Dec. 21 7:40 p.m.

Weeeeeeee. We have just zoomed into the year 2000. We have Qwest high speed, dsl, something. We had dial up for about $22 now we should pay about $15, at least that was the ad. We might find out differently on our first bill, but right now I'm still hopping with the ether bunny so I'm happy. ;)

We only got to one store on Friday (David went with me). We finished there at about 2:45 and realized I hadn't heard from the girls who were at the mercy of friends' phones as they had both forgotten theirs that a.m. We headed for the high school at a slippery five mph fearing they might have tried walking. 20 mins. later we were a mile from the school and they called. On a clear day it would have taken us about 5 mins. to get there from where we started. It took another 10 mins to finish that last mile.

I decided I would finish my shopping on Monday. I better start early, someone told me we have another storm coming in Monday! I will persevere and prevail!

We have had a couple of visits from friends. The Scott Maybe family and Lynn & Diane Russell came by with lots of goodies! Thank you! :) A big thank you also to the Tomers!

Thank you to all our friends and family that follow the blog and care about us. I won't be posting quite so often as the progress is now at a slow and steady pace and will probably continue in that manner for a couple of years.

Great news, Levi's friend, Dale, has almost completely recovered!

We love you all and hope you have a very merry Christmas (and a happy Hanukkah)!

Dec. 19 9:05 a.m.

Levi's appts. went pretty well. Dr. Cook said he expects Levi's vision to return to normal w/o any interventions. It will take another month or two. Dr. Reichman's PA said the incision looks great and has healed well. He gave us orders for radiology (not sure why that wasn't done prior so he could talk to us about the images?). We go back to Dr. Cook in a month and "Dr. Reichman" at the end of Feb. The visit with Dr. Reichman's PA was a little tense for a few minutes when Levi told him he was planning to go back to work in about a week. The PA smiled and said something like, "well not quite". To which Levi replied, "I have to or I will lose my job". At that point the PA looked right at Levi and said, "are you joking with me?" Levi said, "I'm very serious" They are now staring each other down. Then the PA said in a very stern voice, "well I'm being very serious with you! There is no way in the world I will release you to get back up on a ladder before April!" Levi's deadly glare held fast. I think this is where I asked what about computer work? At Cookietree he mostly does computer work. "Oh, that would be o.k." The PA offered and all was well. Whew!

It is actually also Dr. Ryser (rehab) who would have to release him to go back to work. The FMLA ends on 12-29 (Levi's birthday) so I thought that maybe the OT could take Levi to work just for a visit to see how much he remembers about his job. The OT thought that would be good and scheduled a couple of visits on her calender. We will need to clear those dates with Cookietree. This will help everyone know just what is possible and what is not (incl. Levi).

Well the wind is blowing frigid cold and I have committed myself to finish Christmas shopping today. I should have checked the forecast before committing! So, I will see if I can bribe, I mean "persuade" Ali to go with me and also drag, I mean invite, David along to help. Wish us luck!

Dec. 14 7:13 a.m.

Wow, it's been awhile! We've been busy trying to get Christmas pulled together. We also have been to some dr. appts. (one for Levi and one for Emily) Emily's eyes are still adjusting to the hard contact lenses. We go back in 6 mos. Levi's hearing in his left ear may be considered permanent due to nerve loss from the fracture.
We have 2 appts. tomorrow. Dr. Cook for vision, and Dr. Riechman for the follow up on his surgeries.
Levi is still progressing every day. We have been shopping for things he wanted to buy such as his radio and a new laptop. I think he is gearing up to go back to work on his janitorial business!
We also attended an insurance meeting at Cookietree on Friday. He really enjoyed seeing everybody! He is so anxious to get back to work. Well, he is up now and ready for church so I'll have to close.
More later. :)

Dec. 5 1:59 p.m.

We took Levi to the hospital yesterday to visit Dale. We had a nice visit with him and he seems to be doing quite well. He thought they would discharge him yesterday. We will call him later today to see if he is home.

After the visit we went to Best Buy to check out radios. Levi was very tired and didn't really want to buy anything since nothing was on sale. (more back to normal all the time)

Later we went to the grocery store to see if he could pick out some things he might want to eat. He complained about the prices several times. I kept saying "it's worth it if you will eat it!" We got lasagna for dinner and he ate that rather well. He had some cordon bleu for lunch and ate all of it. Also pudding and V-8. That's the most he has eaten in one sitting. Hopefully that continues!

Today after the PT leaves we will go to the optometrist to get his glasses adjusted and then maybe go find a flat eye patch so the glasses can sit properly.

Gotta go, more later...

Dec. 3 11:49 pm

We had a really bad day yesterday. I think I need to give Levi the Zyprexa every a.m. I gave it to him this a.m. and we had a better day. Our aide got reassigned so we have someone new. Her name is Alena . She is terrific. She asked if I wanted her to help with the dishes while Levi napped! She took notes on all that the therapists were teaching Levi and kept saying "oh, I can do that with him when you're (the therapist) not here. (love her!)

Richard called tonight with some sad news. One of Levi's very good friends, Dale Morey, had a stroke this morning. To those of you at Cookietree, Dale is the one from whom Levi borrowed the soft serve machine for ice cream week. Dale is now the patient at IMED and Levi will do the visiting. (if I can get him to go back there!) lol. Richard said that Dale is expected to recover in a few weeks and go back to work to which Levi replied "oh he's not so bad then". (he actually told Dale that too , on the phone!) O.K. so he didn't fall from a 20 foot ladder to his near death, still, it would be great if all those inclined could offer a prayer for Dale. He has been such a great friend to Levi for about 14 years. After Levi spoke to him on the phone he told us that Dale spoke with less intelligence. I nearly choked on my cocoa and had to compose myself quickly. It, for some reason, reminded me of when the girls were little and Emily kept saying "wellow" for the color yellow. Hillary put her hands on her hips and firmly told Emily "it's LELLOW". Love it.

It's official! Alison has a driver's license!! (watch out) She can now help the girls get their extra hours. Our wonderful home teacher, Hector Illu, is arranging for some more helpers in that area along with his wife Joy. So now we have Sara, Mary Ann, Alison, Joy, and whomever else Hector gets! They should have their hours pretty soon and no one person should have to be subjected for too long. :) Now we just have to find the time for the girls to go between school, homework, on-line work, and a job!

I think we are finally inching towards a workable routine. I feel a little bit of order just within reach.

Thank you for your prayers. They really do work. I know it's those prayers that keep us going and Levi improving.

I hope you all have a great day.

Dec. 2 12:26 am

So much for getting any sleep. I'll keep working on that.

Thanks to Caroline and Sarah Atherton. They brought dinner to us last night and I realized it was the first time we ate together as a family since before the accident! Also thanks to visitors Fernando Marticorena and Richard Russell. Richard is such a nice man. Levi admired his tie tack so Richard took it off and gave it to him! And the book he brought looks to be a good one. Thanks also to the Kangas, Homan, and Peery families (Jen's in-laws) for the beautiful flowers they sent for Thanksgiving. Also, the Fry's for the beautiful poinsettia plant and the adorable gingerbread house. Thanks for the comments and continued interest in Levi's condition and well being. Not to vaunt, but we have the best friends and family! (that encompasses ward members and co-workers!)

It was really interesting to listen to Richard and Levi. Levi was really remembering a lot of things from the Russell's Ice Cream years. I think it was a very stimulating conversation for Levi. It's interesting that he remembers operational procedures from his job 3-4 years ago and not his children's names. There's a topic for discussion when he gets better. :)

The occupational therapist was here last night and played some card games with Levi. I grew up going to Vegas with my parents and playing cards all night with my cousin, Laura. I love games and puzzles. Levi does not. So I'm hoping he will learn to like them now. It is a very important part of his therapy.

We are still concerned with balance, his right elbow, his left ear(lost the hearing), silent aspiration (can't swallow properly), and frontal lobe damage. Also, keeping him busy on things that are safe for him to do. He needs to be working. (I need him to go back to work!)

It has been only one week that he has been home, but it has been an eventful one. The neighbors who don't know about Levi might think we are running a drug house! We have people coming and going all the time. We must have the therapists and we love to have the visitors so it will continue and we will adapt. And I must say the therapists are very nice people.

We have a crazy day coming up today so I need to get to bed. 6 am comes very early!