We Made It !!!

We're all excited that Sarah made it home safely on Friday, August 14th.

Home At Last !!!

LuAnn, Dave and I arrived home around 6:30 this evening. Both flights went as well as could be expected and the layover at LAX was a little less than three hours. Not bad at all!

Ray, Donnie and Vince met us at the airport to help handle all the baggage. Thanks to Vince (and everyone else involved) for the stretch limo ride home.

Sarah has settled back in with her Parnell family for the next ten days. She travels home on the 14th. We can't wait for her to join us here in Lakewood.

NZ Thu Jul 30th 9:15pm

What a wonderful day!

We are all a little more light-hearted now that we know we are on our way home. Last night we decided to start our day today with breakfast in the little village of Pauatahanui at the bottom of the hill. It was the first time since the day before the accident that we ate at a restaurant! It was wonderful to be able to nibble on some "real" food. Now that we know we are going home, we have been finishing up doctor appointments (today was the only day this week without an appointment), and gathering up medical records to take home with us. This afternoon was so beautiful (sunny and warm), we just sat outside, soaked up the sun, and talked. In the course of running errands, Joe and Dave picked up NZ t-shirts, just like one would do on a "proper holiday," and we topped off the day by stopping to watch the gorgeous pink, blue, and orange sunset at Pauatahanui Inlet.

Life is good.

I hope you were all able to spend time with family today, enjoy a simple pleasure, or experience the beauty of nature.

NZ Tue Jul 28th 10:45pm

More answered prayers!

Yesterday was a bit of a bummer because the ophthalmologist told me I had a bacterial infection in my good eye (I knew something was wrong!) and he put me on an antibiotic. I have to go back tomorrow to see how things are going. He said that the antibiotic he gave me is about 4 generations old in the US. We are so resistant to antibiotics, that more and stronger ones have to be developed all the time. I'm hoping my 1st generation NZ antibiotic works!

What a great day! Today we went back to Lower Hutt for an appointment with the plastics doctors. I was armed with a million questions and hoping to see and thank some of my favorite doctors. Although it took about 3 1/2 hours, it was a very productive appointment. They answered all my questions and gave me new dressings. I got a medication that may get me closer to hearing from my right ear. Dr. Natalie pried all the metal and wires out of my mouth! What a relief! She even gave me a heap of "spatulas" (tongue depressors) to use to help me open my mouth. Right now my jaws are so tight, I can barely get a baby spoon through my teeth, and a toothbrush is an ordeal. I got to see and thank Dr. Jonathan as well. He and Dr. Natalie had been with me since the beginning, not just in surgery, but before and since. They really cared about me and our whole family. I will always be grateful to them. Dr. Natalie gave me a set of DVD's of my (plastics) medical records to take home and hand over to the next doctor that will get stuck with me.

And the very best thing about my appointment today is that Dr. Natalie and Dr. Jonathan CLEARED ME TO FLY NEXT WEEK! We are hoping to fly home next Tuesday, August 4th!! We have been so excited all day about the news! We still have a lot of healing to go, but it will be so much better among family and friends who have been worrying about us and praying for us for so long.

I read and reread the blog every day. It is uplifting and heartwarming to read your responses and especially wonderful to know that you are thinking of us.

Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. We'll remain in touch with you. Please keep the prayers coming.

Love and blessings,

LuAnn

NZ Sat Jul 25th 9:30am

Dave was released from rehab yesterday. He did a great job in his rehab work according to the therapists. He doesn't have any follow up work here in NZ. He has a broken tooth that will need to be fixed when he gets back to the US. (Noteworthy update ... Dave says the broken tooth is 'growing on him' and he might not want it fixed. See next paragraph for a possible explanation.) He has been told to 'take it easy' for the next twelve months. Basically he needs to avoid things that might stress his brain either physically or mentally.

It's good to have Dave back here with us. He seems to be the same 'crazy' kid with whom we started this adventure back in June. He definitely did not lose his irreverent (sometimes wacky, sometimes bizarre) sense of humor and he still loves tormenting his sister.

Our next big date is Tuesday. LuAnn has a follow up appointment with the plastics doctors that day. First, we're hoping they remove the braces from her teeth because the damn things hurt her and make it very difficult to eat and live. Second, we're hoping they give her a travel date so we can make the arrangements to get back home.

With each passing day, we get more and more anxious to get back home to Family and Friends.

NZ Tue Jul 21st 11:30am

Click here for more house-sitting pictures.

NZ Sun Jul 19th 3:15pm

Thank you all for the love, prayers, and healing that you send in your messages. I read every message and feel touched and healed by each one. Altogether they are overwhelming, but in a warm, wonderful, uplifting way. I treasure each one of you and I love going back to reread your messages, knowing they will lift my spirits again.

Today I am 10 days out of the hospital. I admit that I was very afraid of leaving the hospital because I was terrified that without the constant TLC I was getting from the 3rd floor staff (read “Angels”) at Hutt Valley Hospital, I would not continue healing like I was under their care. I have since found that I have continued to recover, thanks to being with my family (Emily included) and being in a “home” environment. Actually, I have made a lot progress since I left the hospital. Some highlights, if you’ll permit me:

I have regained my sense of SMELL! (Good thing, because before that, I wasn’t sure if I smelled bad since I couldn’t smell anything.)

I can breathe through my nose with my mouth closed! This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it sure is to me! For the better part of my 16 days in the hospital I had a trache tube, but even when they removed it (THANK GOD), I could not use my new nose and sinuses to breathe. Since coming out of the hospital, I’m breathing normally!

I can blow my nose! I’ll be really thrilled when it all comes out green instead of the leftover blood from the accident and surgery. I’m getting there!

Every few days, I feel more of my face. On a funnier note, due to the blindness of my right eye, I sometimes hit my head on things I don’t see. But hey, I can’t feel it, so that’s a blessing!

I haven’t taken more than Panadol (Tylenol) for pain since I left the hospital, and I have only taken it once a day for the past 3 days!

I can hear from my left ear! I don’t think there’s anything permanently wrong with my right ear (although they had to reattach the lobe and some of the cartilage part after the accident), but right now I just can’t hear anything from it.

All the bruises on my body are gone except for the ones on my shins and some on my face.

I’m down to wearing my finger splint only at night.

I can pour a beverage without missing the glass! (My left eye -- my “good” eye -- is my distance eye, so I can’t see anything close up without reading glasses, so it really limits my depth perception close up.)

Better than that, I can now drink a beverage without it all coming out my right nostril! (I swear to God, you can’t take me anywhere!) When they put my face back together, I still had a jagged crevice in the roof of my mouth that extended from just behind the center right of my mouth back to the soft palate. My mouth is wired together with “braces” and rubber bands, which is pulling the two pieces of my mouth back together, and the jagged crevice is almost completely closed now. Progress!!!!!

I have an appetite! Simply put, Sarah is a magician in the kitchen. She makes nutritious, amazingly delicious main dishes, soups, and smoothies. Most of what she makes she purees for me, and it is WONDERFUL! The other day she came into the warm room, looked at the fire, and said, “I have an idea!” Right then she decided she was going to make s’mores. We had Cadbury caramel bars and marshmallows, but no graham crackers. No worries! Sarah and Emily found an Alton Brown recipe and made their own graham crackers -- way better than anything you’d find in any store. Just a warning to Marky and Ray: Sarah thinks it would be a good dessert to bring to The Clam Bake!

At this very moment I am smelling the lovely, hot aroma of a loaf of bread Sarah just made! I can’t wait until the day that I can eat some of it!

Day by day, my tolerance for wearing reading glasses is growing. They strain my good eye and their weight (as minimal as it is) hurts my face, but I am able to wear them longer each day.

Yesterday was a nice, sunny day (mid 50’s in the sun), so Joe and I were able to take a walk in this beautiful yard. We were outside for about half an hour. The scenery is absolutely spectacular here from any vantage point. Amazing. Even though Joe is on crutches, he is a great help. I have to put drops in my blind eye, which I cannot open on my own, so he does that for me 4 times a day. On the other hand, he can’t get around, so I enjoy being able to get him a cup of coffee or help him carry something from point A to point B. He always has been, and will ever be, my very best friend and the love of my life.

My family says I look better every day. My color improves and they say I am starting to look more like myself.

I take great joy in doing mundane, mindless tasks. I love drying the dishes, making a cup of tea, and microwaving something to eat, especially for someone else. It just feels good to be alive.

It’s funny. You don’t know where you’ll find inspiration and encouragement. Today I was in the kitchen and happened to notice some of the magnets on Janet and Ray’s refrigerator. I smiled in spite of myself. Some samples:

Attitude is everything.

Don’t let the sands of time get in your sandwiches.

A great journey begins with one step.

You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?

And a bon mot from Albert Einstein: In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.


So -- lots of good news, right? I hope this makes you worry less and rejoice more.

One more bit of good news: Last night the New Zealand All Blacks (national rugby team) defeated the Aussie Wallabies 22-16 for bragging rights in the South Pacific!

Love and thanks and blessings to all,

LuAnn

NZ Sat Jul 18th 8:00pm

The slow healing process continues for each of us.

Dave has joined us for the weekend so we're temporarily living under the same roof as a family again. He continues to improve and is still on schedule to finish his rehab on Friday, July 24th.

LuAnn's next checkup is Tuesday, July 28th. We're hoping they'll remove the metal braces from her teeth during that visit. And, we have our fingers crossed they'll give us a travel date so we can re-schedule our trip home.

Thanks to all for the love and prayers.

NZ Fri Jul 17th 6:45pm

Today was a bit sad. Emily has a job commitment and had to move on. We are really going to miss having her here with us. She fit into our family quite nicely. She was always ready to share her crossword puzzle, watch a movie, listen to music or just sit around and read. She and Sarah even managed to visit several museums ... like one should do on a proper holiday. She's pretty good on the piano, too.

It wasn't all fun and games for her though. She was here to help and that she did. She was willing to take on any task at any time. She and Sarah ran the errands, cooked, cleaned, nurtured, sympathized, etc. We will miss her.

Thank you Emily!

NZ Wed Jul 15th 5:00pm

In an earlier post, I mentioned the kind, generous and compassionate people of the Nelson area. I hope I can remember them all. I apologize to anyone I've omitted. These are the facts as best I can remember them. I apologize for any details I've butchered.

I received a call from a woman early on in my stay in the general ward. She said she was from the state of Washington, here on holiday (vacation) I think. She had heard the story and called to see if there was anything she could do. I politely told her everything was under control and thanked her for the kind offer. Turns out her's was just the first such offer.

My roommate for most of my stay was a local gentleman recovering from hip surgery. His wife visited often and each time stopped by my bed to say hello. She always wanted to know if I needed anything. I think she grew tired of hearing no and decided to do something anyways. One day she brought a bag of delicious fruit ... apples, oranges and grapes.

Nearly every person that visited my roommate stopped long enough to say hello, then asked about my family and offered their best wishes for our speedy recoveries.

The proprietors of the establishment where we spent the night before the accident sent a thoughtful Get Well card.

One day I discovered a large package of goodies ... cookies, candy, fruit, etc. I think it came from Victim Support.

A woman stopped in for a visit one day. Turns out the accident happened near her home and she and some co-workers were our 'first responders'. She provided some facts I hadn't heard before. She had first-hand knowledge of the great work they do at the Hutt Hospital. She assured me that Dave and LuAnn were in very capable hands.

One of the Victim Support volunteers stopped at a local establishment on his way to visit me. He selected a hard-bound book of photography titled "NEW ZEALAND Land of Many Contrasts". I couldn't see New Zealand so he was going to bring some of its beauty to me. It was a great idea. At the checkout they discovered why he was making the purchase and refused to take his money. The book was free.

Sarah spent three nights in the Nelson Hospital. After her discharge, she stayed close to the hospital to keep me company for a day or so. She was waiting for a flight from Nelson to Wellington where she could be close to Dave and LuAnn at the Hutt Hospital. Within an hour of her departure, a phone call came to the ward inquiring if I would like any visitors. The caller was a man from Colorado now living in the area. When he arrived he asked if I needed anything. I explained that Sarah had just left and I wished I had thought to have her get a cell phone for me. He disappeared for ten minutes or so. When he returned, he handed me a cell phone (his) and told me keep it for as long as I needed it. Later that night his wife stopped by with the phone charger and a container of delicious, homemade cookies.

None of these people knew me or my family. They heard our story and decided to take time from their own busy lives to help us.

NZ Tue Jul 14th 2:00pm

We have moved into our new 'home' away from home. Ray and Janet are our hosts. They departed this morning to do some traveling and it was their idea to have us house-sit. They are yet another example of the good fortune we've had since the accident.

It's very comfortable here as long as we keep the wood-burners going. It's winter and this place has no furnace but that's typical for this area. The home is large and the rooms are spacious. The property also includes a separate 2-bedroom flat for visitors. This is a farm of sorts and they left behind instructions for caring for the livestock ... eight sheep. Fortunately, they won't require much attention during the short time we'll be here.

We're situated on a ridge in the middle of a valley. They have thirteen beautiful acres here. The views are marvelous even though it's normally cloudy this time of year. On clear days you can see mountains on the South Island off in the distance. If the opportunity presents itself, we'll take and post some pictures, although I'm sure a picture can't do justice to the views I'm seeing with my own eyes.

Ray is a retired engineer and loves to tinker with a variety of toys, or as he refers to them, 'assets'. When we visited last week, he proudly gave me a tour so I could inspect the assets. I saw his portable sawmill, a 40s-era Dodge military jeep, various earth-moving vehicles and assorted other assets.

NZ Tue Jul 14th 9:00am

The slow healing process continues. We're all getting more and more anxious to return home to see Family and Friends.

Most of the past two weeks have been spent living at the Green Gables Motel. For anyone interested, you can find it on the map at "560 high st, lower hutt, new zealand". Google maps even has a street view of the place. Maureen and Dave are the proprietors and they have been wonderful to us.

Today is moving day. We're headed out into the countryside to house sit for friends who are spending the next two weeks traveling. Our new location puts us much closer to Dave and should make it easier for us to visit him regularly.

Thanks to all for the love and prayers.

NZ Sun Jul 12th 8:40pm

Where to begin? I just know that I was in a very bad way as a result of the accident on June 24, and that I continue to get better each day. I also know that we have been blessed by so many people, so many acts of kindness, and so many good wishes and prayers! I am grateful every minute that all four of us are alive, and continue to pray for the family of Mrs. McFarlane, who did not survive the accident.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. They mean more to us than you could know.

NZ Sun Jul 12th 8:00am

Hello to All.

It's a lazy Sunday morning here. Sarah, LuAnn and Emily are awake but have chosen to stay in bed and read. Dave hasn't yet emerged from his room. I think he's still sleeping soundly. I just finished some internet work related to my job. Lucky for me, I can do most of my job from anywhere in the world as long as I have internet access.

As you may know, LuAnn joined us here at the apartment on Thursday. She's really doing remarkably well. Yesterday we drove out into the countryside and visited friends for several hours. LuAnn loved it but she was exhausted when we made it back 'home'.

Sarah and I met with Dave's rehab therapists Friday afternoon. The meeting went well and they assured us he's doing great. In fact, they let him join us for the weekend. They want two more weeks to work with him so he goes back today in time for their Sunday dinner. His tentative release date is July 24th.

Friday night we had our first family dinner together since before the accident. Sarah and Emily fixed a great meal ... beef roast and locally-grown vegetables, ice cream for desert. It felt really, really good to look around the table and see all the smiling faces. I'm anxious for the day we can have the same experience back in our own home.

LuAnn has several follow-up appts this week. Tomorrow we'll travel into Wellington to see the eye specialists. Most of her trauma was around her eyes and the doctor that worked on her eyes the day of the accident wants to see how she's doing. Thursday she returns to the local hospital to see her plastics specialists. Again, just a follow-up to see how things are going but we're also hoping they'll give us an idea of when she'll be cleared to fly.

Thanks to all for the love and prayers.

Victim Support

"Victim Support provides 24hr emotional support, personal advocacy and information to all people affected by crime and trauma throughout New Zealand."

This organization includes both paid and volunteer workers. There wasn't a single day of my hospital stay that I didn't have at least one visitor from Victim Support. These people were kind, generous and compassionate. Robert and John were the volunteers that visited most often. I enjoyed their visits and friendship.

Victim Support knows how to get things done. Anna, the Nelson Service Coordinator, made arrangements for Sarah's accommodations and travel upon her discharge. She did the same for me when I was released. All I had to do was show up at the airport and get on the plane. They had a volunteer come to the hospital when I was discharged. She gave me and all my gear a ride to the airport. We detoured along the way to see some of the beautiful hilltop views. I also talked her into a stop for ice cream!

I picked up a travel companion on my way from Nelson to Lower Hutt. Emily is from Traverse City MI. She graduated from Kalamazoo College with Sarah and happened to be in the Nelson area at the time. She generously agreed to allow us to 'adopt' her for awhile. She is living and traveling with us for the time being. It's good to have her here. She's good company and she and Sarah handle most of the errands, cooking, etc.

Each hospital has a group of social workers that care for its patients non-medical needs. I add them to my list of those to whom I am forever indebted and grateful.

At some point, I'll tell my stories about the generous and caring people from the city of Nelson. Anyone living in that community should be proud to call Nelson home.