6/29/01 Art was in a very bad motorcycle accident at about 2:10a.m.
He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance and had to go in for brain surgury
The doctors had to remove part of his skull to allow for swelling of his brain.
They also had to remove some dead brain. They removed about 15% of his left side of his brain.
The part of the brain removed was the parts that control Speech, Comprehension and the right side of his body.
They told us that he would probably not survive the night.
Well he did survive the night.

7/03/01 Art has been moving his left side alot.
He does move his right side when stimulated (pain or pressure). They did a Trechiotamy today and put in a stomach feeding tube. He has been having problems with his brain pressure and swelling in his head but they are giving him medicine for it. But the problem with the medicine they give him is that they will be able to only give him so much and then it becomes toxic. He is doing ok today, his pressure has been down and the swelling has been down.

7/05/01 We had a meeting with the doctor today and he said that the swelling in his head is very bad and his pressure is very high. They keep having to give him the medicine for the pressure but he is reaching toxic levels. They said once they reach the toxic levels he can not take the medicine any more and then his brain will swell till brain death occurs. The doctor was talking about "unplugging" him but no one could even think of doing that to him. I pretty much lost it when they where talking about unplugging him. At about 12:00 that night the nurse was going to give Art some of the medicine for his brain swelling and pressue and she decided to try and loosen his Trech collar and his pressure dropped way down, so she did not have to give him the medicine.

7/08/01 He started openning his eyes today. His brain pressure has been down ever since they loosened his Trech collar.
He had a small surgury today to remove a piece of dead skin from his skull, and to cover that part of the brain up with healthy skin. The surgury went off without any problems.

7/09/01 He has his eyes open today but doesn't seem like he is seeing anything. He is moving his lips a little too. He seems to be getting better a little bit everyday.

7/11/01 He has his eyes open more today and he looks very good. They took out his brain pressure monitor because he is out of danger for that. They also took out his brain drainage tube.
It's so nice to see him without any tubes or wires in his head.

7/16/01 Well Art is awake a lot now, eyes open. But he still doesn't really look at people, he might look over at someone but not for long.
He is still moving his left side and the nurses even said they saw him holding his left hand up infront of his face and he seemed to be looking at it.
I have seen him scratch his shoulder and stomach. He moves his right side with stimulation still and a couple of times we have seem him stretch his right arm out, but he doesn't move it very much.
He is still on a Resperator but they basically turn it off and he does about 80% of the work on his own.
We are just still waiting to see how much damage has been done, but we have to wait for him to wake up all the way first.

Everyday he gets a little better and I know in my heart that he will be ok, he will probably not be the exact same person he was before the accident but he will be close to it and he will be fine.

7/16/01 Today was a good day. Art was looking at his left hand and touching his head and rubbing his eyes, and scratching his ears. He still doesn't seem to look at people but he is exploring himself. He is was more awake today.

7/19/01 Today Art got moved to a Rehab hospital. He had a rough move, had some problems when he first got there with breathing. After a fight with the Respitory Therapist, we got it taken care of and he settled down.

7/20/01 He is smiling and looking right at people today. He is much better today than he was last night. He starts his physical therapy on Monday.

7/21/01 He started laughing today when watching The Simpsons and other t.v. shows. He also started thumb wrestling with us.
He plays with his left hand, he moves his right side a little bit, but hopefully he will start moving it more when the actualy therapy starts on Monday.
He is also very emotional and gets upset easily when you show him things or say certain things to him.

7/23/01 They started his Physical Therapy today but they are only doing about 10 minutes with him. I am disappointed that they are only doing 10 min. We learned how to do some of the stuff so we do it with him at other times throughout the day. He really likes Thumb Wrestling, kept playing it all day.

7/24/01 He is doing good, he is awake almost all the time during the day now. He laughs a lot..
The doctors say that they want to start weening him off of his trech tube so he can start trying to talk. They are supposed to be bringing in a doctor this week to look at his trech and his throat and see if they can start weening him.

8/02/01 Well Art is doing very good. He has a lot of facial expressions now. He laughs a lot and he gives us a thumbs up for yes now. He even tried to talk yesterday, they still have not taken out the trech or anything so he can not make sounds.
They are going to start sitting him up in a chair tomorrow.
He is moving his right side a little bit but not a whole lot still..
They are going to be bringing in doctors from intense rehab centers to evaluate him to see if he can go to one of those hospitals. Once he gets to one of those hospitals he should start progressing more.
He started trying to write with his left hand. He can write letters that are clear but he does not form words yet.
Everyday he seems to do something new.

9/04/01 Sorry for not updating for so long it's been a busy last month.
On 8/7/01 Art was moved to a different rehabilitation hospital. He has a more intense Physical Therapy twice a day and speech therapy twice a day. On 8/11/01 we celebrated Art's 26th birthday with him. He was very happy I think mostly because so many people came to see him.
On 8/28/01 he spoke his first words since the accident. He speaks a little bit but not much since he still has the treach in. He doesn't speak in his normal voice either, it is more of a hoarse whisper.
He is making sense and he knows when he says something incorrect, which the doctors said that if he did start to talk, he wouldn't make sense to us and he wouldn't know he was saying things wrong, so yet another thing he has proved them wrong on. He actually started taking some steps today with the assistance of a walked and someone suporting his right leg.
He is more aware and is understanding things a lot more know.
He is supposed to go back to Denver Health (Denver General) for surgery this week or next week to have the plate put in his head and then if everything goes well with that, then in about a week he will be able to have the trech taken out.
Art is also eatting regular food for the past two weeks, he is no longer on tube feeding and he LOVES eatting, even if it is hospital food.
The therapist have told me that if he keeps going the way he is, he should be able to come home around the end of october.
I CAN'T WAIT!

9/10/01 Well Art still has not had him surgery to put the plate in. His insurance is being a pain and not letting us go back to Denver General so we are waiting for a list of places he can go to.
He's talking has gotten better and he is able to say more now. he is also getting better with standing with little help.
He is also getting more independant and wanting to do more things on his own or with very little help.

9/13/01 Well we still do not know when Art will have surgury to put his plate in. The insurance company keeps jacking us around. They did take out his feeding tube finally today. They are still waiting to take out his trech till after surgury. He did do some walking today with a walker thingy. It is where he puts his arms on rests while standing and he pushes it and they help move his right leg but he did take about 20 steps today.
He is trying to be a little more verbal but i know most of the problem is the trech. I will be so happy when he has his plate put in and his trech taken out.
I also picked up his motorcycle today from the shop after having the estimate done on it. The total to get it fixed would be ,192.97. I will post some pictures of the bike in a couple days. If he is able to ride again it will not be on this bike.

09/21/01 Today Art had another CAT Scan. They told me today that it looks like he will have surgury on Friday, 09/28/01 to have his plate put in. He has been doing so good with walking. He is also getting some movement in his right shoulder and they said that it should start moving down his arm and start getting some movement in his arm soon. They also put in a smaller trech on 9/18/01. He has the smallest one he can have so that after he has surgury they can take the trech out within a couple of days. He is also talking a little more, getting down when to say Hello and Goodbye and Thank You, stuff like that.
He works very hard everyday and in the last 2 months he has only missed 1/2 a day of therapy from not feeling good, otherwise he is willing to work very hard to try to get better. He is very determined to working hard at getting better.

9/27/01 I went with Art back to Denver General today. They were supposed to do a CAT scan and a consultation for his surgury. After we got there we where informed that they where too busy to do the CAT scan. So we met with the doctor. Now they want to put in a Titanium plate instead of a plastic one. I asked how long it will take and they said that after they get the measurements from the CAT scan then it take 3-4 weeks to have one made. Then after they get the plate back then we will have to schedule for surgury. So it looks like anywhere from 3-6 weeks till surgury. So today was kinda bumming for me and Art. But when we got back to the other hospital i told the doctors that it will be 3-6 weeks so they went ahead and took his Trech out. he feels much better now that he has that tube out.

9/28/01 Art started using his regular voice today. He isn't saying much but he can say Hello, Art, Thank You, and he laughs with his regular voice now. He still whispers a lot of the time but he is now able to use his voice.
They told me today that they would like to keep him at this hospital till after he has surgury. So it looks like he wont be home till some time in November. It's kinda upsetting that we have to wait so much longer now but i guess it might be for the better since he will be able to get more rehab and it's safer for him to be there with his head the way it is.

9/30/01 Today was a good day. I took Art outside and we spent about 3 hours outside. His family brought their dogs down and Art was very happy to see them. We had a very good weekend together. He is talking a little more and he is getting stronger with his standing and walking. His reflexes in his right arm are getting better so they are pretty optimistic that his right arm will return to moving.

10/04/01 Today we got to go on an "outting". We went bowling with his Occupational Therapist and two other patients. It was good to get Art out and have some fun. We stood him up at the end of the lane and he tried to throw the ball. He also did a lot of chair dancing. Art bowled a 58, which i think is pretty darn good.
We are still waiting to hear about getting measurements for his plate.

10/05/01 Art got moved to a different room today, he is no longer in the "Low Stimulation Unit". I helped get his stuff moved and we got everything settled in. He had all of his therapy and then i had to leave for work. He was going to try and take a nap. I got to work and after about an hour the hospital called and said that Art tried to walk to the restroom on his own and feel. I left work and rushed back down to the hospital and found that he had climbed out of bed, over the foot of the bed. Then tried to walk by himself to the restroom and he feel and hit his knee. He is now in a bed that looks kinda like a cage. It has a netting around all sides and the top that zip up to inclose him. he hates it but they have to be very carefull because of his head. I am just very glad he did not hit his head when he fell.

10/10/01 Today we went on another "outting". We went to the Museum of Natural History. Art really liked it. We only got to stay for about an hour but he liked it.
Art goes tomorrow for his CAT scan to get the measurements. The doctor said they are trying to get a rush on it so they can get the surgury and everything done by the end of the month so he can come home. His talking is still improving a lot. He is now also able to walk without a walker with assistance. His right side tends to collapse after a few minutes so he needs supported for that.

10/11/01 Today we went and Art got his CAT scan. I was being nosey and looking threw the papers that we took with us to get the CAT scan and it says on the papers that Surgery is scheduled for 10-26-01. I hope so, i just want them to get it done with so he can come home.

11/02/01 Art had his surgery today, got his plate put in. He was supposed to have surgery on October 31 but then it got postponed till Nov. 1 and then it got postponed till the 2nd. He finally got it done though. It took about 3 hours, and he is now in ICU for the night. He will stay at Denver General till Monday and then he should be able to go back to the Rehab hospital. He did very good, everything went great with the surgery.

11/05/01 Art got to go back to the rehab hospital today. He is doing great and he looks good. He will go back in about 2 weeks to get the staples out of his head.

11/06/01 Found out today that Art gets to come home next monday. YEAY.. Now we have to get everything ready for him to come home. He is very happy.. I am very happy..

11/12/01 Art got to come home today. It was so nice to take him home. He is very happy to be home. he will be doing Day Treatment, he will go in from 9:00-3:30 Monday thru Friday for therapy. he will do this till sometime around February. Then we are probably going to be going to Poland for some more therapy out there.

1/04/01 Art was discharged from Day Treatment today. They say he is not progressing enough to justify to insurance to keep him in the program any longer. He is now alking around the house with a Quad Cane. He is only using his wheelchair for long distances when we go out. His talking is improving, he is able to say some sentences and phrases. he still has a hard time saying what he wants but he is now trying to speak without help. He will keep up with Speech therapy once we get the perscriptions and insurance things worked out. he is also going to be going for Vision therapy once we get that all worked out.
He had a great christmas and new years. He is doing great when we go out in public, he doesn't get scared or overwhelmed.

2/20/02 Well things have been going pretty good. Art's been doing outpatient Speech Therapy twice a week. He also has been going to a day program twice a week, which he likes somewhat. I think he likes the activities that they do the most. He is also working with a "Life Skills Trainer" twice a week, to work on his independance and getting him back out in the community.
He does great when we go out, places and crowds don't seem to bother him to much. I take him to the movies and to dinner.
He is getting ready to start Pool therapy. He is very excited about getting in the pool.
In March Art and I are planning on going to Austin, Texas to visit his brother for a couple days. I think it will be very good for him to get away for awhile. We are still probably going to be going to Poland later in the year.
I finally got the computer working at home so I will be posting some recent pictures of Art.

09/30/02 - Sorry I haven't updated in awhile but the computer went down and then we got a new one and had to get it setup and running and just been really busy. Well things are going pretty good. Art is still improving all the time. He has been still going to therapy. He walks with a cane, he still has a lot of problems with his speech and his memory. We are going to therapy twice a week so that he can use to learn an Augmentative Communication device, basically he pushes a picture and it talks for him. his short term memory is getting better but he still has problems with it and there are a lot of things he doesn't remember from before the accident until you remind him.
We are working on speech things almost everyday and hopefully it will come back to him.
He still has double vision but he does have glasses that help some. He will probably be going for vision therapy soon which should help him with his double vision.
He still does not have any movement in his right arm, he is though able to move his shoulder some now. We work on that every night.
One thing that has changed is that he does tend to be emotional over things. He does not like it when people argue around him any more, it bothers him a lot.
I guess that's all for now, been keeping busy with everything and had a few minutes so I thought I would post an update.
OH, he still wants to fix his bike and ride again. I told him we will have to discuss that at a later date. hehehehehee

09/19/03 Well it's been a year since i wrote i guess, a lot has happened. Art is doing very well, he is still going to speech therarpy twice a week. His speech is improving but he still has problems with it.
He has decided to let his hair grow long. It's almost to the middle of his back.
He is walking much better. When he is around the house he hardly uses it. He uses it mostly just when we go out.
He still does not have movement in his right arm but he can move his shoulder.
The big news i guess would be that we are actually expecting our first baby due on October 12th.
It was shocking news to find out we where going to be parents but we are both excited and feel everything will be just fine.
Art is very excited because we found out it will be a baby boy. Now we are still arguing on a name for the baby.
We have gone to birthing classes and everything together.
I will try to post some new pictures and be better with keeping up with this sit, just been a little busy. :)

04-12-06

Well it's been awhile since I've updated this site. Art and I have now been living on our own for almost a year. He does great being at home alone now. Our son is 2 1/2 now and we are expecting another baby in August. Art is doing a lot better now. He still has some speech problems but he is doing better. He is walking with a cane and doesn't even really use it when we are at home. He still does not have use of his right arm. He still has therapies he goes to and still works with Independent Life Skills trainers 5 days a week. He just interviewed for Vocational Rehab, they help assist in getting him back to work or with getting back to school. Because of his speech problems and he can't write, he is limited on what he can do right now.  Art still does not drive but has a VERY SERIOUS desire to drive. He has had two seizures though. He had one in December of 2003 and he had one last month. One good thing is they are small seizures and they have been so far apart. Other than that everyone has been in good health.