Update on Jack;

I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I know many have been praying for Jack and wondering how he's doing. We got the news that  we have all been waiting for.  Its official.....Jack is being released from the hospital today Friday August  27th.  We are so excited to be finally going home!! 

He was transferred to Gillette Children's on August 17th. Since then, he has been working hard. He has had therapy  starting early in the morning to late afternoon everyday. He has had PT, OT, Speech, Therapeutic recreation, Psychology, and Music therapy.  Some have ask why he needed to go to rehab. That's a good question, I wondered the same. It has to do with being intubated for 16 days and laying in a hospital bed for so long.  They told us for everyday you are in the hospital, it takes your body 3 to 4 days to recover from not being mobile. He was in the hospital at Children's for two months with little to no mobility. When someone is intubated it can damage your vocal cords, (thankfully his weren't damaged) he had a lot of swelling in his  throat and mouth. When he was taken off the ventilator he couldn't talk and it was hard for him to swallow  or talk for several days.  He lost a lot of muscle mass and 20 pounds during this time. He went about 6 weeks  without eating  or drinking anything. He was getting his nutrition and fluids from IV's during that time. His body has gone through a lot of trauma.  Along with having several surgeries, Jack also developed several blood clots in his lungs and his arms, shoulder and legs. He was septic and developed pneumonia and had several abscess in his abdomen, and he  had several blood transfusions.  He also had a kidney injury from all the trauma his body went through  (that has healed) and developed very high blood pressure, which he is still struggling with. He had all this at the same time. There is so much that he went through that I can't even begin to explain. He was very sick! He is a miracle to have survived what he went through. 

Jack will continue to go to therapy for a while. He's still pretty weak.  He will be working on balance, mobility and endurance along with a few other things. He will be going home with a few medications also, like blood pressure medication and a blood thinner medication where he will have to take shots twice a day until the blood clots have dissolved. He also has an ostomy bag, which we already shared before. This is temporary and so is all the medication. He will have many follow up doctors visits and two more surgeries in the next six months or so, where he will have a reversal surgery on his colon. His road isn't over but we have gotten through the worst of it. 

Through all this I haven't left Jack's side. I haven't been home since his accident. I knew this is where God wanted me to be. I promised Jack early on that I wouldn't leave him. He was very sick and scared and at one point ask me if he was going to die. There was no way I was leaving him! This is the hardest thing I have ever been through! Watching my child fight for his life is one of the scariest things I have ever experienced. Through all this, all I could do was pray. There was a point where I didn't know what to pray anymore because I was so exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  God knew my heart and He knew what Jack needed even when I couldn't put it into words anymore. 

Watching AJ through all this and seeing how hard it has been on him was heartbreaking. He told me when he watched me and Jack fly away in the helicopter that he thought that was the last time he was going to see Jack. That broke my heart, that I wasn't there to hug AJ and tell him it was going to be okay and to know how alone he must have felt.  It has been hard on him to see his brother go through this and know that he was fighting for his life and to not know how to help him except to pray. I watched AJ stand at Jack's bedside holding his hand and talking to him not knowing at one point if that was going to be the last time he would see him. I also saw what kind of a brother AJ is to Jack and how much he loves him. I am so proud of him and how he is and was with his brother. AJ has left for college now so he won't be home when we get there. He is ten hours away but he stays in contact with me and Jack every day. We already miss him!!

Jack’s sister, April, drove all the way from Kansa City to be with Jack and to be support for me and AJ. She got me through some pretty rough times. She stood by Jack’s side holding his hand and taking to him while he was in the coma. I don’t know what I would have done without her and AJ with me during this time. God blessed me with great kids! 

As for Jack, I can hardly put into words how proud I am of him on how he has handled all this. He has had a great attitude and has impressed all the doctors, nurses and staff. They all love him and can't say enough about the kind of person he is and how he is going to be a great adult. They said he had every right to be angry and mad and have all these emotions that they would expect from someone who has been through what he has, but instead he's kind and patient and is willing to do whatever he needs to do. He truly is my hero! What he has been through is more than what most of us ever go through in our lifetime,  but he just keeps fighting and never gives up. God has great plans for him and I can't wait to see what it is! When he woke up it took about two weeks for him to really comprehend what he had been through and to remember what we would tell him. When I showed him all the cards, gifts, etc.... and all the messages ( that we both are still working on reading) and told him what all everyone has done for him and our family, as he teared up he said " I didn't know that many people cared about me". His heart was full! He is very excited about going home and seeing all his friends. He can't wait to get back to school but it won't be right away, he needs to get some of his strength back before he can go back. I will be taking off work for a while to be home with him. He is excited about his senior year even though it might look differently than he had planned. He is missing his soccer season and we aren't sure what basketball season will be like for him yet and hoping that when baseball season comes he will be completely healed. He will still be apart of the teams even if he can't play. He has great coaches and great teammates/friends that  has and will support Jack through this. His senior year may look different but he has his life. This is just a short time in his life compared to the rest of his life. This was just a chapter, not the book. He has a story to tell that may just help someone some day. 

 I do know that we weren’t alone through this very difficult time in our lives. God put so many wonderful people in our lives! All the family, friends, churches and communities that have been praying and that has helped us in so many ways has been such a blessing to our family! I don’t have the words to express how I feel! My heart is full!! We are so thankful for all of  you and for all those that have been praying for Jack and our family!  We feel the love!! ❤️🙏🏻

We love all of you and hope to be able to thank each of you personally someday! 

Please forgive me if I haven’t responded to messages on the Caring Bridge, the GoFund Me, or FB. I have been so focused on Jack that I haven’t read all the messages yet but plan on reading them when we are home. Just know how grateful we are to all of you!! 🙏🏻🙌🏻

I will add photos of Jack’s journey later. Waiting to get his approval on which ones he’s okay with to share.