Journal entry by Stephanie Coish —
They're getting farther and farther apart! Here's from Mom:
June 2, 2019
It’s a fine Sunday morning, and I am sitting with my sister, Susan, eating breakfast chips (our staple diet at the hospital – ripple chips are best), and talking about the events of the last month. The fact that Curtis not only survived the accident, but survived with what we hope will be minimal long term consequences is still mind boggling. And even more amazing is the support that our family has had from friends, neighbors, extended family, doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff, Curt’s employer and past and present co-workers, high school and university friends, people I only know through social media, and total strangers. I can’t help but be amazed at the number of people that have touched our lives in such an incredibly supportive and personal way over the last 32 days. We thank each and every one of you!!
It is one month ago yesterday that we were waiting at the surgical ward at the Foothills Hospital to hear how Curt’s surgery went, to be told that they didn’t think he would survive the night. Well, he beat the odds, and we went from counting in minutes, to counting in hours, and once we were past the first 48 hours, we were able to count in days. Happily, we are now counting in months!!!
This last month has been one of the most difficult times of our lives, and I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would have been without all of the support that we have received. We are humbled. I am going to attempt to thank everyone, knowing that I will do an inadequate job, and hoping that I won’t miss anyone. Here goes:
Thank you to:
- Curt’s co-workers that found him and worked so hard to rescue him – Jarred Wilson, Jeff Donovan, Jeff Barr and Davyn La Rocke. You are truly heroes.
- EMS and the medical and surgical team that saved Curt’s life that first night. Thank you for not giving up on him! And to the many teams that worked on Curt through several other procedures. You do good work!!
- A very special thank you to Dr. Chip Doig and Curt’s nurse for the first night, Joylene. You kept us informed and sane.
- The doctors, nurses, technicians and therapists in ICU and the trauma ward who treated Curtis and us with such compassion and dignity. I cannot say enough about the professionalism and inclusion that the teams on these wards showed to us, and the patience they had with our constant questions and our continuous presence in the wards.
- Family, friends and co-workers that came that first night, and sat with us as the minutes turned into hours – Curt’s sisters Stephanie Coish and Bailey Skorodenski, grandparents Ray and Rita Kutz, Auntie Susan Kutz, Brian Moorman, Jack Thompson, extra mom Darcy Anderson, friends Jared Blanchardd, Cody Graff, Duncan Stein, Ryan, and co-workers Jarred Wilson and Brad Wilson.
- The people that kept us fed and smelling good, bringing hot and cold food to both the hospital and to Mom and Dad’s house, and clean socks and underwear, toothbrushes and such to the hospital. You people are all amazing!! Curt had the best stocked room in ICU!!! Tracy Behrens and Amy Behrens – I blame you and your endless supply of cookies for my ass being wider than it was a month ago! Also contributing to that state are all of the “moms” from MacEwan, (Darcy Anderson, Kathy Oakes, Tracy Behrens, Amy Behrens, Brigitte Mitschke, Sonya Wroe, Loraine Persley Hubbell), my brother Geoff Kutz and his wife Michelle Kutz, my Sundre neighbors, Judy Knight, Ivor Green and Judy Hughes, Curt’s employer, Glenmore Fabricators, all with the generous gifts of food and baskets of thoughtful items to keep our minds busy. Curt’s friend Duncan Stein cleverly brought us pillows and a blanket that first night! My good friends Tracy Schaeffler (Platnich) and Karen Marshall and Mom and Dad’s friends, Gwen and Charlie Mikkelborg collectively brought enough food to my Mom and Dad’s house to feed a small army. And thank you to my friend and colleague David West for providing Susan and I with inventory for a popup bar. Frankly I think we would have starved in those first few days without all your efforts. You fed not only our stomachs, but also our hearts and souls. You knew what we needed, even when we did not.
- A special thank you to Jolyanne Pagette (Jo) at Glenmore Fabricators. She took care of all the paperwork with WCB, set up the Go Fund Me page, kept Curt’s coworkers updated and provided IT help whenever we needed something set up on the Ipads so that Curt could “talk” to people before he was able to speak. She is a master at co-ordinating anything and everything!
- Everyone that so generously donated to Curt’s Go Fund Me page. We do know that even though Curtis is out of the hospital, his recovery is nowhere near complete. You have taken away any economic worries he may have had.
and also to: - Laurie Maslak, who supplied a laptop for Curtis to watch Netflix, and Jared Blanchard for bringing in a gaming system. Keeping Curt entertained during those long days was a challenge.
- Shelley Kohut-Harder and Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Sundre who generously provided gas and restaurant gift cards to take some of the financial pressures off of our family. Between Warren, Bailey and I, we put on thousands of kilometers.
- To my Dad, Bailey, Lorelei Anderson-Hum, Chantel Anderson and Jane Bicknell from my office in Sundre for carrying the extra load while I was gone.
- To my friends and neighbors in Sundre that took care of my home and animals while I was gone –@Karen Burns (Dallman), and Allan and Linda Franklin, and to everyone that helped me get my garden in and flowers planted – Stephanie, Bailey, Jack, Bill Garland and my friends from the Caroline Insurance office (also my Thursday Caroline office) – Rainy Lungal, Trent Andrews, Colleen Kaiser-Gill, Terri Clay Jones and her 2 very helpful daughters. My yard is my happy place, and it would still be a disaster if you hadn’t all stepped up to help me!
- To all the people that came to visit Curt in the hospital, both before and after he was awake. You lifted his spirits and helped him pass the hours. Even though visits tired him greatly, he always said it was a good kind of tired.
- To my family – as always, my children, parents, brother and sisters and their partners, niece and nephews and uncle provided endless support. Distances were insignificant, as my sisters-from-far-away (Gwyn Kutz and Heidi Kutz) would facetime on a daily basis, speaking with us and with Curtis, even when he was not conscious, and Geoff, Michelle and their son Dylan made regular visits. My Uncle Stan phoned regularly, from as far away as Greece to check on Curt’s progress.
- A very special thank you to my sister Susan, and my Mom, who both spent countless hours at the hospital. Mom was there everyday (cheating at cards) until she fell down and was not able to come anymore. Susan cancelled a trip and spent probably as much or more time than I did at the hospital, sleeping in chairs, playing endless games of cards and interpreting the medical information that was shared at the daily rounds for me. She was my rock. Words can not start to express what your endless support has meant to me
- To anyone that we may have missed and to all those that I know will continue to be a part of Curt’s recovery, thank you so, so much.
And last, but certainly not least, thank you all for the many thoughts and prayers that we received from coast to coast to coast, and from around the world. I can’t even start to tell you how much it meant to know that so many people were pulling for Curtis, and I know that your prayers helped to pull him through. As Curt started to become more aware of the accident, he read through the responses to my Facebook posts and text messages that I had received, and Jo (Jolyanne) went through the messages on the Go Fund Me page with him. He was absolutely floored and humbled by the support and the messages from all of you. You have truly touched his life. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
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