Updates - - Bridger's Recovery Progress
October 14, 2008 Bridger was hospitalized over the weekend, from Friday afternoon to Monday night. He was admitted for complications with pain management and medications. His pain had been increasing dramatically for a week and his current medications were not helping. The doctors have been able to make some necessary adjustments and changes to his medications and he is doing much better now. He is back at his grandmother's home for now. However, he will be moving home to his house in Orem within a week. Mindy and Bridger are looking forward to being back in their own home for the first time since his accident. September 13, 2008Bridger is now out of the hospital and doing great! We brought Bridger home yesterday to Grandma Dyanne’s house. It was an uncomfortable ride home and painful getting in and out of the car and back into his wheelchair but once he was inside and eating pizza life was good. Mostly he was just excited to "not breath hospital air" anymore. Once he was comfortably situated on Grandma’s couch, with a slice of pizza in hand, he commented, “this is the softest thing I’ve laid on since before I was blown up!” We feel so happy and blessed to have Bridger home, even though he still has a long road ahead to recovery. Doctors are giving his leg 1 year to see how fully it will heal. If in 1 year his leg does not regain enough strength and mobility for it to be useful they will have to amputate. But, we are positive Bridger will recover beyond expectations! September 9, 2008Bridger is doing so well doctors are now saying he’ll be ready to continue his recovery at home as soon as Friday!! This is very exciting and sooner than we anticipated. Unfortunately, Bridger’s home in Orem, UT is a split-entry and is not accessible for Bridger’s wheelchair. So, we’re making quick arrangements for Bridger to come home to Grandma Dyanne’s house. There is access to a basement apartment at ground level (no steps) and a cement ramp will be constructed within the next few days that will lead around the house to the basement entrance. Mindy (Bridger’s mom), Timmi (Bridger’s little sister) and Bridger will be living at Grandma Dyanne’s while work can be done to “Bridgerize” his Orem home and make it accessible for him now. We’re hoping to have Bridger in his own home by the holidays.
September 5, 2008Bridger is starting to develop bedsores and is restless and uncomfortable. But, he is continuing to heal and in spite of it all, remains positive and in good spirits. He truly inspires us. Doctors are starting to think they may be able to release him from the hospital and continue his recovery at home earlier than initially imagined. It will likely still be several weeks, but at least we’re talking weeks now instead of months! His turn around has been nothing short of miraculous! September 3, 2008Bridger was finally able to go outside onto a private patio in a special wheelchair for the first time since his accident; the fresh air was wonderful for him! September 2, 2008Bridger had the dressings and most of the stitches removed today from his skin graft procedures. The big skin graft on his abdomen took great, however the lower one on his leg did not. The skin died on the area that was slit open due to swelling. Doctors think they may be able to stitch the area closed without having to do more skin grafts. Fingers crossed. The skin donor site on his other leg seems to be healing quite well also. Bridger was so BRAVE and decided to stay awake through the procedure of removing the dressings and stitches and even helped the doctors remove some of the dressings! September 1, 2008Bridger is out of the PICU! YAY!! He has been moved into the Neuro Trauma Unit and is doing very well. August 28, 2008Bridger had the start of his skin grafts yesterday, and did a fantastic job! We are so proud of him, and how he is being so brave. We got really good news this morning, Bridger is ready to be moved out of the PICU!! He will be going to the neuro trauma unit to begin his physical therapy. He needs to keep the rest of his body strong, and they have actually started physical therapy in the PICU. We’ve gotten him up in a chair 3 times now, and he is pulling on his left foot with a rubber therapy band to keep it from drooping. August 25, 2008Bridger stood up for the first time! Albeit on one leg, but still standing! Doctors have also started plans for surgeries to close the gaping wounds with a series of skin and muscle grafts, ahead of schedule. He continues to run a low-grade fever and semi-elevated white blood cell count, but doctors anticipate as long as he has open wounds he will have some small infection. As of now though, it is all under control and no longer a major concern. August 24, 2008Our little Bridger is doing amazing!! He has beaten the odds and kicked the worst of the infection!! He is awake, smiling, breathing on his own and is excited about getting out of here. He is so calm, even through his pain, he moans a little, but never complains. He is talking to us quite a bit and even ate some solid food! We are so very grateful to all of you for keeping him in your prayers. We have truly seen miracles come to pass in the last several days. August 22, 2008Happy Birthday Bridger!! Bridger turned 12 today! We had a great little family surprise party for him and he was able to get out of his hospital bed and into a special wheelchair for the first time! He was very overwhelmed and touched to see us. We only stayed for a short time, because while he is doing better, he tires out quickly and moving him into the wheelchair was very painful. Even still, it was a good birthday, all things considered! August 21, 2008Bridger’s breathing tube has been removed! He is talking, drinking water, juice and sucking on popsicles. He continues to have an amazing attitude and astounds all of us! He is being very brave, never complaining. His first spoken word was, “water”, proving that continues to be one of his top concerns. After that, one of the first things he wanted to talk to his mom about was his memory of what happened to him. The infection seems to be responding to treatment now, and his heart rate and blood pressure have returned to normal range. Still running a slight fever but doing much better. August 20, 2008Bridger is awaking up!! He is very responsive and calm this time. He has even been writing notes to us, his first written word was, “water”. He’s been very concerned about not getting enough water because he can’t drink with the breathing tube in place, and his mouth and throat are very dry. He also wrote the word “firework” and has written the names of a few friends, including best friend Zack, wondering how they’re doing. Bridger has been upgraded to serious condition.
August 19, 2008Bridger’s received a very special blessing yesterday and he has shown some dramatic improvements in the last 24 hours! He has astonished the doctors and delighted all of us!! His heart rate and blood pressure continue to be elevated but his white blood cell count and temperature are slowly coming down. Doctors are so encouraged, they are going to attempt to bring him out the drug-induced coma tomorrow and see how he does. Please pray it goes well this time! August 15, 2008Bridger has undergone several surgeries in the last week and a half to clean out his wounds and repair his abdomen. He also had reconstructive surgery to repair a portion of his colon. Bridger continues to struggle with infection, which is still resisting treatment and has now gone septic. Muscle grafts from a previous surgery had to be removed as it was thought they were covering and/or contributing as a possible source of infection. His recovery has been set back dramatically by these complications. We continue to pray for him and ask that he remain in your prayers as well. He is very sick right now and remains in critical condition. August 12, 2008Bridger’s white blood cell count, temperature, blood pressure and heart rate continue to be extremely elevated. The infection seems to be resistant to antibiotics being administered. The doctors have downgraded him to critical condition again and are telling us his life is in as much danger now as it was the night of the accident. We are very afraid of losing him again. Please pray for him. The doctors are doing all they can but are still unable to isolate the cause of the infection and get it under control. August 09, 2008Bridger has recently had a setback in his recovery. His heart rate and blood pressure have skyrocketed and nothing doctors are doing seem to help. His white blood cell count and temperature have also gone up. He has developed an infection and doctors are uncertain of the source. They are treating it with strong anti-biotics and hoping to get it under control quickly. Possible infections have been a main concern all along due to the large open wounds in his abdomen and leg. We were so hoping to avoid them! Pray we can get it under control quickly. August 04, 2008Attempts to bring Bridger out of his drug-induced coma have not gone well. He is extremely disoriented, frightened and in a tremendous amount of pain. He thrashes around and tries to pull out IV’s and tubes. They’ve had to restrain him to the bed to prevent further injury to his massive wounds and the reconstructive efforts, but this further confuses and frightens Bridger. Doctors have determined it best to place him back in the drug-induced coma. His breathing tube was removed for a short amount of time, but that has now been re-inserted. August 01, 2008Bridger’s surgery this morning was unsuccessful in closing some of the wounds on his leg due to excessive swelling. They have put in a pump to help with inflammation and stretching the skin. We’ll get it done next time! He is improving though, and has been upgraded to serious condition. July 30, 2008Bridger has undergone numerous life saving surgeries the last few days and yesterday underwent the first complex, marathon surgery to attempt to save his leg. Multiple teams of specialist worked on Bridger for 14 hours, including vascular, orthopedic, plastic and neuro surgeons. The surgeons were able to form a hip joint by using multiple screws and small bone fragments found in his abdomen and upper leg. Several metal plates and screws have been used to rebuild a hipbone. His femoral nerve was unable to repaired which means doctors are unsure as to what extent his leg will have feeling or usability, but they feel positively about saving the leg cosmetically. However, the choice may still be made to amputate in the future if the leg proves to be an encumbrance to Bridger. Over all the surgeons were very positive about the procedures and consider the surgery a success! July 26, 2008Bridger coded this morning; we thought we’d lost him again but the miraculous work of doctors and nurses were able to bring him back. The doctors believe they have him stabilized now though he remains in very critical condition. July 25, 2008Bridger is in very critical condition today after being hit by shrapnel from a pipe bomb-like explosion from a neighbor’s homemade metal firework device. His heart stopped twice last night; each time doctors were able to bring him back to us and worked through the night to save his life. Doctors are still preparing us for the worst but we are holding on with faith.
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