by Chuck Jones
Here is the latest update on Chuck Hofvander's accident and second stroke. If you have not read about Chuck's plight yet, skip past this to read the previous three emails.
Subject: Update on Chuck - 10/30/12
As Clarence in
It’s a Wonderful Life said, “No man is a failure who has friends.” Chuck is
blessed to have so many friends and family praying for him. He will be shocked
when he is able to comprehend the magnitude.
He is stable and
has been moved to the neurological floor at Northwest Community. Saturday he sat
up for 2.5 hours which exhausted him and yet he surprised the physical therapist
with his strength and perseverance during his evaluation.
Yesterday he
advanced to a clear liquid diet from the thickened liquid one he had been on.
Coughing or a sneeze brings on moans of pain from the broken ribs. Chuck has
been complaining of hearing problems. The audiologist concluded he has hearing
loss due to a cochlear concussion in his left ear. He has made huge progress in
speech overnight. He may have lost some of his speech but not his ability to
read or write. When my mom tried to read him a get well card, he said
emphatically “I can read it myself.” My mother was concerned about his road rash
becoming infected so he was seen by a wound care specialist who said that he is
healing up nicely.
He saw a
physiatrist Sunday who felt dad would benefit the most from acute inpatient
rehab like the one he went through after his initial stroke on March 21, 2004.
My mother couldn’t disagree more. She felt dad would heal up quick in his home
environment saying that after an hour and a half of therapy in the morning and
another hour and a half in the afternoon, he would just lay around the rest of
the time. So, due to my mother’s persuasion, when he is released from Northwest
Community he will receive his occupational, speech, and physical therapy at home
3 times a week then move to outpatient therapy when he is ready.
Sunday night he
began to have some pretty significant pain on his right side and barely slept.
He hadn’t complained about the pain up until that point. It seems that the
nerves are waking up on his right side and he is starting to feel the pain from
his bruised up arm (it’s all black and blue) and leg (road rash) and the 6
broken ribs. While this is causing him pain, it also is a sign he is recovering
as he was able to stand up from a seated position under his own power, something
that required several people to help him with just a day prior.
I will continue
to keep you all updated on Chuck’s status.
Thank you again
for all of the thoughts, prayers, cards, and flowers, they all mean a lot to
us.
Brad
OK, the above, what you just read, is the latest news as of Oct 30th. What follows are what I wrote when I found out about it Oct 30th, and the three emails I got after that.
October 28,2012
Bad news, everyone. Our very own Chuck Hofvander has suffered another stroke brought on by a recent bicycle accident. Chuck is a stroke survivor and is now a two time stroke survivor. He is also a very active member with our Retreat and Refresh Stroke Camp and, as you must know by now, a frequent contributor of essays and interviews for this blog.
Following are three emails I received about his accident and current recovery progress:
October 25, 2012 8:45am
Yesterday
morning Chuck and Liz were on a bike ride and were almost home when
making a turn a car approached the intersection and caused Chuck to take
the turn much wider than he anticipated to avoid hitting the car. Chuck
fell into a ditch and landed on his right side and his head. His was
taken via ambulance to Northwest Community Hospital where, along with
numerous bruises and scratches on his right side, he was diagnosed with
subarachnoid hemorrhage’s on the left and right side of his brain and 6
broken ribs on his right side. They gave him two bags of blood platelets
last night in an effort to control the bleeds so they do not get any
worse.
He
is awake and talking although he is a little out of it due to the pain
killers for his ribs. He is in the ICU at Northwest and will probably be
in the hospital through at least tomorrow baring any setbacks.
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
-Brad
October 25, 2012 9:07am
Chuck suffered another
stroke this morning on the right side of his brain (previous was on the
left). He is having a CT scan performed as we speak.
October 27, 2012 9:53am
First, thank you for all the good wishes and prayers. They seem to be having an impact on Chuck.
Thursday
was a difficult day for him. After being diagnosed with the stroke, he
began seizing at 8:30am. Because of all of the medications need to be
prescribed by a doctor and brought up from the pharmacy, it was 45
minutes before he received the medications and began to work to stop the
seizure. The rest of the day he was extremely agitated. The bed was too
short and he wanted to get up and then developed a fever 5 degrees
above his baseline (he’s normally at 96.1 degrees). Because of the
hemorrhages he is bed bound. The performed blood cultures to determine
the cause of the fever while Mathew, Denise, and I applied cold
compresses throughout the afternoon to bring his temperature down. He
was heavily sedated throughout the day Thursday but never slipped into a
coma.
Friday
morning he had another CT scan which showed the bleeds had not
increased in size (the body should absorb them over the next several
months) and was awaken by a nurse at 10:30am. We were able to keep him
awake for an hour while they checked his vital signs to make sure his
neurostatus did not deteriorate while they slowly weaned him off the
sedatives and he began speaking a little. He was in and out of sleep for
the rest of the day. During the times he was awake, he spoke more and
more (we all know he’s a talker) but not always understandably (I’d say
50/50 correct to incorrect). He was evaluated to see if he could eat and
had his first meal since Wednesday morning last night, a thickened
liquid meal. Mat and I had to make sure he took small bites, and chewed
and swallowed before taking another. We know dad is like a chipmunk;
storing food in his cheek for a snack later, and now that he could
speak, say a few words while eating. Monday he will undergo a
fluoroscopy to see if he can handle regular food. By late afternoon he
was back to his chatterbox self. This unfortunately led to frustration
as half the time we couldn’t understand what he was saying. This led to
another fever and more cold compresses to bring it down. They are no
sure the cause of the fevers, it could be a buildup of fluids in his
lungs from laying down or from the bleeds (a fever is common in patients
who suffer a brain bleed). He remains in ICU on complete bed rest
which, needless to say, he does not like. But he smiled when I went home
and brought his favorite pillow and down comforter. He even called
Denise his sweetheart and growled, literally growled, at Mom because
“she doesn’t understand me.” Mom has to have the patience of Job (her
words, not mine) with Dad because his speech is 50/50. Many times it
takes all of us to figure out what he’s saying although the progress he
made from when he woke up at 10:30am to when he went to bed was
extensive.
We
are taking it one day at a time and the new few days, weeks, and months
will be critical for his recovery but we are happy to see the
improvement.
We will try to send an update every day or two to keep you all up to date on the latest juicy news with Chuck.
Thank you again for all of the prayers and well wishes.
-Brad
Please keep Chuck and his wife Liz in your thoughts and prayers as they face this new challenge. Please check back with this post from time to time this coming week to see if I get any updates.
-Chuck J
If you’ve attended one of our
camps, you know that we always give a Camp t-shirt to everyone who registers. Since space is limited in our van when we
travel around the country, we carry only enough to supply each camper plus a
few spares in case someone shows up unexpectedly. When campers ask if it’s possible to purchase
more for family and/or friends we are unable to accommodate them.
The store will feature our
"Celebrate" collection of logowear. We are currently featuring hoodies, t-shirts, long sleeve
t's and hats. As things develop we may
add additional items as well.
