Update #70 on Kevin

This morning we got here around 8:15 AM. Kevin had another fever of 103, so we told the staff and they brought in some Tylenol. He had it in his system for about an hour and it had kicked in. His temp dropped down to 100. His doctor came in and told us that his eye appointment is set for tomorrow morning, even though his right is looking a little better (it’s still red and pink, but not as brightly colored blood red as previously). UPDATE to the temp (I started writing this an hour ago) – Now his temp has started to go back up, it is at 102, and we have some ice around some warm points of the body to help cool him down until it is okay to take his temperature again.


A family friend came up to give Kevin a haircut. I gave him a little of my gel. He is looking sharp! He does need a shave though.

Kevin got the smaller trach tube placed over the weekend. It went down in size from an 8 to a 6. It also does not have the little balloon on the end. Before he needed that to prevent aspiration. I guess that is not as much of a concern now. There has been some slowdown on capping the trach. I think the lung doctors’ opinion (he has one per week in a five week rotation) is that unless he is more alert, it would be a mistake to remove the trach completely. Normally, you would cap the trach as a way to determine tolerance for removal. But we feel that in coma stimulation and discovery there are other reasons for capping the trach and/or placing the speaking valve. For one, if he is going to make any sounds or say anything, he can only do this when his trach has at least the speaker valve on it (or when capped). For another, studies show that using smells for about ten seconds per smell can be good coma stimulation. So we do see benefit in using those methods as long as it does not hurt Kevin. I was reassured by the PA today that as long as we are here, he can be capped without danger.

There are still rumblings about moving him. While we have looked at several places for the next move, we aren’t sure if it is time yet.

For those of us from out of town (or country), we can start to feel the financial pinch. God has always provided, and we believe that he always will. It’s just in these lean times, that we look to see how God will supply.

Tomorrow Kevin has an eye appointment tomorrow so we will hopefully find out more then.

Last night was the final night of the Tulsa State Fair, so several of us went. We ended up at the knife ring toss as usual. I won a few cool knives for Kevin.

Thank you for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (go here to read past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (or here)

Update #69 on Kevin

Thanks for your continued prayers even with the lack of updates.


Throughout this weekend, Kevin has continued to battle his fever spikes. When the fever comes on, there are full body shivers that accompany it. Sometimes the shivers come first, sometimes the fever comes first. His white count has remained good. I found out tonight info about a sputum culture that was taken on October 2nd and came back on October 5th. It showed pseudomonas again, which brings fevers with it, as well as infections in lungs and eyes, not sure if it was ever in the eyes though.

They continue to put Kevin in the neuro chair on a daily basis, usually twice, but sometimes less, if he has a fever spike or intense body tremors. The doctor has an appointment at an eye specialist’s office on Tuesday morning. This is good for the eye, although I will say that today Kevin’s right eye was starting to look even better, especially when compared with a week ago. There is more pink than red in some sections, and the red is not bright blood red like last Monday night.

We have been learning how to do basic care stuff, including suctioning Kevin’s trach tube and also oral care. The more we know, the better care Kevin will have.

Thanks for praying and reading,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to find all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (if you have trouble with the first link)

Update #68 on Kevin

This morning was much more laid back. We found out last night that Kevin’s doctor had consulted with an eye specialist about Kevin’s eye. They are going to treat it with a very powerful antibiotic and topical ointment.


The MRI while not focused on Kevin’s brain (it was intended for his eye) did capture an overview of his brain. It showed that there was still blood residue around the fracture point on the right side of his head. It also showed residual blood in his brain where the trauma had been (including the brainstem). He said it could take awhile for that to go away.

Kevin has still been battling fever and they are trying to figure out what is causing it. His body has had tremors and chills whenever the fever is coming on, so it has been a signal.

He sat in his neuro chair once so far today for 2 hours and 45 minutes.  The physical and occupational therapists held Kevin in a sitting position on the edge of his bed for 20 minutes again today.

Pray for Kevin’s eye to heal, pray for his fever to subside, pray for his mind to heal completely.

Thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to find all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (an alternate address)

Update #67 on Kevin

Okay…..take a breath, Matt. Today has been really stressful. Not really bad stuff, but it has already been a flurry of activity. I mean it seems like every doctor, nurse, tech, specialist, case worker, therapist, etc… has come through Kevin’s door this morning. Only the last thirty minutes have been somewhat peaceful. Here’s the list of those that came in:


Infection Specialist (for his eye – he said it is looking better to him)
Wound Specialist (for his heel blood blisters – She is ordering new suspension boots that are soft)
Neurologist (increased the amount of nightly muscle relaxer from 10mg to 20mg, after only one night)
Pulmonologist (Lung Doctor, he said it might not be good to remove the trach until he is more awake)
Physician’s Assistant (to the Lung Doctors – nodded in agreement with the lung doctor)
Case Worker (Insurance cleared Kevin for another week at Meadowbrook)
Respiratory Therapist (capped his trach for about three hours)
Pharmacist (with an antibiotic that supposed to be here last night; it was wrong, I had the nurse switch it)
X-Ray technician (took an X-Ray of Kevin’s chest)
Physical therapist & Occupational therapist (they had him sit up on the side of the bed for 20 mins this time, 2 days ago it was 10)
Nurses (to nurse him to health)
Techs (to tech him to health)

I know there were others, but the one who hasn’t shown up yet, is his main general doctor. He is always good about answering questions, which is good, since I have a list of about six or seven.

Yesterday, we spoke with Kevin’s dentist. We just wanted to check to make sure there wasn’t anything we needed to be concerned with. They said there is nothing that we need to worry about for now. It is good that he is being tube fed, instead of a tube down his throat. The reason is that there is no food going into his mouth to encourage the growth of bacteria in his mouth. We can even get a dry tooth brush to work on his teeth ourselves.

Reps from one of the Skilled Nursery facilities visited today. They missed one of the windows of Kevin’s more alert stages throughout the day. I think they are planning on returning. As of right now, he is cleared to remain at Meadowbrook for another week. We are happy with him staying at Meadowbrook as long as his insurance will let him. Can I just say that it is warped that insurance is one of the biggest deciders for Kevin’s medical state. Asinine. Did the insurance go to school the study medicine??? Well, I just have to fall back and trust in the one who created doctors and insurance agents. God will continue to get us through this situation. Please pray that Kevin remains or goes to wherever God has the best for him.

Pray for Kevin’s complete recovery.
Pray for our family to become closer to God as we go through this together.
Pray that the nurses, doctors, etc… are opened to Kevin’s progress and God’s involvement.
Pray for the restoration of Kevin’s house.

The thing about stress is that it can come from good things and bad things. Stress can impact your health, your decisions, your life. Pray that we rely on the Holy Spirit to comfort us and for us to wade through the waist deep swamp of stress in which we currently find ourselves. I am already feeling more relaxed.

Thanks for your prayers,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (check out the updates you missed, it may not make sense otherwise)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (you can find them here too)

Update #66 on Kevin

I am really missing Kevin tonight. I’m sitting right across the room from him, yet I am missing him deeply to the very marrow of my bones. I just finished looking through over 11,000 photos from 2008. Each one I was looking for Kevin. Looking for his vitality, his liveliness, his personality….and I found several very satisfying shots. About halfway through I felt the pang of missing him, however, as I kept moving through the photos, remembering, savoring, I experienced the full gamut of emotions. I laughed to myself several times, with an audible chuckle, as I saw Kevin making some face. I remember events like Easter egg hunting. My wife, our nephews and nieces thought it would be fun to hide the eggs for Kevin, Greg and me. First they sent us on a wild goose hunt, looking in Greg’s backyard for eggs that were not hidden there. Then they unleashed us upon the front yard to battle over each uncovered gem in the grass, or tree, or hole, or…you get the picture. I saw holidays, such as Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Independence Day is a major holiday in my family. Each year, we grill and shoot fireworks. Many of those years we did this at our family’s lakelot at Fort Gibson, near Wagoner, Oklahoma. Questions arose in my mind, such as when would our holidays return to normal, if ever?


Kevin’s digestion seems to be adjusting well to the increased rate on tube feeding. He hasn’t had his tube feeding pump turned off once today. He also had his trach capped for around 5 ½ hours. Another good run. He also sat in the blue neuro chair for 3 hours and 15 minutes. I am going to talk more to the doctor in the morning about Kevin’s MRI yesterday. The only thing we know for sure is that his eye infection has not entered his eyeball. Kevin just had a bath and he blinked quick and reacted to some cold soap spray on his body.

The respiratory therapist and tech are trying to adjust him in the bed, so that his head does not lay to one side nor lean too far forward. He needs to have a more clear airway.

Kevin also had his first muscle relaxer at night. The neurosurgeon ordered it to give his body a rest. We don’t want him being too sedated throughout the day. His general doctor said for us to just see how he does the next couple days. The muscle relaxer should only last 6-8 hours, and he took it around 9 PM tonight. He still had several movements with his head and leg, even with the muscle relaxer.

I was looking at some of the stats on Kevin’s site and groups. Here’s the latest:

In one month, there have been 2,269 computers (visitors) go to prayforkevin.com from 21 countries around the world! That blog has been viewed by those 2,269 visitors 8,218 times!! There are 296 people who receive the updates on Kevin via email and another 300 people in the Pray For Kevin group on Facebook! Thanks to everyone that is following these updates and praying for Kevin’s recovery! Thanks for prayers for the restoration of Kevin’s house. Thanks also for prayers for our family as we navigate this tragedy. It means more than you may ever know.

Thanks,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to find all previous 65 updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (and yet another way to find them)

Update #65 on Kevin

We are back from Kevin’s MRI. We got back around 3 PM and Kevin seemed to be sleeping soundly. We might hear something about those tomorrow. Remember, the big reason for the MRI was Kevin’s eye, but there was also brain overview scans too. I sat in the control room and watched the entire procedure. It was also a Tube MRI, as opposed to the Open MRI that I previously mentioned. Kevin did really good on no oxygen and lower heart rate throughout the procedure.


While Kevin was laying in his bed, post MRI procedure. I tried something. I had been showing my mom some candies that I picked up at CrackerBarrel recently. I got them because they reminded me of my youth. Remember those old orange marshmallowey’like ‘circus peanuts’ and the sugar sprinkled jelly orange slices? My grandma always had those in candy containers at her house. When I showed the orange peanuts to mom, she said they were one of Kevin’s favorites growing up. We read a few weeks ago about using smells in coma stimulation, so I broke one in half and put it under Kevin’s nose. I was standing on Kevin’s right side and I couldn’t see his eyes since he was leaning to the left, so I walked around. I tried it again, placing it under each nostril for a couple seconds. After about 4 seconds he started opening his left eye (his right eye was taped shut giving it a rest). I switched it back and forth under his nose and his eyelid kept opening. I told him what it was and told him that I wished I could give it to him. His eye opened really big. Then, looking back, I did something really mean…I ate it. I didn’t mean to do it, it was just natural.

An hour or so later, we had a little scare. Kevin’s heart rate jumped up and raced awhile, then it would slow down. About five or ten minutes would go by and it would do it all again. They also had issues with Kevin’s monitor, so they worked to get it changed out. It seems like Kevin is doing better now.

Thanks for praying and reading,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (Pre-MRI updates available here)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (And here)

Update #64

Today is MRI day. EMSA should be arriving in the next thirty minutes to transport Kevin to Southcrest Hospital for an MRI. Kevin is having an OMRI, or Open MRI. Open MRI scanners have been developed for people who are anxious or obese or for examination of small parts of the body, like knees or shoulders. The major difference between an OMRI and a Tube MRI is that instead of lying down in a narrow tunnel, the imaging table has more space around the body so that the magnet does not completely surround the person being tested. I have seen a picture and it looks like something off of Star Trek.


Speaking of Star Trek, I know that some people either like Star Wars or Star Trek. My brothers and I watched both. Captain Kirk, Bones and Spock……good times. I remember going to the movie, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan with a group of people, including my brothers.

The Open MRI procedure is at 12:30 and should take no more than three hours. Then we have to wait on EMSA to transport Kevin back to Meadowbrook. It was scheduled for his eye. The doctor wants to make sure that his right eye infection has not entered into his eyeball. It will also give us an MRI of his brain at the same time.

The neurologist came in this morning. She wants him to start having physical therapy twice per day. She is also ordering a muscle relaxer. Kevin will only have this at night, since it would also knock him out. This will allow his muscles to rest, at least at night, from the muscle spasms and tone that he is experiencing.

When Physical and Occupational therapy came in today, they did lots of range of motion. They also tried sitting him on the edge of the bed for ten minutes. The whole time his heart rate did not go past 117, in fact after a couple minutes it lowered back down to 105. Also his O2 rate was good the whole time. After he was laid back in bed, his O2 rate lowered to the low 90’s (93-95), but the respiratory therapist said that is normal.

Also, I failed to mention that on Friday they had capped his trach for 7 ½ hours. Several hours on Saturday and Sunday. Today they capped him first this morning. He was capped between 7:30 and 11:30. They switched him over to oxygen to help him for transport.

This weekend we also discovered two pressure sores on the heels of his feet. There is supposed to be a wound specialist come in and check them. I guess that will have to wait until after the OMRI, since EMSA is now here.

Thanks for praying for Kevin, the transport and his complete healing,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (tell all your friends)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (or tell them this one)

Update #63 on Kevin

Kevin had an uneventful night last night. Yesterday, he had his trach capped for at least six hours by the time, that we left last night. Usually, they would give his lungs a break, by putting him back on wall-flow, but I’m not sure what time they did that. Regardless, six hours would be his record so far, for being capped and breathing only through his mouth and nose. His respiratory therapist even gave him his breathing treatment with a mask over his mouth and nose.


He has had a fever a couple of times over the past couple days, so the doctor ordered some blood cultures to be done. Speaking of blood, Kevin had some in his urine last night, but apparently, it was just from getting his catheter pulled or something, because that cleared up overnight too.

Kevin’s stomach digestion issues are still a little buggy. They have to keep starting and stopping his tube feeding, so that he can digest better. Keep praying for his digestion issues as he adjusts to a higher dose of tube feeding.

Thanks for praying for the family as we navigate all the issues that naturally come up in a situation like this. Pray for us to find time to deal with the flood issues too. It is difficult tearing time away from Kevin to deal with material things.

Thanks for caring,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (if you have trouble accessing the site above, try this)

Update #62 on Kevin

Last night, Angie and I stayed with Kevin. We went to the fair last night. Our family had fun together, even though it was strange that Kevin wasn’t there. We walked around, went in buildings, ate food and played games. Really, the only game we played was the knife game. It is a favorite of my family. I won a couple red knives in Kevin’s honor, red is his favorite color. After the fair we came back to relieve a family friend and our mom and dad. Then we spent the night.


Kevin had a relatively good night. Yesterday, the doctor had increased his tube feeding rate from 50 to 70 and he has been having some issues adjusting to the digestion. He has had various high residuals (leftovers in his belly). Sometimes that is part of his body getting used to the new amount. Pray that his stomach can start handling the new amounts, which will give him more nutrition.

Kevin has had his trach capped since 2:30 pm (it is 5:04 pm now). So he is going on 3 hours, which was his record so far to date breathing only through his nose and mouth. He is supposed to be moved into his blue neuro chair around 6:00 pm for his evening stint. This morning, he was having different spasms, and his heart rate went up. The doctor explained to us that this is a byproduct of being stimulated, including us touching him. It isn’t causing him pain, it’s like when you work out with weights, you work hard and your heart rate goes up. He said we don’t want to stop touching him, so therefore we accept the byproduct.

The doctor ordered an MRI for Kevin’s eye on Monday morning. EMSA will arrive around 11:30 AM, he’ll go to Southcrest and come back afterwards. I believe this will also give us an MRI of Kevin’s brain at the same time. Two for one!

Thanks for praying and reading,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all the updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (another way to find the blog)

Update #61 on Kevin

Our family loves the fair. I can’t actually remember the first time I went to the fair. I am guessing it is because I start going as a baby. Every year my family spends several days at the Tulsa State Fair, playing games, eating corn dogs and listening to concerts; our dad has even played music out there for concerts and in contests. Last year, I took tons of pictures and video, so that the years we are in Italy we can look at the photos and think about the good times with family.


When all this happened, we didn’t even know if it would last this long. We had no idea if we would be here in America for the fair. As the time for the fair approached, we started thinking about the decision of going or not going. It will be so strange and emotional to go to the fair without Kevin. Although, it would probably be just as strange to not go.

Our family has a meeting spot at the fair. Before cell phones, it wasn’t easy to meet up without a meeting spot. We meet at the OU booth in the IPE building (Quiktrip building). Often we would be stuck waiting forever for someone. If we end up meeting there this year, we might find ourselves lingering a little longer for Kevin to arrive.

We did decide to go, at least a few times. Kevin would, and he would want us to do that too. So tonight, a family friend will be with Kevin allowing our family the opportunity to go all together, at least once. So if you remember our family tonight, pray for us to have a good time and have the strength to make it through the emotional aspects of going without Kevin.

The search continues for a next step facility. Kevin is here at Meadowbrook for another week, until next Tuesday (it is a week to week approval). But we don’t want to be caught unprepared so we continue to look at what’s next. Right now, it would need to be a facility that accepts patients with a trach, and some even distinguish between recently placed and older trachs. His is considered a recently placed trach.

The past couple days he has had the trach cap on, which only allows him to breathe through his nose and mouth. He continues to do well with it, sometimes having more coughing issues, but other times doing fine. It is a relearning of breathing. His respiratory rate continues to do well. The other night they removed all leads from his chest (telemetry). The only things they are monitoring now are through the pulsox. It measures his oxygen rating and basic heart monitoring. Kevin had a couple of small sores on his back that he got while in TICU. He hasn’t gotten anymore since being at Meadowbrook. One looks better, the other has looked better and not as good (but never really bad). They both need to heal more.

He has had the trach cap on for a couple hours again today and is doing well with it. He also was in his neuro chair today. In a future update, I’ll post what questions we are asking of the facilities we are looking into for Kevin. It is a long list and some centers respond better than others. I thought it may be helpful for others. And also if anyone out there has more experience than we do, feel free to send us questions we may not have thought.

Thanks for praying and reading. And maybe we’ll see you tonight if you brave the rain and make it out to the fair tonight.
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to follow Kevin’s progress and pray)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (an alternate address)

Update #60 on Kevin

Kevin did well throughout the night, as far as his stats are concerned. This morning the doctor looked at Kevin’s right eye (the one severely infected). He saw that there was some white coming back into his eye. We looked at his eye and saw it too. There is a sliver of white on the left side of his right iris. Also above his iris, there is white with a web of red veins, but you can see the white peeking through. The rest of the sclera (white part) is fire engine red, but the filmy layer of pus has come off the iris, so you can see his brown iris.


They put him in his blue neuro chair at 10:00 AM. Around 11:30 AM the Respiratory Therapist placed the cap on the trach again. This blocks off the trach hole and forces Kevin to use only his mouth and nose for all breathing functions. This time, Kevin seemed to adjust well. His heartrate did not go up. His respiratory rate only increased from 22 breaths per minute (bpm) to 25-26 bpm’s.

At 11:45 AM Kevin started having a muscle spasm reflex in his right arm. I used a technique taught to us by the Physical and Occupational therapists. You slowly bend his hand back and hold it in the position. I did that for about 30 minutes, giving him a rest. His heart rate is between 103-110 and his respiratory rate is between 20-25 bpm.

We are trying to investigate the next stage facilities for whenever that may come. If this were his last week, we would need to move him in the next couple days. However, he is still on IV antibiotics and they are trying to work on capping his trach. So that makes it less likely that this is his last week.

The thing is, we want him to be wherever God wants him to be for healing. Please just pray that God would place Kevin wherever he wants him to be.

Thanks for praying and reading,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (alternate address)

Update #59 on Kevin

So Kevin ended up breathing with the speaking valve on for ten hours today (minus the 30 minutes he had a breathing treatment). The Respiratory therapist switched Kevin back on Wall-Flow so he could have a break tonight throughout the night. He did great on it tonight. Breathing in through the trach, and out through his mouth and nose. Pray that he can make the switch over to the trach cap. That means everything goes through his mouth and nose, no trach support for that!


His right eye was definitely less swollen today, but it was still very red and extremely irritated. It continues to appear that there is a layer of puss just under the outer skin of the eye. Pray that it can be determined if the infection has entered his actual eyeball.

One of Kevin’s nurses had it set up so that she could remotely monitor his blood pressure. Just another way to watch over Kevin as he continues to heal. As soon as she was told it was set-up we heard the cuff start airing up! I love technology.

For the past week, whenever Kevin has been put in his blue neuro chair, he starts having these synchronized muscle reflexes. Both legs, both arms, both hands and all fingers contract in bursts. It will last anywhere from 2 minutes to 45 minutes. Physical and Occupational therapy told us that his brain is firing signals to his muscles. His brain fires too much at one time. When he begins having these, we can slowly push his hand backwards towards his foreman and hold pressure. It helps his body to relax. The goal is for his brain to fire just the right amount of signal.

I returned our rental car today. As the employee was driving me back to drop me off, we began talking about where she was dropping me off. I explained it was at Meadowbrook Specialty Hospital. I told her my brother was in a coma after an automobile accident. She knew my name from the rental and asked if I was related to Kevin Crosser. I told her I was his brother and that was the brother that was in the hospital in a coma. She reacted with surprise that she knows Kevin. Her husband worked with him in the past. It is hard for one of us in the family to go anywhere without someone knowing Kevin. He knew so many people. And he had a big impact on quite a few of them.

The stitches are out of Kevin’s wound on the right side of his head. His scar is healing up nicely and hair is growing back in around it. The scabs on his ears, have all but fallen off, or completely healed.

I’ll close tonight’s with Kevin’s stats…
Heart rate 89-95 beats per minute
Respiratory rate 20-24 breaths per minute
Latest blood pressure 97 over 55
And his Oxygen is holding firm at 100.

Thanks for praying for all these things! Let’s thank God together that he has answered so many prayers. Please pray for healing of Kevin’s mind. Pray for healing of Kevin’s brainstem. Thank you for giving your time to the recovery of Kevin.

Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (the blog)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (the other way to get to the blog)

Update #58 on Kevin

They tried to cap Kevin’s trach around 10:30 AM. His stats were okay, but he seemed to be trying to breathe through the capped trach. His body hadn’t quite adjusted to breathing in and out through his nose and mouth yet. So, instead of going completely back on the trach tube, they put his speaking valve on. If you’ll remember, the speaking valve, allows him to take breaths in but he has to breathe out through his nose and mouth. He has been on the speaking valve since since then and his vitals have continued to improve. Just now his heart rate is in the 90’s and his respiratory rate has been in the high teens and low 20s. That means he has been off the trach tube and on the speaking valve for 2 ½ hours. I think before the longest had been around 1 hr 20 mins.


The respiratory therapist came in to take his speaking valve off. She only did this to give him a breathing treatment. He coughed just a first and she suctioned it off. Then he was clear. She said he continued to sound really clear. After the breathing treatment, she put the speaking valve back on, but this time left the nasal O2 line off. They had put in on this morning, when they tried the cap. They said that they didn’t think he needed it, but it was just a precaution. He has done so well, it is better that he has it back off.

Physical and occupational therapy came in and worked on his range of motion. Also over the past couple days Kevin’s residuals have been next to nothing. Residuals are just the measurement of what is left in his stomach, in other words, what he is NOT digesting. So low residuals mean that he is digesting his food well. His doctor said this morning that his nutrition levels were normal, so he is getting what he needs.

People continue to ask what they can do for the family, so I will list options here….

 - If you work at American Airlines and have days off that you would consider donating to my brother, Greg, you can do so at the administration desk located next to the injury counselor’s office in the admin building (near the credit union). We are getting ready to start sorting through all Kevin’s possessions that were in Kevin’s house during the flood. We have to go through every single item. It would be very helpful for us if Greg was able to have the time off to help at the warehouse.

- If you want to prepare meals for the family or deliver the meals is something that you would like to help with, we could still use help in that area. You can contact Jeff Congdon, if you would like to prepare or deliver a meal OR you can contribute to the Crosser account #4374300 at 742-DINE.

New stats:
Members of the “Pray for Kevin” Facebook group: 295 members
Subscribers to the “Pray for Kevin” email update list: 285 subscribers
Visitors to prayforkevin.com: 1,968 people
How many times prayforkevin.com has viewed: 6,815 views
Twitter followers of pray4kevin: 30 twitterers

There’s almost been 2000 people go to prayforkevin.com! Thanks for spreading the word. If you know of anyone that would like to get these updates, please forward the updates to them. Or have them go to http://www.prayforkevin.com/ and sign up to receive the updates via email.

Thanks for praying for Kevin,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (click here to read all the updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (just another way to get there)

Update #57 on Kevin

Have you ever heard the song “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good” by Don Williams? I remember Kevin bringing home that song on an 8-track. For those of you too young to remember the vinyl albums and 45s, good luck remembering 8-tracks. They were basically pre-cassette cassettes, about the size of a thick piece of toast. Anyway, the lyrics to that song are…


Lord, I hope this day is good
I'm feelin' empty and misunderstood
I should be thankful Lord, I know I should
But Lord, I hope this day is good

Lord, have you forgotten me
I've been prayin' to you faithfully
I'm not sayin' I'm a righteous man
But Lord, I hope you understand

I don't need fortune and I don't need fame
Send down the thunder Lord, send down the rain
But when you're planning just how it will be
Plan a good day for me

You've been the king since the dawn of time
All that I'm asking is a little less crime
It might be hard fo the devil to do

As we arrived here this morning (we had another family member stay last night thankfully), the sun was up, and things felt hopeful. We got there in time to meet today’s respiratory therapist and RN. A short while later and his main doctor came in. We have felt very thankful to God for this doctor. As he examined Kevin, we waited. Once he finished, he shared some thoughts and we chatted for a bit. We had already noticed that Kevin’s right eye had lost some of its swollenness, then he noticed too. He wants to make sure he isn’t missing anything, even though he already called in an infection specialist doctor. He mentioned different ideas such as calling in favors of eye doctors that he knows to get them in Meadowbrook. In fourteen years, he told us he hasn’t had an eye specialist come in there. He also talked about the possibility of taking Kevin somewhere to have his eye checked. Another option was to have an MRI done of Kevin’s eye. He wants to make sure that the infection is not getting into Kevin’s right eyeball. He said the benefit of an MRI is getting one of the brain at the same time. Two for one, he said.

We have heard some suggestions from staff about looking at the next stage for Kevin’s care. Meadowbrook is an LTAC. An LTAC is to help transition Kevin from the ICU to a more healthy, stable life. His vitals have continued to improve. His scarring is healing on the right side of his head. His swelling has gone down from his left arm, where the clot is. The PA said that his pneumonia is doing better. And his pseudomonas is something that can get better, but that he would have the bacteria in his lungs as long as he has the trach tube. The next stage depends on a few factors. In order to move to a rehab center, Kevin would need to be able to participate in rehab therapy three hours per day. At this stage, we aren’t sure if this is possible. Most of it would be range of motion and things like that. He isn’t at the point to do it on his own yet, since he isn’t really waking up. He just seems more alert at times than others.

Another option for the next step would be a skilled nursing center. These are usually a part of a nursing center, but are more advanced and for patients that need more attentive care. If Kevin still has his trach tube in, we are limited in choice to five different places in the Tulsa area. One in Bixby, one in Inola and three in Tulsa. However, the PA came in today and said that they wanted to try out a trach cap today on Kevin. Basically, it caps Kevin’s trach tube, removing the tube that goes into his trach. This gives him a trial run of breathing only through his nose and mouth. Another RT, had told me he was breathing some through his nose the other day, even with the trach in. If this trial goes well, we can look at taking the trach out completely, but putting in a trach button which keeps the hole from closing.

Please pray that Kevin breathes fine without the trach help, that is with the trach cap on. Pray for his continued healing. Pray for him to wake up. I just finished playing for Kevin a Don Williams CD I picked up. His eyelids fluttered when the music came on. Lord, I hope this day is good. In fact, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Thanks for always planning a good day for us God.

Thanks for reading, praying and encouraging,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (the main site for reading, commenting and catching up on posts)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (this is an alternate address for the blog)

Update #56 on Kevin

Can I just say, I miss Kevin? I do. This morning at church, I was really missing his voice, personality, etc…


After church, my family went to lunch together. Then we went over to Kevin’s house to see how things were going. Greg had taken the lead at the house during the cleanup, while I remained at the hospital with Kevin, family and visitors. It is actually the first time I have seen the house since the flood. In the driveway there is a long blue dumpster for getting rid of the old damaged sheetrock, cabinets, etc… The front of the house looks pretty much the same. When we arrived, we noticed that there were workers there. Trucks outside, front door open and the curtains drawn in the windows. We went in and introduced ourselves. They showed us what they are doing. The new sheetrock was installed and now they were texturing the walls so that the new pieces were blended with the old. They told us that it should be ready for trim tomorrow. The cabinets have been torn out in the bathroom and kitchen, although the upper ones remain in the kitchen. The insurance will only pay for the ones on the bottom, the damaged part. So at this point, Kevin will have old cabinets on top and new ones on bottom. All the appliances in the kitchen were damaged and should be covered by insurance as well. After the trim is put on, they can start painting the walls.

Kevin has continued to have a pretty good weekend. He was put in his blue neuro chair yesterday twice and so far once today. His heart rate goes up (around 120’s bpm)often when he is in the blue neuro chair and it did again today. He is back in bed with a heart rate in the 90’s.

Please be praying for his right eye. It continues to look worse. They put new antibiotics for his eye, in case it is bacterial. If it was viral it would just run its course.

Keep praying that his lungs would continue to heal. Pray for his mind to continue to heal.

Kevin’s left arm that has the blood clots in it, has lost most of its swelling. The doctor even said he would be fine if they took blood pressure readings from that left arm and leg (which also has a clot). He said that normally, after a week or more, the blood will drill a hole through the clot in order, which allows good circulation. It does take about 6-8 weeks for the blood clot to completely dissolve.

Pray that the picc line in Kevin’s right arm would not cause any clotting.

Thanks for following all of this and thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to catch up on old updates or sign up to receive them)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (just another way to get to the blog above)

Update #55 on Kevin

Yesterday, we drove to St. Louis and back to get some of our belongings that were left behind in Italy, including our dog, Brinkley. We left Tulsa around 5:30 AM. I am not a morning person. Angie is not a morning person. We aren’t used to seeing sunrises. So, as we were driving, we were wondering when it was ever going to come up. It was dark and there was fog surrounding us. For an hour, we drove through varying thicknesses of the low hanging clouds. We wondered if Kevin can see, was that all he could see right now? And for us, there is a cloud over the future. What seemed so clear a month and a half ago, is veiled in a hazy mystery. Around 6:40 we started seeing depth in the fog. We saw that the sun had been rising, but wasn’t high enough to break through. There were layers of perspective going back into the short distance. Then as the sun finally pierced the fog, we were able to see through it. In fact, I don’t actually remember the point at which we could see clearly. I remember it clearing. I remember when it was thick. But the actual point in time when all was seen again, I can’t seem to recall.


The fog that surrounded us right after the accident was so thick, I could hardly breathe. I couldn’t think about future plans, I couldn’t even think about the next day. Making minor decisions were difficult and making major decisions were practically impossible and seemed to knock our breath out. Now, it is still foggy. It is a little less thick, but we are wondering when the sun will come up. Kevin has made progressions, but its slow. Will he continue to improve? Only God knows. And we can only walk through it day by day. It’s faint, but it seems like I can make out some shapes of the next few days, maybe weeks in my mind’s eye. But only God knows if it is shifting fog, as opposed to actualities.

Kevin’s vitals seemed to be doing pretty good yesterday. He had some coughing bouts though. They were going to try and take him outside yesterday evening, but didn’t due to the coughing. They wanted to get his stats calmed back down. He repeated some leg movements Thursday night. That would be two nights in a row that his leg(s) has(have) been restless. I haven’t heard if he was doing it last night too. He seems to still be doing okay with the feeding plug. They have continued to monitor if anything gets left behind in his stomach or if he is digesting it all. Yesterday he was doing fairly well. They have his rate for getting food at 50. They have to work up to somewhere between 75-85 to be more normal.

Today is our dad, Bill’s, birthday. We will all be up in Kevin’s room later today with another cake to celebrate his birthday. This will be the third birthday we have celebrated as a family since Kevin’s accident.

Last night when we got back to Tulsa, we held Brinkley up in the window so he could see Kevin and the family could see him. It was a good thing for us to get our dog. Thanks for everyone who was involved in Brinkley’s adventure (April, Shauna, Carla, Echo and others who volunteered to help). He has already gotten to know, Annie, the dog at the house where we are staying. They seem like they will become fast friends. It meant so much for us to get Brinkley up there to see Kevin. He introduced to the breeder where we got Brinkley. He was the first one at our house to see Brinkley the night we brought him home. A couple weeks before we departed for Italy, Kevin took Brinkley for an afternoon. He bought him toys and snacks. Kevin loves Brinkley and we’re glad he’s back.

Please keep praying for Kevin’s complete healing. We have already seen Kevin improve and know that God has the power to continue the work.

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read comments and past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (try this if the other link doesn’t work for you)

Update #54 on Kevin

Not much to update on today. Kevin did start having a fever in the afternoon. But they were able catch it and start cooling him off.


He had a couple coughing issues, but it turned out to be the angle of his head, which allowed his trach to tickle his throat.

Kevin was up in his neuro chair for several hours today. He would have went back in for a second time, but for his fever.

The respiratory therapist tried out the speaking valve, but when we got him, it was maybe too late. Kevin had already started to be worn out. He had some groaning, but nothing more.

The doctor said that he would be sending a specialist to look at Kevin’s right eye. The infection doesn’t seem to be getting better. He believes he has Kevin on the best medicine, but would like a specialist’s second opinion.

The lung doctor thought Kevin’s lungs sounded good.

Kevin has been doing okay with the feeding plug. They had restarted it last night around 5 pm. They had to stop it once during the night, but then restarted it again. He has been on it since, with the only exception being when he was in his chair.

A friend and fellow Team Expansion worker is driving our dog and stuff from Italy halfway to St. Louis tomorrow. Angie and I rented a car and are driving up. We leave around 5:30 AM. We will be picking up Brinkley at the St. Louis arch, then returning home! He will be a source of comfort for Angie, myself and the family!

After tomorrow, you should see more updates again! Thanks for reading and especially for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (another way to get to the above address)

Update #53 on Kevin

Today is Jacob’s birthday. Jacob is Kevin’s youngest son. He turned 15 today. After school he came up to Meadowbrook and hung out with the family. For dinner, everybody chose something off the menu from Smashburger, a new franchise restaurant in town. They have two locations and are quickly becoming one of our favorite burger joints. Afterwards, he opened presents. We brought the cake into Kevin’s room and sang Happy Birthday to Jacob. Later, we took the cake back to the cafeteria, lit the candles and sang it again. This time, Jacob had candles to blow out.


They started his feeding tube tonight around 5 pm. Around midnight, they had to hold it off again for awhile, because he wasn’t digesting as good as they want him to be.

This afternoon, we took care of some logistical details. We had to do some things, so that we could move further with other areas.

The neurologist came in to inform us of the EEG results. She said that his brain activity was slow. To me, that is better than none. It would be interesting to see what an EEG would have showed a couple weeks ago. Are there changes? Are his synapses reconnecting and creating new paths?

Today, they moved Kevin’s ventilator out of his room. He hadn’t used it in over a week and a half. I guess he does not need it at all anymore.

Moving his feet and legs around some tonight. The interesting thing is that the movements are more random tonight. Usually, there is one movement and it is the same movement over and over again. Tonight, his legs seemed to stretch out. Then later his right foot was moving back and forth. A little later, he bounced his right foot up a couple times. In between two of the movements, he pulled his head straight forward from the position it had been in, which was leaning to the right.

Thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to peruse all the updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (if the previous link doesn’t work for you, try this)

Update #52 on Kevin

So Kevin is looking good with a fresh bath and a close shave.


His main doctor was in today and he told us that Kevin seemed to be doing well. His kidneys are doing fine, his white blood count is good, both of his lungs sound really good, and the right lung had trauma and pneumonia. He also said his stomach is making good bowel sounds.

Kevin does have pseudomonas, but is antibiotics were switched last Thursday to combat it. He has another micro bacteria (not sure if that’s how the dr referred to it or not, but it seems to be no big deal). Kevin’s antibiotics (he’s on two) is for both the pseudomonas and the other bacteria. His antibiotics for the C-Diff ended yesterday with its natural course, even though he was cured of it last week.

Kevin’s Physician’s Assistant said it looks like we have the GI Tract (gastrointestinal tract) thing under control now. The major functions of the GI tract are ingestion, digestion, absorption and defecation. There are still not feeding through the feeding plug, but through IV’s.

Yesterday, the doctor ordered new eye drops for Kevin’s right eye. It is red and filmed-over (the filmed-over is probably puss from an infection). It could be like pink eye, but could also could be from the pseudomonas that is in Kevin’s lungs.

We lost our second recliner today. Another patient’s room needed it. We knew this was a possibility since the day they gave it to us. But it was good while it lasted. One of us gets to sleep on the pink chairs that lean back. Hopefully, it will get comfortable with the addition of pillows.

If anyone has an extra car available, Greg could definitely use it. His car is now undrivable until there are some repairs. Call Greg to let him know if you have a loaner, at 852-0295. Thank you!

We are working on the two ways for us to get Brinkley and our stuff. Either I fly and it amounts to a whole days’ worth of travel (two flights there and two flights back) OR someone has offered to meet us halfway if we drive (either St. Louis or Memphis). If we drive we will probably have to rent a car.

Kevin’s heart rate has been dropping to a lower more normal rate. His rate last night was around 88-89 beats per minute. Yesterday and today his rate was in the low 90’s which was good. Previously, he was experiencing heart rates in the mid 100’s and 110’s before that.

There was a neurologist consult that came by yesterday and today. She ordered an EEG which was done at his bedside today. Not sure when we will hear the results, but if anything the results just give us a starting place. It will be interesting to see in a month, if he has another, what changes there would be. The neurologist doesn’t have a definitive answer on Kevin’s condition or prognosis. She thought it unlikely from his medical records that he would be experiencing alert moments. But then she continued to say, if we thought that he was to be the case, she didn’t want to stop us. Also, other therapists and doctors have seen things on their own.

Yesterday, I bought Kevin som nose hair trimmers. I knew he would want that area groomed. So today, after his shave, he was laying there in his bed, with his eyes open. I showed him the trimmers, told him what they were and what I intended to do with them. I proceeded to turn them on, so he could hear them before experiencing them,. I then inserted the trimmers into his left nostril. He did NOT like it. His eyes shut, his brows were furrowed and his face tightened up. I said, “sorry, sorry!” And then told him I would try the right nostril. He didn’t like that much better. I then told him that this was for interrupting our TV shows! No, I didn’t, I’m just kidding. I decided that I had done enough harrassment to him today.

Thanks again for praying and thinking of all of us (especially Kevin),
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/

Update #51 on Kevin

“Do you like that show?” Kevin would say upon arriving 15 minutes into Lost, one of our favorite shows. I would pause it and reply with a simple yes. I would unpause it and less than a minute later, we would hear….”What’s it about?” I would repause it…..and then ask him, “Are you serious? You want me to go over the past several years’ worth of episodes for one of the most complex and intriguing shows on television?” He would reply with something like, “No, I just want to know what that guy is doing right now.” This would ensue and I would end up pausing and unpausing several times, that is until I would either stop pausing and just say something like, “It’s hard to watch this when you keep asking questions about it,” and he would say, “Oh.” Or someone would call him and he would lay on the couch on the phone the rest of the time the show was on.


The past several days, we have seen ups and downs. There was also some conflicting statements made to the family this weekend about the course of Kevin’s treatment. However, it looks like that is better and the family has been through discussions about it. It seems like when you are going through a situation like this, every little thing can feel like ‘the final straw’ and then it too lands on the camel’s back and you find out it didn’t break. Apparently, God means it when he says, “No temptation has seized you, except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” I remember learning this verse. It was in High School. I was attending a guys Bible Study. I was the only one in High School, the others were young and starting out in their careers. We went through a Navigator’s Bible Study. That verse has been so potent in my life.

Kevin’s heart rate has been great today. Right now, it is fluctuating between 88-89 beats per minute. Throughout the last week it has been between 100-111 bpm. He did expel many secretions today, but that is good and part of the process of getting off a vent and having a trach. Kevin is on two antibiotics for the pseudomonas, which is apparently a very common infection in hospitalized environments and as a result of having a trach.

Kevin’s main doctor returned today and was impressed with Kevin’s progress. He said we should continue stimulating Kevin as we have been. The doctor ordered some new eye drops for Kevin’s right eye, in case he has an infection in it like ‘pink eye’. It already looks better from the ointment and patch that is covering it.

On another note, the missions agency that Angie and I work with has graciously allowed us to take a ninety day medical furlough. As we approach the end of that ninety days, we will determine if another medical furlough is needed. We are so very thankful that we work with an organization that has the foresight and wisdom to include protocol such as this. This does not mean that I will not be working. I will remain Team Leader, and continue to guide our team as they are in various preparatory stages. If you would like to follow the ministry that God has led myself and Angie, just email us back and tell us you want to receive our general email updates.

We also have housing straightened out for now. Taylor and Kohl and staying with a relative, while Angie and I are staying with a family from church. Jacob can stay at either when he is not at his mom’s.

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (how to find the way to Oz)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (just another way to get to the site listed above)

Update #50 on Kevin

It was one month ago that we received a frantic call. We were in Italy and they told us about Kevin’s accident. Those first few hours were a blur. Sickening, stomach twisting hours that passed. We called and got what information that we could. We didn’t know what the future held.


Today, as we look back on the day of the accident, we see progress. It is slow. It is relatively small. And yet it’s still progress. There are things that Kevin is doing now, that we only dreamed about three to four weeks ago.

Not sure of the severity of Kevin’s pseudomonas. We have been told that normally pseudomonas usually causes green secretions and has a very pungent smell. Kevin’s secretions have been white or clear since around the first of last week. And there has not been a pungent smell yet.

There was a bit of blood in Kevin’s secretions during the past twenty-four hours. It could be damage to Kevin’s trachea or lungs from suctioning. Tonight’s Respiratory Therapist changed Kevin’s trach tube, so that it would be more controlled when he would be suctioned.

Kevin was wiped out yesterday after going outside for fifteen minutes. He was also in his blue neuro chair for around 7 ½ hours combined from two sessions in it on Friday. Today he had a very restful day.

Tomorrow, Kevin’s main doctor returns. We are thankful and we also have several questions. Kevin also has a neurological consult tomorrow too. We are interested to see how both of those go.

Tonight is the last night in the hotel. I think that we have situations lined up for those of us in the family from out of town (or country). Thanks so much for all the help and offers.

So for now, we don’t need more help towards housing expenses. But if preparing meals, delivering them or giving money towards meals is something that you would like to help with, we could still use help in that area. You can contact Jeff Congdon, if you would like to prepare or deliver a meal OR you can contribute to the Crosser account 4374300 at 742-DINE. Thanks for those that had contributed towards that in the past.

Thank you for praying with us this past month. We thank God for all the progress Kevin has made so far. Please join us in praying for the next month. Pray that God would continue to heal Kevin. Pray for Kevin’s caretakers to be at the top of their game. And pray for the family to lean on each other while leaning on God.

Thanks for your time, prayers and encouragement,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (go here to read all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (this is the address that is not the forwarding address)

Update #49 on Kevin

Woke up this morning, went outside and the car was dead. No lights left on. Not sure what caused it but we got it jump started. I walked over from the hotel to Meadowbrook so that I could meet the president of our missions organization. He was coming through Tulsa and he took the time to visit Kevin.


While I was there I got to see Kevin up in his blue neuro chair for the morning. He was alert and so we got the Respiratory Therapist to bring in the speaking valve. After I left, we heard Kevin seemed to be mouthing words. They said that Kevin seemed to say “hi”, at the very least seemed be saying something that started with an “h” sound. How do you spell “h” aytche?

Today, they told the family that Kevin needed to have another IV pick put in. It was around the one in his left arm where he got a clot. And now they are putting one in his right arm. Please pray that no new clots appear.

We also found out that Kevin has pseudomonas. It can be a pretty nasty infection that can cause lung infections, eye infections, etc…. Not sure of all the details. Will let you know more later.

On a good note, Kevin got to go outside today. It was while he was in his blue neuro chair. They had to get him some large sun glasses to protect his eyes. He did good. They said that it does take it out of him. The staff told family that for Kevin going outside it would be like playing a full game of football. So that means he needs extra rest tonight.

Keep praying for all these things. Thanks for lifting them up on behalf of Kevin and our family.

Thanks,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (go here to read all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (this is the address that is not the forwarding address)

Update #48 on Kevin

Kevin sat up for the second time today. They sat him up in his blue neuro chair around 5:30 PM and got put back in his bed around 9:45 PM or so.


I remember so many times coming out the front door at Mom and Dad’s house and there would be Kevin. He loved tanning outside. He lay on each side until he was baked crisp. I also thought he was going to burn he was out there so long. But he never did. He has some kind of gene that is found in suntan lotions. Maybe we can bottle it.

So, when he got settled into his blue neuro chair, Kevin’s Respiratory Therapist tried something new. She put on a speaker valve for a trial run. Basically, the speaker valve makes it so Kevin can only breathe in through his trach, and he has to breathe out through his mouth and nose. This also makes it so he can makes sounds through his mouth.

He didn’t make any noise for the first thirty minutes, but then there were a few moans or groans. We were told that this was a good first run at trying out the speaker valve. It is a little different than just talking normally, because he still has the trach sitting right next to his vocal cords. Kevin has to kind of get used to it first. Sometimes he would make a groan sound when he would cough. He did try to move his mouth and tongue quite a bit.

It’s been one week since Kevin was taken off breathing machines. He has been breathing Wall-Flow air since last Friday. This is just one of the progresses that we were looking forward to and now we are celebrating the one week anniversary.

Thanks for those who have written emails or comments to us or Kevin. It really means a lot!

Now in honor of Kevin, let's all go out and get some sun tomorrow!
Thank you,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (here’s another address to get there)

Update #47 on Kevin

Kevin’s main doctor here at Meadowbrook is on vacation. We heard he might coming back on Monday. I hope so, the fill in doctor came in this morning listened to his lungs, stood back up and declared that things haven’t really changed. I told him that another doctor and two Respiratory Therapists (R.T.s) have both said that it really seemed that Kevin had been looking at them during therapy times and exams. I thought that then this doctor might look into his eyes or lift his head or something, maybe touch his hands or even talk to Kevin, but he did nothing, he just replied that, “we just need to keep supporting him and see if anything changes neurologically.”


After speaking with the Physician’s Assistant, she is ordering a speaking valve. While Kevin has the trach in, he cannot make any sounds. If they place a speaking valve when he is alert, he may be able to make sounds. We are preparing ourselves in advance though. He may not make any sound. It may be gibberish. He may say something that doesn’t make sense. It could all depend on if the wires in Kevin’s brain are mixed up or not. It doesn’t mean that it can’t change though. We are praying that he is able to express himself when it is in. The speaking valve would not be in place all the time yet. They are still using the heated humidified air through his trach to help combat his pneumonia in his right lung. The R.T. during the night told us that both of his lungs sounded good.

This morning in order to help rest and heal his right eye, the nursing staff put some ointment in his eye and have taped it closed so that it can heal good.

The Occupational therapist told us that over the next few days, when Kevin is up in the blue neuro chair we might be able to take him outside! It is another great way to stimulate his senses. Today while sitting in his chair, Angie and I got to see how his body is being stimulated. Both of his legs were rocking, His arms/hands were kind of shivering. His eye was wide open (is right eye is taped all day). Angie and I were holding his hands and

There have been a few reports lately of Kevin tracking someone with his left eye. His R.T. today told us more than once Kevin was looking at her. Also today, Kevin watched an episode of Big Valley and an episode of The Monkees while he was up in his blue chair.

Thank you for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all the updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (same bat site, different bat address)

Update #46 on Kevin

A friend of ours was telling us about a time last year, when we had known her for very long. She and Kevin are friends and they were on their way somewhere. Kevin told her ‘Let’s stop by Matt & Angie’s’. They got to our apartment in Tulsa and Kevin pulled out his key and opened up the door and came in. She came in behind him and started looking around. I think Kevin had her sit down and he proceeded to go into the kitchen. Seeing into the kitchen, she saw Kevin going through our fridge and getting food out of the cabinets. She asked him, ‘Are Matt and Angie here?’ Kevin replied that we weren’t. She told him, I don’t know if we should be here (Also she was thinking should Kevin be going through their food???). Kevin replied nonchalantly, ‘Ah, they won’t care.’ And continued his grazing. The truth is we wouldn’t have cared.


Things have been going smoothly this evening for Kevin. He hasn’t coughed very much. His respiratory therapist told us that from his latest X-Rays it shows that his left lung looks good, but his right lung still looks hazy (his right lung is the one that got punctured). The fact that his left lung looks good is GREAT!

His pulmonologist came in to see him tonight. She listened to him and talked with us. She said that she would be ordering a Doppler for his left arm, if there wasn’t one already ordered. (Side note – isn’t a doppler the thing they find tornadoes with???). She also lifted Kevin’s head up, it had been leaning to his left when she came in. When she moved his head, both his eyes opened up drowsily. He blinked slowly and the doctor was asking him questions. She asked if he could look at her. She got down right in front of face while talking to him. She gently laid his head back down and stood back up to talk with us. She stated, somewhat impressed, “it really seems like he was looking at me when I got right down in front of his face.” We told her that is what we have been seeing for the last several days. She confirmed that there are times when he will be more asleep than others, even in this state. It was nice to have a doctor confirm feelings that we were having.

Thanks so much to so many of you for commenting, either publicly or privately, about your appreciation for these updates. Some of you have also thanked me for my transparency. Since Angie and I have been ministry, we have seen the importance of transparency in communication. How can someone pray, if they don’t really know what to pray for? But it definitely extends past ministry. It should extend into the life of every believer. We, as Christians, should be sharing with other brothers and sisters what is really going on in our lives. We weren’t meant to live lives in isolation. How can the church BE the church, if they don’t know what you need? I think it is the responsibility of each Christian to open your lives up to other Christians. This humbling of ourselves trains to become more like Jesus. I believe that God can also lay someone on your heart as well, but that does not negate the responsibility of the one in need.

Thanks to all those who have given towards 742-Dine. Tonight we ordered hot wings from Wings To Go. Great stuff, it hit the spot. Thanks again. I believe it is a zero balance now, but we have gotten several meals out of it. Thanks again!! We appreciate it and our stomachs really appreciate it!

Thank you for loving on our family,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all the past updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (same website, different avenue for getting there)

Update #45 on Kevin

Well, it’s official. The test results are in. The C-Diff is gone! That means Kevin is no longer in an isolation category and we don’t have to wear gowns to get close to him and gloves to touch him! So I was able to give him the first kiss on the cheek since before he was diagnosed with C-Diff at the hospital about ten or eleven days ago!

Thanks for praying! Keep praying for everything.
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all previous updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (same site, different address to get there)

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Update #44 on Kevin

Last night, Kohl manned up and watched over his dad all by himself. Of course, he had the help of a very capable loving staff. We were at the hotel last night. This morning we got up, had breakfast and took Jacob to school. We came back are getting ready and then running some breakfast up to Kohl before going out for some away time. I feel like we have been doing fairly good at balancing time with Kevin and time by ourselves. In fact, on many of the nights we are supposed to stay at the hotel, before leaving Meadowbrook, I think I could stay here again tonight. However, we aren’t naïve enough to think that we could do that for long before burning out. So we discipline ourselves and come back refreshed.


We spoke with Kohl on the phone this morning. He said his dad had a good night last night. And this morning Kevin is one of his aware states. When I speak of aware and asleep states, we have come to learn that even in a coma people can experience times where they are more at rest than others. When he is aware, we aren’t sure if it is clear or more of a dreamlike haze. We have heard many stories where people remembered what was said around them while they were in a coma. We’ve heard very few where the person did not remember. I wonder if in that sense it is like a ‘dream-state’. When you wake up in the morning, do you always remember your dreams?

So this morning, Kevin is in an aware state. He is also moving different parts of his body. These are the exciting parts of the day. I’m glad Kohl is getting to be there to experience it. But you know there was a subdued sense of calm last night, when Kevin seemed to be sleeping hard, and when he exhaled breaths his mouth kind of blew the air out of his lips, as people often do.

Some might say during a time of life like this that there is nothing else worth praising God. However, I find this to still be true. God is still on His throne. God is still in control. In times, when we should be pulling our hair out and giving up, we find peace that is beyond understanding (this is after, of course, pulling a few hairs out and threatening to give up). God sustains us. God has still provided for us a way to spend eternity with Him. God still offers this as a free gift to any who would accept it. God is still providing clothes, housing, food and laughter to our family. God is still there. God listens. God hurts with us, when we hurt. He cries when we cry. He pulls us to Him when we allow it.

You know some think this life is it. I don’t. I believe from God’s Word that there is an eternity after this life. This life is merely a chance for us to practice following God for an eternity of being with Him. I have heard time and eternity described this way. There are two birds. One on each side of North America. One on the West Coast. The other on the East. Each bird takes a grain of sand from their side and flies it to the other. The time in which it takes for them to complete swap out every grain of sand in this fashion would be only a speck in eternity. And technically, not even a speck, less than. This life, with its hurts, pain and sadness is not all there is. And for that I find reason to continue praising God.

For those of you, who would like to help the family, there are still a couple of great ways. Meals and housing. We seem to be pretty good on money for the prayer bracelets right now. At least for this first order. If you would like to help with meals, please let Jeff Congdon at Sandusky Avenue Christian Church know. It makes it so much easier on us than trying to coordinate meals on top of everything else. His cell number is 918-408-7680. For lunches, it usually only needs to be for 3-4 people. Dinners and Lunch/Dinner on Saturday, and Dinner on Sunday need to be for about 10-15. If you can make these meals, delivery them or pick them up at a drive thru, our family would be very appreciative. With housing, we are still looking for our next solution (starting next Monday). Some of the options still cost money, but being close to Kevin’s facility would be a huge blessing in many ways. You can still contact Brian Jennings at Highland Park Christian Church. You can reach him at 918-627-0783.

This was supposed to be a short morning update. Sorry about that.

Thanks for everything that you are doing for Kevin and his family,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/ (to read all the previous updates)
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/ (same blog, different address to get there)

Update #43 on Kevin

I remember Kevin bringing home the 45. For those of you too young to remember vinyl records, a 45 had a single song on one side and a “b” side single on the other. Normally, it was a great radio song, and rare was the time you got another great song on the other side. I think it was a in a peach colored sleeve. He pulled it out and put it on the turntable. It was….King Tut. Steve Martin, the comedian, did this song about the boy pharaoh of Egypt. I can still see Kevin dancing around to it. I played it for him tonight on my MP3 player.


Kevin has had a restful night. Eventful in a good way. The only thing is he had a fever earlier tonight. After some Tylenol and cold rags it has gotten under control. The pulmonologist (lung doctor) started him on a new antibiotic that will take care of the bacteria found in his secretion sample from Saturday night. It should also help with the remaining pneumonia. Kevin still has his antibiotic for C-Diff (until the 21st of September). It will depend on when Kevin has a negative test though.

Angie and I are at the hotel tonight. We found out that we will be at the Hampton Inn until Monday. Thanks so much for all the offers and help. We are working on our “residence” starting Monday night.

Kohl is staying with his dad tonight and Taylor is supposed to arrive from Midwest City sometime tonight. She had to take care of some loose ends during the past couple days.

Thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/
http://prayforkevin.blogpsot.com/

Update #42 on Kevin

I thought it would be good for us to give you a list of specific things to pray about, then as we knock them off, we can celebrate the progression as given by God. Pray for…

1) The scar from his major fracture on his right side of his head.
2) The remaining stitches to be loose & area healed enough to be removed from his right side.
3) Right eye opening seems more sluggish than his left eyelid.
4) Right eye is very red and sensitive to touch.
5) Some infection is in the right eye.
6) Started having a fever this afternoon, but it has already started going back down.
7) Bowels to function.
8) Stomach to produce only the amount of bile necessary for healthy function.
9) Stomach to digest normally.
10) Respiratory rate to stay normal.
11) Pneumonia to be cleared up.
12) Right lung to be fully healed after the puncture.
13) Vitals to stay normal.
14) More purposeful movement in his head.
15) More purposeful movement in his arms.
16) More purposeful movement in his eyes.
17) More purposeful movement in his legs.
18) More purposeful movement in his neck.
19) Consciousness to fully return.
20) Facial fractures to fully heal.
21) Speaking ability to return.
22) Brainstem swelling to be reduced.
23) Areas of the brain that had damaged to be completely healed.
24) Ability to walk to fully return.
25) Memories to be intact.
26) Short term memory to be intact.
27) Short term memory to be intact. (that’s a joke on me!)
28) Learning ability to be unrestricted.
29) All others of his brain to retain full functionality.
30) All normal life functions to return intact.
31) For the nurses and doctors to be encouraged.
32) For the staff of Meadowbrook to have clear minds for making wise decisions.
33) For the family to remain unified, strong and full of faith
34) For everyone involved to be pointed to God.

Thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/

Update #41 on Kevin

When we were growing up, we liked The Monkees. The show. The music. The guys. So as I type I am playing Headquarters, their third album. Also, I am younger than Greg and Kevin, so sometimes I was seen as the pesky little brother. I think I relished in it a little too much. With Greg, I could just tap him as he walked by. Seconds later I would receive the wrath of a kick to the leg, all worth it when I watched him squirm at Mom’s disapproval.


With Kevin, all I had to do was mess with his relationships. Tease him about the girls that sent him perfume soaked letters, or asking when they were going to get married in front of the girl he was with…..bratty I know. Kevin would get so mad at me! Later, as I got older and matured, my brothers and I became more than brothers, we became best friends.

Kevin has been having a good day. He has had far less secretions and the Respiratory Therapists have said each time they came in (every 2 hours) that his lungs were sounding good, so good they didn’t have to suction him. He has hardly coughed in the past 12 hours and he doesn’t have the rattly sound when he is breathing.

He is sitting in his blue neuro chair right now. His eyes have been open for most of the time he has been in the chair. Also, albeit slowly, his eyes will blink. He is doing this more regularly today. He has also been tracking some with his left eye. Angie was holding his head straight in the chair, because he kept letting it lean to his left side. One time she stopped and she saw him trying to pull back up himself.

Last night when his nurse was cleaning out his eyes, she went to wipe out his right eye. I was standing on his right and saw him grimace. He closed his left eye tightly (his right eye was being held open for the cleaning). Both his brows were furrowed. And his mouth clenched. She also said he try to pull his head away while she was cleaning his eyes. Apparently, he did NOT like it.

Greg just got here. We are going to get some lunch at the cafeteria while Angie hangs out with Kevin. We already got some lunch for Angie. Kevin can keep listening to the Monkees while we go.

Thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/

Update #40 on Kevin

It’s been awhile since I updated you on Kevin’s flood situation (for those just joining, Kevin’s house flooded while he was in TICU – His youngest son, Jacob, lives there with him). I believe they have taken everything out that can be taken out (furniture, property, ruined kitchen cabinets, ruined bathroom cabinets, ruined carpet, lower sections of sheetrock on the walls needing replaced, etc….). There are just a few more details to take care of before the restoration work can begin.


Kevin’s digestion has been up and down. It seems to be okay but the problem seems to be more related to his stomach. Because Kevin is being tube fed, his body is confused. It knows he is getting carbohydrates, nutrition, etc… but it assumes it needs to make more bile to break down these components. Kevin also seems to have a very sensitive gag reflex. Whenever they come in to suction him, his reflex is to gag and when that happens he often brings up the extra bile that is being produced by his stomach. He is having more regular B.M.’s but now there is this issue of stomach acid. They started him on a new acid reducer today.

This morning, they also sent off a sample to be tested for C-Diff. If he doesn’t have it any longer then my understanding is they will take him out of isolation, which means no more gloves to touch him and gowns to be close to him. If he still has it, they will keep monitoring it and testing for it.

Several of you have told us that you have stayed away at different times due to not feeling well, or being around others who are not feeling well. I want to say thank you. Thanks for not just being considerate but recognizing the very real threat to Kevin’s recovery that could be caused by the addition of a flu or virus. I appreciate that.

A tech today told me a couple things when I got here today. She said that earlier when she was doing some Oral Care for Kevin, he kept biting down on the utensils. She would ask him to open his mouth each time he did this so that she could keep working on him. Each time he would open his mouth when she asked. Also, she said he was grinning on his right side of his mouth at her. He stopped and she asked him to smile for her again and he grinned again. I guess this happened a couple times! There have been a couple times where we thought Kevin was trying to smile, so it is cool that it seems he is progressing.

I am including a photo of Kevin. It is Kevin doing something that came very natural for him…talking on his cell phone. Over the years, Kevin had several cell phones, sometimes two or three at the same time (with several numbers). It is rare to see him without the phone on his ear or his finger not texting. This photo was taken by me at a Tulsa Drillers baseball game that Kevin got several of us tickets too. I remember thinking this was a good photo because embodies a favorite pastime of Kevin….talking on the phone. Those of you that know him, know this is true.

We appreciate all of your prayers.

Matt, Angie and family

_______________________________

http://www.prayforkevin.com/

http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/

Update #39 on Kevin

If you’ve ever seen The Amazing Race on TV you know that it is a show about several two member teams in a race around the world. They travel from country to country doing different tasks and advancing to win the final prize. One of those tasks is called a Roadblock. A Roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform. Sometimes it is to eat a huge bowl of local traditional cuisine that is disgusting to the American palate. Sometimes it is to wade chest deep in a mud swamp searching for clues. Sometimes the team member doing the Roadblock takes a long time, sweating through the task, crying out, tiring out, wishing they had let the other team member do the task. Meanwhile, the team member sitting out is just waiting. They sit there watching. Watching while others complete the task. Watching as their teammate, who is usually a loved one, is feeling frustrated, getting worn out, wishing to give up. They cycle between cheering for them, annoying them, getting frustrated that they are taking so long to complete the task.


Sometimes I think we are in the middle of a Roadblock. Kevin drew the short straw is doing the task. We sit on the outside looking on, waiting for him to complete the task. We hope that he has almost finished what his body is doing, never really knowing how long it will actually take. Sometimes we cheer him on, sometimes we get frustrated it is taking so long, and sometimes I am sure we annoy him with some of the things that we say to him.

We talk about the progression in these updates. We celebrate the little steps that Kevin makes. We talk about the down moments too. For every time Kevin moves his eyes, there are ten or more times that he doesn’t. We look back a couple weeks ago and know that there are things Kevin is doing now that he did not do then. It is like climbing a mountain using toothpicks for climbing gear. It is like rowing across the ocean using spoons as paddles. Are we moving forward? Looking back at the last three weeks it is undeniable that we are moving forward, but at times it feels like a snail’s pace.

That’s why we celebrate things that in normal life we wouldn’t even notice. A pinky here, a ring finger there. He had a third B.M. tonight after we left for the hotel. Natural? Yes. Significant? Not normally, but now…yes. Greg (my other brother) and I were standing on each side of Kevin. Greg had been talking to Kevin during one of the moments that his eyes were opened. Kevin had finally started lowering his eyelids. We tried asking him to open them a few times. Greg started telling Kevin a story anyway and upon getting to the cool part of the story, Kevin started reopening his eyes. After Angie and I left for the evening, we heard that a family friend was holding Kevin’s right hand and Kevin began squeezing back. His fingers were opening and closing several times on our friend’s hand. Really cool. Pinky. Ring Finger. All fingers. Baby steps.

I talk about the pace because I want to accurately portray what is happening. It is a marathon, not a sprint. If you try to run a marathon with a sprints’ pace, you will pass out or drop out. We ask that you continue to pray for the family as we journey this voyage together. Pray for us as we wait when there is nothing physical for us to do. Pray for Kevin to be healed and better than before.

In one of the last updates, I mentioned a way for those working at AA can help. I just found out that Greg’s supervisor and manager set it up to make it easy for those wishing to donate a day to Greg. All someone has to do is go to the administration desk located next to the injury counselor’s office in the admin building (near the credit union) to donate vacation time.

Also, it is looking like Friday may be our last day at the Hampton Inn. The greatly discounted rate we have will last until then. Right now, I am exploring options for those of us out of towners to be close to Kevin. There are two extended stay facilities very close to Meadowbrook. To get the great rate, we would need to pay for each month up front (around $750) for the month. Still researching options, but this may be what would work for six of us.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying.
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/
http://prayforkevin.blogspot.com/

Update #38 on Kevin

Nick. Heath. Jarrod. The Barclays. If you ever watched the TV Western called, The Big Valley, you know their names. My brothers and I loved that show growing up. We even had the characters divvied up. Greg was Heath. I was Jarrod. Kevin was Nick. Tall, dark haired and the self titled protector of the Barclay clan, Nick was a good choice for Kevin. I bought the first two seasons of Big Valley at Wal-Mart for us to play for Kevin. I think I’ll put one on after I finish writing this update.

Kevin is sitting in his blue neuro chair. Throughout the night, he coughed up quite a bit. That’s a good thing, but it can also be tiring, especially if it is constant. This morning he seemed to have a more restful period. Around noon, the Occupational and Physical therapists came in to work on his range of motion. They started and said its okay to start working on his left arm and leg (where the blood clots were). Around that time we discovered that he had a B.M. today! That’s good news. So they did a quick clean and placed him in the blue chair.

Three people in the past few days have either felt or seen his pinky on his right hand move. This morning I was holding his right hand, and I laid it down. I was watching his hand and saw his ring finger move.

We appreciate the visits to Kevin. Our family has definitely been in encouraged by those who have come up. When you come, remember that we believe that Kevin may be hearing things we are saying in his room. Please be careful about mentioning or asking about what future he may or may not have in front of him. It’s hard enough for him to fight this, we want to encourage him with positive reinforcement! And of course, we want it all bathed in prayer! If you have questions, please feel free to ask them, we may just pull you aside to answer them.

Oh and by the way…I couldn’t wait until I finished this update. I had to turn on the first episode of Big Valley for Kevin. I put it on a table right in front of his eyes. I was standing behind the portable DVD player and I saw his eyes flicker when I told him I was putting Big Valley on for him. I seemed to look up at me above the player and back down to the DVD player, back up at me then back down to watch the episode. I hope he can hear it over the beeps and whistles in the room.

Just when I thought we were going to have a peaceful afternoon. The RT came in and suctioned and he started throwing up. They have it under control, but now they have to give him his bath. I helped them lift him back into his bed from the chair. He had another B.M. too.

I’ll close this one, by saying we just got back in here. He’s all washed up now. Resting peacefully…we’ll try Big Valley in a bit.

Thanks for praying,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/

Update #37 on Kevin

My family’s tradition is to go to lunch together every Sunday after church. Even on Sunday’s when we were at different churches, we would call or text each other to connect up so that we could decide where to go. This morning, several in the family went to church together. Then we went to lunch together. This is the first time we have gone to lunch together after church since Kevin’s accident. Since we are all going through this together, we were able to drop any guards and be ourselves. Through this tragic experience we have had to learn how to laugh together, even when at first it feels like you will never laugh again.


I keep thinking about the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”. I won’t ruin it for you but there is a person dealing with a tragedy. When asked how he deals with it, he replies with the following reply…

“Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning... breath in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breath in and out... and, then after a while, I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while.”

Whew….straight to the depths of my soul. We have felt incredibly blessed by how God has provided for the family during this amazingly difficult time. We have also felt God soothe us, after dealing with stress after stress throughout this situation. That does not mean that things feel normal for us.

Kevin had been somewhat still today, but tonight Angie started challenging him to cough. After a bit, he started coughing and opening his eyes some. It seems to tire him after awhile, but Angie kept pushing him to cough. It shows cognition, understanding and the ability to respond. Respiratory told us that it is more painful if they have to stick a suction down his trach than for him to cough it out on his own. So we encourage him, even when it seems like such a long slow process.

We were told by the night nurse coming on duty that Kevin had finally had a B.M. today. It must have been around the time of his bath, since the family didn’t know about it. I’m looking forward to speaking with Kevin’s doctor tomorrow, since he has had a replacement over the weekend.

We have the TV on now for Kevin. It is on an arm attached the wall. It is sitting directly in front of Kevin’s face. We will be trying all sorts of stimulation.

We’re still looking forward to him getting over isolation from the C-Diff (intestinal illness). At Meadowbrook they will look for one negative test for C-Diff from a B.M. before taking him out of isolation. They said that once he is out of isolation, there is a possibility to take Kevin outside. That will provide other stimulation. Once per month, they have a pet day where you can bring pets to see the patients. Brinkley would love to see his “unca” Kevin.

Thanks for joining us on this journey. It means so much for you to go along with us. Thanks so much for the long emails, the short messages, the notes of prayer, the quoting of scripture, etc….. You have meant so much to us.

Thanks,
Matt, Angie and family
_______________________________
http://www.prayforkevin.com/