A mountain of firsts... Update 6/30/2012

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So many firsts this week. A few days ago Rob sat up assisted by his PT and his sister, bedside. He got his first real shower yesterday, since the wreck on 6/6/2012.He got in the tilted wheelchair yesterday for the first time. The same one some of you have seen on Facebook. He needs to be in it 4–6 hours a day.
He got his very first manicure by yours truly. Rob also got to see the Houston rain today while his dad ran him around TIRR in his chair. At two today he had OT for his muscle movement of his shoulders, arms, and hands. He worked so hard.. Which proved true as he was asleep after supper tonight..

Tonight proved firsts for me too.
First time I reached out to hold his hand and he didn't reach out for mine.. I always expect it to be automatic.

First time I have been asked to pick my husbands nose...Yuck, but that's some major love right there.

First time ever in our eleven years of marriage that I have given my husband a manicure.

 

A PT/OT type of day

Well evaluations are over and Rob has a couple of light days before the heavy therapy starts on Monday. I arrived early and spent a couple of hours with him and we worked on arm motions and just chatting. Hollies sister and dad came for a visit, and I went to the apartment to spend some time with Caleb and Sarah (basketball, soccer, and playing in the pool) my arms are killing me. At 1pm Rob had an hour of PT and they put him in a wheel chair and toured the building, then at 2 he had another hour of PT and this was working on his legs and lower body muscles. Then at 3 he had an hour of OT spent working on his arms and upper body muscles.

After all of this mixed with Wed and Thurs evaluations he was worn out. Hopefully after a goods night rest he will be ready to hit it again tomorrow.

TIRR - 1st Full Day

Oh man where to start, today was so busy for Rob, here is a snapshot of today's schedule it was filled with evaluations, instruction, work.

9:00 am - PT SCI Evaluation
9:30 am - SLP Evaluation
11:00 am - SLP Evaluation

2:00 pm - OT SCI Evaluation
3:00 pm - PT SCI Evaluation
3:30 pm - Sat on side of bed with assistance from PT and Brandie video may be coming in a future post.

These items are just the start, tomorrow will be more with being able to sit in a wheelchair for a bit. Here is a short video to show you guys what is going on with Caleb and Sarah helping and loving on their daddy.

Rob's residence for 4-6 weeks

Rob made it to TIRR at about 1230 today. He said it was a really bumpy flight in aero cares backup plane. And it just so happened that the crew was talking about how aero care were the ones that originally flew him from McCamey to Odessa.

He had some evaluations, x-rays, pokes and prods, and these will continue tomorrow. One of top SCI (spinal cord injury) Dr's in the world will be at TIRR tomorrow and Robs Dr said he would try to get him in to see Rob. His Dr also said with what they have seen so far they would consider his sensitivity a C7-T1 type and they have a goal for him to walk out in six weeks, Praise The Lord.

Well I will try to get more out tomorrow, and if you missed the address to send cards and the TIRR video here they are again...

TIRR Memorial Hermann
1333 Moursund Street
Houston, Texas 77030

Robert Powell
Room 512 bed A

Saying goodnight from hot humid Houston

Chris

06/26/2012 - Off He Goes

Hello from San Angelo, this is a remote update.

Rob had a good night, he got some rest and we still wait for the transfer. He also had another good day but it was still frustrating waiting on a 550 mile transfer to another hospital. He is scheduled to be transferred at 0730 in the morning. Brandie will be driving to Houston from Austin to meet Rob at the facility and stay until Hollie , the kids, Donna and I can arrive (it's only around 550 miles from Odessa) and for some reason the airplane is faster than a car.





He will be going to the #4 SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) rehab center in the nation. TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston. The address is below if you would like to send cards or such.

TIRR Memorial Hermann
1333 Moursund Street
Houston, Texas 77030

Room 512 bed A

Here is a link to a TIRR overview video.

Prayer Request: Traverl mercies for Rob and the flight crew. Also for Hollie! Caleb, Sarah, Donna and I as we travel to Houston to be with Rob for the term of the rehab.

There may not be a post tomorrow due to all of us traveling but I will post again as soon as possible.

Until next time

Chris

06/25/2012 - Evening Update

Today was a fairly rough day for all of us. The transfer has not taken place and Hollie was told it could be even Wednesday. The form that was needed was sent to TIRR but due to some miscommunication we all wait. All of this has Rob more than a little upset as he is ready for rehab.

Hollie stayed with Rob this afternoon and through tonight in anticipation for a transfer tomorrow which now may not take place. Her staying is due to Donnas mom having surgery tomorrow so I brought her down for it and we are keeping Caleb and Sarah until we all make the trip to Houston. I will be going back to Odessa tomorrow afternoon if needed to relieve Hollie.

Until next time....Chris

06/25/2012 - Morning Report

Another good night ( my shift), well as good as any night in a hospital can be, I cannot even imagen how Rob feels since this is his 18th night. He got good rest and now to continue waiting for the paper pushers to get their act together so he can get to rehab.

Until this evening.....Chris

06/24/2012 - Evening Report

Hey, good evening from nearly way West Texas,

Rob had a good day of rest today, Donna and I sat with him until Hollie arrived from San Angelo and she finished up the day. He finally got the meds for his ear pain around 9 and is now ready for another night of rest. His spirits were up a bit today, and he and us are just taking it a day at a time.

Continued Prayer Request: That the transfer takes place as soon as possible because Rob is way past ready to get started in rehab.

Until the morning, this is Chris reporting live from Rob's room at MHC in Odessa, Tx

06/24/2012 - Morning Report

Good Lord's day morning to all...

A pretty good night (Donnas Shift) took place last night. Rob got some more rest in between bouts with some ongoing neck muscle pain but overall it was a good night. His Dr came in early this morning and reported all was good but he does have some slight redness in his ear canals and has requested some meds for them. The Dr also,stated that Rob is basically on maintenance here at MCH and they would start as early as possible in the morning to get the transfer scheduled.

Prayer Request: That the transfer takes place as soon as possible because Rob is way past ready to get started in rehab.

Until Evening....

Chris

06/23/2012 - Evening Report

Through the day yesterday (My Shift) Aunt Tess brought Caleb and Sarah to see their dad. It was a really joyous time for all. Rob started out a bit worried about them seeing him, we prayed and turned the worries over to God, a few minutes later the kids arrived and he and they, we're so happy. They had not seen each other (other than Skype) since the morning of the crash, 17 days ago.

They hugged and kissed him, and told him about all the things they had done in a quick 5 minute child's snapshot of time. Caleb prayed for his daddy, before they left to spend time with Hollie for a couple of hours. The kids came back to a surprise, Rob had been wanting his hair cut for quite a few days and Tess brought the clippers so during the break Mom and I cut his hair. they spent a bit more time with Rob and then Aunt Tess took them and Hollie (so she could perp for the trip to Houston Monday or Tuesday) back to San Angelo.

Until tomorrow.....

Chris

06/23/2012 - Morning Report

Good morning all, after a restful night (Hollie's shift) Rob is feeling much better (thanks for the prayers). His sodium is holding at 130 which is very good, I would like to see it about 132 for little bit of a buffer so maybe we can get that to happen.

His spirits seem a little better this morning, as Caleb and Sarah are being brought up by Aunt Tess today and this should help also. We will let you all know how it went in the evening report.

Prayer Request: that Rob's sodium continues to increase to normal, that his fever does not come back, and safe travels for family driving up to visit today.

Later - Chris

06/22/2012 - Evening Report

Good evening from sunny Odessa,

Good news, Rob's sodium is at 130, but due to some obscure form, he could not transfer today. Looks like it will be Tuesday at the earliest. TIRR admissions does not work on weekends, he is having quite a bit of shoulder pain and is really ready to get the heck out of Odessa.

A hi priority prayer request is for his shoulder pain, and apprehension to both lifted to Christ and that all roadblocks be removed for clear transport to TIRR.

Until tomorrow - Chris

06/22/2012 - Morning Report

Good Morning from Odessa, The City of Contrasts

Rob was able to get some rest last night (my shift) from 11 pm to 6 am he was only awake about 1 hour total this will help him a lot. With him sleeping good it was really an uneventful night, and as such not much to report. We are anxiously waiting for the morning blood test to determine his sodium level, come on folks get a move on its a long way to Houston from here.

An Odessa 6:25 am morning pic from the hospital room.

06/21/2012 - Evening Report

Hey from the Permian Basin,

Rob had a pretty good day (Hollie's shift) overall, he is still having some shoulder pain from inactivity, but it was a good day. He ate his food, had a DQ soft serve ice cream, sat up a bit in the chair, got his arms and legs exercised, had a bath, and slept. He has been fever free for over 2 days now, Praise The Lord.

We all have high hopes of a transfer to Houston tomorrow. Please pray for a sodium level of 130 and available airplane for the transfer.

Thanks for all the help locating places to stay in Houston we have been blessed with a place for all of us for 30 days and then have an option on a greatly reduced apartment if needed after that.

After a dinner of beef tips and rice and some meds Rob was ready for some tv and rest.

Until tomorrow...Chris

06/21/2012 - Morning Report

Good morning from MHC Odessa,

Rob had alittle better night lastnight (Donna's shift) he slept on and off through the night. His sodium was still at 128 this morning so no transfer today.

We will wait and see if God is ready to give him a plane ride to Houston tomorrow.

Later, Chris

06/20/2012 - Evening Report

When I arrived this morning for my shift Rob was in good spirits but looked tired. He told me about still not having a fever and the wait for the morning sodium levels (got report and they are at 128 today). He sat in the chair for a couple of hours today then back to bed and slept for 3.5hours. He has been sitting up since then.

After talking to the Dr after lunch we were informed that if his sodium is at 130 tomorrow then shortly after lunch Rob should be on the way to TIRR (Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) Herman Memorial Hospital in Houston.

Since Donna, Hollie, Caleb, Sarah, and I will be going we are in need for housing, as none of us can swing a 2 150 per night for hotels for a month. If you know of any churches in the Houston area (about 5-6 miles south of downtown at S Main and Moursund) please contact them or let me know a contact there.

Send me a private message on Facebook.

06/20/2012 - Good Morning Report

Good morning to all from Odessa, here is a view from the room.





Last night (Hollie's Shift) was another long night, Rob was only able to sleep for 3 hours stright and then just short cat naps, he looks tired this morning. He has gone over 24 hours with no fever (thank you Jesus) and now we await the results of the morning sodium levels (must be 130 to transfer out please pray for this). Once the sodium level is down then the process of accepting and doing paperwork for the transfer.

06/19/2012 - Evening Report

Hey all, another update from the grand metropolis of Odessa.

After a sleepless night backed up by a so far sleepless day (no sleep is a prayer need) Rob actually feels better. His sodium is starting to come up YIPPEE, the fever has left (answered prayer), and his O2 saturation is staying high on low flow O2.

As of today two rehab facilities have a bed available, but he still must wait here in Odessa until his sodium level is at a point where the Dr will release him.

Rob sat in a special chair outside for a few minutes today and then came back in and sat in the sun for a while.

06/19/2012 - Morning Report

Good morning all,

Rob was very comfortable last night (my shift) and relaxed but unable to get a wink of sleep. His meds are changed up a bit to help with getting him back into the world. He was able to eat all 3 of his meals completely yesterday, and here it is 5:30 am and he and I are both hungry...hum what's a couple of boys to do???

He is handling the reduced liquids very well and we have high hopes that his sodium is already on the rise, and he can get to a rehab facility, the sooner the better.

Until later --

Chris

06/18/2012 - Evening Update

Where to begin, Rob's sodium level has continued to drop. His fluid has been again reduced and is now 1000ml every 24hrs. We should start to see some improvements but this setback will delay his transfer to a rehab facility. He has been accepted to UT Southwestern University Hospital Zale Lipshy rehab in Dallas, but he is looking at more days here in Odessa before a transfer can take place.

He has had a ultrasound done on his legs, and a CT scan on his chest but we do not have results back on these yet. The hospital called in a big gun to check on the low sodium level, Texas Tech Health Science Center Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (aka Big Gun). He said that a combination of some imbalance due to the crash caused Rob's brain to relay mixed or incorrect signals to the kidneys and is causing the drop in sodium, but the drop has leveled off.

Rob is pretty much back to his jovial self this pm, and is hoping he can sleep all night.

Until in the morning

Chris

06/17/2012 - Update

Hello again from the downtown Odessa resort hospital ;-)....

Rob had another long day (my shift). Time was spent on his comfort level, moving pillows, adjusting the bed, moving him from side to side etc. He is feeling some phantom pain (which is expected). They added on some meds for anxiety and sleep. The anxiety med seemed to calm him down quite a bit and he was able to get some short but frequent naps. He hardly ate anything through the day despite us trying to coax him. His sodium levels continue to drop and that is a concern so continued fluid restrictions.

The night (Donna's shift) was the start of his sleeping meds. After a few hours of comfort level challenges he was finally able to get some sleep around 3am.

Chris

06/16/2012 - Update

Rob had another long day and night, not much sleep, but his fever seems to continue to stabilize. He is having a hard time dealing with not being able to move when he feels he needs to. Donna stayed during the day yesterday and worked to keep him comfortable (this is a full time job for us so far). Some friends from San Angelo came up to visit and that was good. Hollie had the night shift and again a long night with comfort level challenges.

Special prayer request would be for the fever to leave and him be able to get some rest.

Until Tomorrow...

Chris

06/15/2012 - Update

Another post from the Odessa resort hospital. ;-)

Through the day yesterday was overall a good day, It was Hollie's day to sit with him. The Dr came in and reported that Robs sodium level had dropped too much so they put him on a fluid restrictions to 1500ml a day, this in its self is a blow to somebody that was drinking about 1.5 gallons of water a day but it is best for his health, he is still battling the fever with it going up and down. He has some swelling still but it should start to subside soon.

The rest of the day was spent working his arms, legs and lungs, to get him ready for a trip to the Southeast or Northeast for placement in a SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) rehab facility. Looks like Rob and Hollie may be able to make a decision on this early next week.

Rob also sat in the special floor chair for close to two hours then (finally) received a new bed that works for his big frame. The bed is working really well as he has been sleeping for the past 4 hours with a few minor nurse interruptions.

In the pm it was my pleasure to again sit with him. They removed all the staples from his neck incision (this in itself made him more comfortable) and also a scalp tear on the side of his head. Fever is back down to correct level YIPPEE...

He was able to cough with help about 7 times through the night and this will strengthen his muscles. He was also able to sleep most of the night. With the breathing treatments, percussion system, and help coughing and rest, I think he and God will be able to overcome this pneumonia, so please pray for this.

The doctors rounds came very early on Saturday at 6am, what's up with that. Any way he said the only item left to clear up was the fever and it was down all night, so all looks good for travel to a rehab facility as soon as it's decided which one.

Until tomorrow

- Chris L Powell

06/14/2012 - Update

Good morning all, here is the update for yesterday and last night.

Rob had a few more visitors yesterday (my shift) and visitors are always uplifting. He is still fighting with the fever it is up and down, but his lungs are sounding better every day. He still has the IV antibiotics and is back on an IV drip of normal saline. We have him on a written schedule (his job to keep us on track), for his arm and leg exercises, his lung exercises, and his rotation from left to right sides.

His Dr said that all is looking good, and that they are watching his intake of water because his sodium levels are low. We cut him back on water some but it may not be enough, next round of tests will let us know, probably in tomorrows post.

Rob did sit in the PT chair again today for about 30 minutes, and then back to bed. He did get to move to a larger room and they have ordered a bigger bed (he is a big boy). Donna spent the night with him and it was long night not much sleep, lots of comfort challenges, fever down to good levels.

Until tomorrow.

- Chris L Powell

06/13/2012 - Update

Well through the day (Donna's Shift) and night (Hollie's shift) Wednesday had its ups and downs. Through the day Rob ate fairly good meals, his fever continues to decrease, he is on a routine to exercise his arms was able to sit up in a special chair. His comfort is still a big item we are continuously finding unique ways to deal with. Some friends visited him two men he used to work with, and a friend from San Angelo, all are welcome just call first.

The night was uneventful, other than the fever and his comfort level. Rob was able to sleep in segments (but we all know that in the hospital every time you sleep the nurses wake you up).

Please continue to pray for Rob and company.

 

Here is a link to a post Brandie put forth.

 

06/12/2012 - Update

Rob's mom stayed with him last night and both got some rest but it was still a long night, he is running a high fever and the iv antibiotics are still running. His comfort is the biggest challenge as when you are unable to control your muscles yourself your body and limbs are very heavy.

He really enjoys being moved around, I would think it is like if you lay or sit in the same position for an extended amount of time without moving you get tired of it and that is what is going on with Rob. So we move his arms, legs torso as much as we can so he is comfortable. We are told that they are getting a different type of bed that will help with the moving around part.

His fever is down to 101 from a high of 103.4, which is a good thing, chest X-ray to my untrained eye looked good considering he has been laying down for 6 days now.

YEA Rob's IV has been disconnected and hep locked, he also has had various other tubes removed.

So a case worker has assigned and the hospital has submitted the case to 4 different rehab facilities in Texas. Now we wait to see which has availability for a move across the state.

Rob's fever is still up and down, with a low of 99.6 he is getting iv antibiotics on a schedule now so we should be able to get this cleared up soon.

Five Minutes 6/12/2012 update

Five minutes. I keep giving myself five minutes for things. Five minutes to cry. Five minutes to scarf down some food before Rob needs me for this or that. Five minutes to be on the phone with some person that needs me. Five minutes. Not much to many, everything to me.

Today was pretty steady. We started with a fever again this morning. Some results came back on the spit culture. (they did more tests today with his blood) They said that there were some signs of infection. They did give him some antibiotics for his fever and such this morning too. They also said that they were concerned about pneumonia flaring up. He has been doing things with Respiratory to prevent this. A motion vest that helps break up the stuff trying to settle in his chest, as well as a breathing treatment with albuterol, twice a day. He gets chest x-rays done every morning to check for this as well.

He's kept a pretty fluctuating temp of between 100-103 degrees today. His appetite has stayed up. He's eating very well. Been resting here and there during the day. He is still getting meds for the pain as needed. But not on the iv pain push.

(Please excuse me for not being correct on medical terminology.) I hope I don't offend the medical field.

Physical Therapy Came in today some and worked a little on his legs this morning. Just to work on flexibility, and circulation. I'm not an expert in this stuff, but I just observe and learn. It's all I can do at this point. I'm very eager to learn everything that I can, and that will in the future be taught to me. They did come back in the afternoon and put him in a chair called a Cardiac Chair. Its to help patients sit up better, and are great for easy transfer. He was in that chair for a good hour, and snored in it for about 30 of those minutes.

Robert also got a new bed today, that better helps his type of injury. It took them till almost 8 to get it here, but before we left you could tell that Robert preferred it a little better than the other one.

Social Worker came to let us know that he is getting the ball rolling for where they will place Rob for a PT facility. We will hopefully know more by the end of this week, or the Monday following.

There is so much that I could keep typing, so much. I'm just not one to type about every detail about every day. The most important things are what matters.

I have heard so many people are reading to stay updated. It warms my heart that so many people care. I'm humbled at the amount of support and prayers that are going up. And those are only the ones I know about. There are more I'm sure than I'll ever know. I'm faithful to my Heavenly Father that has kept my husband alive thus far. I'm only feeling so blessed that he's here breathing. Looking at me the way he always does when I know he just wants to love on me, and he can't. We talk alot with our eyes now. Share a feeling, an emotion. Oh, how I miss his hugs. So warm, safe and loving. He can feel my touch. I'm so grateful for that. I find comfort in knowing the little he does feel me touching him, seems to make him feel better. I also know it will get better with time.

He apologizes to me, and it hurts to hear that. He didn't cause this. I didn't cause this. We don't know why it happened. Only our God knows. There is a reason for everything. If God wanted us to know everything He knows, then we wouldn't really need him would we? I'm glad that I don't because I couldn't handle it all. At times I don't really know how I am going to handle this, but I know I'm not alone. God is right here with us. Guiding us, Holding us, Covering us with his grace, mercy and love. That is why I love Him so very much. My God could have taken Robert home. God doesn't need him yet. Robert has a divine purpose here on Earth. We may not know yet, but it's going to be something that is far greater than any of us could ever fathom.

I left Rob tonight and he was a little weary. Tired. Possibly Broken. He's ready to get out of the hospital, and into a PT facility. I told him he had this. WE had this. WE CAN DO THIS. Give it to God. Let Him Be in control. This is the only way it's going to work. Being present, but letting God be the controller.

I'll try to post more. Chris and Brandie have done awesome trying to help catch you guys up. Thanks again for all the prayers. Love, Hollie.

06/11/2012 - Update

This is the hardest thing I have ever taken on, one never thinks that after they have cared for and raised a child to manhood that this care will be again needed by your child. Rob has stated already that although it is hard to understand this has brought him closer to God. This is also how I feel, and have come to realize that the position God had, only a few weeks back put Donna and I into in our lives was where we can now participate in Rob's care alongside Hollie. Well enough about us here is the update on Rob's journey.

Yesterday was another good day even with the breathing challenges in the previous post. He has had a c-collar of some sort on, well the dr said it could come off but Rob felt safer with it on...well we were able to get him sitting for a few hours without it and then he wanted it back on. Hollie was staying with him over night so Donna and I went to our hotel. I got a call from Hollie telling us that he had a fever so I made a drive to the hospital. All was well and they had him out of the c-collar taking meds for the fever, with an ice pack on the incision on the back of his neck. He had a good nights sleep and this morning ate more than any other meal in the last 6 days (good job Rob).

So today has been really good, he has been moved out of ICU to a room and has been visited by the PT department and he is able to have the bed elevated to around 60 degrees, and will be moved to a chair type bed tomorrow. He is still battling the fever but is now on IV antibiotics to help with this struggle.

Until Tomorrow - CLP

06/10/2012 Status update

Well after a good first couple of days a little setback beset Rob yesterday morning. We arrived at the hospital to news that he was at risk of going back on the vent for assisted breathing. He said he did not have very good care through the previous night and he really got onto the neurosurgeon about it and asked that his sister be allowed to stay the night (last night) to help.

So we prayed, rallied, pulled together and got him to sit up (even though it hurt him) then with cough lessons from Brandie, suctioning, the work of a respiratory therapist and a few hours of us encouraging him to regulate his breathing and lung exercises there is good news.

Rob's breathing steadily improved through the day and he had a good night, his O2 levels stayed 95-99% (they were in the 70-80% range the night before) even with him sleeping really hard for nearly 3 hours. He was able to cough (still with help) but coughing is good for him.

So in the previous post Brandie had put forth a list of current prayer requests, here they are with some answered and in process.

1. That his breathing and heart function stabilize
   
   
   
   1. Breathing much better but not quite good enough to move to rehab yet.
   
   
   
   


2. That he is able to control his pain better
   
   
   
   1. He is really struggling with this one as Rod has always had a fairly low threshold for pain but he is really getting better.
   
   
   
   


3. That we can start raising the head of the bed and it be comfortable
   
   
   
   1. Nearly tilted in bed enough to sit upright
   
   
   
   


4. That he can transfer to Baylor or TIRR soon so that we start rehab


5. That Caleb and Sarah can see their daddy soon
   
   
   
   1. We got a SKYPE session setup yesterday and made this happen.
   
   
   
   


6. Peace for Hollie, my parents and Rob to know that all of this is out of of our control


7. Travel mercies for some of the family has to return home today, and others a traveling here to visit.

Will keep reports coming as much as possible, please continue to pray for Rob.

You never think it can happen

This post was originally done on Brandie's BLOG at the address below.

Brandie is Rob's sister.

Link

Where do I start at a time like this? The last 48 hours have been quite a whirlwind with very little sleep and lots of tears.


On Wednesday morning my brother was leaving for an electrician job in West Texas. As he was telling his kiddos by, Caleb said "daddy don't go because I don't have a good feeling about this". So Robert did what every parent does and said "it's ok buddy I'll be back in a few days".


My brother was driving on of the trucks with one other guy in the passenger seat. Just outside of McCamey, Texas their truck had a tire blowout. Rob lost control of the truck and rolled several times. His passenger was able to crawl out of the truck, but my brother was not. Emergency services were notified. They arrived on the scene and Rob told them that his neck was hurting. He was taken to a small rural hospital and then transferred to a somewhat larger one, where by the grace of God, they had a trauma and neurosurgeon working that evening.
During this time my parents, me, George and the girls were at Walt Disney World. As soon as we were notified we waded (yes waded, as God was dumping sheets of rain in Orlando). We found out soon that we couldn't get flights back to Texas until morning. This, of course, was devastating for my parents.
Back to Rob. At this time he's all alone in Odessa and we are relying on God to hold his hand through the evening. After an MRI and CT scan were concluded we got the devastating news that he had broken his neck. He had bone fragments at C2-3 and at C5-6 the vertebral bodies were jumped. The spinal cord was pinched at C5-6. So he quickly went in for surgery. The bone fragments were easily removed with no damage and the surgeon tried to reposition the vertebrae with traction (Rob has a lovely gash on the side of his skull to show for it), but was unsuccessful. He was turned and had a C4-7 fusion. If you aren't familiar with medical lingo, this procedure is done to stabilize the boney spine, but does nothing for the spinal cord. There is no current procedure to "fix" the spinal cord, but the boney structures are fixed in order to stabilize and prevent further damage.


He came out of surgery on a ventilator and heavily sedated, as your breathing muscles are often involved with injury at the higher cervical levels. Our angels for the evening, Uncle Bubba as Anne, we're the first to arrive at the hospital and hold hands with Rob. There are not words to express how much peace this gave all of us that a loved one was with him.


He had a decent night and by morning the vent was removed and he was breathing on his own. Praise Jesus. Hollie and other family started trickling in throughout the day and were able to give us updates as we were traveling all over the country to get back to him.


I think that Thursday was a good day for him. I can't even begin to imagine how it would feel to lie in a bed, with people surrounding you, but being unable to move. My parents finally arrived in Odessa around 6pm and were able to see him for the first time. This, of course, was very very difficult for them and I wish more than anything that I would have been there to love on them during that time.
He had another decent night on Thursday. I hopped in the car early yesterday and arrived around noon. Man, seeing your only brother lying in that hospital bed is not easy. Seeing that, along with your parents at his bedside crying is one of the hardest things I've done.


I spent the day yesterday just hanging out with my brother and helping with anything he needed. I left to take a small break a few times, but it was so hard to walk out of that room. I'm not saying that I'm an expert by any means, but I think that during this time I have enough knowledge of spinal cord injuries, treatment and rehab that I need to step in and do everything I can to help him. My brother and I have had a rocky relationship, probably since birth or at least the time that I told the principle about a fight in high school so my brother got detention:), but right now I can't sit back without helping him in every way I know possible.
Yesterday, helping him meant brushing his teeth, giving him drinks and my dad and I trying desperately to position him and get him comfortable. It's all I knew to do, along with some pep talks, some crying and just being there.
I was able to talk with the neurosurgeon last night. He spoke to Robert, Hollie, my parents and me. He was very honest and told us everything we needed to hear. He shared the before and after X-rays. As I was leaving the room alone, the dr stopped and asked if I wanted a complete medical rundown of what he was seeing. His exact words were, "you've seen this before and know what's going on so I thought that I would talk to you as a professional instead of family". I wanted to say that I already had him fooled, but instead I listened closely. He showed me the pics of neck at every level before and after and was very open and honest once again.
As a professional, it was gut wrenching to hear, knowing the research and facts, but as a sister it gave me a desire to fight even harder for my brother.
Currently, we awaiting him to stabilize his breathing and heart function and then will be moved to a regular room until a rehab bed becomes available at Baylor in Dallas or at TIRR in Houston.
He has a long road ahead and seems like he is ready for the fight. He has been in wonderful spirits considering the entire situation.


Current prayer requests:
1) that his breathing and heart function stabilize
2) that he is able to control his pain better
3) that we can start raising the head of the bed and it be comfortable
4) that he can transfer to Baylor or TIRR soon so that we start rehab
5) that Caleb and Sarah can see their daddy soon
6) peace for Hollie, my parents and Rob to know that all of this is out of of our control

That's all for now. I will update again in a few days.

Here is a link about spinal cord injury to help answer any questions. This is an issue that's near and dear to my heart before all of this happened. So I have lots more info and lots of new researching any of you would like more info.

The Reeve family has been in the forefront of research and advancement for many years. There is a lot of info on their site.

There has also been a donation fund set up by PaulAnn Baptist Church in San Angelo. It is for Robert Powell at Crockett County National Bank in San Angelo and Abilene. The amount of expenses during this time will be very very great so if you feel inclined to donate please do so. Thanks