She says she feels pain...

    Priscilla is doing very well. Today she had her staples removed from her back, a day earlier than orignally planned. The very long incision, which spans about a 12- 15 inches long is healing very well. She is still suffering from problems with her speech and short term memory, but she is remaining optimistic that they will return to normal with time as she heals.

       She is performing well in physical therapy and has twice said she felt pain in her hip joints when having someone perform her leg excercises. With this development, my curiosity led me to do some research and see what I could find out. I discovered that many people with complete spinal cord injuries (like hers) experience pain and tingling, although they can not move their legs. They say doctors don't understand it, but it is happening, but is no reason to get too excited. My thought before doing some research was that pain receptors in the brain were still intact, but because of the injury to the spinal cord, in Scilla's case the severance, the brain is not able to send message's to the legs to move, but is capable of feeling pain or what we think of as pain.

        In addition to my research on pain, I have also been researching women with complete spinal cord injury and sex and I am happy to say that research has been done and the results are promising. I know some people may feel that is too much information or something they don't want to read about, but the reality of the situation is that we are all human beings and sex is a very important part of life, especially for my sister considering that she is a married woman.

         On a lighter note, I had the opportunity to wheel Scilla to the cafeteria today, she knows a great short cut! She asked me to buy her dinner and then asked for a free pie from the worker, she told them she deserved it, because she survived her accident (glad to see her personality is still there)...lol!

I have picture of her in her wheelchair, but she was kind of drowsy and I don't think she will like the way she is looking, so I will try to get another one tomorrow, but I do have 2 wheelchair pics for you, it is of my beautiful baby girl sitting in Scilla's rehab chair, she will be getting a lighter and better chair of her own soon!

Mommy caught her in Aunt Scilla's chair, she took off her shoes and made herself comfortable!

She is really relaxing now, so much so that she has repositioned, propped her leg up and gotten comfy on a pillow.

Mommy always makes it better....

     THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY SHORT AND SWEET...
    I must first start this entry off as instructed by mother. My mother wanted me to express the gratitude of my family to everyone who has been there for us through this very tough time. Thank you to everyone who has and is continuing to pray for Priscilla. Thank you for the flowers, cards, balloons, phone calls, facebook posts, emails or whatever you have done to reach out to our family. We are truly grateful and so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family, and co-workers.
      Priscilla is continuing to do well and progressing. We are hoping they remove the line of staples going down the center of her back this week. I think that she may be feel a little better once they are removed, seeing as though they are starting to pull at her skin. She is trying really hard and is determined to get well so she can get home to her family.

        Today, I had the pleasure of witnessing a very touching moment. Scilla was sitting in her wheelchair and her back was hurting, so she wanted my mom to rub it. So while mom sat in a chair, I took Scilla's legs down from her chair and my mom held her hands as she leaned foward and laid her head on my mom's shoulder. While she laid on mom, I rubbed her back on one side and mom the other. It was so relaxing for her and she really enjoyed the embrace of mom.
       
   No matter how old we get or how grown we think we are, sometimes mommy is the only one who can make it better!

Walking in Faith....

WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS, THEY NOT ONLY SAVE LIVES, BUT THEY PREVENT LIFE CHANGING INJURIES

Wearing your seatbelt is one of the best and most important decisions you make whenever you get into a car. Please wear your seatbelts!!!  
   I really dislike wearing my seatbelt. I always feel as though it is choking me and is uncomfortable. I have learned how to ignore the warning light in one of our cars, but in our SUV, I have to put it on because of the annoying dinging. Yesterday, I leanrned some new things about the accident. Scilla said that she remembers getting up early and going to get her hair braided, she remembers getting into the car and feeling a little tired, but that is it. She remembers nothing else about the accident or what happened after getting in the car.
    
    We do know that she was NOT wearing her seatbelt, which is out the norm for her, because their bmw annoys the heck out of you when don't, but she was not driving the bmw, she was driving her daughter's volvo. (I think if she was driving the bmw, which is a 2009 and has all this new technology, that her injuries may not have been as severe and that the car may have even shut down or something along those lines).

     We also learned that during the accident, the car cut across traffic to the other side of the road and went down an approx. 40 foot embankment before hitting a tree. I am glad that no other drivers or cars were involved. Below are a couple of pictures of the car and from the pictures, which I got from Greg, it appears that most of the damage to the car was on the passenger side and I think that HAD SHE BEEN WEARING HER SEATBELT, her injuries would not have been as severe and that she would have walked from this accident with little or very few injuries.

front headlight/fender on driver side

 Interior look from driver side

Another interior look, center console detached

this photo and the one to follow is of the passenger rear side of the car

Wearing seatbelts not only saves lives, but it prevents life changing injuries. Had Scilla been wearing her seatbelt, her injuries would not have been as severe.

3:43 am start to my Friday...

 My friday morning began with a call at 3:43 a.m. with what else, but a call from Scilla! I was tired and enjoying my sleep very much when the phone rang and the hospital's number showed up on the caller id so I had to answer! So I answer "hello" and it's Scilla saying "what are you doing" and of course I reply "sleep" and then she says "Oh, I just wanted someone to talk to, but ok bye". Please note this call was not important because if it had been I would have talked with her, she was actually bored.

   On Friday, a lot of things were learned and are experienced. So where do I start? I guess I will begin with an update on her health condition.

• Priscilla is doing very well with therapy, with the exception of the fact that they believe the medicine they are giving her for anxiety is causing her drowsiness and therefore she is falling asleep in her sessions, so they are going to cut down on the currect dosage.
• The biggest health concern for me is that we learned that she did experience some head trauma in the accident, a concussion. This is the reason for her slightly slurred speech mentioned in the previous post and as well as for small, but noticable change in her handwriting and a loss in some short term memory. The doctor thinks that the trauma to the head has had an effect on some, but not all of her motor skills and we are hoping that as her body heals, so too will any problems resulting from head trauma. 
• Keeping with her health, something they are giving her in the hospital is causing high blood sugar levels which are a concern to the doctors because high blood sugar levels can interfere and slow down the healing process. Before the accident, her levels were normal and under control. She is going to have a visit with an endocrinologist to see if they can determine or help gain control of her BSL's.
• She also has Strep in her blood and her doctors at the R.C.P thinks it is from her PICC line, so my question is how? Was someone who put it in sick? Did someone with strep touch it? How is what I want to know!

Now to experiences. Scilla insisted that she and I go for a walk. So we had the task of transfering her into her chair, without having any training or never seeing a nurse or therapist do it before. Let's just say that the transfer had a couple of glitches and did not go as smoothly as I would have hoped. Two things worked against us:

1. We did not have the sliding board and
2. She did not want us to use the sling

  So in the process of trying to get her into the chair, we missed and she ended up on the floor on her knees and it took 4 of us to get her in the chair FINALLY! I think I am going to have to start working out and build my muscles, because I know that have no muscle strength and I am really going to need it now and also once some of the swelling goes down, she may be a little bit lighter.

Mimi, my 3 year old daughter and I pushed Scilla around and took her downstairs and she tried to convince us to put her in the car and take her for a ride, of course we refused! She also wanted Mimi to ride in her lap on the chair, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that, so I did not her get in Scilla's lap, although Scilla insisted several times.

   On another note, Scilla had a good day; for the most part. During our walk, she reassured me that if she never walks again, it is ok! She said that to me several times and I am glad that she knows whether or not she walks again, life still goes on. Life will be different, but she can still have a fulfilling life.

     I also must mention that she received a visit from a childhood friend who was in a car accident 6 years ago and is now paraplegic also. Scilla had some questions for her and wanted to touch her legs and asked her to show her how she tranfers from her wheelchair to a regular chair. Her visit was a God-send and she said my sister could call her with any questions and that she would come to one of Scilla's therapy sessions and help her out as much as possible.


"Walking in Faith"

When it rains, it pours...

    It has been just over a week since the accident and we are learning new things daily. Scilla is doing very well with her therapy, but the possibility of a collapsed lung and her blackouts are causing some concern for us. When I asked the nurse today about the blackouts/falling to sleep, she said it maybe contributed to the medicine she is taking for anxiety. Also causing concern for me is her slightly slurred speech and I am just hoping that these are all things that will improve with time and that are not permanent, but just small side effects of the accident that will improve as her health continues to improve.

Scilla requested that I come to the hospital today to talk to her about some things. ( I don't like R.C.P's look and I didnt like seeing her there and had many mixed emotions upon arriving and leaving) Once inside, we talked about Shakelle and how she was handling the situation and the toll the accident has taken on everyone emotionally and mentally. She told me that she would love to walk again and she believes that God does perform miracles, but he may not want her to walk again, which is ok, but for right now her goals are to
1. dress herself
2. shower by herself and
3. drive again

    Today her rehabilitation doctor and therapists had a conference about her and concluded that she will need around the clock care, I am not yet sure what led them to come to this conclusion, but we still hope that she will be able to have her independence again someday.

     The last update is that she expressed to me she would like to live with my mother, which is going to be something very hard to accomplish. We are hoping and praying and trying to put our heads together to see how to make this happen. My mom's current home does not even come close to being
      1. Wheelchair or handicap accessible or
      2.  Large enough to house my sister's family and my mom and sister (Angelic)

      Beside accessibilty factors and home size, financially my family does not have the means to provide the home that she will need. I know that with God all things are possible and I am praying that we can somehow raise the money or get someone to donate a handicap/wheelchair accessible home for them. I have a pretty nice size property in the back of my house and as an option to cut down on cost, I am willing to let them build in my backyard ( SN: I guess it is good that I haven't had the pool I have always wanted, put in yet).

    After everything I have had to digest today, she did give me a reason to smile and laugh by saying she was not going to be rolling (picture her moving her arms in a circular motion as in turning the wheels of a wheelchair) but she was going to get her an electric chair so she can ride her babies around...lmao. So I told her when she gets her chair I would buy her this shirt :

Walking in Faith...

     

Nothing major today...

I had planned not write anything today, but I am up late. I have nothing of importance to say, but I would like to ask for prayer, which I know you are all doing. My mother and I talked tonight and she informed me of some things going on with Scilla that I will share very soon.

On another note, my mom met a lady today whose son is paralyzed, but through accupunture, he has gained bowel and bladder control and does not have to Cath, which is something I am going to look into for my sister.

Today, I am uploading a pic of Scilla and I taken on thanksgiving 2009. I don't like the way my eyes look in the pic, but oh well.

"walking in faith"

Reality Stinks....sometimes!

Today was the first day of Scilla's intense schedule of  3 hours of daily therapy. After her first 2 hour morning session, I think the reality of Priscilla's paralysis hit her. She called mom and was very upset. Her therapist said she did very well; an excellent job this morning, but Scilla was trying so hard to move her legs and couldn't. The reality that she was paralyzed and her legs were not going to move, hit home!

   If you read one of today's earlier posts; you will note that I mentioned the topic of reality and giving false hope and I think I may have been on the correct path about deciding that I would no longer say she would walk again, but instead to be a positive supporter.

Visits

Many have asked about visiting Priscilla and below you will find her schedule for now. As her schedule changes, I will update the blog:

 9-11 am- therapy; NO visitors

 11-1 LUNCH BREAK; VISITORS ARE ALLOWED        

  1-2  therapy

After 2pm - 9pm VISITORS ARE ALLOWED

At What Point? ...

So I stayed up to almost 2 a.m. talking to Eric about something I have been struggling with; whether or not we are giving Scilla false hope in telling her she will walk again? I have a strong faith in God and I know that with him all things are possible, but what if it is not his will for her to walk again? At what point does reality set in?
  
    The above questions led me to decide that no longer will I tell her she will walk again, instead I am going to continue to encourage her to stay positive and to do her best to get well.

    Today is just one of those days for me, I am not in a good mood and I am in a "funk". I am realizing that this accident has changed everyone's life and it not only has affected my sister, but it has also affected her husband, kids, my mother and her sisters.


     I am going to continue to pray for healing and strength for my sister, but I am not going to continue to give her false hope. At some point, which I think is now; we all have to accept the reality that she is paralyzed from the waist down.

*1 week update*

Priscilla is doing GREAT and will be moving to Roger C. Peace today. I missed the photo of her in the wheelchair for the first time, but promise to get one later or tomorrow. She is in great spirits and excited about starting therapy at R.C.P.

        Today, we had some real good talks and got alot accomplished. We reassured her that her kids would be taken care of and she needs to concentrate on getting well.

          We all know that I am a thinker and I think too much, so here is my revelation: God operates in the trinity; God the father, Jesus the Son, and The Holy Spirit. We have had 3 diagnosis of paralysis, we have been in rooms 2313 and 2312. Look at God; he is definitely working and showing up.

   

This should have us up to date and current...

She remained in Neuro-trauma until Thursday. We had decided we wouldn't tell her about the severity of her injuries until later, but on Thursday, Her Bro-in-law, Derrick and I were back visiting her and chatting with her and she asks us how the surgery went and we both casually ignore her and change the subject, because we felt it was not our place to tell her, that mom or Greg should. Well, what do you know, about an hour later, I go back to Neuro to pay her a visit and Dr. Hodge is there and she asks, so he tells her, my heart sanks as I see the look on her face. But she quickly bounces back with "Get me up outta this crummy hotel and over to Roger C. Peace, so I can walk up outta here. I'm a go getter, Doc.!"

Attempt # 2- Surgery Day..excited, nervous, hopeful & prayerful...

After not sleeping at all, I rise early (which is not the norm for me and rarely occurs) to make it to the hospital before 9 and all the pre-surgery crap. I go back see her and let her know she has ALOT of people praying for her. So, they take her down to surgery and My mom, Shakelle, LeeLee and I go down to see her in the surgery area (side note: She is actually taking lip gloss into surgery with her, I found that funny!) and tell her we love her and to pray. They wheel her away and we go back up to ICU waiting. We all wait and anticpate the calls from the O.R with updates.
       Update # 1: They were having trouble sticking her, which delayed surgery start.
    
       Update #2:   She is doing well and is stable, they are inserting the metal "hardware" and doing grafts.

       Update #3:   They are putting in screws.

So after 3 updates, the surgery is over and at about 5 p.m. or a little after, Dr. Hodge comes out looking for Greg, who went home for a moment, but I lead him to mom and gives us the finals of the surgery. He says that surgery went well, she is recovering and that this is one of the worst spinal cord injuries he has ever seen and he does alot of these and has been doing this for years. He tells us her spinal cord was completely severed and there were pieces in there he couldn't even recognize enough to put back together. So of course I ask " where do we stand as far as the paraylsis is concerned?" and he says "Still permanent paraylsis." I shake his hand and say thank you and my mom breaks down and so does everyone else; what little hope we had was dashed,  everyone was hoping the spinal cord would remain intact, that way she would have a greater chance of walking again...

Surgery Day... or not!

All of our family and friends begin to arrive at the hospital around 1:30 p.m in a quick rush to try and see her before surgery only to find out at 2 p.m that surgery has been canceled! We decide to have the Dr. come over and tell her, because we are disappointed and know she will be too!
      So why was surgery canceled?
             Surgery was canceled because the surgery was slated to last about 5 hours and the Dr. didn't have HIS staff available for a surgery of that length of time. Surgery would be on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
      At 1st everyone was dissappointed, but then we said, maybe it is a blessing; the Doctor's will be refreshed first thing in the morning, their minds will be clear and maybe they will do a better job and perform a miracle.

    We all know I am a woman of a million question, as evident through my talkative offspring...lol! As Dr. Hodge leaves from telling Scilla of the canceled surgery, I approach with some questions, but natually of course, I have started my research and I ask " What are our options as far as stem cell research and cord blood is concerned? I need to know if I should start trying to get pregnant." He responds " Very good question, but really by the time the cells regenerate or grow long enough to reach the legs, the other muscles would have weaken too much to actually move. The only hope would be if someone comes up with some type of technology, computer that can send electronic signals to move the legs." I was really hoping cord blood would help, but hey we still have God and he works miracles...

How do you tell a 16 year old girl her mom may be paralyzed? & My reactions

      So, as mentioned in the previous post I went to pick Shakelle up from school. I got to the school and waited patiently for about 2-3 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) and no one came to my assitance, so of course I was getting irritated, so I knocked on the desk to get 2 ladies attention and in my mean voice said " I have an emergency and need some help." After getting assistance, I told the lady in attendance what was going on and she acted fast and went to get the Early dismisal approved, which happened very fast. So Shakelle was walking towards me and she was soooo happy, just smiling and I began to turn red, because I didn't know if I should tell her now or wait! She saw the look of horror on my face and began asking wait and so I told her and she broke down and I had to drag her to the car and literally put her inside. On our way back to the hospital, we got the news that they were taking her to ICU.
  

    *My Quick Reactions and Others*
          When my mom called me, I was still enjoying my wonderful sleep, this is not the wake up call you want to receive! I jumped up out of the bed and was panicing and felt like I was going to cry, but my God is so good, he said Betty, don't cry, pray! So I immediately started to pray and ask God for strength and healing. After that I called Eric, my hubby to come home from work to babysit our daughter and I tell you, he was not getting home fast enough and I was getting pissed by the minute...lol (Side Note: I love my hubby and he has been really supportive and he got there as soon as he could).
       I must mention this in reactions, I have always said that I could feel my moms pain and she tells us all the time, she feels ours. At the time of my sister's accident, my mother was inside of Bi-Lo to get milk for work. Her legs froze and she could not move and one of the clerks who knows her said "Ms. Pat, are you ok" and my mom replied " Yea, I'm ok, it's couldy out and these old knee's just acting up" But she was really feeling my sisters paralysis as it was occuring...(My God, My God)

*Return to regular programming*
   So we get back to the hospital and goes to the ICU, by this time all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and sister's closest friends have arrived. We are all waiting to see what the Doctors have the say. In comes Neuro-trauma specialist #1, Dr. Kanos. He comes in the ICU and says he has reviewed the x-rays and CT Scans and other stuff and says, " I am going to be blunt with you, she is paralyzed and it will be permanent, but I would like to bring in my colleague who is a specialist at this, I do this all the time, but I really want to get his 2nd opinion."
  So next comes the orthopedic surgeon, he says no broken bones besides the back and yes paralysis!
       After the ortho-surgeon, we wait hours and finally in walks a man in a suit, Dr. Hodge, Nuero-Surgeon number 2 and he gives the same diagnosis and schedules surgery for Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 3pm.
              After Dr. Hodge leaves, they move her from ICU to the neuro-trauma unit, which is ICU for people with Nuero injuries.

The Accident...

   On Monday, March 15, 2010 at around 8:30 in the morning, Priscilla was in a car accident. Scilla was on her way returning home from getting her braids "touched up" when the accident occurs. I have not been able to get the exact details, so I will give them to you as they have been given to me from her, my mom, and Emergency personnel. So this is what we know...
   Scilla was traveling home on highway 107, Mauldin Rd. back towards The Woodruff rd. area when the accident occured. According to the only witness she was traveling on Mauldin rd., just in the area around the water plant when he noticed her slumped over in the car. The witness thought she was asleep and attempted to blow the horn to get her attention. After blowing for steadily he noticed the car veering towards the curb, at which point it began to spin, and he backed off and dialed 9-1-1, noticing the brake lights were not on and something was obviously wrong. After about 5 spins, the car went over an embankment and at that point it slammed into a tree.
    When emergency officials arrived, they lifted her from the car. Once in the ambulance, the paramedic used her cell phone to call my mom's cell phone. My mom didn't answer, but immediately returned the call and thought someone was playing on her phone; Scilla had to actually get on the phone and say to my mom she had been in accident. The paramedic told my mom, Scilla had been and an accident and it appeared she was paralyzed. My mother immediately left work and beat the paramedics to the hospital. On her way to the hospital my mom called my younger sister and I and told us to meet her at the hospital, but drive safely ( I will post my reaction in the next post).Once at the hopsital, my mom impatiently waited on the ambulance to arrive. Once the ambulance arrived, they took my mom back to a room, which was frightening; by this time my 2 sisters, niece and Scilla's son, A.D. and I had arrived. My mom immeditately began to call her prayer "warriors" for intercessory prayer. While waiting in the room, we were all trying to get in touch with her husband, Greg, who did not know of the accident yet. We tried calling all the phones he had and even nieghbors, but could not reach him, so finally I said lets call a family friend that lives on my street to run to her house and make him aware.
    Finally, the nurse and Doctor comes in and says, Priscilla's back is SEVERELY broken and everyone into tears and while crying, all I could do was call on the name of Jesus. So after the hearing the news, we decided I should go get Scilla's daughter, Shakelle from school...

* Why the other driver could not get Scilla's attention *
           Although I have personally known my sister to take a nod while driving, this was not the case in her accident. Priscilla has well controlled diabetes and had not had any problems with it lately. She has gone from having an insulin pump to pills, a great improvement. Her Husband, Greg last recalls her taking medicine on Sunday night, March 14 and Sunday was also the last time she had eaten. With that said, I and some medical officials believed her blood sugar levels dropped to drastically low levels causing her to pass out, I also think that fact that she has a lapband and eat such small portions and hadn't ate breakfast, that her body was hungry and from personal experience with bypass surgery, I know sometimes you are hungry, but don't think you are and can get so weak to the point of feeling faint.
            Priscilla really doesn't recall the details of the accident, but says she was awake, but I do not think that it so for twol reasons :

   1. According to the witness, he did not witness her put on brakes or the brake lights come on at any point
        during the accident.
  
   2. She didn't have the natural reaction that most do, which would be to brace themselves for the impact, which
        if she had, her back may not be as severely broken from her body uncontrollably flailing in the front seat of
        the car.

After thinking about it for days, I decided to create this blog...

   So I for days now, I have been trying to decide if I would start a blog to document my sister, Priscilla Hightower's journey back to restoration after her life changing accident on Monday, March 15, 2010. I will try my best to update this blog as soon as updates become available to keep everyone updated. The first couple of entries from tonight will be very short, but I want to break them up, so as to have some type of organization to the blog. Enjoy reading and remember to keep praying....
"Walking in faith"