Home Sweet Home

I watched the clock turn 3:03pm today and thought back on the past EIGHT weeks and then thought "Tomorrow at 3:03pm Alex will be Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

December 1, 2010 Alex will be discharged from the hospital.  He has progressed SO much since the Strike.  Thanks to EVERYONE who has helped on this journey.  I wish I could say his journey will be finished when he is discharged, but I believe the biggest part of his journey will start tomorrow.  He still doesn't have use of his fingers and still struggles with pain, motor skills and overall balance issues.  He will have daily out patient PT and OT, and lots of Doctors appointments in the weeks and months to come but at the end of the day he will get to sleep in his own bed.  YEA!!!

Day 56 in Hospital - Alex

Alex had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  Thanks to all that came and visited, it really lifted his spirits.  We are having a Family Meeting today at the hospital. I'll keep you all posted, but I believe we will be discussing Alex's discharge.  Its looking like it will be this Wednesday.  Alex just wishes he was "all better".  He wants to come home, but he wants full use of his fingers and hands and to be able to walk. His PT's are working him hard and he's getting closer everyday to recovery.

Ditto

I read Leslie's Post and want to Ditto what she said.  She said it beautifully!!!

This Thanksgiving Day I want to Thank our Heavenly Father for my family, I'm so grateful for each one of them.  They each bring so much joy into my life, I had an awesome day with my family.  Alex got to come home for a few hours, It was nice to all be together.
Thanks for all the PT's, CNA's, Nurses and Doctors that worked with Alex today, that left their families in order to help Alex.  He's doing better everyday.  Microsoft's PR heard about Alex and Dane from a piece on Good Morning America, they shipped both boys a new Xbox 360 -Glossy black.  One more thing to be thankful for  :)
Enjoy the holiday - Kaleen aka Alex's mom

So much to be Thankful for!

With all that I have been blessed with throughout my life and all that I have taken for granted, I know that I have never been so grateful as I am this Thanksgiving. It's such a cliche, but "things" in this life really are so superficial compared to the life of a loved one.

From the instant Alex & Dane were struck, people (angels) all around them came together to save their lives; from the students who went for help, the first responders (teachers and administrators at the school) who breathed life into our boys, the EMTs who safely transported them and didn't give up..., the Dixie Regional ER staff, doctors and nurses who revived and stabilized them, the clergy that rushed to the hospital to bless our boys in that brief moment when time stood still before they whisked them away to the airport, the Lifeflight crew that flew out in stormy weather to give the boys the best care available, and then the staff, doctors and nurses at the PICU unit at UMC in Vegas who ultimately cared for them until they were able to "come back" to us....
Looking back, I know there was a higher power orchestrating all of the events that saved our boys that day, everything and everyone came together just the way it was meant to happen.

Then in the hours and days that followed we were so overwhelmed with loving thoughts and actions from everyone we knew (and didn't know). We felt your love, your prayers and your support more than you will ever know...it gave us the strength and faith we needed to endure the fear and uncertainty

I know that we have thanked all of you before, but I don't think that it can ever be expressed enough, you will always have my heartfelt gratitude- and I thank God everyday for all of you "angels".

God bless all of you this Thanksgiving holiday,
Leslie

p.s.- Dane weighed in last Friday and had lost another pound :( , the Dr. was encouraged that it has slowed and is hopeful that he has turned the corner. He still goes to physical therapy but no longer uses a cane to help him walk :) , his Pancreas levels are still too high and have to be monitored closely but all in all... he is pretty amazing.

Sunday - No more shots for Alex

Every Morning around 8am Alex would have to get a shot in his stomach - needless to say it wasn't a great way to start off his morning.  The shot was to help him not get blood clots and since he wasn't up and moving around they were concerned with him getting them.  Well now that he's up and about - no more shots. YEA!
Alex doesn't have PT on the weekends, but he wanted to do something with his idle time, so on Friday Alex and his PT made a schedule of exercises for him to accomplish Saturday.  He did them all twice yesterday, morning and late afternoon.  He pushed himself and did great.  Thanks to T for coming in yesterday to help push him mentally while Alex worked physically.  We have great friends who are so willing to help us with everything (and I mean everything)!!!!  Thanks St. George.  Thanks for all the letters that have been mailed to us from out of state, Alex has received some cute colorings from children we don't even know. Kaleen aka Alex's mom

From Dave Talley -
I had a moment to reflect today, and although this has been a very stressful and humbling time for our family, I can't help but remember the laughs that sometimes brighten our day and keep us going. My quote for today is from Alex when he was still in Las Vegas (and still on Morphine!) Kaleen was trying to explain what had happened to him and trying to answer Alex's questions. Alex asks, "what year is this?" Kaleen answers, "it's 2010" Alex say's with incredulity, "Oh yeah! Right! I get struck by lightning and you guys get blasted into the future!" It was hard not to laugh even in that moment.

Friday 11-19-10- Alex

Last night was a big night for Alex.  He went to see the Snow Canyon High School play Peter Pan.  Alex helped build the set and wanted to see it.  His PT and Doctor said if he worked hard they would let him leave the hospital and go to the school.  It was kind of weird for him to go back to the school.  I had been there a few times since the Strike, but this was Alex's first time back since he was whisked away in an ambulance. Once we got there, Alex enjoyed the play, the kids that preformed did a great job.
Alex is still making improvements.  They are very small but they are there.  One of his nurses that hadn't seen him for a week was amazed to see him Wednesday night, she was amazed at the progress since she saw him last.
When I say "Alex walked"  He's not walking like he use to, he's not walking like most people do. But he is up and moving a few hours a day.  Today his PT put him in a harness and he "walked" around the hallway.  He's doing better.  He's still in a lot of pain which interferes with his PT sometimes. He can move his feet and wheel himself around in his wheel chair pretty good.  Theres not a lot of new movement with his hands.  His hands are kind of "stuck" straight out.  He can move his pinkie, but once again, when I say "move" its just kind of a twitch, if you ask him to move it and you blink, you will miss the movement.  Its all baby steps.  One small step at a time, he's doing it.  He's Beating the Odds!  Kaleen aka Alex's mom

Six Weeks Ago Today

I still fall asleep every Monday night and think back to the Monday night before the Strike.  Can't believe 6 weeks ago today  I got a call that Alex and Dane had been struck by lightning.  I've been replaying each day over the past 6 weeks, thinking of the Nurses, Doctors and Admin at UMC.  Miss them (not that I still want to be there) but miss them as people, they were great and caring.  Thanks for helping in Alex's recovery.  We will be back there someday, Alex will walk in and he will probably dish out orders and demands like he did during his PICU days -lol.  Kaleen aka Alex's Mom

This is from Alex's dad   SATURDAY 11-13-10

I got to spend a good day with Alex. I came early to St. George Sat to watch Alex's younger brother Parker 'firecracker' Lambson play his championship game vs Alliance. 

Alex and I had fun watching Family Guy 'Blue Harvest' the spoof on Star Wars. Gratitude to whomever left that for him. I hadn't seen Alex laugh until we watched this show. He didn't want to watch funny movies in Vegas because it hurt him to much to laugh. He enjoyed that DVD so much he sent me to Best Buy to find the sequel 'Something Something Something Dark Side'. Alas I couldn't find it.

While I was there the paramedic that worked on Alex came by to see him. Ty 'Smitty Smith gave Alex a run down of everything he saw that
day. Gratitude to him and the rest of the first responders for reacting so quickly and doing such a great job of resuscitating Alex, and giving him a chance to survive.

Later in the day lots of friends came by and Alex had a good time laughing a joking and remembering past adventures. It was awesome to see him in good spirits, and a smile on his face. Lots have asked what does Alex want to watch when he has down time. Alex wants to watch quite a few different things so I made an Amazon account with
his current wish list. Follow this link for his current wish list:
http://amzn.com/w/1MSCI3JDHNO18 
~Arden