Lifting Up Dad From Our Knees.....: early evening babble....

Monday, January 22, 2007

early evening babble....

I have loved reading all of the comments that have been made! You all have given us so much support, no words can say thanks enough. Dad is about the same tonight...pressure is up a little but not to the point of making the doctors worry. Dr. Young was able to remove the bandage on dads head and one of the drainage lines. He looks better today! Im sure that Jason will do a better update later...

One of the great things (and there have been many) that have come out of this is to be able to be with my brothers and sisters. Jason, Joe, Anna, Kelli and I (not in age order since Kelli is the oldest, then Jay, myself, Anna and Joe) have been taking shifts staying up here with mom. Mom has been hanging in here like a champ! Lynnette, April and Mike have been awesome as they walk beside each of us (their spouses). The grandkids...our children are just waiting for their grandpa to come home and start carving again. We all are not able to do any of this with out your prayers and support. Thanks again for all of your love for us and our father! Thanks for letting me babble tonight.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...: Sue,Kelli,Jason,Andy,Anna,Joe-

You are in my prayers! Please be encouraged by Luke 18:27 "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God"

Love to all,
Ali Leeka; January 22, 2007 at 8:00 PM
Anonymous said...: sue, jason, andy, anna, joe:

thank you for being transparent and letting us all come alongside in prayer and tears. you and each of your families--so special. we pray for His peace which transcends our understanding to guard your hearts and your minds...even as you walk through the valley...HE is with you. He will comfort you. He is with Jim.
You and your husband/dad are dearly loved.; January 22, 2007 at 9:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Kelli, you know I love you and your family, if there's anything that I can do, you know all you have to do is call. I wish I weren't so far away, if you need me there, just say so. My prayers are with all of you, God bless your Dad and the entire family. Love you, Carol; January 23, 2007 at 12:46 AM
Anonymous said...: Please know that you and your family are in our prayers at this very difficult time. We pray daily for a quick recovery for your dad.; January 23, 2007 at 7:17 AM
Jim Gallagher said...: Maley Family,

Prayers going out to you and your entire family. I have been blessed to work with Sue and to call her my sister in Christ. Jim, what an awesome guy who inspected our house before we bought it. You all are great witnesses and I hope to stop in Wed. to spend a little time and pray with you.

God Bless

Jim Gallagher and Family

"For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalms 139:13-14; January 23, 2007 at 9:10 AM
Anonymous said...: Just want your family to know you are in my prayers. I know Emily Maley from school and I adore her. She speaks very highly of her family. God bless!; January 23, 2007 at 9:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Today I started to look at all the chances I have had in the past to spend time with Jim and the other loved ones in my life with a very heavy heart...hug them, kiss them, praise them, and tell them how much they mean to you, and you will always know that you never missed the chance to tell them how much you loved and appreciated them. I love you Jim, Sue, Anna, Joe, Andy, Jason, April, Nettie, Kelli, grandkids, Aunts and Uncles.; January 23, 2007 at 6:07 PM

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The story as we know it...

On Friday morning (Jan. 19th) around 10:50am, i recieved a call from my brother Joe telling me that he needed me at the house. I asked him what for and he told me that dad had hurt himself somehow...he had a black eye, his nose was bleeding and was "a little beat up". I immediatly got into my car and started heading that way. I called Joe back and asked him for more details and he told me that he was having a hard time getting dad up. I told him to call the EMS and he said that he thought Jason had already done that and he was on his way. When i pulled up, i saw the EMS was already there. I walked in and i saw Jason, Anna, Joe and several EMS people along with dad sitting on a gurney. They imediately took dad out in the EMS...not knowing what was wrong...just that something really wasnt right. We followed the EMS to parkview ER and had to go wait. Mom met us there as she flew across town to get there. We had to wait a long time (it seemed like days!) before we were told what was going on. The chaplain kept coming out to "brief"us...but thats all it was, a "brief". Finally, the ER doctor called the family together and told us the news...dad has a broken neck and he is bleeding in and on his brain on both sides....this is very serious. "Its a bad deal" the ER doc kept on saying, but we had to wait until the surgeon would come in and take a look at the CT scan before we could find out for certian what was wrong. Dr. Young finally came in and said that he had looked at dad and his scan. Dr. Young was very "matter of fact" with us which was good. We needed that! He told us very similar things to what the ER doctor told us. He said that dad had broke his neck, C2 to be exact. He also said that he was bleeding in several areas in his brain. He needed brain surgury immediatly. On a scale of one to ten...with ten being the worst...dad was a "plus 10". Dad went into surgury and was there for 3.5 hours or so...he came out of surgury fine but we found out the damage was worse than they had thought. They had to remove some of the damaged area and he would be on life support. We were told that the next 3-10 days are life and death...or very critical. What we think what happend is something as follows: Dad was sleeping down in the basement which is a normal thing. Between 8:30am and 10:30am, he tried going upstairs. This info is a little sketchy because we werent there, but based on some of the info that we have seen, we think that he tripped on the stair going up and fell...hitting his right eye on the stereo and then hitting face first on the ground. This created the damage that we are aware of. We spoke with the cardiologist today and found out that dad has also had a heart attack with in the last eight days, but they have not figured out exactly when. There is a thought that this might have caused the fall be we are uncertain. Dad is in stable but "second to second" condition. If and when dad comes out of the "coma" state, there will likely be many months of therapy that needs to be done, plus until the brain issues are resolved, they can not even think about looking at his broken neck. To sum it all up...dad is in very bad condition. We thank you all for all of your prayers and support and all of the food and gifts. Your love for my dad and our family is amazing and we are extremely grateful. We will continue to update you as we know more. Please continue to pray!! Pray for dad (jim) for healing. Pray for mom (sue) that she can continue to be strong. We do know that we most likely havent seen the worst yet. This is when we need your prayers the most. Please feel free to enter your thoughts on this blogspot as we will update you as we know more. We are very thankful for the love you all have shown.

Lifting Up Dad From Our Knees.....

Monday, January 22, 2007

early evening babble....

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Dad with Alena at Christmas

The story as we know it...

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