Phase II – Jake Moves to Indy & Fish Oil
[I apologize ahead of time, WordPress is jamming all my posts together without paragraph spacing]
Jake is still pushing through this. He’s come a long way so far but still has a lot of work to do. I’m not leaving his side either. Our mom, Lissa has been here every single day (she needs a break) but this is her son. I’m not a mom, but I can only imagine what effect the mother’s instinct has on this situation. Jake is in good hands.
Since my last post a lot of things have happened…
Jake has been moved to another hospital as he’s no longer in critical condition, therefore doesn’t need to be in the ICU anymore. The plan was to move him to Indianapolis on Friday but he wasn’t quite ready. He had a rough day as they slowed his medications. He was fighting really hard which caused his heart rate to shoot through the roof. He was sweating a lot and seemed very frustrated and uncomfortable. It was not easy to watch. And I’m sure that wasn’t the last time it will happen.
His trach has made things much easier for him. He no longer has a tube sticking out of his mouth. He seems much more comfortable. He also looks much better with the trach in because he’s able to move his mouth. I’m pretty sure we caught him smiling the other day.
We needed a break from the hospital last week so I took my mom and sis to the Cactus. Mike came along with us to make things even more fun and interesting. For those of you who aren’t from here or didn’t attend Purdue, The Cactus is a bar with a very entertaining Piano man named Bruce. We had ourselves an amazing time and I got the chance to make up some dance moves with my sister on the dance floor. Bruce was also made aware of “Wake Jake” that night. Amber gave him a wrist band and he also gave a shootout to Jake. It was a good feeling.
Here is a pic of my mom and sister up by Bruce dancing to a song they requested. Bruce rocks!
I haven’t lost a bit of hope. Jake is a strong kid and I’m fully convinced he’ll pull through this. As each day passes my belief in him grows. His friends have his back too. This weekend my sister and I went out with a few of Jake’s friends. There were people I didn’t even know coming up to me expressing their belief in Jake’s recovery. I was also touched by a family who has gone through this exact scenario before. Two sisters who went through this exact scenario about 2 years ago contacted me on Facebook and came to the hospital last Friday to talk with me. It made me feel a lot better about everything and now I have someone to turn to when times get tough. They’ve been through this before. In fact, their mother posted a very heartfelt comment on this blog. Take a look for yourself in the comments section!
New hospital:
Jake is now at Seton in Indianapolis. At first, we felt like the hospital was very small and not very accommodating but then as we met the nurses things took a quick upturn. I expressed my desire to give Jake fish oil and nootropics. Most doctors don’t know what nootropics are because they’re such a new phenomenon. (I’ll have to write a separate post on all of my supplements including brain nutrients in another post at JTSchonhoft.com). This hospital is very open to me offering suggestions such as these. In fact, I found out today that he already has fish oil in his feeding tube. They’re giving him 2400mg doses. This makes me very excited after reading many studies where Fish Oil helped rebuild proteins in the brains of people who have suffered brain injuries. I also take fish oil on a regular basis. Here is a link to one of the stories if you’re interested: CNN.com Fish Oil saved my son’s life
My mom has also been comforted by the capabilities of this hospital when she heard a story about the stage collapse in Indianapolis last year. (Warning: This video may be uncomfortable to watch.) When that incident occurred last year, a girl came in Seton after Methodist and she was able to leave there walking and focusing. Here’s her story: For The Love of Andrea. From what I’ve heard, she made a full recovery. Not that I need more hope for Jake, but that does ease the worry a little.
Jake pulled his feeding tube out of his nose the other day. They had to put it back in after that. To me, that’s good news because it shows that he wants out of the hospital. As soon as he is able to breathe on his own they will take him off of the respirator. That is our next goal. As soon as he is off the respirator he can move on to the next step. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Did you all see the special on ESPN #noquit? Seeing that man pull through and make a recovery helped me to realize that Jake will too. I wasn’t able to hear the audio since we were at a restaurant when it was on, but seeing what he went through inspired me even more.
People keep asking if Jake will be OK. I’m not sure how to express it, but I have zero doubts that he will make it through this. Jake is a strong kid who can fight through anything and has been against the odds before. Even the nurses try to be honest with us by saying he has a long road ahead and his outcome is unknown. But that still doesn’t scare me. Jake won’t back down. Neither will I.
Never losing hope…
The Groundwork Gnomes are very proud of this pro-bono project as part of our ongoing #GroundworkGives initiative.