Posted on 11/07/2014 3:01:52 PM PST by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
Arrowhead (John) fell off a 20’ ladder at work, onto his head, and has a severe brain injury!
Broke all the bones in his face and skull, broke his shoulder blade and some ribs.
His last post was 10/20 in the morning. He fell about 2pm that same day and was LifeFlighted to the hospital; then, after about 6 hours of surgery, he went directly to ICU. It was touch and go for days in critical condition.
After 2 weeks in ICU he has been transferred to a Specialty Neurological Rehab center in Austin, as of 11/3.
He can move his arms and legs, so no spinal injury, but he is not cognizant. Sometimes he can respond to “can you squeeze my hand?”, sometimes not. His daughter is getting ready to go back home.
The nurses are calling them every day. Small improvements are noticed, such as he sat up for 10 seconds today, but no one has a prognosis. Brain injuries heal how they heal, when the heal, if they heal....3 to 6 months at least.
PRAY HARD, please!!!! And spread the word to your prayer lists.
Thank you for the update, my prayers for Arrowhead1952 continue. God bless.
Thanks for sharing the update on Arrowhead. He’s made some great steps, and I hope that the seizures stop, or can at least, be controlled. He’s been through a lot, and I will continue to pray for him and his family.
Kathy, many thanks to you for checking in with Lisa on John's status.
Seems he has made a lot of progress, but is now facing seizures.
I am asking my fellow Freepers to remember this veteran on Veteran's Day and in this Thanksgiving season, to send John a card. Tell him your Freeper handle also.
He loves getting cards and treasures each one.
Here is the address again:
John Schwausch
c/o CORE Health Care at Hilltop
400 Old Hwy 290
Dripping Springs, TX 78620
Thanks Kathy.Gosh seizures ((((Hugs))))
bfl
Thanks, basil...hope you are doing better and better each day.
Lord Jesus, send strength to Thy servant and help him overcome his illness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.
BTTT
Thanks for the update.
Thanks for the update Kathy - and the address for cards. If I recall correctly it was about a year ago that John fell - is that right?
Yes...he last posted on the morning of 10/20/14....he fell that afternoon.
Long row to hoe....
Glad to hear he is doing well.
My pryers continue for your family.... I am glad to see there is improvement... and pray even during the darkest times you cling to God’s hope.... He will never abandon you nor forsake you....
Your father has come a long way.... I pray peace, comfort and joy.... You all are loved and cared for....
We did get through the holidays okay - hope the same can be said for you and all of the FReepers! Especially those on the East Coast. It looks like they are about to get hit again!
I am so sorry that I have not responded sooner, my job has really ramped up with the traveling lately... I have been on the road upwards of 20 days and nights this month and unfortunately all the travel is just taking a toll on me and my ability to keep up.
Quite a bit has gone on lately - too much to really even go into - but I'll give you the gist: Dad has been in and out of the hospital due to a couple of infections (one was a UTI, what the second was called has slipped my mind at this moment but it was a small infection), and therefore his therapy really got pushed back. He lost a lot of his progress because each of those hospital stints were almost 2 weeks. To make a very long, convoluted story short, for the last couple of weeks he has been at a facility right down the road from the CORE facility (doing little bits of therapy during the day to build it back up) and is scheduled to head back to CORE next week for his final month there. All of his belongings are still there, but the interim facility was just to get him back on track and build his progress back up.
I was writing you this because I THOUGHT he would be back to CORE starting on Tuesday and just texted my mom to make sure that was the date... however, she texted back and said he was just taken to the local hospital and put into the ICU because he has had upwards of a dozen seizures today. He's sedated and they are working with his anti-seizure medication to tweak it. I will keep you posted over the next week but I would say for now, if there are birthday cards could you please have them sent to our family home?
See address note at the top.
And I apologize for not writing an update - I wait for things to "calm down" and keep hoping for a "plan" so that I can send out the most up-to-date information, but things like this (emergency room visits, seizures, fights with the insurance company about where he's going to be, etc.) seem to happen almost daily so I feel like I never have adequate information that is going to last for more than 24 hours.
My mom has been a STELLAR advocate for him and keeps pounding away at the insurance providers to extend his therapy time and not let him get lost "in the mix" but I think some days she wants to bang her head up against a wall... really, she spends 6 or 7 hours a day, almost every day, on the phone trying to play middleman between everyone and make sure he is getting the best care he possibly can. So it's a huge battle.
Have a great weekend.
Lisa
A word of encouragement for his wife Linda would be nice as well.
Thanks everyone for your continuing prayers for John and his family.
Prayers up!
Please add update on Post #654 to the title.
Thank you.
Thank you for the update. Prayers continue.
Yeez this has been a long sail.
Prayers for Arrrowhead1952
Happy Birthday.
Hang in there for your ReHab. It takes time to finally kick in and put you Back in shape,, I'm recovering from a concussion and my ReHab is finally showing it's good side.
HANG IN THERE.
Thank you Kath for doing yoeman’s work
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.