Latest

Many of you know this, but Mike has been making great progress. He can now pick up and feed himself peanut butter crackers with his left hand! His right had is behind, but catching up. He also has been praticing in a manual wheelchair and can manage that pretty well too. He still requires an electric, but will be able to use the manual for short distances which will be a good change of pace for him and keep him strong.

His C-DIFF is improving and hopfully he will be in the gym again regularly really soon. He is still scheduled to be home on the 17th, if everything is done here at the house and Van. The lift is scheduled to be put in next week for the van. The construction will begin soon on the house too. The two builders were here today going over the plans and will be getting started soon. The wheelchair lift for the house is the problem. It may not show up until a week after he is schecduled home. We'll take it one day at a time.

The Michael H. Gotznes Foundation, Inc should be official next week, at least with a Non Profit Tax ID so we can give it out to the generous establishements who are donating $$ like the Green Turtle and Rockville Harley Davidson.

Red

Surgery Update

Mikes surgery went fine today. It turned into an 8 hour proceedure, but it ended up fine. We got over to the OR floor at 10:00, waited until 1:15. The operation itself took 1 1/2 hours but he was in recovery for 4 hours.

Mike was a little ticked off because they told him he had to have a spinal rather than general anesthesia which made him really nervous and mad because the night before they said he would be asleep. The change was because of the potential for Autonomic Disreflexia which is a condition with Spinal Cord Injuries. Basically when your body has an injury below the level of the spinal cord injury it increases your heart rate, but the signals can't get to the brain to calm it down, so your blood pressure can go very high and out of control which could be very dangerous. He understood, but was still ticked, (you know Mike). Anyway, he had to stay in recovery twice as long as normal to be safe. He did fine.

He was back in his room, alert and hungry at 6:30. Kim and Dana came to visit so I left to get some food and rest. He should be back at rehab very quickley, but will need to wait at least until the stitches heal.

On the Foundation front, I should have the Tax Exempt ID early next week. The IRS has their own schedule. I will post when it comes in. In the meantime any donations offered should simply be made ot to Michael Gotzens Foundation, Inc. For previous checks that don't match, it will be fine with just his name and "Charitable Donation" Written on it. I am keeping track of everyone who donated to get them reciepts for tax deductions.

The Gotz Strength? Harley ride is being planned too. Bingo, the Manager of the Used Bike section of the Rockville Store has agreed to help pull it together. I'm sure we will have a very good turn out. The Biker Culture is a huge and very generous one when it comes to brother riders in need or trouble. The Rockville HD Dealership is well known for sponsoring benefit events and I am sure something really nice will be put together. More to follow on that.

I also received the architectural drawings from Mike'sUncle Tommy and have a meeting with the contractors who are donating all the work to renovate the house next Tuesday.

Thanks to Mike's other Aunt and Uncle, Nancy and Ray and Mike's Mom, along with the other generous donations we were able to order Mike's lift for the house to get him from floor to floor.

His Uncle Ray also hooked him up on MLB.COM so he can see the RedSox on the laptop all the time!!!

As they say, Onward and Upwards!! Thanks again for all the continued support.

I want to close out with something a little philosophical, which for all of you who know me well will find out of character, but......Mike and I saw a special on ESPN about a young boy fighting cancer and he coined the phrase "Courage + Belief = Life" It reminds me so much of him. After his catastrophic injury and 3 surgeries later he is still so mentally strong. His injury isn't life threatening but is permanently life altering and his strength, his courage and belief in recovery and a fullfilled life for his future has me in awe of him every second. I have learned so much from him these past seven weeks. Many of the boys freinds both adult and young cary the slogan with them, C+B=L and I do too now in my wallet. Evertime I get ovewhelmed I am going to look at that as an atitude adjustment.

Thanks again for being there for Mike.

Red

Mike's Surgery

Mike is scheduled to have his surgery today around noon and is happy to be getting this taken care of as he sees it to be a step closer to home! The doctors say this is pretty standard for people with his injury and should be a minor procedure with him back to his routine by today's end. This will make self care at home easier for Mike and will prevent any infection or injury where the current catheter is. Hope to see everyone on September 9th!

-Kim

Latest News

Mike has been doing well over thepast week and his spirits have been high for the most part. He finally got back into the regular gym yesterday and had a good workout. We hope he continues to be able to go there everday now so he can catch up on some of his workouts. He still has some issues with pain where his injury is , and they are trying to manage that but it's a roller coaster because they are also concerned that changing up on meds may effect his progress with the C-Diff. All in all though, things are progressing well. He has been outside more lately and is really getting too good at his chair. He has moved from the turtle setting to the rabbit one and left us all in the dust in the lobby this past weekend!! He makles me nervouse on that thing.. I am really going to be in for it when he can drive!!

I am going to schedule an overnight to stay in the hospital so I can get a taste of what 24 hours care is. The hospital offers this and I think it's a great idea.

They are talking about doing Mike's surgery for his catheter again this week, maybe Thursday. I'll keep people posted on that.

Thanks to all who have helped sell the wristbands and have given donation.. I have collected $1835 total. There are still funds comming in and we cetainly will need to order a new batch for the Green Turtle day, Golf Tourny and the GotzStrength! Harley Ride.

I'll post again at the end of the week.

Mike Has Wheels!

Well, one major task out of the way. I picked up a new van yesterday to accomdate Mike. It Is already built for his current and future capabilities. For instance, I feel certain Mike will be able to drive at some point in the future. In order for him to be able to do that from his wheelchair, the van must have a lowered floor. This Van has a lowered floor. There is already space for the lift and him and his chair. The lif will be installed in aboiut 10 days. He will be able to sit in the middle of the van or where the passenger seat is. It is removable as is the drivers seat for when he can drive. There are two captains chairs in the back and a bench seat as well so lots of freinds can cruise with him. The bech seat turns into a bed by pushing a button, so if he gets tired he can lay down. He has a wireless stereo system back there so he can listen to tunes or watch a dvd on the 17 inch screen without bothering other people.

Mike is really excited ab0ut it! I am going to drive it down tomorrow so he can come out and see it.

He is already setting goals for driving and will be working hard to get to that point.

Red

All Spiffed Up!

I had a great visit with Mike tonight. Shawn Erin and Michelle visited and the Slaght family came down for a visit a a little something extra. We all went out into the "Garden" with Mike tooling along side in his chair. We found some electrcity and Mike proceeded to get a haircut out on the grass in the fresh air and sun. He looks great and was in great spirits. He got just a little tired, but was out for a long time. I got him back to bed when everybody left and had a nice visit with him the last hour. He is very humbled by all the things people are doing for him and he wanted to be sure I thanked you all. I allmost have a van purchased that is customized so that it will accomodate him now as a passenger in his chair in two places and is specially outfittred with a lowered floor so when he is able to drive himself it will accomodate that as well, with just the proper hand controls to be added. He is very excited about that and determined to be behind the wheel eventually.

Thanks again from the family for everyones generousity. I have never seen or heard of a group of people so dedicated to a freind in need. It leaves me speechless.

Red

"Gotz Strength Day"

Mark your calendars!!! Thanks to Crystal and Shannon, we have the Greene Turtle in Germantown honoring Mike and the Mike Gotzens Foundation with a 10% donation of all sales on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008! Please join us and spread the word!! I know Shannon and Crystal are working on another event tentatively scheduled for Novmber 1st-a golf tournament, so save the date and there will be more details to come!!

THANKS CRYSTAL AND SHANNON!!!

-Kim

Mike and Gotz Strength!

Erin and I visited Mike last night and things are the same. He's hoping his condition will be under control this week so he can resume his normal physical therapy schedule. He is enjoying the extra space in his hospital room though which means there is plenty of room for visitors! He's missing his buddies as they are a main source of him remaining positive. PLease continue to coordinate visits amongst the group because he needs it! Our mom is back to work this week, and dad has been weening into more of a normal schedule as well, on top of needing to begin work on the house.

The Gotz Strength bracelets are here! I'll be emailing everyone who placed orders with me this evening arranging for you to get them! I also left a few in the closet at the hospital room at the request of some friends. PLease just exchanges the bracelets for the $5 cost. The $$ can be picked up daily as someone from the family will proabably be there at some point each day.

Thansk again for all your support!

-Kim

Surgery Cancelled

Mikes surgery was cancelled due to his infection. They will do it once it clears up. Regarding the infection, there was some missinformation. People do not need to wear gowns, etc. People should feel free to visit as they have been.

Red

Update

Mike has been making good progress with rehab. He was told his left wrist went from a 1 to a 3 out of 10 in the past week. He continues to improve in other areas too. He has been in really good spirits the last 2 days.

On another front he found out today he has CDIFF. A bowel infection that they supected he may have had from the start. It explains the diareha problem and the high white blood cell count. He is on antibiotics and it should run it's course, however it can be contageous and until it is gone visitors have to wear a gown when they go in the room and I wouldn't bring little ones around. But don't let that stop you adults from visiting please.

Mike is also having surgery tomorrow morning to put a catheter through his stomach wall to his bladder. This was an option he chose to take rather than the constant catheter. This way he can manage things better and have the bag on his leg rather than dragging it around. This is much better for his bladder health in the long run too, and is reversable if and when he gets more feeling.

We are all ramping up to get Mike home on the 17th of Sept. Renovation plans are in the works for the house and I am hunting for a van. We are anxious to get fundraising activities in the works to help offset some of the costs, which are very significant. The non profit Company, Michael H. Gotzens, Inc. is in the works but takes a few weeks to get set up. Then the account will be open for non profit and we can start putting in proceeds from the wristbands and other activities as they happen.

Thanks again to all for your support of Mike by visiting and keeping his spirits up and for the efforts you have started to make in fundraising. We couldn't do it without all of you.

Red

First Family Meeting

Mike had his first family meeting today at 11am. We were there and asked a lot of questions. Mike's PT, OT, doctor, Nurse coordinator, and social worker were all present. They each took time to explain their role in making Mike "the best he can be". Here's the low-down:

Physical Therapist: working with Mike on his arms and legs and chest. He explained the range of motion he currently has, and what he could expect to gain which basically he can't say for sure, but does know his arms should be very strong. He needs to continue to strech and work his shoulders.

Occupational Therapist: She is working with Mike on controlling his dizzy spells and finding ways to overcome them when he gets them. She works with him on his positioning as well so as to reduce the sores he could receive from lying still. He has one small sore and it is getting better.

Doctor: Dr. Lea talked about weening him off of some of the medications he has been taking. One that he will stop as of today is the antbiotics. The doctor does not believe that there is an infection still. Mike's breathing is much better by his assessment as well. He is now watching him for the low blood pressure issues he has been facing. This, according to Dr. Lea, is common with SPI. He said the rods and plates surgically implanted are working well. He also recommended Mike's NRH Urologist discuss kidney function as it pertains to his injury with his existing urologist. He will start a steroid to help him gain weight. Unfortunately, he may need to wear the neck brace a litte longer than we thought, but the doc couldn't say for sure.

Social Worker: She informed us of all the necessary items needed at home for Mike to be comfortable. As a result, we have quite an extensive "Gotzens Family To Do List"! which includes bathroom modifications, some sort of lifting device for the stairs, dad's new van with wheelchair lift, and attending home care classes. Thank you to all who have been a part of some of these items so far...

Mike's roommate leaves on Thursday and the team wants for one of the family members to spend the night with him sometime after this happens and take complete charge of his care to get used to his schedule and needs. Also, Mike will come home probably the last 2 Sundays he is slated to be at NRH for the day to re-acclimate himself to the house.

Sorry so long-I'm probably leaving ot a few things, but all and all we got a lot of questions answered and have a clearer picture of Mike's future, at least for the short term.

-Kim

Finally A Shower

Mike finally had his first shower since July 4th (yuck). It was a little bit of a let down though because he got dizzy a lot and his blood pressure got low. A common thing according to his Dr. He also was hoping Kendra the PT girl who gave him the shower would have some kind of skimpy outfit on, but no such luck.

I had a long talk with his Dr and he said Mike is progressing as expected. He is still in the early stages of his injury. At least 3-4 more weeks of spinal shock is expected. Once that dissipates things could start to progress faster on his arm and hand capabilities and maybe more progress belpow is level of injury. They are givng him some protein drinks and are going to start him on steroids soon to help him gain some weight and muscle back.

His respritory problems are getting better everyday and he is coughing up that stuff that has been giving him problems. We have been doing compression coughs everytime I have been there the last few days with good success. He will be less tierd and have more stamina for PT and OT everyday.

Mike is in a place where he goes between being frustrated and optimistic at the same time. PT is hard work and he is up for it but at the same time it reminds him what he can't do. His freinds and family are what truely keeps his spirits high. You are all amazing and I don't think you have a real sense of how big a part of his recovery that is.

Now that we have a tentative discharge date I am concentrating on the house and a van. 6 weeks is going to go by really fast. Joe is going to help me get some measurements and get a materials list going as a start. I got a lot of information on required space and door widths etc. and lifts. We will need 2 to give Mike accessability to the whole house. All of your great ideas on fundraisers will be a help with this. Mike and the family are very gratefull.

Red