Cold weather...

is hard for jon--now that its cold..he's gone from BURNING..to almost STINGING..when its cold, his body reacts to it..he says he feels like he's smothered in snow and its a stinging burning pain...
i cannot imagine being in such CONSTANT pain all day every day for the rest of your life..he takes medication for it--but like he says..he doesnt want to take heavy narcotics to be at a 0 level all the time, but he FOR SURE doesnt want to be at a level 10 where he cant even function or get out of bed..so he's compromising by trying to stay at a level 4 or 5--
he was asked to be IN CHARGE of the ward roadshow-can we say STRESSFULL!!!!!! he was given 5 days to come up with a 15 minute script..due tomorrow..together we've worked something out-so hopefully its approved and we can get busy with the youth--i will have to find someone to help me care for the girls on wed nights while jon and i are at the church for the next 6 weeks--i'll have to get working on that--
everything else seems to be going well--kids are still doing great in school, jon continues to work hard at PW, we've just been SOOOOOO blessed to have wonderful family--both sets of parents have bent over backwards to help us right now and we will forever be indebted to them...sometimes we sit back and think what just happened?!?! how blessed and grateful we are to have such tremendous support from our parents, siblings, friends and church members--continued thanks for everything everyone does to help our family---it never goes unnoticed!

Life in progress

Life seems to be progressing for us all over here-we're on our routine now and following it pretty closely. We are enjoying the quieter days and Im enjoying the cleaner house!
Jon is doing well-he's working hard everyday on his project and he hopes to have something completed by the end of the month-
Sarah will be having her 8th bday the end of the month-we look forward to her baptism nov. 3rd.

That's about all thats happening over here-but like they say never a dull moment!

Rolling on...

So our family is still rolling on..im THOROUGHLY enjoying my garages...especially because i can park my truck back into the garage--my poor truck has missed its parking space in the garage! jon jokes that garages are suppose to just be attached storage units-i say garages are to hold your cars! obviously i won that little battle..heheh

I think Jon has another UTI--I need to get him tested and then get him some antibiotics, UTI's-they are just CONSTANT!

The girls have started school this past week-Rachel's in 5th grade, Sarah's in 3rd grade and Anna is in Kindergarten. Becca will be going to "potty training school" at my friends house this week-looking FORWARD to that! Poor becca cries EVERYTIME ALL of her older sisters walk out the door to walk to school..she feels SO left behind..which is why I keep talking up the potty training school..poor girl..little does she know right!

During the day its sooooooooooooooo nice and quiet, becca and i hit the gym every morning, jon is able to work SO MUCH more with less distractions too.

Here is our family schedule & chore list-i LOVE schedules! our family functions SO well on a schedule!
HALES FAMILY SCHEDULE:
730-8am wake/dress/scriptures/prayer/send kids to school
8-9am pick up house/start laundry/chores/personal scripture/prayers
9-1015 gym
1030-1220 make calls for work
1230 pick up anna
1230-1pm lunch for family
1-230 make calls for work
230-3pm email/blog
3pm homework w/ girls
330-5pm cath jon/pick up house/laundry/girls do chores
5-6pm make dinner
6pm eat/family clean up kitchen/downstairs
(Rachel clothes in basket/Sarah toys in basket/Anna&Becca trash)
700 showers/pick up bedroom/fhe
800 family prayer/BEDTIME for small girls (color/read for 30 minutes)
830 BEDTIME for big girls (color/read for 30 minutes in OWN ROOMS)
830 Jon in bed/scriptures
9pm LIGHTS OUT


CHORE LIST:

Monday: Bathrooms (Rachel upstairs/Sarah downstairs)
-wipe sinks, counter, mirror, toilet
Tuesday: Stairs (Rachel wipe/Sarah wipe)
Wednesday: Dust (Rachel piano, dinning room table, lamp table/Sarah computer
desk, office desk, living room table)
Thursday: Doors (Rachel outside back door/Sarah inside back door w/soap&water)
Friday: Trash (Rachel upstairs/Sarah downstairs) TAKE OUTSIDE


FAMILY HOME EVENING LESSON SCHEDULE:
1st Monday: Dad
2nd Monday: Mom
3rd Monday: Rachel
4th Monday: Sarah
5th Monday: PLAY DAY!

Well thats about it--Hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day Weekend!

Garage Clean out Day with the Hales!

Today at 8am Robert, Sandra, Scott and Todd met us here to help clear out the two garages-now that all the construction is done it was time to clear it all up--it only took about 2 hours! Here are some before and after photos- of course our favorite is the one with Todd on Jons motorcycle "contemplating"!!

School countdown is oN!

School starts Aug. 27th-we've had a good summer-- filled with lots of things for hte kids to do..beach on tuesdays, multiple trips to sea world with Jon, musuem, water parks, and lastly a 2 day trip to vegas (actually henderson) to stay at my cousins house- it was great! we left monday and it took about 3 hours to get there..we NEVER went outside (except for the kids to swim in the backyard 3-4 times per day) then we left wed at 4pm getting home at 7pm..it was perfect!

Jon is doing good-he seems to be REALLLLLY tight..his legs will curl up realy bad or go straight really hard..its really hard on him to have his body constantly tight like this all the time..he continues to either be burning hot or freezing cold..but its more bearable for him now--maybe he's just getting use to it..poor guy..

He's still in great spirits and has IMMENSE hope that he will walk again and gain his body back--

The wheel of life

Keeps on turning...things are pretty good here..jon seems to be VERY tight all the time-when i transfer him back into bed-his legs go everywhere and tighten up-its hard to be moving him and then his body moving fast and hard the OPPOSITE way i need them to go!! But we're managing..

We ventured out to Sea World yesterday for the 2nd time this summer with the girls-it was lots of fun-so nice to have so many shows to SIT AT and enjoy! The Shamu show at nite is a must see!!

I met with Wendy again -they are home now-it was great to be able to share knowledge back and forth!

Well Ive been asked to speak for 30-45 minutes for the Woodcrest Ward Relief Society Overnighter-which is SATURDAY!!?!?!? YIKES! Ive got thoughts going thru my head..ive got a few things written down but need to work on flushing them out..My HOPE is to work on it tonite and all day tomorrow if the girls will let me-jon will be home tomorrow so I can hide in my room and work on it..good thing im a not shy about speaking in public!

Just thinking....

I have been asked to speak to some ladies in the other ward about facing trials..I realize i should probably get to work on this since its NEXT SATURDAY that i am to deliver!! yikes!

Today has been an interesting day for me..i received a voice message from my friend Amy Novak about a family who had an accident in February. WWW.scottortizeupdate.blogspot.com I visited his site and immediately felt the need or prompting to go visit scott and his wife wendy. I made arrangements for my girls and headed off to the Fontana Kaiser. I found his room and stepped in-Scott was resting in his bed I proceeded to tell him who I was and how I came about to his blog. He said his wife had just stepped out and would be back shortly and that she was anxious to meet me. Very soon after Wendy, his wife, came in and immediately we hugged. It was a little overwhelming for me to think that I am now in a position to off her help and assistance and a listening ear to someone else who is now JUST BEGINNING to go thru what we have gone thru this past year and a few months. It will be good for both of us as wives to have eachother to talk to about our excitements and frustrations.

With this event fresh in my mind-I went thru the beginning of my blog archives which Im SO BLESSED TO HAVE-and realized just how blessed we truly have been. Jon has come amazingly so far in such little time. To think there were many nites where he wasnt even sleeping! He wasnt eating! What really has brought tears to my eyes is to go thru the comments family, friends and strangers have left -to read their thoughts, encouragements and hopes for the best--thats just really something. Im grateful for the technology these days to have such instant thoughts of hope from around the world-even Brazil! To again witness people changing because of the trial our family is going thru. Another favorite quote of mine is the purpose of this life is to "change".

Well time for me to get back to work around here-the house is settling down for the night-Robert will be here tomorrow to help us-I need to utilize him as the HANDY MAN-i have like 37 lightbulbs that need to be replaced! Good Times!

Thanks AGAIN many many many thanks again to all those that continue to read the blog-im sorry i havent been good at updating--with kids out for the summer its been a little hetic-we are all still doing very well and very happy--continue those prayers for jon that his body will recover with the work of project walk-he's a fighter!

UPDATE

Sorry its been so long..our life doesnt change much so there isnt too much to update about...

Jon is still doing great! He continues to gain more strength and mobility in his arms and chest-he continues to move around enough so that we aren't doing pressure releases for him constantly like last year..essentially this is his schedule:

730AM Amanda the caretaker/nurse comes in and prep's him for the day
11AM on tue/thu he continues to go to project walk
11am mon/wed/fri he continues to work on the laptop
130pm he has lunch which he continues to be able to feed himself
330pm i cath him and give his medication
6pm he has dinner again feeding himself
730pm mon we have fhe which he prep's the lessons
730pm tue he has his Elders Quorum Meetings at our house and does family visits
830-930pm his good friend russell continues to come EVERY NIGHT to put him back in bed and stretch him
1030pm i prep him for the night -he continues to use and all night cath and the bed is an airmatress so he can stay in one spot and not have to rotate all thru the nite like before

he is able to use his knuckles to work any computer and is able to make and receive phone calls as well--

so as you can see life is A LOT easier then it was a year ago!!!

We no longer receive state disability-so its ONLY social security which isnt very much-we're VERY blessed to have family and the church to carry us through until we can figure out what is going to work for our family. We've been EXTREMELY blessed to have someone donate money to our family which will pay for jons Project Walk therapies. Ive been working on ways to provide income for the family during this time to help ease the burden that's before us. Along with the travel business, I've been telemarketing calls for a friend who does Reverse Mortgages-I receive a very nice commission for leads that I can provide. I have just started that this week and pray that it will be beneficial for our family-I am able to leave the girls here with jon for a couple of hours and go around the corner to her house into her office and make the 120-140 phone calls. Then I can come back and feed lunch to everyone get some laundry done and head back for a couple more hours.

the BIGGEST update is the lift is completed and working--Monday was his FIRST nite that he slept upstairs with me in OUR ROOM since march 15th 2006--its so wonderful! the things we take for granted!! He is able to sleep up there in his bed which is pushed up against out big ol' cal king bed (which i have MISSED so dearly! ive been sleeping on the couch next to him the past year). The nurse is able to do all his morning care right upstairs-he's even able to have REAL showers now which are HEAVENLY for him he says..






The girls are doing great too-its now summer- thank goodness we have the pool--the little 2 girls where their life jackets and so they all swim together like fish out there- they go in it just about every single day! On tuesday's i take them all down to the beach with other moms in our ward. Rachel got accepted into the National Young Scholars Program (its kind of a prestigeous camp for kids will excellent grades but also very good leaders-she was nominated by her teacher and the only child in her school that got in). She's been at this camp at a college since Sunday and I will pick her up tomorrow! YA!

Well that is the update on our family--we're still plugging away and pray everyday that jon will regain his strength. We certainly have our ups and downs ( a couple of weeks ago we attended one of jons cousins weddings-when the bride started dancing with her father-i completely lost it and had to put my sun glasses on--things like that are hard on me). Just last monday anna was giving the fhe prayer and prayed "that daddy would remember how to walk again so he can stand up"..both jon and i had SUCH a hard time trying not to cry! But all in all-life is SO good..we constantly remind ourselves that it can be 100 times worse then it is now..and we are so grateful to be where we are today-even if its not like it was before..it can always be so much worse..

Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf--each month our life DOES get better--one day at a time!

NEW BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENT!

Welcome to my NEW BUSINESS!
www.choosetherighttravel.com

I have now begun the exciting venture in the Travel Industry. I have always had family and friends call and ask me to “find them a good deal” on the internet for their travel. I was presented with an opportunity to provide income for our family by doing just that!

Please take a quick minute to visit my website www.choosetherighttravel.com. There are two options, you can either click on BOOK TRAVEL to make reservations for all of your traveling needs (Air, Hotel, Cruise, Etc). You are certainly welcome to compare our prices to big names such as Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, Cheaptickets etc. You will soon realize that thru my website 95% of the time –it is cheaper!

The 2nd Option you have is to learn how to become your OWN travel agent just like me. Click on LEARN HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN TRAVEL AGENT and view the company presentation. You will discover the opportunity that is available to anyone!

Thank you for the time that you have taken to view this letter and visit my website. Please take a moment to list the website under your FAVORITES-so that you’ll always have access to it when you are ready to take your next vacation. Please feel free to refer all your family and friends to the website as well. You’ll note on the website for your 1st reservation you will receive a FREE gift certificate for a 3Day/2Night stay at over 26 locations in the US valued at $200-$300.

I am very grateful to have this opportunity to help our family and appreciate your business!

Thank you,


Christina L. Hales
Travel Agent Specialist
www.choosetherighttravel.com

Whats been going on here???

WELL I have been VERY busy putting together a business Im involved with! SO come back Monday after Mothers Day for my BIG Announcement! I hope you all will support me and utilize it to help our family! Im VERY excited about it!!

Other then that HUGE project, things are going well. Jon continues to workout hard at PW tuesdays/thursdays. My dad continues to take him on Tuesdays, while his mom takes him on thursdays-then his dad helps him on Fridays here at the house. He continues to have a positive outlook and is finding more and more ways to be involved with the girls here around the house. He continues to work faithfully in his calling as the EQ secretary. He was a little sick this past week- but seems to be getting better-he's also fighting off another UTI. Amazingly enough he EVEN made my webpage for me! How cool is that?! You'll all be truly impressed that Jon from his wheelchair could do that! Im also working on trying to find a recliner for him for Fathers Day - so SHHHHH dont say anything! He'd enjoy sitting in a "real chair" vs his wheelchair or hospital bed in the middle of the livingroom- he's kind of tired of always being "the patient"!

Im obviously mad busy as always-school is winding down, school state testing is going on for 3 weeks now, school projects are coming due-YIKES! (my favorite joke is the child who came home with a C on his project and the mothers says "what? darn i worked HARD on that too!" too funny huh! I continue to hit the gym daily. WOrk on holding the fort together here!

The girls are doing well- they're anxious for school to be done and enjoy summer- for some reason that frightens me and makes me nervous! 5 people home with me all day everyday!! is anyone else nervous or is it just me???

Well thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts towards our family--we truly are doing really well. Of course some days are good and some days are sad-but atleast there are good days!! We've come to appreciate them and thank our Heavenly Father for those good days--

Dont forget to come back next Monday!!

Easter

Here is a quick picture of the girls in their white dresses (these are the same ones that were handmade by a friend in our ward- THANK YOU!) with a pretty easter colored sash..
We enjoyed an annual Easter Picnic with the Wilson Family at Irvine Park-then we enjoyed a yummy Easter dinner at my parents house.
Jon is doing well - he is VERY spastic (his muscles)-it may be again UTI issues, we will continue to flush his bladder with liquid neosporin..
Jon now has his therapy at Project Walk Tuesdays and Thursdays in Carlsbad at 12-2pm.
He continues to faithfully serve in his calling at church as the Elders Quorum Secretary and the Presidency meets at our house every tuesday nite at 8pm-they sit around the dining room table and discuss things while jon takes notes using his knuckles on the keyboard of the laptop and takes pretty good notes! He went out with the Presidency last week to visit with a family and they were gone 2 hours- it was a good visit he said!

Our family is grateful for the Resurrection-especially for Jon. The literal and universal nature of the resurrection is vividly described in the Book of Mormon. The prophet Amulek taught:

"The death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.

"The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; . . .

"Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame" (Alma 11:42­44).

This gives our family strength and hope. His body may or may not become whole in this earthly life-but it WILL become whole in the next life. We strive to continue to do those things that make the family happy-we read our scriptures at 8pm as a family every nite, we pray morning and nite together, we hold family home evening on monday nite-it is not always easy-but it certainly is holding our family together.

We continue to have help from my dad on tuesdays to bring jon to PW and again on thursdays by Jons parents to take him on thursdays-it truly helps to be able to keep me home with the girls and have the family run on our normal family routine-the girls have really become themselves again having me home like before.

It's strange to think this time last year-jon was really suffering so much in the hospital. He's come a long way and continues to do so-we're grateful for all the prayers that are sent our way-our struggles, fears, doubts, sadness all seems to be a little lighter-and we are all grateful!

March..

Today is tuesday march 27th-WOW that came fast! Jon is doing well..he seems to be in a LOT of burning pain as of late..he's been working on not staying in his bed all day..he's only working out tuesday's and fridays..so before he'd stay in bed the 2 days and by friday be pretty lightheaded..so now he gets out about 12noonish and works on the laptop...then he stays up till about 8pm when i put him back in..

The men are here working away on this lift for him..should be done shortly..he's pretty excited to have a "different ceiling to stare at"..he cracks me up!

Well not much else to say...he's still in good spirits and working to improve all over--

Jon 3:16

Interesting title huh- today is 3;16 jons injury date. Today is filled with mixed emotions from our entire family. Right at this time 11am is when I received the call from sheldon about jon. Its still on our answering machine. I just cant seem to delete it. Im not sure why? But im not ready to delete it yet. I'll never forget Celesta rushing to my side to help me get thru this. I'll never forget getting into her car rushing to the Hospital. I'll never forget the phone call to jons father and then to my father. I cant imagine getting a phone call like that about their son. I'll never forget waiting what seemed like forever for the helicopter to land. I'll never ever forget what it sounded like. What it looked like to see so many many people meeting the helicopter to pull jon out and take him inside.
I will never ever ever forget Jons first words to me-"Im so sorry." That is Jon in every sense of the word. Never worried about him-but ALWAYS about others. I'll never forget the tears in his eyes as I looked at him. He looked so handsome! He had no tubes, no scratches, nothing. You would have never known he had something SO MAJOR, SO LIFE CHANGING as he layed their perfectly still.
I will never forget walking away and overhearing 2 doctors say "What happened to him?" and then to hear the other doctor say "Flipped over motorcycle. Basically Superman." It was in those silent moments, all by myself -I knew. Yet I still couldnt believe THAT was going to be MY Jon.
I'll never forget having so many family rush to meet us and be by our side, for their son and for me. I'll never forget waiting in the waiting room during surgery. I'll never forget everyone that was in the room with us. I'll never forget when the surgeon came in to explain to us Jons new life and to prepare ourselves. I just remember sitting there stunned and crying.

Here we are today one year later. He's home with his family. He's MUCH more mobile the the doctors said he would be. He's on medication to help keep his pain levels down and not constantly so high. He's got a regular morning routine with a WONDERFUL caregiver/nurse that we literally prayed to get here. She is PERFECT! We're so grateful! He's found project walk that will again change his life. Im home more with the girls to continue to bring and keep stability in their lives. We've got amazing help from our families with countless, countless service they do for our family. We have an amazing ward that has provided countless acts of service for our family. We have amazing friends that do so much. One that continues to come nightly to strectch jon-EVERY NITE!

Our family has come a long long longggg way. We have all learned many things about ourselves and eachother. Jon is an amazing man. He has to work SO HARD EVERYDAY for the littlest things. I think back to when he couldnt even lift a spoon to feed himself, and now he can. I think back to when he couldnt even get out of bed and now with my help he can. I think back to when he was constantly passing out on me, and now thats improved. So much of him has improved!!

Thank you to all of you that constantly think of our family, serve our family, have given money to our family. We wouldnt have made it thru this year without everyone. We have been very blessed this past year. We are so grateful. Heavenly Father is watchful of our family. He has helped us in so many ways. We have much hope for the future and what it holds for us. We will continue to live and discover the many many lessons to learn thru this. We look forward to the day when our family will be together forever and each of us whole and healthy. We look forward to the day when our blessings for being patient, long suffering, and humble will be received in the eternities. It gives us hope. It gives us strength. Its pure and simple.

On to the next year of more improvement and as Jon would say -Rock on!

Sore throat for Jon..

The past couple of days jon has stayed down in his bed...he came down with a sore throat on friday nite..his voice sounds pretty bad..im being careful to listen to any coughing he does..to make sure it doesnt lead to pnemonia or anything of that nature..
hopefully its just a head cold type thing and it doesnt lead into his chest..

from now on he will be at Carlsbad tuesdays and fridays until the schedule changes to get him there 3 times a week..he's shown interest in continuing in LA like he's been doing the past 8 weeks or so..

tomorrow i will be taking the girls out of school part day and heading to the beach! we could all use some sun around here!! Jon will hang out at his parents house while we go (his grandma lives on the beach in Corona Del Mar) so me and the girls will spend some good quality time there..then swing back have dinner and showers and head home around 730 or 8pm or so..

keep jon in your prayers that he recovers from this quickly and it doesnt get any worse..he's in GREAT spirits and has thoroughly enjoyed being around me and the girls!

wheelchair fixed

well the wheelchair is fixed..they picked it up and had it done the next day..its suppose to be here today..of course it was the blame game..but its done. thanks to dad, chad and todd for facilitating that!

today is jons last day in LA for rehab-starting next week he'll be going to PW in carlsbad m/w/fridays..not sure what times yet..

he's doing well-for a while i stopped giving him his midnite meds and seeing if it made a difference..he seemed to have adapted to it..so now he only takes his meds 3 times a day instead of 2 which is SOOOOOOOOOOO good!! he also doesnt require me to get up thru the nites to rotate him-so he goes to bed about 11pm and waked around 7am..which is MUCHHHHHHHHHH better for ALLLLLLLl of us!!

its wierd to think next year will be the year mark-jon prefers not to have an anniversary injury date but rather an anniversary walked again date-so that is our focus!!

Sunday..

The past couple of days have been really fun! Scott blessed his baby today in church-so Chads family came down for a QUICK trip to be part of Scott & Kellie's special day.

We started by hitting the beach- we went to Corona Del Mar where Grandma Perry lives and the weather was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO NICE!!! the kids had a blast- my girls are TRUE californians-they all went in the water and NEVER ONCE complained that it was cold! Im a total whimp if its SLIGHTY cold- my toes could sense it WAS cold though!

Sunday was the blessing- which I needed to get my family down to OC by 850am!!! we did it somehow-and i didnt have to yell the whole way to church-it was quite pleasant! The girls were good about helping, and i had organized everything the nite before to make it run smoothly..

After church we met back at the hales home for some grub- and it was GOOD! by tail end of the afternoon-jons chair broke!??! what on earth! the main axel something or another broke-its a good thing jon didnt fall out..not good...needless to say ANOTHER MAJOR thing i will have to figure out and get taken care of!! I believe its still under warranty- I THINK..so i will be checking that out..but the boys of the family (need i say the hales lawyers boys -which there are 3) say its a MAJOR deal and there shouldnt be a problem getting it taken care of..always helps to have lawyers get things done right!! hehe

well here are some pics of the day--enjoy! (be sure to move your mouse over the pic to read the captions..

JONS ONLINE!!

yaa! finally jon is online..here is the page to go to (copy and paste)

http://projectwalk.org/clientLocatorNew.php

type in jon h from riverside- ENJOY!

JONS ONLINE!!

yaa! finally jon is online..here is the page to go to

http://projectwalk.org/clientLocatorNew.php

click on jon h from riverside- ENJOY!

doing better...

today jon is doing better...i think using the liquid neosporin seems to be helping and ALLL the extra prayers!! he was able to make it to PW today with his parents..they left around 1230pm and got home around 7pm..after a stop at fry's..that is SO jon!! (it was screaming his name off the frwy!) you can see it right off the frwy as you drive down the frwy..

today robert said his quads were a little bit active! this is great news!! also candice his head PT girl said that while taking his shoes off she was surprised to feel that his feet were sweaty! i guess this is a big thing!! so rock on for stinky sweaty feet! we'll take those!!!

he is back in his bed...totally out..i have a long day tomorrow..taking sarah to her Gate Challenge competition (she is in the gate program at her school)..then that nite we are taking the older 2 to go see phantom of that fullerton civic light house..its a SURPRISE!! they will be so excited! they LOVE classics like that and fiddler on the roof, sound of music..SO NICE!

Jon not doing well...

today and yesterday jon has not been doing well..im thinking he has another UTI..yesterday was REALLY bad for him...thankfully we didnt have anywhere to go..his whole body is just burning CONSTANTLY..its really hard on him..his last comment before he went to sleep last nite was "its so hard to do this everyday-be in constant pain EVERYDAY-it starts to take a toll on me..sometimes i think it might have been easier on all of us had i not made it thru that afternoon" UGH-that is so painful to hear!
today is a LITTLE bit better..he kept passing out in his chair this am while amanda was taking care of him today..sandra got here and i put him in the chair too..but he kept losing it..we made it to the truck..but it was too umbearable for him..so we decided to just keep him home..he's been nauseated too both days..THANKFULLY neither myself nor jon have thrown up anything-i feel great (knock on wood!)

as far as the UTI..were concerned about doing more antibiotics because it just builds against his immune system..we continue to "flush" his bladder out with liquid neosporin..that does the most so far..for the most part he is just SO miserable and SO wiped out..he's sleeping now..

this morning he said he woke up and couldnt walk! (he was teasing) he said.."this is rough..i cant imagine living the rest of my life like this..this really is no way to live..to be so confined to my bed like this and in constant immense pain.."

needless to say he's having a hard time..hopefully in the next few days he'll be back to getting out and about..

we've been bombed..

well anna's doing better- she's been able to keep 2 pieces of toast down so far and some 7up so thats good news!! the girls were gone ALL day for a bday party..nice! they got home around 430pm..i started dinner at 5pm and helping sarah with a school project thats' due next tuesday..then at around 6pm becca started throwing up..her FIRST time EVER! and then within MINUTES the other older 2 girls did..lovely. So now ive got all 4 of them throwing up-well basically 3..its been a lovely couple of hours..and they've all thrown up like 5 times since 6! the older 2 are self sufficient which helps..becca is the WORST!

im just counting on me getting it..i have no idea what we'll do with jon..

well time to go watch tv..i figure im going to just have to stay up all nite! i wish i was into scrapbooking- i could do an all niter! i'll have to think of something productive to do!!!

Jons new schedule..

starting this week..jons schedule has changed to:

Mondays: LA 1230-3pm (Roberts helping)
Tuesdays: PW 12-2pm (Roberts helping)
Wednesdays:DAY OFF!
Thursdays: LA 1230-3pm (Sandra helping)
Fridays: PW 2-4pm (Hales helping)

on mon/tues i go with my dad incase jon needs a cath or anything while my mom stays with the children and has dinners ready for me on those days- SOOO WONDERFUL!!! we are typically gone from 11-330pm on mondays and 11-5pm on tuesdays..

thursdays sandra takes jon and is gone 11-5pm and both her and robert will take jon to PW and be gone 1-6 or 630pm (depending friday traffic-ugh)

we had to change up the schedule because by wed his body was shot and he wasnt performing as well and was just SOOO tired..so hopefully this new schedule will help him!!

Happy 34th Bday To Jon!

Here is from our party on Jons bday tonite-more of the family will be here all day tomorrow to celebrate his and everyone else's bdays in february!!

Here are 34 reasons I love Jon:
1. The most Christ like man I know.
2. Honors his priesthood.
3. Treats me like a queen(something i noticed from DAY ONE!)
4. Humble.
5. Can be a friend to anyone and i mean ANYONE!
6. Can carry on a conversation with anyone- i really do mean ANYONE!
7. Has a way of making everyone feel like they are truly important.
8. I love when he calls and says "hey babe".
9. I love that he makes up stories to tell the girls and keeps adding to the story each time.
10. I love that my girls think he's "made of stone".
11. He's a good father.
12. He's a genius at the computer and anything to do with it.
13. He can fix ANYTHING! BONUS!
14. He's extremely creative.
15. His favorite drink is rootbeer.
16. I love his dark thick hair-even with the strands of grey!
17. I LOVE the way he teaches anything at church.
18. I love the way he treats my mom and our grandmothers.
19. I love that he has complete respect for my father.
20. He enjoys a good altoid.
21. He loves candy-not the chocolatey kind though.
22. He really enjoys a good quality pen.
23. He's laid back and easy going.
24. He loves to just sit in the shower.
25. He use to wear khakis and a button up shirt- ALWAYS!
26. Now he wears sweatpants and a tshirt.
27. He has an amazing voice!
28. He'd rather spend time with his family then with his friends.
29. His left eyebrow twitches if he's lying or teasing.
30. He's not competative (unless its against the computer ONLY)-he feels too bad for the other person if he himself wins.
31. He is a HARD HARD worker (career wise) anything wise!
32. He was set to be an actor for his career (until we got married and the Stake Pres felt prompted to tell him he shouldnt go that direction).
33. He's always had a 6 pack stomach.
34. He's one of those people that leaves an impression, someone your thankful you met and someone you will never forget.

Happy Bday to my man -Jon!

BUSY!

well we have just been BUSY! this schedule of jons keeps me SO BUSY!! we are just both SOOOO tired by fridays...we may have to think of switching some days around..PW told jon yesterday that he's not giving his body a chance to recoup from everythign he's doing..
he's been able to walk 23 minutes both times last week at LA which is cool..they also said yesterday he had about 30 minutes of quad spasms..i guess thats suppose to be VERY cool! so VERY COOL THEN!! rock on!!
lately jon has been REALLYYYYYYYYYYY tired...sleeping a lot..were not sure if he's fighting a cold or what..sometimes he's kind of stuffy (his nose)..so we're hoping its just that and probably a combo of him working out so much..on monday he slept right thru dinner (which isnt too quite with 4 girls! hehe) and fhe (again not so quiet with 4 girls!) he told me he remembers the opening song and then boom OUT! poor guy!!
this saturday is his 34th bday...we'll be celebrating with family and friends both saturday and sunday..should be fun!!

doing well..

jons doing well..the pricey meds seem to be working..he's wiped out today from working out so much..he walked the treadmill for 15 minutes last time and did 23 minutes today- ROCK ON!
tonite was CRAZY and LOUD-jon had his EQP meeting here at the house at 7pm, we had carpet layers installing the carpet upstairs SO LOUD, i had all the girls in bathrooms trying to get their showers in..it was a mad house! but its now almost 9pm, the carpet guys have left, the meeting is over, and girls are in bed..
tomorrow jon will be at PW in carlsbad..

Feeling better...

the 200 dollar medication is working..it BETTER RIGHT!? he's doing MUCH much better and back to himself again..he did all his workouts and is wiped now..he also was able to finish up the magazine- robert you DA MAN!!! its so hard for him, what took him 3 days to do takes him 6 weeks..we're hoping for it to get quickly printed and sent out for february..

while working out at PW last week, they mentioned to jon that he has good hamstring control..and they were surprised by that--WHOO HOO!!

well not much else going on regarding jon, he'll just rest up from the week!

Lab work in progress..

so we left at 11am to head to his dr appt at 1145am...we WAITED and slept basically till 115pm when the physicians assistant (NOT EVEN THE DR!) came in..so frustrating! we told him our dr wants lab work done to make sure the med's he's on is not ruining other organs..so they pulled blood 40 minutes AFTER that and then we finally left at 2pm..LONG DAY..
so it will be about a week before we get results back..

today jon is REALLY tired...he was up last nite 2am-430am on FIRE and in pain..poor guy..then he slept til 630am when amanda came in to begin his morning routine..he is wiped out right now on his bed...

he was called as the EQP secretary (to which he joked, "but i cant write!?") and so they will be having their presidency meetings here at our house every tuesday nite at 8pm..so he's resting up for that..

we got his UTI medication, we pulled up and they said "50 dollars" to which i said, "umm did you run that thru the insurance!?" they said "yes"..WHAT ON EARTH!?!? so each pill was 15 dollars! he ONLY has 10 of them!! YIKES!! so 10 pills was 200 dollars to which we paid 50 and the ins paid 150..INSANE! they better cure MORE then his UTI at that rate!!!

this round of UTI is pretty rough..he gets nasueated easily, cold, then burning, then cold, then burning..its been rough for him..but he's hanging in there..

well time to go figure out dinner!

Definite UTI..

well im back from the dr's..and he has a definite STRONG UTI..so he's on a new prescription and we'll go from there...so atleast its that and not something more serious...

he's been spending his day resting in bed catching up on 24..hes only on season 2!!

grateful for the power of the priesthood..

Today as I look back at last nite when Jon was suffering so much (he said it was pain like back at loma linda again)..I am grateful that he is peacefully resting, the fever broke, the BP is down his normal range again, hes not as tight and cramped up either..he slept well last nite..he says his body feels REALLY numb though today..which is different..
im drawing his Urine now to take it in to be tested for a UTI, his doctor is concerned about putting him on antibiotics again, so we will see what she says (shes going to call the urologist)..

today jon will be resting at home for the day - we dont have to go anywhere today..
tomorrow jon has a pain management appt-that doctor will be impressed that jon weened HIMSELF off of dilaudid!!
wed he will be at Cal State LA (sandra will be taking him)
thu he will be at PW in carlsbad (i will be taking him)
fri he will be at PW in carlsbad (his parents will be taking him)

Thanks to men who live worthy to hold the priesthood, and worthy to bless other lives with it- were so grateful-the days of Loma Linda started flashing back and it was a little scary for me-i knew something wasnt right..and when i had tested his BP..it confirmed to me that something REALLY wasnt right! Also thanks to families that say a quick MIGHTY prayer!!

Jon not doing well..

Jon is not doing well this evening..he either has a UTI or problems trying to come off the Lyrica medication..he's not been having good volumes of urine output, his blood pressure is high (he's typically 80/70 and its up 150/90), has a 101.1 fever and is VERY tight and his muscles keep cramping up on him...
russell santos and chad thompson gave him a blessing, ive kept and eye on him, its been a couple of hours, his BP has come down, his fever is still the same, and he's not as nauseated as he was 2 hours ago..so we will wait it thru the nite, i will take his urine to be tested for a possible UTI..

Something to Share..

push slower or faster and put mouse on picture to read caption..





Jon took me to Brazil for 17 days near our 10 year wedding anniversary..i will be forever grateful we did this, he had his accident just 3 months after...i have such mixed emotions, part of me is elated to have this photos, part of me is sad to see pictures of jon standing but mostly im just happy that we did it, have the memories and the ability to creat new ones..

well- enjoy!

Project Walk-Tuesday

again for the pictures, if you drag your mouse over the picture it will give you a caption, you can also slow it down or speed it up-jon will have his "interview" and write up ready on thursday to be filmed and they will post it on the PW website..so look for it by next week - i'll keep you posted..he wishes he had a tshirt that said the "quadfather"! hahah

tomorrow i will be taking him to Cal State LA..his session is 1230-2pm

Jon was doing great till about an hour thru his workout, then his body just sort of gave out..he wasnt feeling too well..he then remembered he had ONLY an english muffin for breakfast- THANKS for telling us at 2pm!! needless to say, we'll be MAKING him eat something or STOP for something BEFORE he gets to PW!! he came home and just crashed the rest of the evening, he woke at 930pm for a visit from our newly called elders quorum (details to come later!)and was then WIDE awake by 10pm, so he's working on his article for the magazine we're desperately trying to get out for next month!

what on EARTH!??!?!

For those who wish to visit:

starting NEXT week will be as follows-
Mondays Cal State LA 1230-230pm
Tuesdays PW in Carlsbad 1-3pm (except for the 23rd jon has a dr. appt so no PW)
Wednesdays Cal State LA 1230-230pm
Thursdays PW in Carlsbad 1-3pm

We're getting ready to head to PW today with my dad, while my mom watches the girls for me..i will take my camera and take lots of photos to share with you all..

Todd visit's project walk..Mama's SICK!

Robert and Sandra took jon to project walk...todd and celene and kids met jon there for the last 30 minutes of his workout session..jon was really surprised! Jon will do 2 days a week at PW and 2 days a week in LA..once the LA research is done, he will do 3 days a week at PW..each day will be a completely different workout..
yes, Mama's sick..i was out all day yesterday with the flu..i think im getting better, im just now very light headed and weak..

no big plans for us for this weekend - which is nice, it feels like after xmas there has been something MAJOR going on..so its nice to just be home..

Jons day at Project Walk-Thursday

lets give this a go and see how it works! If you click on the + plus button it goes thru it fast (i recommend this!) and if you click towards the bottom of the picture you can read the captions to each picture..ENJOY!

Wednesday

Jon went with Sandra to LA for the research project..he said that they put him in a standing frame and he stayed up for 4 minutes..then started getting spotty..he said it was wierd (SO different)..but way cool!
it was a quick trip- i was surprised that it went so fast-they left at 11am and were back by 4pm...he said the session was just 2 hours..NICE!

he just been resting up here at home, he said last nite he slept REALLY well and soundly..YA! he's been stuffy and he didnt have that problem last nite..

tomorrow is PW-he's excited again and curious as to what they will do..sandra again will take him to that appt which is 1-3pm...

tonite we had a friend come over and gave him a massage on his arms to help soothe the muscles..he said it was awesome!

AWWWWESOMEEE!!!

Project Walk is AWESOME!!!! Jon LOVED IT!! he got worked out so hard already! they did all kinds of testing on his movements, they kept saying "activity in this muscle, function here, trace there etc"..it was SO nice to hear that he had something everywhere!!!!! here are some pics we took...his plan is to be a permanent client there..which will mean we need to do another fundraiser or something!?!? its NOT cheap!! and insurance doesnt pay for this kind of therapy..its all cash only...ugh..but SO WORTH every penny!!!
he will do his video on thursday or next tuesday i cant remember..he's still thinking of a cool song to use..
we left the house at 1030am and didnt get home till about 4pm..so ANOTHER long day..and ANOTHER long day tomorrow and the next and the next..but worth it- jon is sooooooooooo tired and wiped now..he's getting nervous about trying to do both..so we'll see how it goes tomorrow at cal state...
his Spirits are WAY strong and REALLY high and he's feeling great!!! thanks for the extra prayers!!

enjoy the pics...

special thanks to my dad who drove again, and my mom who watched the girls and heidi for making me dinner tonite- SO HELPFUL! i feel like a mom who works now and is gone all day- its a lot of work! thank you!!!!

Testing complete

Jon made it to his testing..and he did GREAT for his first day they said!! thats good news!! it was about a 1.5 hr long visit..my dad drove us up there and my mom helped here at home..she made broccoli soup YUM AND a chocolate cake for fhe! WHOO HOO!!! i think my mom is secretly trying to fatten up jon!! hehehe

tomorrow my dad will drive us down to carlsbad and again my mom will stay here with the little ones..he has to be there from 12-2pm...

today jon has been a little sad...more towards the evening..he said its REALLY hard to not be able to move anything..it gets to him sometimes and he's never mad..just sad...he had rolled into the piano room and looked up and broke down realizing he's NEVER been upstairs to the girls' room for 10 months, he's never put the girls to bed, never seen our room, etc..its just a little hard...he also said that he use to be SOOO productive! he was the guy that took 7 classes at HS AND sports..and full loads at BYU AND working full time, he'd work LONG hours at work, first one in and last one out type thing..and now..he just simply cant work that way anymore, and if anyone knows jon..that is so difficult for him to not be so productive.

later this evening, as the girls were all wanting to sit on my lap at the same time, and me feeling suffocated as usual..he noticed and said "what can i do?" which honestly sometimes makes me think..do i need to write it out?..i asked him softly "what do YOU think you can do to help me?" ..he said.."i dont know, maybe gather them all into the office and tell them our old stories?" perfect i said..he felt like old dad jon again doing that..im so glad he was able to do that, it really boosted his Spirit and made him realize that he cant do a LOT of things, BUT he can do some of the most IMPORTANT things..some fathers arent even able to do that sometimes..

well its time to start fhe and eat the chocolate cake!!! thanks mom!!

extra prayers..

jon seems to be fighting a little sickness..for the past few days he's had a stuffy nose and is feeling aches and pains..he was given a priesthood blessing which was beautiful and a wonder to experience..the next few weeks he's going to be SO busy, so any extra prayers on his behalf would be appreciative, especially concerning his illness..that it doesnt damper his ability to work hard at the therapies, ESPECIALLY project walk which has the MOST hope for him..

side note: yes jon did serve in osaka japan 1992-1994 for the poster that wanted to know..

keep forgetting..

i keep forgetting to post updates on jon here..sorry about that- things have just been crazy ever since the girls got out of school, then xmas, then OC everyday back and forth, then chad's house up north, then preparing jon for the next few weeks here..busy busy busy as always!

jon is doing well..he worked with his dad ALL day on friday- WHOO HOO! Today jon has been trying to work on another article for the magazine..he's been FREEZING cold today..making him really pretty miserable..he hasnt been able to take one of his medications..lyrica..and im hoping that thats why..i was able to get more today from walgreens..so hopefully he'll be better again..other then that he seems to be okay..we were worried about skin sores/pressure sores from the trip..but his skin looks great..

tomorrow we are heading out to rancho santa margarita for a family baby blessing, todd and celene's (maxwell) which starts at 11am..which you know, means mom has to prepare EVERYONE! ive got everyone bath'd, and church clothes set out INCLUDING the shoes (that can NEVER be found on sunday), and their change of clothes after church to play in..i still need to go gather jons clothes and shoes and then get myself ready..ive realized it always takes SO MUCHHHH LONGERRR to do anything here...longer to prepare, longer to get in the truck, etc..

this next week jon will have testing at Cal State for the research project on monday, my dad will drive with me and jon while my mom will stay here to help with the girls, on tuesday my dad will drive with me and jon again (and mom will stay with the girls)as we take him to carlsbad for his FIRST project walk day..we can HARDLY wait! jon says he's REALLY excited to meet his "new quad-peeps" and to let them know he's the "quad-father"..lovely i know. i think he should also wear his "i do all my own stunts" shirt- what do you think!?

WHEW!! what a morning! and its only 8am!!

Well it's now already January! Our family is hoping for a better year and MUCH improvement for Jon! Ive spent the past 2 hours cleaning up throw up and diarhea AND on top of that just when i think i have things under control, the sewer decides to back with everything i JUST CLEANED UP!!! UGH! so out to the garage i went and managed to get it working again...seriously i need to be paid for my hours of sewer/plumbing service i do here!!!! all this and its only 8am!! needless to say, the girls are LOCKED and CONFINED to their rooms (of course with laptops and video games to keep them there!)

We had a GREAT xmas- I wheeled in Jons bed into the front room to enjoy xmas together-the girls had a great time as did we.

We then all packed up and traveled back and forth to OC for the day to spend with Jons family.

On Friday the 29th all the Hales clan left for Chad's house in Danville-here are some pics of that time we spent there.

One pic is of all of our BLACK cars- we joke that Robert's jag is the president and we are all his body guards- except for sandra's WHITE FORD!?!?! what on earth!?!? heheh just kidding sandra- just make sure your next purchase is ATLEAST BLACK! haha

Here is one of Kristi's family (Brittnay was baptized up there). Aden (the oldest grandchild-Chads son-was beind ordained a deacon)

Here is also some pics of Kelly's RAGER new years eve party-a chocolate fountain! Need I say more!! She had an awesome spread and we were stuffed!

Lastly is a picture of ALL the grandkids from oldest to youngest! AMAZING that we even got this picture taken!!

---------------------------------
Starting today Jon will be VERY VERY BUSY!!! From now until the 18th he will have to either be in LA for the research project or Carlsbad for Project Walk. I had a meeting with both sets of parents and they have worked it out that someone will either be here to take jon or be here so i can take jon- WHEW what a relief!! After the 18th I'll have a better idea of how much jon will do and what the hours will be etc to get a concrete plan in motion-Jon is REALLY excited to be doing something active! He currently is completely OFF of the dilaudid and coming off the baclofen =which is also great news. He was also able to take his FIRST shower since March 16th! After MUCHHHHHHHHHHHH persisting on my part and some lifting by his brothers, he finally got in. Of course, after he got in he didnt want to come out! (he typically just has a bed bath)

So all in all =good news! We enjoyed xmas- hope you received our xmas letter and photo of the family-keep praying for improvement for jon!

Jon did GREAT!!

jon did great!!

The pressure is on!

Jon is feeling the pressue with his Talk he is giving this sunday, he had plans to write it all out today only to realize that for SOME REASON our laptop that has his voice software on it KEEPS FREEZING AND SHUTTING DOWN!!! rghghg so irritating!!!
so dad's laptop is coming up tomorrow that also has the software so hopefully he can get that done tomorrow..
he also has a few articles he has to write and a magazine layout to put together before jan. 5th the deadline to hand it over to the print company! YIKES!! he's getting a little stressed out and the pressure is on..
he hasnt been feeling well the past couple of days..we think its due to his backing off the baclofen AND the dilaudid..hopefully that will subside and he'll be okay.

He's IN!!!!

Well we received a phone call today from project walk...he's IN!!! YA!!! jon is SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! he will do a week long trial starting jan. 9th, then on the 11th and the 12th, then again the next tue/thur ...then we'll go from there..

if you want to be inspired and motivated like jon is..we HIGHLY reccommend that you check out the website at www.projectwalk.org..its amazing!

well- just wanted to update everyone..

faxed the application

www.projectwalk.org

well we have filled out and faxed our application into project walk, i suppose we'll receive an email or phone call for an interview...cross your fingers and say MANY MANY prayers for this- jon is SOO motivated that it brought him to tears...he's backed off the baclofen AND dilaudid (which he's been working on before)..

i will keep you posted on the progress of project walk..

it is in carlsbad-so we will have to drive there for the sessions...

speaking of dilaudid- he's been soooooooooooooooo cold...and yesterday he said he wasnt too cold..he realized that maybe it was his body coming off the dilaudid-so lets hope that was it and that he's not soo cold all winter long!!!

YA for jon!

after watching, reading, and getting frustrated that the past information ive posted has not been offered to him or mentioned by any doctors..he's DECIDED to come off the baclofen!!!!!!!!!! im so happy!! he has been SOOO hesitant about doing so - thanks robert for you help-im not sure who (family or friends) or just having him watch and read about it-but he's decided to come off of it completely..
he started today already..he's been on 20mg 4x's a day..he's backing them down to 10..then he'll go off completely..SUCH good news-and it will be perfect timing for the research project he's doing come january..

he's REALLY motivated and inspired to work hard..we're so grateful for the progress medicine has made AND for the idea of "people with SCI can be in RECOVERY not REHAB!"

very interesting stuff

i continue to effortlessly gather more and more info to try to help jon..this is what i found today..check out all these people with a c5 injury--it sounds like having spasms is a good thing-which jon has-
he has noticed that when he spasms he is able to MOVE!! so we may think about getting him off baclofen to get more moving happening!!

http://projectwalk.org/clientLocatorNew.php

EXCITING NEWS!!!

check this website out!! EXCITING NEWS!! this is what jon will be doing for 10 weeks (2 days a week) in january..

http://news.yahoo.com/i/2614

then scroll down to Supermans Foundation and Legacy

Friday..

Today has been good..the past few days have been good for jon, he has ANOTHER UTI which i need to run to walgreens to pick up antibiotics for that..
i just gave him a haircut and trimmed his nails so he's looking and feeling better..

my dad put on the emtion wheels so he's MUCH more mobile and can get in and out of the front door all by himself..he likes the freedom..he's been outside on the sidewalk with the kids..

we went to the cal stat LA and were REALLY excited for the possiblities there..it will be a 10 week session (mondays and wednesdays-i will take him mondays and robert will do wednesdays-i will need help on mondays as we will need to leave the house by 1230-1pm and will not return until about 7 or 730 due to traffic-UGH! if anyone is able to help me on mondays it would REALLY be helpful and again its only for 10 weeks)
they will exercise extensively with him AND put him on the "gait" machine, where they strap him in and he is suspended by the ceiling and there are two guys working his legs and one on his waist and he walks on a treadmill..so that was encouraging! they said there are NO LIMITS as to what they will do with jon, if he wants to try something-they'll do it..thats also encouraging..so its like therapy for free..we wont have to pay for it-which right now is helpful too!! so we are REALLY excited about this prospect and what it will do for jon..this is the 5th year they've done this research project and were excited to be apart of it..

we may also be taking a "road trip" at the end of this month to Danville, CA to chads house- his oldest son Aden is turning 12 and will be ordained a deacon, all the family will be there and so we may try to make it happen for us...it will take TONS of work on both me and jon, but its family! so with a lot of help-we hope to be able to go and to do all that needs to be done when we are there.

well that is about the update here- i have ALL my xmas shopping done AND wrapped-just need to figure out what to do for both sets of parents-our family does xmas ornament xchanges vs gifts (MUCH easier for all of us!)so i even have my ornament picked out and here at my house ready to give..

hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!

jons being interviewed for research project

jon is going to be interviewing this wed at University of Los Angeles at 12noon for a research project- here is the link:
http://www.robomedica.com

i will need to find someone who can be at my house for most of that day on wednesday, we will need to leave around 10 or 1030am the session is only for an hour then we will return home between 4-5pm hopefully!

jon is doing well! he's been asked to speak at our ward's xmas eve sacrament at 9am- anyone who would like to come - FEEL FREE! he'd love to see you there! i plan on inviting a lot of our neighbors who supported jon at the fundraiser- i think it would be great for them to hear from jon..

jon and i had a date saturday nite with our friends- a quick dinner which was fun, we also had fast sunday with jons family last nite- which is always fun..he's doing well, working on getting himself onto a schedule, staying in his chair longer, all and all he's doing good!

back from rehab

now thats a lovely title!!

we left for jons rehab appt at 1150am..my mom made it here just in time so that worked out great..we pulled into the rehab an hour later and got ourselves checked in..we met a nice guy named mark who use to be a programmer and didnt like working long hours to help someone ELSE make millions..so he went back to school to be a PT..he's currently a student and working under a PT at the rehab place..so him and jon will have fun talking techno nerdy stuff i imagine as i sit bored listening!! heheh

he did lots of measuring and what not to have a baseline and then asked for jons goals..so to begin they gave jon LOTS of exercises and stretches to do and then we will go in once a week to learn new skills and come back home and work on those till the next week...then once jon is in better condition they'll do other things..jon said he wants to become more independant..as of now, im doing all of his transfers and most everything else for him..so we'll see where this goes..

we left the rehab at 230pm and got home at 4pm..the times to pick for his other appts werent that great of times to choose from! it was either 1030am or 145pm..so we either hit traffic in the morning on the way down or on the way home..so i picked the 1030 and figured maybe the traffic wont be as bad as the other time..

he's home now and CRASHED out on his bed asleep..he must be really tired because we've had 8 kids here in the house and all the chaos that goes on and he hasnt budged! poor guy!

our friend that comes over nightly has worked out a daily schedule for jon so that he has time to workout, do his business, spend time with family, etc..so this has been great! they still need to fine tune it=then jon will be in business..were SO grateful for such good friends that care so much about him and are willing to sacrifice their time..i truly cant do all this alone and im thankful for family and friends that help!!

we know famous people!

our friends jeff, christine and their family are going to be on tv today at 1pm set your DVR's! jeff was the MC at jons fundraiser (which he wants to do again!-so nice!)
http://drkeith.warnerbros.com/
here is the link for a preview thing..

today i will take jon to his rehab appt at 1pm in downey, my mom is coming up to care for the girls..

i will update when we return..

we are going to try to get jon on medicare so that we arent having to pay 566 per month for insurance coverage for him and myself..if he can get medicare--his premiums will be paid for and have 100% coverage with 10 dollar copays..then we'll do something A LOT less for me since im in good health..so cross your fingers!

Sunday

WHEW- its been a while since i posted..jons doing good..he's having a hard time getting and staying in his wheelchair..after 8-9 weeks of being in bed constantly..its not easy to get back into the swing of things..i find myself sometimes forcing him to get up and get going..its so hard for him though..but once he does it..its a little bit better..

we had tday at jons parents house on sunday and then my parents house on tday..SO YUMMMY!! the 2 older girls actually went with the hales up to kristi's house for the rest of the week and got home late last nite..they told me all about it and apparently rachel was REALLY good and helpful- makes momma proud!! whoo hoo!

today everyone is home and hanging out..this week on tuesday jon has his rehab appt-so that will be a long day for the both of us..i believe its at 1pm again in downey..
well see how that goes!

Monday

Yesterday was great..we did church..came home..made homemade rolls for thanksgiving dinner at the hales home that nite..got everyone ready and out the door..

we had a great time at dinner! its fun seeing everyone and catching up with everyone!!

while making the rolls yesterday..becca took off with my wedding ring- YIKES! we figured it was either outside on the grass or in the house somewhere...

this am i got up and went searching for the ring..i told the girls i'd pay them 10 bucks if they found it for me..they had even said 2 prayers yesterday when they started looking for it..so cute! the whole time i just KNEW i'd find it..it was just a matter of time..

today while the girls were looking..i was cleaning up the kitchen because i couldnt function being it a disaster and as i turned the disposal on..the downstairs bathtub filled with sewege...UGH what else could go MAJORILY wrong today!??!?!?!
so i had to go put my plumber hat on and do what i did last time to clear out the sewer thing..good times..i almost threw up twice..but walked away for a second and came back to it..i have respect for those guys now!! i managed to clear it out and make everything work again...

as i was finishing up sarah came yelling "mom i found your ring in my room!!"

what started out as a horrible day..has ended well and its only 1230pm!! NICE!!

jon is doing well..he's getting in his chair more and more..he's on his laptop working now..he's trying to remember to switch positions..sometimes he leans back and sometimes he leans forward..but its hard because that means i have to constantly be here every 30 minutes to help him..so he's trying to find ways that he can change positions without having to keep me here all the time like that..

his sores seem to still be doing okay..and not changing..so that is good..

well it looks like my 2 older girls will be heading up to utah with robert, sandra, scott and kellie to kristi's house..they will leave tomorrow nite and come home saturday..my girls are excited..of course it was all about which video games they could bring in the car to play on grandpa's laptop!! GEESH!! how times have changed huh!!! it will be nice having them gone for a few days to keep the house quiet..its really hard on jon to have screaming girls throughout the house..i started a new thing with them and told them each time they did somethign wrong or screamed in the house..they will have to clean something..i started today..i have to say my stairs look GREAT!!! needless to say..my stairs look nice and i have yet to hear any screaming..next episode will be the bathroom..i thought that was a great idea! i figure i'd mineaswell kill two birds with one stone!

what a day..

today ive spent ALL day trying to get jons dilaudid medication and it has NOT been easy for me..but alas at 830pm..we finally have some..
it started with me needing the prescription-which was waiting for me at the dr's on tuesday..the dr said she called to the pharamacy downstairs and it would take till thursday to order it in..so today i went..but they didnt have ANY because they didnt know if they were SUPPOSE to order it or not! UGH BUGGGED!!! THEN we got new insurance and after making 10 phone calls..we come to learn that yes we were approved but hadnt made it all the way "thru the system" yet..so we werent showing up! UGH BUGGGED AGAIN!!
so i had to take it to ANOTHER pharamacy and give two prescriptions for 2 different dosages to make it work AND pay cash on top of it..anyway..now im just really tired!

jon stayed in his bed again today..i think tomorrow he'll feel more up to being up and around in his chair a bit..his mom and maybe dad are coming tomorrow to help me out for the day..they typically come around 2pm..we're VERY blessed to have jons dad come on wed's afternoons to help and then again on fridays..THANK YOU!!!

well time for me to go cath jon and get kiddo's to bed-i told them tomorrow morning if they are good and NOT screaming and giggling in the early hours of the morning..we'd take a bike ride to the donut shop-they are SUPER excited about that..good times

Wednesday..

Today is Wednesday..Jon is offically healed from his sores and has been discharged by the nurses that have come daily ..YA!!
His blood pressure remains really low which makes it hard for him to be in his chair..we're currently working on that to raise it..he's on medication for it but it seems to remain at 80/60...
We're going to be working on getting him back into the chair daily so that he can build his tolerance back up again..

We'll be having tday with jons family this sunday and then tday on thursday with my family - YES two of my FAVORITE meals in one week!!

My bday is the 25th of this month- im looking forward to it because it may mean i get a break from having all 4 kids home for 10 days in a row!!! they have parent teacher conference the next two days and then ALLLL of next week off- YIKES.

Saturday..

Its now saturday- been a while since i last posted about jon! he's doing well..we made it to his urology appt- he gave us more neosporin solution for his bladder..so we will be doing that twice each day to help..
last nite we made it to the newport beach temple for a temple session with robert and sandra..that went well too..jon was really emotional..he's been kind of sad lately..
Today he is doing well..he enjoyed getting out of the house for the dr's appt's and for the temple as well..we saw Pres. Baron when we walked into the temple- thats always a treat for me! i love pres. baron- he's one of my most favorite people..

There is nothing really going on this week for jon..russell continues to come over faithfully every nite at 830pm to stretch jon..sheldon brought over jon some workout gear for him- jon was SUPER excited about that!! he's been doing that here and there..i really need to work out some schedule time frame thing for jon so he gets that done everyday! jon also wants some how to rig up an exercise bike that he can strap his feet to and have someone help him to have him think about pushing the wheels as its going..if anyone is capable-let me know!

As for me-things have been hard around the house- just trying to keep it up..its hard to keep the house in order, kids on track, homework, all of jons care..etc..i have a friend who is going to start coming over twice a week to help me with the house..when it gets sorry looking..its hard for me to function!

well jons nurse is here..time to go help!

Back from the evaluation

Well today we left at 1130am for the evaulation and didnt get home till 5pm..YIKES!

the evaluation went well..the facility is a county place..meaning all the medical and medicaid are going there..we got checked in and seen by a doctor who pocked and prodded jon in different places to get an idea of his condition..he had mentioned that his body had done quite a bit of improvement since he left loma linda..

he gave us an immediate referral over to the OT and PT there..so we walked over there and they gave us a quick appt for nov. 28th at 1pm..there they will eval him there and tell him what they can do for him for OT and PT..we noticed the dr had marked off mobility/locomotion..which means putting him in a standing position with a harness and making him walk on a treadmill..i cant EVEN IMAGINE what that will be like!!!

so all in all it was good..jon was sooooooooo tired when we got home..he fell asleep for a good 2 hours SOLID and the girls were CRAZY screaming and chaos as usual and he NEVER WOKE UP ONCE!!! he must have been so tired!! we had all eaten dinner, had showers etc..i woke him at 7pm to eat..he had NO IDEA we had done any of that!

i have to thank cara arnold for coming over to help me with the girls..she's always SOOO nice and helped clean up my house! im so lucky to have people that care for us!!

well off to get kids in bed..we did fhe (the fall of adam/agency)..ice cream..and now bedtime..then im off for my nightly 30 minute walking!!

Whew its sunday already!

these weeks are going SO FAST for us..

today jon made it to the full 3 hours of church
tomorrow he has his rehab evaluation appt-it will be a LONGGG day for the both of us! i have a friend that is able to come watch the girls till we get back..SO NICE!!

our friend russell santos continues to come nightly at 830 to stretch jon and has begun to do more rotations with him..and its really helping!! jon is SOOOOO thankful to have a friend that is so dedicated to making him heal..we're lucky to have friends that care so much!!

the hales had come over on friday to help me and jon out..it was a good time..we made chicken tacos for dinner..watched the oprah show about how to lose weight- were sooo motivated now!! and then sandra and i snuck out to kohls for about an hour..and then we came back for apple cobbler and the game apples 2 apples- SO FUN to play!!

friday nite we are hoping to get to the newport beach temple for a 630pm session with the hales family..something we are starting monthly...i will need to line up a sitter for hte girls at the hales house and then we're good to go!

Wednesday Nov. 1st...

Wow can you believe its November now!!! Getting close to 8 months since Jons accident. He's come SO VERY VERY far its amazing!! We continue to pray for more movement and move improvement and healing...

He has his rehab evaluation appt on Monday at 1pm. Jons parents are coming with me to go to that. Its at 1pm in Downey.

His sores are ALMOST healed up! 1 is completely healed- his original one, then his 2nd is closed up and the 3rd is on its way.. so this is GOOD NEWS!!!

His spirits remain high- he did SUCH a good job at the fireside- he had the youth riveted -it was awesome! it was the perfect length too- not to short and not too long--which is always important - especially to the youth!!

He had TONSSSSSSSSSS of visitors last nite during halloween! he LOVED it! he felt so loved and remembered and thought of by everyone that kept coming over!!

Jons dad came today - the magazine is COMPLETELY done and being delivered tomorrow! We cant believe it came together! we wouldnt have been able to do it AT ALL without jons dad and my dad's help- they literally saved us!!!! THANK YOU BOTH!!!!!!!!
The new magazine is now on the website..www.outsourcereport.com..

Well time to have family prayer and get candy filled kids to brush their teeth and hop into bed!