Friday evening, February 27

Since I was at the hospital all day, Trish helped out by updating the blog this morning for those of you who were following the surgery. Thanks Trish! We arrived at the hospital at 5 a.m. and by 7:25 Mr. B was in surgery. The surgery took about 2 1/2 hours. Dr. McGregor came down to tell me how great the surgery went. Normally the bone goes back in one piece but because Mr. Bichler's skull bone had been fractured it had to go back in about 4 pieces held together by small titanium screws. Recovery took another hour and a half before Mr. B was moved to his room. He looked pretty good other than some swelling in and around his eyes. He was feeling pretty good other than a headache. He was hungry, always a good sign, and ate lunch and dinner. The Dr said he may even be able to go home tomorrow. I know all of you were thinking of us today. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful network of friends and family. Thank you!

Friday, February 27th

Mr. Bichler is now out of surgery and into the surgical recovery room.  His doctors were all very pleased with the results of the surgery.  Hopefully around noon Mrs. Bichler will be able to go up and visit with him.  This shouldn't be a long hospital stay as long as there are no post surgery complications. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers they have helped more than you can imagine.

Thursday, February 26

GREAT NEWS!! Today seemed uneventful enough. Therapy at 10:30 and we finished up around noon. Time enough for Pizza Hut buffet before our 1:00 eye appointment. Nothing new, still have a pretty significant field or vision cut which limits vision from the left half of both eyes. Arrived home around 2:30 and around 3:30 we got a call from the neurosurgeon's office. There had been a cancellation and they wanted to know if we were interested in the available surgery slot. So.....we have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. to check in for Mr. Bichler's 7 a.m. surgery to have his bone flap or skull replaced. It is short notice but no time to worry and Mr. B is thrilled to be getting it done so quickly. Thanks for all those prayers and kind thoughts. I believe in the power of prayer but it is awesome to see it in action. According to the neurosurgeon, the main risk is the potential of infection, which means a 2 night stay at the hospital. Hopefully we will be home Sunday or Monday at the latest.

Wednesday, February 25

Today Mr. Bichler had an appointment with his primary care doctor, Dr. Hay. It had been so long since he had been to his office that we had to fill out all new paper work. Before his accident, the last Dr. he had seen was the Dr. that replaced his hip. Guess the good news is that he has lots and lots of sick days saved up.
For those of you that have shown concern for me, I have started painting again here at home and today I went for a walk in the woods. The first since I shipped my daughter's dog Shorty to Hawaii. I saw 2 of my favorite birds, our resident red-tail hawk and a pileated woodpecker and a great sighting of a golden-crowned kinglet. It doesn't get much better than that!! I hope everyone had an opportunity to enjoy the sunshine today. And remember, "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful". (Annette Funicello)

Tuesday, February 24

We had a pretty relaxing day today, no therapy or Dr.s appointments. Decided to go to Henry's for lunch and pie. (Next best thing to home cooking!) Then we went downtown and Mr. Bichler finally got his hair cut. His last hair cut was his surgery hair cut Dec. 30. But the surgeons only shaved the front half of his head so Sue had to even it up and trim the back.
We did get a call from the neurosurgeons office and the surgery has been moved up 1 day. Mr. B's surgery will now be March 30.

Monday, February 23

Today it was back to work. For Mr. Bichler that means therapy. We arrived for out patient therapy around 11 a.m. Physical therapy, with Suzanne, was spent doing leg lifts with ankle weights, resistance work, walking and balance work. This was followed by occupational therapy. Occupational therapy tries to get the client back to doing what they were doing before the accident. In Mr. B's case, back to teaching. Julie spent a lot of time working on hand and arm strength and manual dexterity. She asked if he spent a lot of time writing and working on the computer. Julie seemed puzzled when he said "no". He then explained that he had Mrs. Kuhl and Ms. Fox to do all of those things for him! His last therapy was with Megan the speech therapist. Megan works on cognition and memory strategies. Mr. B does a lot of word and logic puzzles to help in this area. Sudoku puzzles are helpful as well. We finished up around 1:45 and stopped for a butter burger at Culver's on the way home.
We just received the call we have been waiting for from the neurosurgeons office. Mr. Bichler's surgery is scheduled for March 31. Not as soon as we would have liked, but at least it is scheduled. The keyword here is PATIENCE!! I'm working on it. Keep praying for me, Pastor Pat!

Thursday, February 19

Today was our first working physical therapy session. And yes it did involve ankle weights and the exercise bicycle. The sessions are 45 minutes and focus on strengthening the weak muscles and improving balance. Next week we begin a regular schedule on Mondays and Thursdays that include speech, occupational and physical therapy. My sister came in from Atlanta, so blame her for the cold weather. I'm also blaming her for posting this so late, we had so much to catch up on I didn't remember to get this finished!

Wednesday, February 18

Good news! Great meeting with our neurosurgeon, Dr. McGregor. He was so excited to see Mr. Bichler that he gave him a big hug. Guess he looked a lot better today than he did back on December 30 during his surgery. He also said it is time to put the skull bone back in place. The surgery will only require a 2 night stay. The office will call us tomorrow to schedule the cranioplasty. Once the bone is back in place, Mr. B won't have to wear his helmet any more. Now, that really is good news. The only bad news today was that we had to wait nearly 4 hours to see the doctor. Tomorrow it is back to out-patient physical therapy! Have to get strong for the up coming surgery.

Tuesday, February 17

Today we had to say good bye to Trish and Luke. They flew back to Dover, De. at noon today. It certainly is very quiet at our house now. It was such a nice day that we decided to take down the last of our outside Christmas lights. Tomorrow we have an appointment with the neurosurgeon and hopefully we will have news about the surgery to share with you tomorrow.

*The photo is Christmas 2008.

Monday, February 16

Today we made our first visit to the Madison House since the accident. Our good friend and former science teacher, Gary Jainshig was playing balloon basketball when we arrived. Mr. Bichler thought he looked really good and Gary was really excited to see Mr. B. We had a great visit and saw many other friends while we were there. I would like to thank everyone who visited Gary while we were busy at the hospital. I hope you found your visits gratifying and I know Gary really appreciated seeing each of you. If I had one wish, it would be for you to show the same kindness you have shown to us during this difficult time to someone else in your life during the next month. Write a letter to a grandparent, offer to help a neighbor or eat lunch with someone who normally eats alone. Knowing that you are passing this kindness around would certainly make us happy. We hope you had a wonderful week end! We did!!

Friday, February 13

Can't believe our good fortune. We had our first outpatient therapy today at the Martha Moorehouse Rehab facility. It is run through Ohio State so many of the therapists here know the therapists at Dodd Hall. This may or may not be a good thing for Mr. Bichler. Any way, they were expecting us today. Most of the time was spent assessing those areas that need to be improved before Mr. B will be able to return to work. It looks like about 2 days a week at the outpatient clinic and then a lot of therapy homework! We have an appointment with the neurosurgeon next Wednesday. We hope to get a surgery date as to when they will replace the skull bone that was removed following the accident. We have been told that in most cases when the bone is put back the recovery time really improves. Mr. Bichler is looking forward to the surgery for another reason. He absolutely hates wearing the protective helmet.

Thursday, February 12

Wow, what a difference it makes to sleep in your own bed! It is great being home. This morning we were up pretty early because we had to drive to the airport to pick up Trish, Chad & Luke at 8:40. Luke certainly livens things up. Mr. B never stops smiling when Luke is in the room. We incorporated Luke into our afternoon PT session. In an attempt to get Luke to sleep and keep Mr. Bichler awake we went for a walk around our circle. It was a pretty good workout pushing the stroller as windy as it was. But Mr. B still thinks it was easier than ankle weights and 5 flights of stairs. We got a call today from the OSU Martha Morehouse Rehabilitation Center on Kenny Rd. to schedule outpatient therapy. We go tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. and will be re-evaluated for speech, physical and occupational therapy. Looking forward to the next chapter in recovery.

Wednesday, February 11

45 days after the accident, we arrive home. Mr. Bichler fixed himself a BLT for lunch and is now resting in his familiar lazy boy recliner. He is pretty much exhausted from the morning and getting moved out of Dodd Hall. Although his therapists have prepared him for this move back home, he still has much work to do. Most traumatic brain injuries (TBI) take 12-24 months for recovery. He will begin his outpatient therapy as soon as next week and after our Wednesday neurosurgeon appointment we will hopefully know when his surgery will be scheduled. Patience and taking one step at a time seems to be our game plan.
I would again like to thank all of those who have helped in one way or another to get us through this accident. From the squad who first responded after the accident, the Dr. and nurses at Madison Co. Hospital, the many skilled neurosurgeons and medical professionals at OSU Medical Center to the nursing staff and talented therapists at Dodd Hall we owe you all a debt of gratitude. But our biggest thanks has to go to our friends, family, school district and the community of West Jefferson. Without your support I am not sure I could have made it this far. Your cards, letters, monetary support, meals and gift cards have been been the most extraordinary thing I have ever witnessed. Mr. Bichler's nurses and therapists have been amazed at the outpouring of love and support that we have received. We explain it quite simply, West Jeff is the greatest place on earth and we wouldn't want to live or teach any where else. Thank you and God bless you all!

Monday, February 9

As relaxing as the week end was it was back to reality Monday morning. With only 2 full days left the therapists were determined to make Mr. Bichler work every last minute while here at Dodd Hall. Lisa, his speech therapist, tested his short term memory and had Mr. B start making a schedule to follow when he returns home. It is important to keep moving forward by continuing strategies he has learned in therapy. Believe it or not he was not allowed to put down eating, watching TV and napping in alternating slots for the entire day! He will also be going to outpatient therapy 2-3 times a week. In physical therapy, Amber had a surprise for Mr. B and we went outside to the basketball court to play some basketball. It was great to get outside or as Mr. B put it, "anywhere but the treadmill". At the end of the day we went to pick up Mr. Bichler's new glasses. We also stopped and ate at Pizza Hut before returning to Dodd Hall.

February 6 & 7

Friday was a rather easy day compared to the rest of the week. Mr. Bichler went on his first outing with a few other patients to Bob Evans for breakfast. It was part of both speech and occupational therapy. Mr. B had the "Rise and Shine" breakfast and ate until he was stuffed. Not to worry however, he still had Amber the PT at the end of the day to work off all of those calories. But even laps and leg lifts in ankle weights couldn't dampen his spirits. We were going to stay in the ILA (independent living apartment) for the week end. It has gone really great so far. Mr. B made his potato pancake, sausage and sauerkraut dinner last night. Tasted great! Today it got even better. We secured a day pass and came home for several hours. We stopped for a butter burger at Culver's and then it was a direct line to his Lazy Boy where he is currently snoozing away. Something about being home has been very relaxing. We have to be back by 5 but it has been great getting out.

Thursday, February 5

Five more days until they spring Mr. Bichler from Dodd Hall and he is more than ready to get home. Tomorrow night we get to stay in the Independent Living Unit on the first floor to see how it goes without medical supervision. The therapist continue their rigid schedules with intense therapy both mentally and physically. Today he ended his day with 20 minutes on the treadmill. We were very proud of his hard work and effort. Even though it took a lot of "tough love" to get him going. Good luck to all the teams that will be playing in their first rounds of tournament!

Wednesday, February 4

Once again Mr. Bichler's schedule was slammed with one therapy session after another. Six therapies in the morning and five in the afternoon and a doctor consult. He has one and a half hours of physical therapy daily and a majority of the rest of the time is spent on deductive reasoning, cognitive testing and strategies for increasing short term memory. Today his occupational therapist had him playing table tennis. I was amazed at how good he did.
After lunch he played several games on the Wii fit. He tried the hula hoop game but decided that wasn't the game for him. Then he played a penguin fishing game and a game where he was in a bubble floating down a river. After that we walked the tunnel again which has to be close to 1/2 mile or more. Each day his body gets stronger and his stamina increases. When his mail comes each day, he anxiously opens each card. Thank you for continuing those cards and letters. No matter how tired he is they always put a smile on his face.

Tuesday, February 3

Well, it was not the news Mr. Bichler wanted to hear but we understand the reasoning. Discharge date has been moved until next Wednesday, Feb. 11. Hopefully, several things will occur during these extra days. First, the food peg that is in Mr. Bichler's stomach will be removed. It was inserted while he was in the surgical intensive care unit and unable to eat. Most importantly, with all of the progress that he is making there is still more improvement that can be made. They also want both of us to be equipped to handle the challenges once Mr. B does get home. One thing that we will do is to spend several nights in the apartment. The apartment is set up downstairs in Dodd Hall and includes a small kitchen, living area, bathroom and bedroom with a regular bed. We will be able to cook our own meals, watch TV, sleep and generally get an idea of what it will be like when we get home, such as safety issues, dispensing medications, ect. Kind of like playing house with supervision. There is a call button in the room if we would need medical assistance or answers to any questions. Mr. Bichler is already planning his menu for our first meal, potato pancakes, sausage, sauerkraut, apple sauce and peach jelly. It's our New Year's dinner that we didn't get to have. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Monday, February 2nd

Today may possibly be the first day of the last week here at Dodd Hall. Tuesday morning is panel meeting where the doctors, nurses and therapists all meet to discuss the progress of each patient and make decisions on their health care management and discharge dates. So, by tomorrow evening we should know if the discharge date is still this Friday, February 6. Mr. Bichler was hard at work on the stationary bike when I arrived this morning. He rode for 20 minutes. Although his schedule was packed today, we did manage to get a day pass at 3:30 to go pick out his glasses frames at the optometrist. On the way back to Dodd, we stopped and ordered a pizza at Pizza Hut. Getting outside really helped his appetite, I had 2 pieces of pizza and Mr. B ate the rest of a medium pep and cheese pan pizza. Tomorrow will be filled with more therapy all of which gets Mr. B closer to his goal of being home for the week end.