddle soon. We're all rooting for him on this.

In the meantime, a salute to Christian and his great spirit and attitude. He's setting an example for all of us to follow. We thank you, again, for your prayers, your kind and positive thoughts, many wonderful expressions of concern and love... We recognize a special help in our lives at this time. The Savior's divine love has touched us.

Christian and Rik Reed (Father in law) take a roll to the garden for some fresh air and a change of scenery.

Stats Update

As of 1:48pm today here are the stats.

Total Visits - 11,075
Unique Visits - 4,049
Pageviews - 21,576
Average pageviews - 1.96
Average time on site - 2:44

Web Browsers Used:
Internet Explorer - 49.6%
Safari - 26.69%
Firefox - 14.00%
Chrome - 5.32%
Mozilla Compitble Agent - 2.84%

Connection Types:
DSL - 32.25%
Cable - 29.63%
Unknown - 27.59%
T1 - 8.79%
Dial-up (who knew anyone still used dial-up?) - .98%

Gotta love stats, especially when they're calculated automatically :-)!

Did You Work Out Today?

Matt here again.

I visited Christian yesterday for the first time in four or more days. It’s pretty inspiring how much progress he's made in such a short time. When I left his room last time his “tube count” (how many tubes were connected to him in one way or another) was still pretty high. Yesterday he looked, acted, spoke and even moved around in a much more natural way. Most of the tubes are gone.

The highlight of my visit was when the doctor came in and took the Trach out. For the first time, Christian could breathe through all the normal plumbing and was breathing room air instead of oxygen. Aside from a little early discomfort, nothing really changed for him. His said something like, “this is a 100% improvement over having the Trach in!” I asked him how is was compared to having the Intubation tube in. “The Trach was a 500% improvement over that.”

From talking with him a while longer it seemed that a series of things are connected to his breathing and general comfort. Easy breathing equals not much coughing. Not much coughing equals easier rest. Better rest equals long sleeping times. More sleep equals feeling “a million times better.” More strength and rest means he can eat solid foods, spend more time visiting with friends and work out harder.

By the way, did you work out today? What about yesterday? This is the part where you start to feel crappy about not working out more often. I’m sure Christian would give a lot to be able to visit the gym and simply get some exercise. Instead he is making most of us look lazy.

He described his workouts like this: “Imagine loading so much weight on your bench press bar that you know you will never be able to lift it. Instead you muster all your strength and push as hard as you can over and over, never lifting the bar, or moving the bar ever so slightly. It's sort of like that, all day long.”

He was talking about closing his hand around the push meter.

I also made a feeble attempt to encourage him with his rehab. I had a serious shoulder surgery (serious! Ha!) and I mentioned, “it took me almost a year to get back to even close to normal, so hang in there.”

An impish look came over Christian’s face and he said, “Well, it shouldn’t be any big deal. I just have to do that for every muscle in my body.”

If you haven’t seen him yet, you’d really be encouraged. OK. There. I said it. I’m really encouraged. I have been trying to manage my expectations and keep things in perspective, but seeing him talking normally, moving his legs (he can quickly lift them slightly off the bed and move all of the muscles in his lower body) and generally looking healthy is really wonderful. With all of the tubes gone, his color back and the swelling down, the helplessness and the survival struggle have been replaced by an active desire to work out, eat, joke around and make himself better.

Here’s a quick list of the progress metrics we discussed, as I know many of you read this blog looking for more details:

1) He does regular rehab - hard - something like three times a day. That involves getting him on a tilt table and “standing” him up to start putting weight on his legs. He struggles so hard to keep his blood pressure up he sometimes passes out. (Wouldn’t you sue your personal trainer for this type of behavior?) He weirdly seems to like this. The regimen also includes all kinds of muscle exercises and stretching.

2) He can move all the muscles in his lower body and everyone on the staff is surprised at how fast his lower body movement has come long. I guess this is consistent with his type of injury.

3) His upper body is moving a bit more slowly, although he can move all of his various muscles, even if only slightly, and can shrug his shoulders.

4) He is receiving all kinds of stimulation, message, and other types of therapy. He seems to like most of them, but admits they really tire him out.

5) He is eating regular foods again, and will continue to eat more as his stomach expands until they can take out the tube. I was wondering if this was really Christian as he complained that some fries didn’t taste right and then ate a bunch of fruit.

6) He can now be moved around in his chair with the limiting factor being - can you actually get the big Bas%#2! into his chair? I have yet to see Jessie pull this off, but am requesting a video. It’s all about leverage, little lady.

7) In 6-8 days he should be able to leave the hospital for short trips to a movie, to get some food, etc. That should be a welcome break from his busy schedule at the hospital. I am already thinking about places we can hang out that are near the trax or an easy drive.

Hopefully that gives a bit of insight into how far he has come physically.

He said something else that caught me by surprise. He asked Jessi to take a bunch of photos. He mentioned wanting to use them later when potentially speaking to businesses or individuals about overcoming injuries and personal hardships. I’d say mentally he’s on the right track. Those of us with bigger egos might be more concerned with protecting our privacy or our pride.

A final note on visiting: He is genuinely touched by everyone’s interest in coming to see him. However, he is now working out really hard, dead tired from working out so hard, sleeping, or concentrating on recovery. That leaves a short window on some days where he would love to see people, but even visiting still drains him pretty heavily. Jessi and the family will publish a visiting schedule pretty soon that leaves a few hours three times a week (or something) where people can come down. That way he can see everyone, but concentrate on his recovery full time.

Like I said, encouraging stuff.

Christian says to Rik, "bet you never thought you'd get to feed your new son-
in-law dinner :-)!"

More PT

Physical Therapy will be the theme for many months to come.  Monday they took Chris into the PT area and laid him on a padded table with a mirror over it.  This way he can see himself move and it helps him hone his skills.  They worked extensively on his legs and he did very well. 

His arms and hands are moving forward at a slower pace than his legs.  They showed Jessi how to stretch his arms to keep the muscles in good condition.  They're very encouraging of his family getting involved in the therapy.  They want him stretched twice a day, morning and evening.

They hooked his biceps up to some electrical stimulation to get them firing and that worked quite well.  It helps Chris concentrate on the movement of the muscle and try to produce the same result on his own.  Muscle will disappear quickly while lying in bed and not being used so this stimulation will help preserve some of his muscle and hopefully he can contract the muscles better on his own eventually. 

Tuesday will bring more hardcore workouts as the normal PT team returns from a long weekend off.  Chris is "raring to go" as they say.  Between PT sessions will come all sorts of other tests, occupational, respiratory, neurologic, etc etc etc. 

Keep the faith!

A Sunday in Rehab

Sunday marked the first visit from Aspen.  As you can imagine both Christian and Aspen were thrilled!  Aspen stayed for a couple of hours and obeyed all the rules nicely, which is no surprise, she's AMAZING!

Chris did two different stints in his wheelchair.  Gilbert (Chris's brother-in-law) even took him outside into the sun for some much needed natural vitamin E.

Another tough physical therapy session with more small improvements.  The therapists have to be careful during these sessions to monitor his blood pressure closely.  In a person without a spinal cord injury the leg muscles are always flexing, even while lying or sitting.  This pressurizes the veins in the lower extremities and helps the blood in those veins get back to the heart.  Since Christian isn't flexing his leg muscles at all, except when asked to and even then not with the ease and strength that he used to, the blood in his veins has a hard time getting back to his heart.  This causes low blood pressure (and clots in his legs).  Just something that has to be monitored.

Since we're all getting used to the new routine, sometimes things can slip through the cracks.  At one point nobody noticed that Chris's pain medication dose was an hour and a half overdue.  Christian, up until this point yesterday, had actually been keeping the nurses on schedule, reminding them about a half hour before a new dose is due, all day every day.  With all the stimulation yesterday, Christian didn't notice and neither did anyone else.  By the time Chris mentioned he was in some pain and got the dose, it took another hour or so for it to fully kick-in and Christian was in a LOT of pain.  Needless to say the roughest hour of the day for Chris.  A stern reminder of how injured Christian really is.  He remains in such good spirits that you can momentarily forget how bad things really are for him and how monumental the struggle of this journey will be.

Gilbert & Jenny had the 8:30pm to 2:30am shift and say Chris got several hours of good deep sleep.  Mike & Sheila took the next shift, 2:30am to 8:30am and Chris got several more good hours of sleep mixed in with some head massages, Christian's FAV right now.  The morning finished off with some out loud reading of IHC's spinal cord injury manual which put Chris right back to sleep :-).

With a few days under his belt on the 12th floor Chris has indicated he has some "favorite" nurses.  Last night produced two male nurses.  Everyone was able to have a good laugh at how Chris was having some SERIOUS male bonding time :-)!

He remains in good spirits and continues to benefit from the prayers and support offered on his behalf each day.

Another Busy Day

Christian took his first ride in his wheelchair Saturday.  As you can see, he remains positive, upbeat and his smile is infectious.  It's quite inspiring seeing Chris remain so positive in spite of the monumental struggle that remains before him.  Jessi took him on a tour of the rehab floor.  He also got dressed in something besides the hospital gown, which is nice to see.  Jessi, in her sleep deprived state of mind got him XXL size shorts, OOPS.  Chris is big, but not that big!

He wore the speaking valve over the tracheostomy tube for about 3 hours.  Obviously his preferred method of communication is that of speaking in lieu of lip synching.  He's actually quite good at it (lip synching that is), but none of us are very good at lip reading, so it can be a struggle at times.  Chris remains patient during these instances and simply synchs the words again until we understand them.  They told us that sometimes when patients can't speak for several days at a time, upon first being able to speak again they may say some nutty things (or have a panic attack of sorts).  Not Chris, he was normal from the first word and saying nutty things is standard for him.  For example, as the speech therapist was conducting more "are you crazy" tests, Chris was asked, "Why do children go to school?"  Chris's response, "To get into trouble."  Spot on response!  Another example from earlier in the week (he lip synched this one), as they were conducting an ultrasound on his legs to look for blood clots he asked what they were doing.  We said an ultrasound to look for blood clots and that if they found a clot it was not a huge deal, just something they want to monitor, he interjected jokingly, "guess they'll have to cut my leg off :-)!"

Jessi got him a new iPad.  This should help keep him entertained during his stay.  He's always one to have the latest and greatest technological gadgets.  If anyone knows any great apps we should load on his new iPad just let us know.

He ate his first food since the night of the accident.  He never knew pudding and some Oreo cookie could taste so good!

No timetable yet for removing the trach which you can imagine is no surprise.  We've learned quickly that you just don't know when anything will happen until it does.  We are all crossing our fingers that the day of extibation and trach reversal will come soon.

There continue to be small, but good signs during almost all of his different therapy sessions.  We pray these will continue!

Every Day's a Labor Day in Rehab.

(Christian's Dad writing...)  Friday was the first full day in the Rehabilitation Clinic.  You might think they start light and then taper up to a full schedule.  You'd be wrong about that.  It's high gear from the start.  Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy; "welcome" visits from Social Worker, Nurse Manager, Neuro Psychologist, plus the attending physician, Dr. Ryser, and a couple other medical professionals that I can't remember what they do right now.  Lots of Action.

An aide arrived with a wheel chair set up for a tall guy who needs support for the neck and head.  Space is tight so we parked it in the shower.  Transfer from bed to wheel chair promises to be exciting.  Stand by for more on that later.

A fun moment during the occupational therapist's assessment:  Christian gripped the grip meter up to 1/2 lb. (That means the needle just wavered off of zero but it's a positive sign and we're savoring all of those.)

The speech therapist brought and installed a speaking valve on the end of his traech tube.  After a few moments of figuring out how to re-route his air around the tube he was talking out loud.  His voice has a bit of a raspy sound, bit it's music to our ears.  Those were his first audible words since the night of the accident; a big step towards "normal" for Chris and family.  About 40 minutes of talking brought him to exhaustion.  The goal is to build up to all day long in a few days.  Go Chris!

A tender moment with Sheila in the wee hours of Saturday; Sheila was by the bed holding Christian's right hand as he slept, all of a sudden a squeeze from Chris, Sheila looked at him in surprise to see that infectious smile of his.  What a great prank!  That's the first we've felt a squeeze from the right hand.

Thanks, again, for your prayers and kind thoughts.  We feel your love.  We acknowledge the Lord's hand in our lives.

We Beg Forgiveness

Dear "Anonymous" Readers,

We just received word that this jolly blog has, until now, refused to allow your comments.  We're sorry we took away your voice!  We think we fixed the problem, so do feel free to share.

With love,

Your Blog Moderator From Afar (Sister Jes)

New Digs

Chris was moved from the 5th floor to the 12th floor today where he will undergo several weeks of physical therapy.  They spent a couple of hours asking him all sorts of questions ranging from what's 100 minus 7 (uh... can... you... ask... something... easier...?? :-)), to what are the health problems in your family.  Guess they want to know if he's all there upstairs and you'll be glad to know that he's home and the lights are on :-).  All questions were of course answered in "Lip Sync".  In fact, Milli Vanilli is putting the band back together and they've called to see if Christian would like to be a 3rd member (those of you who don't know who Milli Vanilli are, Google them).  The fact that Chris is A-OK in the head/brain department wasn't news to us of course, but they've got procedures they are following.  Jessi requested a room with a view, but they didn't have one available.  You may be thinking, "don't all the rooms on the 12th floor have a view?"  They do, but there's a big difference between looking out at the world's LARGEST open-pit copper mine and looking out at the 11,000 + foot Wasatch Mountains which Christian loves so dearly.  We'll be keeping a bug in the staff's ear to move him to another room with a better view if one comes available.

Life will be a bit more normal and regimented on this floor.  They'll work with Chris for 3 hours each day, in 30 minute increments, with rest in between.  Therapy will end at around 4:00pm each day.  We're guessing Chris will be exhausted.  He's no doubt going to put every ounce of effort he can muster into his therapy.  He'll eat breakfast and dinner in his room (once he gets his trach out, which we don't have a timetable for) and lunch in a cafeteria they have on the 12th floor.  His dog can visit at certain times as long as she abides by a few rules.  For those of you that know Christian's Springer Spaniel, Aspen, abiding by rules isn't usually a problem, she's about as well behaved as a dog can be!

There are some new visiting policies on this floor.  Pay close attention :-).  Only immediate family are allowed to visit during the first several days of his stay on this floor.  It's vital that he put all his focus into learning the necessary therapy that will aid and speed his recovery.  It's also critical that the family learn and understand all details of his therapy so it can continue seamlessly when he returns home.  After this "break-in" period, which we don't know the length of yet, the flood gates will be opened and all visitors will be allowed in.  We will make sure you all know the moment this happens and the appropriate hours.  Chris will want to see all of his family, friends, and co-workers, etc. etc.

Now a look at some evidence of the crash...

The remnants of the accident, minus the bike of course.  The paramedics
had to cut all his gear off except his shoes and helmet.  Got both socks
back, but only one glove turned up.

Hole in helmet, right of the finger.

Hole and cracks.

Top view, same hole, more cracks, you get the idea.

More Stats

More fun stats.  From Saturday August 28 through today September 1, there have been 6,500 total visits to the blog with almost 3,000 unique visitors.  For those who don't know the difference...  If you visit the site from home, that's one unique visit.  If you visit the site again from home, that's still only one unique visit, but two total visits.  If you go to work and visit the site from a different computer, that would make two unique visits, and three total visits, got it?  If not, you're probably older than 50 and you'll never understand it :-).  19 different countries have checked in, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Germany, France, India, Belgium, South Africa, Armenia, Hong Kong, Australia, Czech Republic, United Kingom, Puerto Rico, Jordan, New Zealand, and Italy.

We have no clue who some of these people are from around the world, but we thank you for your support nonetheless!

Here are all the hits from around the U.S.

Words from Matt Hoffman

Christian’s friend Matt here. Jess and the family asked me to write a post for the blog. Please forgive me if this rambles a bit, as I was given a very open assignment.

The most important thing I can tell everyone is Christian seems to be doing better.

The trick, I have found, with an injury like this, is defining exactly what “better” means. Collectively, the hospital struggles to do this well. You can tell the nurses actually want to give you some context around his progress, but can’t seem to bring themselves to provide any lasting conclusions, and the doctors, well, they just seem busy. In this case progress comes in tiny increments, played out over frustratingly long periods of time for all of us who would like to see our friend miraculously shrug off a broken neck and walk out of the hospital asking, “you want to go camping this weekend?”

Alas, I’ll gladly settle for the fact that he is no longer in a perpetual state of trying to puke out his intubation tube. (Imagine the last time you had the flu, sitting in front of the toilet, and those first moments or retching, your whole midsection contracting. Now do that for 12 hours.) He can breathe well on his own. (Grab an extra long snorkel, hold your nose closed, imagine having the worst cough of your life, and breath as best you can while swimming. Repeat for 4 days. See above for added challenge of gagging on a tube.) And, amazingly, he has been moving lots of muscles in his legs, feet, midsection, and butt. These are all definite signs of progress based on his lack of movement after the injury.

I guess that’s been the point of watching Christian for the last few days. This whole lousy cosmic poker hand has illuminated the concept of “relative progress”. Before Thursday it would have been hard to imagine being really happy about Christian moving his feet, but I am. It’s great to celebrate each little victory as they happen, watching his determination (he has plenty), his own self satisfaction with each incremental step, and his family and wife by his side. It starts the mind reeling.

OK, here comes the trite attempt to acknowledge what I’ve seen and have begun to learn. If you believe in god/fate/predetermination, this one is a case study. We weren’t riding anything technical, never took any abnormal risks, and I probably couldn’t find the spot where Christian fell if I tried. Christian is a fantastic guy, as we all know, and had nothing but good karma built up with the cosmos. Shit just happened, as they say. (Still a tough one for me to process.)

Also, the waiting room has been a virtual laboratory of whom and what is really important in your life. The people close to Christian have done an amazing job of providing a support network and constant stimulus. Although I would rather not have every relative I have seeing me in such a compromised position, I wish I had the same sort of family network here in Utah. You should see Jessie work the nurses with smiles (when they respond quickly) and the casual get-your-butt-in-gear look she delivers so well when Christian has to wait.

And most importantly, Christian never fails to amaze me. I’m sure he has his tough moments, but I haven’t seen them. Let’s just remind everyone a few things about Christian that should help you understand the level of dignity, grace and strength that he has summoned from the first moment of his injury. First, the guy is a ridiculous clean freak. Have you ever been to his house? Casual dinners at his place have literally inspired me to clean up my kitchen. He cleans dishes between courses. He organizes his refrigerator. The guy is a nut. Try helping him do something, or offering advice on a task when not requested. When we go camping, he won’t even let me bring my camp cooking materials because (and he’s right) his setup is better and he’d rather cook himself. He’s also about the most organized guy I’ve ever met when it comes to his schedule and his free time. He was scheduled four weekends out when I called him a month ago. Our ride on Thursday was the first time we both overlapped in six weeks. During the summer it’s like scheduling time with a dignitary.

This must be a tremendous exercise in patience for him. Even asking him yesterday, “I bet this is super annoying not to be able to talk. Are you getting sick of all these visitors coming in here and asking you questions?” He just shook his head no and smiled. Though between Jessie and I talking too much, he must be lying. Not having control of things as simple as suctioning out his mouth, or scratching an itch on his head, will inevitably make Christian a more patient person and provide him an even larger sense of empathy toward others. I can’t wait until he can talk and some of those pressures can be relieved. (No doubt he’ll grow as a person, but nobody wants to be THAT patient.)

So his “relative progress” has been encouraging. He’s gone from no movement at all, to “really remarkable” (nurses words) movement in his lower body. He can breathe, he can begin to communicate, and he gets to spend some quality time with his wife and family. He’s also the kind of personality who will look back on this and credit his fall with making him a better human being.

His Mom mentioned to me yesterday that clinicians believe that the success of the rehab coming up will largely be dependent on three things; his desire to do it, his support network, and signs of progress thus far. That left me feeling pretty good about Christian’s prospects. He’s got all three of those things in spades.

As for our friendship, we can go mountain biking (and will again), or eat dinner with the girls anytime in the future. It’s these hard moments of real life that actually build lasting bonds between people. I have no doubt we’ll remain friends for a long time after this is all finished. In the mean time, I can’t wait for him to be able to talk without strain, so I can beat him at board games, make fun of his hair, and tell him how much I have learned from him this week.

(You can tell from Matt's comments what a wonderful human being he is.  We love you Matt!)