Our new life...

Since my son's injury... I have started a new life, its not as easy as my life before.  But everyday that comes and goes is one step closer to meeting our son's goals.  We are working to get back as much as possible for Jeremie to regain as much as he can.  Our hopes and dreams are for him to continue to make progress and always rely on the Lord for his strength.  He is one amazing person who has made me grow spiritually. 

Spending 6 weeks in ICU in San Antonio, where everyday was a struggle to watch him struggle and cling to life.  He had broken neck, collarbone, and a pair of lungs that filled with fluid.  He under went several surgeries and nearly didn't make it several times.  As a mom to sit by her son everday and every night with him.  I depended on a greater power to help him through this tough time in his life.



This picture was on day 3 after his accident, this is a very emotional picture.  He struggled to stay alive!




I am so thankful he made it thru all of this in ICU (University Hospital, SA TX)


We had him flown to St. Louis to be near us, and for me to be here for my other 3 kids.  Me and Jeremie flew out of San Antonio on a small Jet.  Barely enough room for his stretcher and the medical flight crew.  It was amazing that the US Airforce did this for a military family member.  The flight crew were amazing in the care of Jeremie.  So thankful to them and their service to help bring Jeremie home.

Jeremie getting loaded into the jet.

Arrived at Scott AFB.

Jeremie then was in the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis for another 9 weeks.  Where he went from not being able to even sit up for any period of time, not being able to do much of anything.  After the 9 weeks of hard work he was able to learn to feed himself, brush his own teeth, and push himself in his own wheelchair.  He has come a long ways.  And only with the help of wonderful people who have backed him from the start.  He has had some wonderful nurses from San Antonio, to awesome Therapist here in St. Louis.  He's hard work had been amazing to watch as a mom.  Watching him now makes me so proud and know that he still has a awesome attitude and never gets down because of his situation.  He never complains about what happened.

Jeremie working out...  he loves this type of therapy.

Cassie is a small PT... But was so amazingly strong, she did so much for us while at the Rehab.  She is also know as the Wheelchair Mechanic... LOL!

Jessi was a awesome support for Jeremie while in Rehab... Thanks Jessi!!!

He has seen so much at the Rehab, watching others in the same situation as him, and sometimes he was the most worst off than others.  But never did he feel sorry for himself.  He has had support from others there at the rehab that have given him strength.  It is a amazing place to be....  and humbling for anyone to be in their presents.

Me and my wonderful son Jeremie.

I am so thankful for my son and for all who have helped him, and for all the prayers on our behalf.  We continue to pray for his recovery and to give him the strength he needs everyday.  He is one amazing guy!

Cassie Physical Therapist and Nicole Occupational Therapist.  Both were amazing!

Dana and Jessica did so much for Jeremie too... Thanks so much!

http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/metro/news/having-a-disability-is-not-the-end/article_279cad71-c463-545c-94e8-fde555925e86.html

In a blink of an eye things change....

In a blink of an eye things change....  some for good, some for a reason that we just don't understand at the time, and most of the time its to help us with our faith in the Lord. 

My blink of an eye was July 3rd, 2011 early in the morning around 5a.m. changed my life...  my oldest son Jeremie was out with friends and they were driving a friend home. They departed New Braunfels Tx. heading back to Seguin.  3 friends in a SUV, Jeremie was sleeping on passenger side of the car, another friend Chris asleep in back seat.  Nolen a young man who just turned 18 yrs old was driving. 

Nolen had fallen asleep, and drove off the road and crossed over traffic and hit an embankment and the vehicle flew into the air and landed upside down on the roof of the car, landing on a cement culvert/ditch.  They had flown so far off the road that they weren't visible from the highway. 

Jeremie told me that his friend in the back seat had pulled himself out of the vehicle with great difficulty and crawled to go get help.  Jeremie said he was pinned in the vehicle with his neck stuck on the headrest of the seat, and the roof of the car.  He said he could hear cars passing by, and wondered why no one would stop.  He tried to call for Nolen but there was no answer.

Around 5:49 a.m. a woman named Linda arrived on the scene and she could hear Jeremie inside... but wasn't able to get to him.  Jeremie gave her my phone number and she immediately tried to call me.   She continued to stay with him till the ambulance and Air Life chopper came to get him. 

This lady called and called my cell phone, and I was unable to hear it because I had it on vibrate on the dresser.  At 8 a.m.  I awoke to hearing my phone vibrate.  I answered it and Linda was on the other end.  She told me all that she knew about the accident.  I then called my husband Christopher who was at the time working at Ft. Hood Tx.  So, he immediately checked out of his hotel and drove down to San Antonio. 

I was able to get some information from the New Braunfels Police.  I found out my son was at University Hospital.  Got a hold of the trama unit, and they wouldn't release any information over the phone.  All they gave me was they had a Unknown, Adame that fit Jeremie's description.  And he was listed in critical condition. 

Christopher arrived around noon to the hospital... and by this time I was on the road with all my kids.  Driving down from St. Louis to go be with Jeremie.  So, Christopher calls me and tells me that I need to pull the car over to the side of the road...  I refused to do that, but he begged me to.  So I did... and he proceded to tell me Jeremie's condition...  Telling me that Jeremie had a really bad spinal cord injury to his neck and that his neck was broken and they had to relieve the stress on the spinal cord.  The neurosurgeon told Christopher that Jeremie's condition was a possible severed spinal cord, with what the MRI showed...  and proceded to say with this type of injury he would never walk again.  I heard this news... and was heart broken, my worst fear.  I immediately had thoughts of my son running and playin football and all the wondeful things he did prior to this...  my kids heard the conversation and knew by the tears flowing from my eyes that this was really bad.  I got my kids together and we just prayed...  I then knew I had to get myself back together so I could get us safely there.  Christopher told me that they were going to do emergency surgery on his neck to fuse the spine together.  And find out how badly the spinal cord was.

I can't remember how much later, Chris called me and said Jeremie is getting ready to go in for surgery and wanted to talk to me...  Jeremie gets on the phone and he says " I love you mom, and I need you here." and he says "I'm gonna be okay Mom".  I told him I would be there as soon as I could... Then told him how much I loved and needed him in my life...and I was on my way.  (short conversation with him and he was into surgery).

We continued to drive, and we arrived around 2 a.m.   Met Chris at a hotel just blocks from the hospital.  We had called several of our old friends from our Seguin Ward.  And they had paid for 2 nights for us at the Marriot Hotel.  Which was nice for us to be so close to hospital.  We dropped off the kids and me and Chris went to the hospital. 

I walked into my sons room which was filled with machines and all sorts of plastic tubes.  I gave him a big hug and kissed him and held his hands.  He woke up and said with just the motion of his lips. "I love you".  And was back into a sedated sleep.  He was on a ventilator to help him breath.  So, I stayed at the hospital with him.  Chris had headed back to hotel bc he was really tired.  I was tired but didn't want to be anywhere else but right there by his side.  I stayed there till morning.  The had to do other test and xrays on him so I headed back to the hotel.  And got a couple hours sleep and we headed back to hospital. 

This is a beginning to our recovery from an blink of a eye....  just so glad of the faith and the power of prayer.  And for being able to call on my Lord for comfort.  I feel the strength each day of all the prayers that are being said on our behalf.  We have a long road ahead of us.... and only thru our faith we will make it.


http://kgnb.am/news/1-dead-2-injured-wild-rollover-crash-hwy-46-south-sunday#comment-3356

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Nolen-Vargas&lc=4188&pid=152388795&mid=4730931&locale=en_US

Week 16... Almost all healed!

I have been going to Physical Therapy faithfully... I know without my Therapist Andy & Andrea.  I wouldn't be where I am today.  They pushed me to get stronger and better in the right ways.  I am just finishing week 16, and I am jogging on treadmill, cycling on trails with my daughters.  I recently took up Kayaking which doesn't require my knees to be doing much.  But just getting active to help me loose some of the weight I have gained.

Icing my knee after PT...  They are tough on me.. Wall squats, lunges, monster walks, leg press!!! etc!!!  All tough on me...  but worth it in the end!!!  I want to be back to normal!

 

I had to re-adjust my prospective with Racquetball.  I love the sport so much, and if you asked me to give it up you would have to beat it out of me.... but lately, I have had some change of heart, I have been trying to concentrate on other sports.  So that is where the Kayak came into the picture.  I have always wanted to kayak.  And so I bought 2 of them.  And its so relaxing and fun!  Its just lots of work to store/load/unload the kayak... but once your in the water its all worth it!  I also took up cycling...  bought a total of 3 Giant bikes and have been riding with my girls.  We love it... there are so many trails around St. Louis and rivers... I think the two go hand in hand with each other.

So, with some new hobbies the pain of not playing racquetball has been bareable.  When I went in for knee surgery back in March.  My husband asked me to reconsider racquetball.  And he thought that it was probably taking to much out on me (ACL surgery April 2007, Shoulder surgery Dec 2009, 2nd ACL May 2011).  I nearly flipped out... but made a agreement with him about racquetball.  I told him I would stop playing competitive racquetball.  He then asked me to defined "competitive racquetball"?  I told him I wouldn't pay to play... which means enter tournaments and leagues, where I compete and I am the most competative.  But, I stated if a friend calls me up and wants to play I will play!  But that didn't mean I would go to loose either!  LOL!



This is me...  I Love Racquetball....  And Kayaking, And Cycling~   Never thought I would love anything other than Racquetball ever!

 I guess you just have to be open minded to new things!  I am enjoying my new found hobbies!  :)

Freedom at last....

Last Thursday I was given freedom from my leg brace...  Had a doctors appointment with my doctor, Dr. Matthew Matava who is the Team Physician for the St. Louis Rams(NFL/football) and the St. Louis Blues(NHL/hockey).  So proud of my doctor...  he is the best!  Anyways, had appointment and he checked my leg out and told me to use my leg brace for target practice and start walking...  I was so unstable without the help of my brace, and I basically was hangin on the walls leaving his office!  Funny when I think back to it, I was so dependent on the brace to help me walk it felt like I was half naked!  But its so nice to not have to strap that thing on everyday.  Nearly 7 weeks with it on....  So now I have my freedom, but get anxious when around people and crowds.  Just worried I will stumble and fall.  I still have lots of pain while walking, but Dr. says it would be that way till my legs got stronger.

So Physical Therapy has increased to 2X a week now.. with more extensive movements and add weights to my workouts.  Hopefully my anorexic leg will start looking alittle like the other one soon...  :)

Just thankful that my surgery has been a success and looking forward to a normal life again.  But have to put all physical activities to the side for the next 4 months.  I miss playing racquetball, but with this 2nd ACL.... I am a little reluctant to pursue it like I did before.  I love the sport, but I love not being in so much pain too.  I made a agreement with my husband that I wouldn't play competative anymore......  but that doesn't mean, I can't have a friendly game here and there!  So, my definition of competative is a little compromising... but I deserve to play when I am all healed. 

So, enjoying my freedom, but I still have to ride the Walmart Cart to shop....  :)

Pow Wow at Wash U + Liv's Volleyball = BUSY WEEKEND!!

This past week I was busy with sewing a new outfit for my son Dominick's hoop dancing.  So, I spent late nights working on his outfit getting it all ready for his invitation to dance at a Pow Wow at Washington University in St. Louis.

Nick loves his outfit I made him...  I think this is one of the best one's I have made...  happy with how it came out!

We invited my sister in law Sarah and her family & my mother in law Joan to come out to the Pow Wow.  So they arrived on Saturday... in the mist of our chaos as we were getting everyone situated to go to the Pow Wow.  Trying to get all our stuff in the car, and making sure we had everything we needed... 

We also had extra people going with us... So having to organize rides and everything, had drawn me almost over the edge, when my Kiera forgetting her scarf for her dress...  She is a jingle dress dancer and needs that part of her regalia.  So having to return back to the house.  We finally found her scarf and we were finally on our way... 

We had a carpool of 3 cars headed to the University, and the address we had was incorrect...  So all of us drove around a address with no appearance of a pow wow going on...  So, with my memory of where they had the pow wow last year.  I was able to get us there.  When we get there the parking garage was totally packed... with no available parking.  I dropped my kids off on the roof of the parking lot which entered the Field House.  I then had to drive back down the parking garage and there was a lower level parking area, that people must have not seen... which it had about 10 empty spaces... which we all were able to park in.

But to my disadvantage, I am still on crutches & brace, so I had to crutch my way up the stairs over 4 levels of parking...  with very humid and temp in the high 80's.  So it was not fun! 

We get inside the pow wow, and we had arrived late.  We had wanted to be there in time for the Grand Entry.  But we were just happy we got there in time to get Kiera registed for a dance competition.  And Dominick and Matthew ready to dance their hoop dance.

So, everyone including Dominicks friend Justin and Olivia's friend Jessie and her mom.  Which all of them have never been to a pow wow...  we introduced them to what was going on and they all seemed to have a great time...  My inlaw's all were impressed with all the dancers and excitement of what was going on around them.  My brother in law was taking pics of the kids as they danced.  I was excited that he got some awesome pics that I will post later.  He downloaded them on a disc but having problems reading it on my laptop. 

Dominick and Matt Baker....  I have pretty much adopted Matt as my son, he is from the Ohlone Tribe from California he is living with his Grandparents here in Fenton.  And goes to our church, and has not been exposed to his culture, so me and Nick have taken him in as part of our family.  Teaching him the Hoop Dance has  given him a sense of culture and he has learned the responsiblity of caring for his hoops and the sacredness that goes along with being a hoop dancer.  His grandma made him his first hoop dance regalia.  He is lucky to have supportive grandparents. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X89SPDaXQlU

My Kiera wearing her sister Liv's Jingle Dress... Liv has been busy teaching Kiera how to dance. 

Kiera in the Tiny Tot dance...  she did a great job for her first time.

We got Justin out there to do a couple of intertribal dances.

Nick and the attendance lady from there school.... 

Grandma Joan is so proud of Dominick.

Matt Baker, Justin Mattingly, Dominick

Sarah, Mom, Chris and Kiera.

Dominick trapping Sammy and Kiera in his hoops.

Nick Sam and Kiera :)

St. Peters Volleyball Tournment

We had to miss church to go to Olivia's volleyball tournament.  Me and Liv got up early and headed over to St. Peters about 35 min drive, and as we got there they only had 7 players.  But enough to play with one alternate player.  

Grandma and Liv.

Had to take another pic with her other grandchildren... She is a awesome grandma!

Chris and my inlaws showed up later on as these tournaments are a all day event.  So, they arrived in time to watch a game or two.  And we all got to visit in the foyer of the facility.  Took pics and they had to get back on the road to Kansas City to take mom home.  And then Sarah and her family had to get back to New Virginia Iowa. 

All of us visiting and eating snacks.

Having a great time visiting... need more days like this!

The Missouri Thunder girls made it into the Silver Championships and placed 2nd.  They did awesome for missing some players.  They had to play different positions and it took them a couple of games to get use to what they had to get done.  But they did a great job!  

Team Mom(well she thinks she is... LOL! Gonna fight her for the title), Coach Jeanette, Coach Chelsea.



2nd Place winners in Silver bracket.

Kelly and Liv they are both awesome players!

Slow progress on my knee...

I had a doctors appt yesterday and progress on knee is going okay as far at the ACL... but the thing holding me back from getting back to normal is my cartilege.  He said since the cartilege takes longer to heal and form new growth... I will be on crutches & brace for atleast 3 more weeks..  And thats not a guarantee that I will be walking in 3 weeks.  I will just be limited to what I can and can't do...  Right now my Physical Therapist cut me back to only once a week... bc I am so limited on what he can help me with...  So for now, gonna just keep doing my regular PT exercises and hope for the best.

Been getting really bored at home.. but I have some sewing I need to get done...  I just keep forgetting to have my husband or kids bring the sewing machine up from the basement. 

I plan on getting out of the house today and going to go see a movie...  was suppost to meet my friend there but she cancelled out on me this morning... She got called into work... so guess I will go on my own.  Just need to get out of the house!

Party with the Pro's here in St. Louis at the IRT Racquetball Tournament!!!

Got Rocky's Autograph on my Shorts!



When I got to the Gym, I was parked only 3 cars down from where Rocky Carson #2 was getting out of his car...  We got to talk as we walked into the gym.  It was pretty cool... we talked about his near lost game from friday night...  in this pic he was playing Jack.  He won!  And went on to play Kane#1 in the world.



Kane playing Ben.. he won in 3!

Picture of my good friend Nancy... I watched her win her division!  She is lucky I wasn't playing...  :)



Me and Nancy playing around with the Pro's Banners...  We were kissing Jack's Banner... LOL!



Me and Nancy feeling Rocky's Biceps...

As I got back to the parking lot to leave.... There was SNOW... covering my car!!!  So upset with this strange weather.... only a couple of days ago it was 83 degrees... and then we get snow and ice...