1. Rowan and Encsi

The World is about to turn:

A vilag a fejere fordult

Like you never imagined

Ahogy soha el nem kepzeltuk

Airlifted to Atlanta

Atlantaba indulas

Thanksgiving Day

Egy itteni unnep: Halaadas Napja

Life goes on

Az elet megy tovabb

with LOVE

szeretettel

My last update from MI.  Tomorrow, I’ll be in Atlanta with Jitka.  She is doing well.  I spoke with her yesterday morning, and she said that she woke up and felt great, and all of a sudden felt chilled, and a weakness came over her body.  She said they sent her urine for culture.  I knew already that she had a urinary infection.  She is on antibiotics now, and doing better.  When I spoke with her I was driving to work.  There was a beautiful sunrise, and I described it to her.  We agreed that the world is indeed gorgeous. I took a picture of it with my phone so that I can show her tomorrow.  I cannot wait.

Jani told me that they were together for a few hours yesterday.  She played with the kids, and finally, after some time said “I’m so happy to be here…”  We are too.  So glad.

Somewhat oddly, there is a house directly next door to Jitka and Jani’s current house that was built and designed by a gentleman who was paraplegic.  It has been on sale and uninhabited for almost 3 years.  As their current house has all bedrooms and baths upstairs, it is not an option for her anymore.  We have taken steps toward purchasing it.  The problem is that is needs alot of work.  Alot of work.  There is significant water damage and it needs new ceilings, paint, flooring and roof repair.  Time is kind of working against us.

Many have asked if they could sponsor Jitka’s family for Christmas.  We tremendously appreciate this generosity.  Jani has assured me that he and Jitka’s friends in Atlanta have plans for making this a very special Christmas.  I would ask, then, that if anyone wishes to contribute to Jitka’s family, please direct it to her recovery fund.  We have spoken to several experts on the subject, and it would appear that the health insurance company will likely take any insurance settlement that Jitka might receive from either the driver’s insurance or her own.  The likelihood is that she will face rebuilding her life with a stack of medical bills.  It makes me sick, but it would seem that the only way to stand a chance of making it through something like this is to be hurt by Bill Gates.  Ironically, just today I spoke with a patient who had been in 2 car accidents.  The first thing that she said was “You don’t get any money like they say you do on TV.”   In any case, I do not wish to ask anyone to give; but only to explain what Jitka really needs to those whom have asked me to do so.

The trust info is as follows: The Jitka Virag Recovery Fund Trust, RBC Centura Bank, 2390 Stantonsburg road, Greenville, NC 27834.  Routing #053 100 850, Acct. #0255412250.

I continue to receive encouraging e-mails from so many wonderful people.  I thank you, and as I said, I will collate them and give them to Jitka.  It is still difficult for her to be in contact with everyone, but she repeatedly asks us to thank you all for your unbelievable kindness.

Thank you all, and Goodnight. 

One quick update before I need to head back to NC for a few days.  Jitka actually should be able to do her own updates here by next week. 

She is learning to use a self powered wheel chair.  It will take a while to get used to it she said.  Also, she is allowed to sit up to a higher degree now, instead of the 30 degrees she was until yesterday.  I will upload some photos soon, now that she is able to “sensor” them.

All the best.

J

Yesterday Jitka said bye to the trach. Now she has a so called “button”. Keeps the accessibility, but acts as a closed device, so Jitka has to breath through her nose. 

We had a “family conference” yesterday with her doctor.  Had to hear about her injuries and chances.  It was very emotional, but as before, she received everything she had to hear with great dignity.  Long and hard road ahead of all of us for sure.  However, she was assured they will teach her here even to scuba dive or drive again if that is what she wishes.  For the time being she is just getting stronger and trying to learn how to balance for sitting without having control of her stomach muscles.    

This place (Shepherd) is full with broken hearts and yet great success stories.  We are certain Jitka will take full advantage of what is offered from the people and experience they have to offer. It is very important to live with this opportunity while the injury is fresh.  We hope to able to be around her as much as we can to give her support and strength when she needs it. 

Hello all, this is Kal.  I just got off the phone with Jitka.  I am so extremely proud of her.  She is so strong.  She is remaining so positive!  I held the phone up and tickled Kellan (my 6 month old son) and he let out a fit of hysterical little baby laughter.  When I put it back to my ear, Jitka was laughing the same way.  So good to hear.

On a medical note, they took her tracheostomy out today.  That is a terrific step.  She is still working on swallowing, though.  They have her fairly restricted when it comes to liquids.  She loves her water.  We talked a bit about how powerul a sensation that thirst could be.  She told the nurse: ” I would tell you what is wrong but my tongue is stuck to the  roof of my mouth.”  At least she can joke about it. 

Jitka is always stating and restating how grateful she is for everyone’s support.  I hope that she will be able to participate a little more in the blog.  It is still a little difficult for her to talk on the phone.  That, in addition to the fact that they have her in therapy for pretty much the entire day.  She says it is like “boot-camp”.  She is glad to be learning to once again become independent.  She has always been the epitome of independence-she will be again.

Have a good night, everyone.  Look forward to hearing from you all.  If there are any messages that you would like to send to Jitka, just attach them to the blog, or feel free to e-mail me at kal.ismail1@gmail.com.

Jitka wrote a note to post here:

“The impressions and care you have instilled upon me are so valuable, they give me strength to work to continue my journey.  Every minute you give me thought gives me strength and warmth to hope that I will sense you again.  Even though I likely won’t recall so many of the individual kindnesses you are showing me, please know that the impact of your contributions is very greatly appreciated.”

Csak a legfontosabbat: Boldog szulinapot Editnek, Jennynek, Nandinak, Peternek, Palinak!  Es boldog nevnapot a kedves Erzsiknek akiket ismerunk (es akiket nem), Katalinoknak es Andrasoknak!  Ezt Jitka es en egyutt kuldjuk!  A tobbit hozza el a Telapo - ha nics zsakja akkor a zacskojaba. Azontul ha jol emlekszem akkor most volt Emma nap is.  Meg sok boldogsagot nekik is. 

Ha mar itt irogatok magyarul akkor elmondom, hogy Jitka bal oldali mozgasa annyira javult hogy a bal kezevel megerintheti a homlokat.  Probalta ma aloszor a fogat mosni.  De csak hatradolve, torolkozovel a mellkasan tudta.  Naponta  ketszer-haromszor toloszekbe emeli a plafonra szerelt kis daru.  Igy Rowan mar egyszer az olebe is ulhetett. 

Nagyon meghatotta es koszoni szepen a lapot amit olyan sokan alairtatok. Azt mondja az ilyen szemelyes figyelem es aggodas ami atsegiti a gondolatain es napjain.

Be ready to hear (read) something from Jitka very soon.  She asked me for a note pad and pen today! 

She had a towel on her chest and was trying to clean her teeth today as we arrived for our morning visit.  Of course it is normal to think brushing our own teeth can be taken for granted.  For her, it was such a proud moment.  We had a good laugh when I ended up finishing the job for her and covered myself with “stuff”….

She was also happy to notice her left arm mobility allowed her to touch her forehead with her left hand. 

She is still on thick liquid diet as far as fluids go.  Today I was allowed to bring her a mango smoothie.  She was SO happy about it.

The kids and I are staying at our friends’ (Melissa and Charlie) house until tomorrow.  We are invited to move in with Todd and Meg as well, but I am afraid of dropping gears and getting lazy if we do so - those guys are already babysitting/cooking for/feeding/supporting us as is.  I am afraid of getting too comfortable.  Next thing you know I am sleeping 8 hrs a night….

Jitka has Sunday “off”.  Nothing on her schedule.  So lets hope she rounds up a couple of thoughts and sends out a note to be published here.  If she won’t, I’ll just pretend she did and write a bunch of good stuff about myself:)

I spend a lot of time with Jitka yesterday.  Twice I was with her with the kids and once by myself. She was lifted onto an electric wheelchair with a ceiling mounted hoist and came along with us to a family room to watch the kids play.  She already has been taught how to drive the wheelchair and is doing a good job at it.  I had a plan to sit to a table together for dinner, but by the evening came she was out of energy to move around.  So I made a makeshift “dining area” and spent dinner time together. 

I have put all her well-wishers’ cards on the wall..  Her room has a TV, but she prefers not to watch it. She said she likes to think of all the people supporting her now.  She is basically digesting what she is up against in her future.   I told her she is entitled to be sad, angry, and mad.  She is entitled to anything.  But she has to find a different folder for all her feelings. I just asked her to open a new folder too and look at her situation as an opportunity to do something new. Let it be research related or music related.  Let it be anything, but there must be something she can look forward to even though her mobility has been taken away. She is so fragile and humble now.  She certainly is a changed person. 

Her voice is getting stronger.  The trach is still in, so is the feeding tube.  She is not receiving narcotics anymore.  She is in physical pain, but slowly less and less.  I hope being around her sometime we can help her days go happier.  This is a huge rehab center. Experts and nurses are great. You can look it up on their web page, I am not going to write too much about it.  We are out of our routine here and the children are making me feel it!

Hi all, it is Kal again.  I spoke with Jitka very briefly today.  She says that she is learning alot at Shepherd.  She is in good spirits, but I think that she is intentionally keeping the conversations superficial.  I’ll let her set the pace.  Yesterday, she was telling me how she could still hear and feel us and still feel our kisses and love us, and she was grateful for that.  So am I.  She has so much to be thankful for. We all do.  When I spoke to her today, she had a full house there.  Jani and the kids were there, and her friend Todd answered the phone.  I am so glad that her friends Todd and Megan and Mellisa are there.  Jani drove there with the kids.  He started yesterday and got there today.

I took my nephrology boards yesterday.  I was remarkably relaxed about it.  It is amazing how one’s perspective changes.  Had none of this happened, I would have been a nervous  reck about it.  I couldn’t have cared less.  I felt like I was playing a video game.  Jitka actually apologized that I was distracted.  Can you believe that?

“When my voice gets stronger, I am going to tell you how much beer to bring me.”  That’s the ticket.  Just a forewarning, in the spring, with Jani’s permission, and if Jitka is up to it, we are gonna throw a huge welcome home party for her.  A New Orleans style “crawfish boil” if we can find’em in NC. (that was Neil’s idea, but I’m gonna run with it.) So plan on it.

Jitka had a moment outside in her wheelchair today.  She said she enjoyed the fresh air, but it tired her out.

Well, that is about all that I have to report for today.  I would like to send our love and thanks, on behalf of the whole family.

Goodnight,

Kal

Jitka had a nice experience getting out in the fresh air from the hospital on her way to the airport.  She told me she really enjoyed the smell of the air.   The aircrew arrived a little early.  I had to scramble to get Rowan to the hospital on time to say bye to  Jitka.  Teresa was kind enough (again) to come to our house at 6:30AM to babysit.  When came to time to depart she drove Rowan to the emergency and left Encsi with Crystal - who has also been a tremendous help with the kids. Rowan and I had the opportunity to say bye to her on the small Beachcraft airplane.  Jess accompanied her for the ride and helped her with getting situated at her new room.  I am going to start driving there today and going to take all her cards and notes you sent her. 

I can not write anything about Shepherd Center yet. It will be a couple of days before I have a chance to ask Jitka and look around myself.  Now I am getting my thoughts together what to take to Jitka and for the kids.  It will be a lot of driving to and from Atlanta for the next coming weeks.  Will try to keep this blog up to date as well as I can. 

I have got so accustomed to driving to the hospital few times a day here, that it feels strange this morning not to do so.

Wow, what a day so far.  She managed to yank her trach out….  Needed to take a lot of mucus from her plugged up lungs.  It seems like it is better to have it reinserted.  She could not get her oxygen saturation up to desired level without it. Way too much coughing today.  I hope she will get better soon.  It hurts me to see her in pain. 

Jitka got very tired today.  Toward the end of the day her care nurse Ashly tried to pretty Jitka’s hair.  She still has two large chunk of hair totally stuck together and tainted with blood.  It will be nice to be able to wash her hair again. She needs a good rest for sure.  If all goes well, the air ambulance will pick her up in the morning and fly her to Atlanta. 

Okay, my turn.  I have been so thrilled to hear Jitka’s voice again.  She started talking again a couple of days ago and I had the chance to speak with her twice.  It still tires her out significantly, so I try to keep it brief.  She has so much to say!  I can’t imagine what she has saved up for almost a month!  I was so happy when I first spoke with her that I was walking around the hospital and I wanted to tell everyone whom I came across that ” I spoke to Jitka today!”  But most of them don’t know who she is or why it is so important. 

As far as medical progress, Jani has pretty much covered that.  The hypernatremia has subsided, but she is still working on swallowing.  They are still not quite ready to give her  the thin liquids.   Other than that, she is doing wonderfully from a respiratory standpoint and Dr. Newell has said that she has made great leaps of progress.  He was terrific through this whole thing, along with Dr. Goodwin.

Jitka, the goof, thanked me for coming to see her.  I told her that she is crazy.  Also, she asked me and Jani to thank all of the people that have sent well-wishes and prayers and helped out.  Also crazy, but more from a logistic standpoint.  She has no idea how many wonderful people have come to her aid.  I am going to work on collating all of the e-mails that everyone has sent us, along with the blog.  I am sure she will be astounded and elated to read them.  I also wanted to thank my best friends, Neil and Lou who came down the first week and were dynamos as far as looking into her benefits and figuring out how her family is going to make ends meet while she is recovering.  More than that, they cared enough to know that I needed them, even though I told them that I would be fine.  I wasn’t fine.   I don’t feel that I deserve to  have been blessed with such amazing “brothers”.  But as her strength grows with each passing day, so does mine.

Jitka has such a terrific attitude.  She knows what she faces, and that it will be tough.  Despite this, she remains positive.  “I’ll be SCUBA diving in 2 months.” she said.  “Let’s go somewhere with seahorses.”  “Fiji.” I replied, “We’re going to Fiji.”  I think that Jani and the kids will be so glad to have her back home, though.  I’ll have to wait my turn.  I’ll wait.

Finally, Jani has been unbelievable.  For all the s–t I gave him before they got married! I couldn’t imagine another man at my sister’s side.  He is such a good man.  I know that he has what it takes to get her through this, but I worry about him.  I am going to rely on our friends in NC to look out for him when I am not there.  Keep me posted! You know that he is so stubborn when it comes to accepting help, and I don’t want him to burn out. 

I am long-winded.  I sat down wondering what I was going to type; and look. 

Thank you all so much for your support, and for following along with her progress.  It has meant the world to us.  Please keep praying with us.

Gratefully,

Kal

I will write a more detailed update later.  For now, I just would like to send out this note on her rehab news: Nearly 100% sure that she will be air-lifted to Atlanta on Monday.  She will start rehab there at the Shepherd Center.

Con’t.: Well, I am all excited about Jitka’s progress.  She has improved so much within the last week.  She is eating her meals and talking up a storm now.  Of course, the meals are small and takes her two hours for half of it to eat, and it takes a rather hard effort to form words and careful listening to hear them. But she is getting there!  Now she will be off to this wonderful facility to learn to function with her spinal cord injury.  We are very thankful for Rose, (social woker at the PCM Hospital) and the BlueCross insurance/staff who made it possible.  I will try to post here her departure details in case any of you who are here in NC want to wish her farewell at the Greenville airport, or wave out of your windows:) 

I have another information I mention tonight.  Our friend Dave and a local lawfirm spent a considerable amount of time to create a Trust for Jitka.  It is called Jitka Virag Recovery Fund Trust.  Thank you for all who were involved in this work and those who contributed to it.  It is opened at the RBC Centura Bank, 2390 Stantonsburg Rd., Greenville NC 27834. The routing number is 053 100 850, and the account number is 025 5412250.  If any of you need any information on the Trust please e-mail me at jani.virag@gmail.com 

Good night.  Jani

Jitka had a good hair day.  Her mom cleaned and combed her hair for three hours.  Most of the dreadlocks are out. She looks very nice.  Trying hard to learn to eat.  It takes a lot of concentration not to make a mistake.  Oh, if she would know what she is missing - that tasty hospital food sure could make her day. 

She asked me today to send an e-mail to those who came or offered to come to help us.  I told her that there is no way I can remember how many times I have been offered help.  So please allow me to extend her very sincere gratitude to all of you.  

I am so proud of her strength.  She took the news of her prognosis with the greatest dignity one can do.  I promised her we will find joy, and I will do everything possible to give the smiles that were taken away from us back to her.  Thank you very much for understanding the importance of letting her take time to heal.  During the last 5 days I have restricted visitation to her.  She just needed the time to rest.  There is never a stretch of time long enough in her situation where she can  relax or sleep for 3 hrs - day or night.  We all have he same goal of getting her well and strong again.  So if you see her, please limit your time to a few minutes.  Her memory is still a challenge.  Today I asked her to tell me how to get to our house from the hospital.  She could not recall.  Also, she asked me again the location of the accident.  I believe this was the fifth time I told her about it.  On the positive side, she knew what she did before the accident.  She remembered first time today that she bicycled to the supermarket before heading home. 

I have had some great help with the domestic work during the last 6 days.  Julie, Megan, Marsha and Steve - some of the “old” Seattle friends flew in, along with Jitka’s parents, and helped me catch up with floors, laundry, bathrooms.  Can you come back soon, please? :) 

Today the hospitalized part of our family went to see Dr. Susan for our flu shots. The kids didn’t even cry, but I had some problems….  next time I’ll try harder.  This was my first flu shot, until now I used to use a totally different type.  The shot that came from a neat little glass instead of the needle.  Thank you Dr. Susan, but I’ll probably going to go back to the old way of flu prevention next year.

I am happy Jitka is getting better.  Unfortunately she is still in such a great pain. Her back and shoulder hurts her greatly.

It is an Ambien night.  Popped it ten minutes ago and it is already in the works….   Our love to you!  Jani  
 

Hello everyone, 

I managed to beat CoolKal to the update again! Great to be have so much time!!!  

The speech therapists today inserted a camera line through Jitka’s nose to monitor the way she swallows different types of food.  She needed to evaluated on water, ice, milk, pudding, apple sauce, sandwich, cookie, a soda, grape and orange juice.  Just a little amount of each of course.  She did well with all, except the water, ice, and milk.  Will try those again in a week.  In the mean time she will be cleared to have some amounts of a regular meal.  Her high viscosity drinks will need to be thickened.

It is time to think about what decission to make about rehabilitation.  The Pitt County Memorial Hospital - where she currently is - has a great rehab center.  It seems like we won’t need to move to any other location in the country for rehab, however we keep that option open.  I would like to make sure she gets the best possibly chance to make her life easier.  She can start full rehab in a couple of weeks.  Her broken bones need a little more time in order to support her. It is also time for me to look for an appropriate wheelchair accessible van and house.  For that reason, it would be great if we could stay here for the few weeks of rehab. 

Two more important thoughts:  Her sodium is on the right track, it was 144 last time I have seem the lab results.  Also, she does not dump her her fluid at such high rate any longer. 

Every day I could make a list of people to thank.  Please don’t think I am forgetting any of you!  Thank you now, and will thank all of you again!  I am sorry for not being able to reply to phone calls and e-mails. I am truly planning to catch up on that!  I do appreciate them!

Jani

Good evening, everyone!  This is Kal again.  I told Jani that I would update tonight, but I guess he thought that I had fallen asleep. (he is usually right)  He left out the best news, though!  Jitka was off the ventilator today.  I am told that they took it out of the room entirely.  That is a huge step toward recovery.  Now, the main thing that I am worried about is the amount of urine that she is making.  8 liters yesterday.  Funny, I spend the better part of my life worrying about people not making enough urine (I am a kidney specialist for those who don’t know me). I am thinking that she is just getting rid of all of the salt water that they gave her to support her through the surgeries (a solute diuresis, if you will).  Sometimes when you do that, the kidneys become “washed out”, and one loses the ability to concentrate the urine and therefore conserve water.  The urine output remains high in order to excrete the salt, and there is obligatory, yet inappropriate loss of water. Hence, her serum sodium is up to 150 (normal is 140).   This leads to a tremendous sensation of thirst, which remains her primary complaint.  The speech therapists have not yet cleared her to swallow, and therefore she may not drink.  As Jani said, they give the water throught the feeding tube.  Hopefully her sodium will come down with that and the horrible feeling of thirst will abate.  I felt so helpless sitting there with her as she begged and begged for water.  You would think that it would be such a simple thing to do.  Swallow.  Nonetheless, we gave her none, and I don’t think that she has forgiven me yet.  I told her I would buy her an ice-cold case of aquafina once the speech path folks gave me the green light.  That, and some Warsteiner.  She rolled her eyes.

I can’t tell you how overjoyed I was to be with my sister again.  We all get so busy with life, and put off the phone call or the visit.  If anyone takes anything from this blog, let it be that you must charish each moment with your loved ones.  Recognize the happiness that they bring.  You truly cannot imagine what life would be like without that person, until you face something like this.  Thank God that I have a second chance with my sister.  Most importantly, little Ro-Ro and Encsi have their mommy.

Goodnight,

Kal

Today she had a nice progress.  She had her trach reduced to 4mm diameter.  Also, she has a speaking valve - it sure has a better name… - installed.  That is great!  I heard her voice first time in four weeks.  I could barely hear it, but i could make out what she said with my ear next to her. Her memory is coming back too.   I talked to her about her injury today.  She took it very bravely.  We will need to talk more about it of course.  I just didn’t want her to hear it form someone else. 

Her IV has been cut off for the reason of having sodium in the fluid, which she has a lot of without getting more…  She receives water through her feeding tube. 

I told her about the all sorts of kind gestures that we receive from people. She is very moved by them.  I beleive tomorrow she will get a ride in the “pink Cadillac”, which is a wheel chair for riding on her floor.  Just a little sight-seeing.  Sleeping pill is down and working - good night! Jani

Hello everyone, this is Kal again.  I wanted to wait for the next update until I spoke with the Doctors.  I spoke with Dr. Weibel, the trauma surgeon today.  He kindly answered all of my questions.  Jitka had a skin graft placed on the wound on her right leg on friday morning.  That went well.  She was later to have a percutaneous enterogastric tube placed
(a feeding tube that goes straight through the abdominal wall into her stomach, rather than through her nose or mouth).  The procedure was aborted when she developed a large amount of air in her abdominal cavity.  This could mean that they accidentally injured the colon, or that the air from the insufflation of the stomach simply leaked into the abdominal cavity.  In any case, they decided to take her to the operating room urgently to open her belly and take a look at the bowel.  Fortunately, everything was intact and it was simply the gas from the procedure. 

Mervie and I got into Greenville at about 1:30 am on Saturday and I went straight to the hospital.  She smiled when I came in.  I was literally overcome with joy to be sitting and talking with her again.  I told her that it had been too long since we sat and talked- just the two of us. She lipped out that the she wished we had some red wine.  No joke. She asked me “What happened to me?”  Jani has told her, but she forgets, and is traumatized every time she hears it.  I told her that I would sit down and explain the whole thing when she was more fit to talk and she wasn’t getting all of these medications to make her forget.   I told her I want to make it as easy as possible on her.  She nodded and said “I appreciate that”.   I told her that I have a scrap book with pictures and an account of everything that has happened.  I’ll give it to her when she is ready.  Not yet.  She lipped the words “I can’t move my toes.” My heart sunk into my chest.  I explained to her that she is going to have alot of work ahead of her.  She will only get as well as she believes she can, and we are all going to do everything in our power to make sure that she does it.  She put up her arms and replied “super-Jitka!”  That’s the spirit!  Minutes turned into hours and before I knew it, we had both fallen asleep.  I woke up in the chair at 6:30 am when the resident came in to round on her.

For all that is going on with her, her main complaint is that she is thirsty.  Really thirsty.  She will do or say anything to get a glass of water in her hand.  I feel so bad for her.  Her sodium had crept up to about 147 yesterday (normal is 140, the higher, the more dehydrated), and so she was feeling as dry as a bone.  She can’t swallow yet and we don’t want her to develop pneumonia again from fluids going down the wrong pipe, and so she can’t drink water.  I was using a sponge with some ice chips in it to swab her mouth and she keeps reaching for it as if to say “don’t trouble yourself, I’ll take care of it.”  As soon as she gets her hand on that cup it goes straight for her mouth.  Her tenacity remains intact.  I spoke with Dr. Weibel about some free water replacement and he assured me that they were on top of it.

Last night (saturday), she had a horrible episode of coughing.  She was coughing for about three hours and then began vomiting.  Jani stayed with her until she fell asleep, and that required a bit more sedation.  She became quite confused with the sedation and began tugging at her trach and tubes this morning.  She just does not like that stuff.  She was having trouble with breathing off of the vent, and so they had to put her back on.  By the afternoon, she was more comfortable and back to herself again.  Just a little step back, but a small battle in this war-a war that she is winning. 

Thank you all again for your love and support.  You are all in my prayers every night. 

Have a good night,

Kal

Hi- It’s Meg McDevitt, visiting…Just a quick note:  Jitka has had a couple surgeries in recent days, in addition to many visitors (including me) and we have been advised the Jitka’s visitor’s as of now, are being limited so that she can rest.  It was so good, very hard, but good.  Jitka recognized us, and tried to communicate, but we are left mostly reading her lips, which is frustrating for all parties.  She looks like “our” Jitka and was concerned that they had rustled her hair.  She was clearly asking for “betty help” with the hairstyle she was left with.    Personally, I was just so happy to see her and her smile.   She wanted to have her hand held and loved it when Julie caressed the inside of her palm….and her spunk is still there.   Steve and Marsha arrived a bit after us and she was happy to see more Seattle faces.   Her strength amazes me (and us), but is not surprising if you know our girl.  Marsha and Steve are here until Monday and Julie and I were here until Tuesday.   If there is anything that we learn that people can help with, we will pass the information along.  The good news, Jitka was off her vent for over 9 hours today.  She is bothered by her trach and we hope that her condition allows for doctors to reduce the size of the trach.  She had four very hard hours this evening, coughing (it seemed like she had swallowed a lot of air).  She seems to be more comfortable now.The sores on her back seem to be getting better.    We are very grateful for the care she received from her nurses and respiratory specialists.    She was excited to see the kids, her brother, and her sister-in-law, in addition to the new faces that arrived today.  Thank you everyone for your support, visiting has reminded me that we all need to be available for the long hall… we need to continue to support our girl!  Love, Meg 

Wow, thank you for all the kindness we are getting from everyone.  It is just really overwhelming.  Thank you. One day I will thank you all individually.

Jitka had a very busy day today.  You will be able to read the proper update soon.  Kal with the right terminology will let you know the details.  I just would like to mention that she had two procedures planned for today.  One was the skin graft for her right leg, and the other was the insert of the feeding tube (peg-tube) through the wall of her stomach.  There was some worry for her well being during the second operation.  Her operating physician took all precautions to keep her safe and the procedure successful.  She is now in the recovery room.  That is all I can say now.

I would like to mention here a very important thing regarding visitation.  Jitka  still suffers from memory loss.  We all have to be very careful and tactful  what and how we talk to her about.  She stresses out greatly from not being able to remember  what she’s been talked to about.  She does not remember names of old friends and neighbors.  This is an issue that will come to an end very soon.  She is recovering from it.  However, please do not mention the extent of her injuries to her yet, and do not talk about much more than the current day if you are visiting her.  There is no need to create frustration, and have it repeated day after day because she does not remember what was said the day before, or for not remembering the subject of the conversation.  I spent a long time last night getting her focus back on to her recovery and appreciating that she is alive.  Depression will come, we don’t need to look look for it.

It was a very long day.  I am going to my recovery room too.  Good night.  And thanks again for all your kindness!!!!!

Hello everyone.  This is Kal again with my poor grammar, so please forgive me.  Jitka is doing better today.  Her white cell count is down to 11 thousand, and most importantly, she is lucid and communicative.  She finally gave Jani permission to drink beer again, and gestured that she would like one too!  (Jani had sworn not to drink until she gave him permission)  Our Jitka is back!  She is doing well with the process of gradually coming off the ventilator, but has a busy day tomorrow.  We are told that they are going to do the skin graft on her right leg as well as the feeding tube that goes directly into her stomach (percutaneous enterogastric tube).  An unfortunate necessity to make sure she has adequate nutrition in order to properly heal.  I am sure the poor thing is starving after she pulled out her temporary feeding tube.  I have a feeling that all of this will be in for only a short while.  She is making outstanding progress.

In the meantime, Mervie and I are flying down for the weekend with our youngest son, Kellan (6 months).  I cannot wait to see her!  It has been horrible being away from her, but now that she is more lucid, I think that it will mean more to have us there.  Knowing her, I am sure she is angry that she slept through our last visit.

I was at work a couple of days ago, and a nurse that I have known for a few years approached me and kindly offered her prayers for Jitka.  She had asked what happened and we briefly discussed it and I gave her the website for the blog.  She explained to me that she had lost her son on the first of October to complications from diabetes.  He, also was a young man.  I cannot believe the tragedies that have occurred in the past month.  I saw her again today, and she had told me that she had started a website for her son as well, and that it had helped her so much to write her feelings and share them with those that she cares about.  Many people that don’t know Jitka or our family have e-mailed with their support and prayers.  I would like to say thank you to those wonderful people as well.  Everyone’s support has helped us tremendously.  I would ask you all to remember in your prayers those whom we do not know that are having difficult times as well.

My next letter will be from Greenville, NC.

Goodnight,

Kal

I got boxed in by a Dormicum pill last night and didn’t get to write the great news of yesterday: She was off the vent for 93 minutes and took it really well.  Her resp nurse Brian said she is improving really well.  She was very aware of all activity around her, to a level when she asked her own questions on lab results and settings.  Of course it was a challenge to understand.  Need to become a pretty good lip reader if she goes on like this much longer.  She was alert for 4 hrs.  The white cells were on the decrease now for two days.  That is great.  Now the count is in the 11000 range. 

I could not talk with her last night.  She was already sleeping and didn’t have the heart to wake her up.  I always forward her the messages you send.  She is very touched by all the attention she is getting.  Thank you.  J.

Last night Jitka managed to pull her feeding tube out.  At this time inserting a peg-tube directly to her stomach is not possible.  Her white blood cells are on the increase, and the count cannot be relied on to establish the success of the operation.  She needs to have a stable or decreasing count.  So for the time being it is a bit of hunger that keeps her mind REALLY occupied.  It is to an extent that I was afraid to tell her I was going to the cafeteria….  Her air intake was the lowest at the same setting I have seen.  However, it improved from the lower 200s to the lower 300mL/breath - at the same setting of 5PEEP and 45%O.  This change occurred between 2PM and 9PM.  That is promising.  I am looking forward ot finding out the white cell count and the respiratory numbers tomorrow morning.  Her red cell count continues to climb.   Today I established contact with the rehabilitation specialist.  She will start working with Jitka very soon.  It would be great if she would not need the ventilator anymore. In that case she could try to swallow food and the peg-tube would not necessary be needed. Please give me some room here for error.  I am not the medical pro.  I would let Kal update this site, but I am just tired of him making mistakes with his English. 

I know this site is dedicated to Jitka, but sometimes I will write some news about the kids as well.  They are very lovely and not giving me hard time at all ————–,that was my nose growing there.  They ARE lovely.  Rowan feels all better. Encsi never got sick at all.  I am very grateful to a local drop-in child care called Kidztown for taking them in.  Thank you Niki!  I also have help from friends who stay with them while I see Jitka in the evening.  Thanks to you too!  I am planning to spent tomorrow afternoon with Rowan.  I think he would appreciate some one-on-one attention.

Jitka was awake and aware of her surroundings for at least 4 hours this morning.  She got really tired of me being there….  She is frustrated by all the tubes and noises.  At least that is my impression.  We try to communicate with different methods, without great success.  That must be nerve wrecking for her.  I know it is for me.  We will have good friends and family visiting from Saturday.  I am looking forward to that.  I am sure she will be very upbeat about seeing her friends and family too.  I feel like writing more, but I won’t torture you with my English anymore.  I have ONE sleeping pill left.  Put that to use in a minute.  Good night!

Happy 70th birthday to you mother form Jitka, Rowan, Encsi, and I! Boldog szulinapot Edesanyam! 

Jitka has been moved to the intermediate care.  Her IV has been taken out and she receives fluid through her feeding tube.  The vent setting has not changed, but I am sure it will soon.  She is so much better today.  She was in fact communicating.  I was trying to read her lips, and so were some other people.  It seems like she is asking for the rehabilitation people.  I put the kids’ pictures back on the wall and ceiling for her.  Oh, I almost forgot, I took Rowan in to see her today.  He wanted to go there again.  However, after three minutes he asked me to take him away from the room.  It was good for both of them to see each-other.  Jitka’s respiratory rate doubled when we walked in. 

Thank you doctors and nurses at the surgical ICU to “graduate” her from your department!  Really, THANK YOU!!  Clay, Omar, Adam, and all the others, you have done a hard and wonderful job.  I will never forget.

Hi all, this is Kal again.  Jani and I are taking turns. 

Unfortunately, it seems that Rowan has a bit of the stomach flu tonight and Jani had to stay with him.  I could hear the sadness in his voice when he told me he could not visit her at 8:30.  For some reason that is my favorite visit-I think that it is hers too.  Everything is quiet, and she always seemed a little better in the evenings.   I had to come back to MI for the week, but I left my heart there at her bedside.  I am anxious to get back there this weekend so that I can take some of the burden from Jani-not that he lets me do much.  I spoke with Jitka’s nurse, Omar just a few minutes ago,  He said she was doing fine.  She had some chest pain; but then again she has numerous fractured ribs, so that is to be expected.  She seems to be floating in and out a bit.  I can’t wait to see her again- and be seen back.  Jitka remains on the ventilator, on fairly minimal support, but she just can’t take that final step and be free of it.  I tell myself to be patient, but we have always held high expectations for eachother.  There is no doubt that she was always tougher than me.  She is going to make a miracle.

Our family sends our love to you all.  Goodnight.

This morning lab results show lower white cell count and higher red cell count.  That is great. Her temperature is normal.  She was more responsive today than she was yesterday.  I think she loves being seen, but prefers not too much being talked to.  I rub her face with baby lotion.  She liked that very much.  This update is just from the morning visit.  I hope to see even more improvements as the day goes on.  She is still on the vent.  Those numbers need to get a lot better before she can be sent off form the surgical ICU.  She has excellent care.  Thank you hospital staff!!

Irok egy par sort igy ekezetek nelkul.  Remelem segit.   Nehezen telnek a napok Jitkanak.  Ma sokkal faradtabbnak tunt.  Holnap lehet kellene neki veratomlesztes mert a vorosversejtek eltunoben vannak.  Bevittem Rorot ma hozza.  Mosolygott, de pillanatokon belul visszacsukta a szemet es ugy pihent.  Roro kerdezoskodott a kepernyok felol, stb.  Mondta maminak hogy jojjon haza mert hamar jobban lesz.  Remelem a legkozelebbi talalkozasuk jobban for sikerulni. 

Nincs nagy valtozas az allapotaban.  Talan a laza kevesebb mint 24 oraval ezelott.  a feherversejtek nem csokkentek.  Kap eleg morfiumot meg ahhoz hogy el tud aludni.  Remelem holnap jobb napja lesz.  Biztos lassan telik az ido a korhazi agyban.

Koszonjuk a sok erdeklodest es jokivansagot!  Nagyon jol esik.

Yesterday I ran out of all my 24 hrs around half way through my daily agenda, so here is a two day update. She had enough energy on Wednesday to show her thumb for OK, and frown for not-OK.  She was very thirsty.  I could have gotten away with probably everything on Earth for a glass of water.  I talked her into letting Rowan see her.  It looked she didn’t want Rowan to see her in this condition, but she wanted to see him, and Rowan wanted to see her.  So I promised the little 4yr old that if the hospital allows him in, he can see mommy.  And that was going to be the special moment for today.  However, Jitka’s energy goes hand-in-hand with her red b cell count….  Her count is down today, as I heard, and that might explain why she had no pretty brown eyes for us.  She opened her eyes for Roro,  she smiled.  But for the most part she was not really acknowledging us.  Roro now has an idea where and how mommy is.  I think it will help him.  I haven’t had a chance to speak with a doctor for two days.  I always need to leave to pick up the kids just before the opportunity is there to talk.  So I am not able to tell their thoughts.  I am going to try tomorrow again to ask someone.  We are a little concerned about the ongoing fever she has.  It would be nice to see it drop.  Her white cell count dropped only 200 as well.  

For those of you who are concerned about me…..all I can say Send Me Time!  Poor Jitka, time probably drags, and for me it is sprinting.   Thank you all for your nice letters, cards, visits, etc!