An update on The Main Man and he's going home

So I apologize that there's been a delay in getting you all updated but I've been swamped and traveling extensively. I'm in a Borders up in Seattle getting caught up on work. I fly home tomorrow and in Carmel this weekend with Mom and Skip. Next week it's off to Boise and Seattle, then Portland the following week.
Nonetheless, I'm happy to report that the Main Man is doing great! He's been in the Acute Rehab at Dominican for almost 4 weeks and on this Friday (tomorrow) he's going home. The "in home" rehab will still be intense, with 3 days per week and additional excersizes that he can do on his own.
His speech is great and we are able to comprehend almost 90% of what he's saying. When he gets anxious and trying to get too much out, it can get mumbly and he can get a little frustrated, but its pretty solid for the most part..
Skips eating has come back very well and I'm sure he'll be able to eat his Jalapenos before too long. He's able to chew quite well and eat the softer foods, but again we are having to watch him closely and make sure that he's taking his time with one bite at a time. He has enjoyed some Salmon from my Grandma (Nana) and I'm sure my mom and he will enjoy spending some time in the Kitchen creating some wonderful concoctions for his palate.
His right side is still paralyzed and supposedly the therapists are seeing some resistance in the muscles but there is a long road ahead for him. We hope and pray for a full recovery but the process just takes a long time... So a huge thanks is in order for Clyde Sailor, who got the house ready in no time, for Skip. He was able to get ramps and bars installed so Skip can more easily get around in his wheelchair. We are just going to see how things progress and take each step 1 at a time and get more gear to assist with Skips mobility as needed.
As for Skips emotional state, Skip at times can get a bit overwhelmed with the love and support of his friends and family. It's like a sponge that has been soaking up a bowl full of water. After the Sponge is plenty filled, it can't absorb anything else. Skip has definitely soaked up the love from everyone and at time's he can get very emotional, because he's so very happy and feels the overwhelming power of love and support. His spirit is so very strong and he completely acknowledges the importance of friends and family. It's a miracle he's even here with us and Skip of course is so grateful to be present!

Once we get him home, I'm sure there will be some adjustments in store for him. Skip is doing exceptionally well and very excited about taking some more steps.

We cant thank you enough for reading the site and sending your thoughts and prayers to Skip. The Family is very appreciative to have had all of you make such an impact on Skip and all of us! Love, Jason and Family

To send mail or packages, please send to:
Skip and Carolyn Crist
#6 Rumsen Trace
Carmel, CA 93923

From My Carolyn and Skip

Dear Family and Friends, I wanted to once again express our heartfelt "thank you" to all of our family and friends! The thoughts, prayers, food, flowers, cards and emotional support have kept us on a positive road, we can't thank you enough! We love all of you, it looks like we will be home soon and we look forward to many visits at Casa De los Abuelos. Love, Carolyn and Skip

Updates on the Main Main

Sorry for the delay in getting something posted. I see the traffic is still high so I apologize it's been a while. I have been swamped with work and travelling. I'm off to Austin next week for our Global Sales Conference. For those of you who don't know what I do, I'm responsible for the Sales of Tablet PC's throughout the Pacific Northwest. I work for a company named "Motion Computing" and we are small (120 employees) but our revenues are growing at a clip of 70% Year over year and quarter over quarter. Feel free to check out the website at www.motioncomputing.com the Tablet PC is like a laptop without a keyboard and they are predominately used within Hospitals for MD's and Nurses to input (via handwriting and pen) for Electronic Medical Records. It's an emerging technology but we are doing exceptionally well. Anyhow, enough about me now to the main man!
Skip is doing great! He's speaking and it's very good. It's a bit Mumbly at times but for the most part it's fairly easy to comprehend. He's excited to continue his rehab and make additional progress. Skip was telling me last night on the phone how he just wants to get better and get out of there and relax with my mom. I talked to him about him being given a second chance...and he said, "oh boy..." I told him he's so lucky to not be below ground but to be above ground and he said, "way above ground". This is so true. He's been reborn and he's so touched and happy. Many of us(including me)think about the situation, and him and what's happened and we are still thinking what a tragedy and we are so focused on his recovery. Then we speak to Skip and he's so high on life, he's thinking how lucky he is to be breathing and cognitive, and alive! Skips more alive now than he has been in a long time...! He could've easily been taken from us but it wasn't meant to be! When you speak to him and actively engage in your conversation, you will feel the love and the gift that he and we all were given.
Today I watched the Masters Tournament and was glued to the TV. What an exciting event it was...I was thinking about the comments that Phil Mickelson had made after smiling because of the cheers he heard on the course. He said he used to watch the tourney on TV when he was a kid and always loved the huge roars! Instead of being in the hunt for the Green Jacket, he was walking the course and enjoying the moment! As some of you know, Skip and my mom introduced me to the game of golf when I was 4 years old. Today when I was watching, I thought about the times when Skip and I have been on the course and had our little matches and chipping and putting contests. We've had such a great time, not playing the best of golf but enjoying the experience of playing together. I'm encouraged by his speech and hope his mobility comes around as much as his speech has. If not, then that's ok! I'm sure I along with all of us will enjoy the times we get to spend with Skip and I know he will do the same!
So, in summary...this is a long post covering lots of topics so I appreciate your listening to my rambling...but Skip is doing well and his strides of improvement are great! I love him very much as do all of you and thanks again for your support!

An update from Jamie Crist.... thank you!

Jason,

I just wanted to let you know how happy I am continually seeing dads progress at hand. I took Matt & Emily down to see Skip yesterday afternoon and was surprised to see him feeding himself when we arrived. He was so happy to see the kids that he stopped what he was doing and insisted that the kids give him a big hug before he began eating again. I gave him a hug and a high five and told him that I was impressed that he was sitting up eating solid foods and using his right arm to feed himself.



I asked how the food was. He gave me a sour look, stuck his hand out and gave us the “so-so” sign. I could tell he tell he didn’t like it, but who in their right mind enjoys the fine dining of hospital cuisine! I reassured him he’d be eating Juans’ enchiladas and fresh salsa in no time. He gave me the “thumbs up” and smiled.



We sat and talked with him while he finished his dinner. Emily showed Skip her coloring journal which was full of beautiful hand colored pictures of the family, flowers, and imaginative scenes she draws about. (Emily’s the artist in the family) I think she has a little of Grammys’ artisitic genes in her. As each page was turned, Skip reacted with great enthusiasm. He told Emily, “Emily, that’s so beautiful”, Emily had a grin from ear to ear. Skip also said “Look at those colors”. Emily was elated. I am so grateful to hear Skip speak in full sentences. Most importantly, we can understand most of what he is saying. We are still asking simple questions that require the “yes” and “no” answers, but Skip makes the effort to answer with an explanation or statement that we can understand.



After our fine art exhibit, Matt told No-No about his weekend of baseball, and what he was studying in school. As skip was listening, he smiled and gave Matt the thumbs up. Then he said to both Matt & Emily, “I love both of you very much”. Matt & Emily gave him big hugs & told him they loved him. My heart swelled up with emotions at that moment. Here’s a man who has touched so many people and enjoys making people laugh and feel comforted around him. I can see that Dad is growing spiritually and emotionally with hope and faith. His determination to improve his physical and mental condition has brought him to a level where the therapists have noticed and have commented on how much skip has improved each day. That’s my Dad, always accelerating to mach 1.



We took Dad out to the courtyard in his wheelchair, he used his left leg to motorize and maneuver his wheelchair, negotiating every corner like he’d done it 100 times. He would let me push him, but still used his leg for propulsion. We sat outside for a few minutes and chatted about the lack of flowers in the garden. We mentioned playing dominos, Skip perked up & wanted to play tiles, so we went back to the room ant played a few games. Matt & Emily helped us mix the tiles and draw the correct amount of tiles, Skip did the rest. I thought Id be easy on him, boy was that a mistake. The first round, Skip scored 10 points to my 2 and sent me to the bone yard. The next round we both struggled to score points, but he sent me into the bone yard twice, reading my tiles and blocking playable opportunities. The third round I got a little tougher, we both scored big, and skip came out ahead gaining 2 more points. He hasn’t lost a beat on his domino game. I was so excited to see that Dads’ mind is still as sharp as when he was before the stroke. This thought process is as good as it was before, we just need to “rejuvenate” some of the other working parts.



We played another game, by that time it was time for us to leave & let Skip rest. Carolyn called and spoke with dad for a few minutes. They held a conversation like they had been talking on the phone for hours. It was nice to see close interaction from Dad. It sounded like Carolyn picked up every word Skip spoke on the phone. I was amazed. By far, this was the best visit with regards to Dads’ progress. All the therapists told me that Skip is excelling rapidly and shows enthusiasm in doing it. Dad has a sense of peace inside of him, like he knows that everything is going to be alright. Before, I sensed a little anxiousness in this presence, now he has the confidence of a pro stepping up the final 18th ready to putt for the win. He’s sure, confident and serene.

An update from the weekend

Thanks again for everyone visiting with Skip during the week and the weekend. I enjoyed meeting Marcie and her husband Andy, in case you didn't know, Marcie is the right hand person to Skip and Dave Howarth. She's an avid reader of the blog and I enjoyed getting to meet her face to face. I also got to meet the Borda's. Dick and his wife came on Sunday and Dick grew up with Skip in the Bay Area. Not only were they High School rivals on the football field, they played ball together at Stanford and have remained good friends since their childhood.
So anyhow, I drove down to Santa Cruz this weekend and was able to spend a fair amount of time with Skip on Saturday and Sunday. Upon my arrival, I was impressed at how much he had improved since the Sunday prior. I walked in the door and said Hey Main Man, and he replied, how ya doing. His speech is making some great strides. We have noticed that when there are several or more people in the room, he's not quite as talkative. I think it's because he's trying to process to many things and when others are talking, he can get a bit confused. I have been fortunate enough to spend a bunch of 1on1 time and these are great. As he's talking more and it's fairly clear to understand. Keep in mind that when I say talking, he'll try to tell you a bunch of stuff, so you'll be able to understand the first few words then he starts to mumble as things get a little too much to process. He enjoys seeing everyone and this speech thing should only continue to improve.
On Friday, Skips bladder was at 700-800cc's, so he wasn't emptying it on his own. As a result, he began to ran a fever and the MD's immediately drained the bladder and got him on some prescriptions. They brought him into the hospital on Saturday morning to do a CT Scan to check for clots and everything came back negative. When something like this happens to a Stroke recovery patient, they don't mess around! They get on top of it immediately and this was clearly displayed with Skip. So we were very concerned at first but relieved when the fever went away and the tests came back negative.
On Sunday, they had again removed the cathater but he needed to have it drained again in the afternoon. So right now they are trying to get this issue resolved but it seems to be something they should be able to resolve.
When I arrived on Sunday morning, Skip had the newspaper open and was flipping through the pages. He was also already dressed and sitting in his wheelchair. I learned that he had wheeled himself on his own down to the gym for a morning workout; this was great as he's got so much internal drive! Skip looked great and was doing something he would've been doing if he was at home.
Skip will continue the therapy this week and his therapists love him. He's such a help and always wanting to give them thanks by a pat on the back, a high five or just shaking their hand. From my perspective, if I was a therapist, I would want to spend my time with the patients that are courteous, grateful and motivated to improve. As we all know, Skip treats people how he wants to be treated and I think this is very beneficial for him during his rehab.
Unfortunately, I am on a busy schedule for the next two weeks, I'm up to Bend, OR for a few days this week then Austin, TX all of next week. As a result it will be harder for me to do the posts, but I'll have someone keep us updated.
In Summary, we are still seeing improvement as each day goes by. Two hurdles that rehab is spending much of their time addressing are his speech and right side mobility. They are also trying to focus on his swallowing so he can eat on his own. At this time, he still needs a lot of help getting in and out of the bed and Wheelchair, so please do not try to do this if you are visting without the help of a nurse.
We thank you for all of your encouragement, cards, visits and love for the Main Man!

A great note from Kate Crist

Dear Friends and Family;
People come and go in our lives, sometimes too fast. However, the friends that last through our lives become more important to us as time rushes on. "Love is all we need" John Lennon.
I was so very touched to see and hear how many of Skip's friends have reached out and come to Skip and Carolyn's side in support of them both and individually.
I saw my Father for the first time today since he fell ill a couple weeks ago. At the time it happened I had a terrible cold and out of area. And Frankly, when I heard about his fall, I was frightened, worried and felt helpless. My "ROCK" had fallen and could not get back up. But, I always knew, his spirit would persevere.
I called down to get directions to the facility last Wednesday. They forwarded the call, and to my surprise, it was to his room and HE answered the phone!!! He knew it was me and I can't describe the elation of joy I expereinced in knowing then, how willful and happy he was to answer that "damn phone"!!
When I saw him for the first time, we talked, the best we could, I read him a few New Yorker Cartoons and gave him a massage.
At one time during my visits, there were at least 10 family and friends joining Jamie and myself with Skip in the room at one time. It was like a party! He smiled, laughed, barked and carried on with us all until it was time to take a rest.
I am so very grateful for everyone's friendship and outpouring to him and his recovery. It had enabled him greater strength and perseverance.
Apparently, he is the OT's favorite patient at Dominican, since he is so determined, jovial and willing. They love him. And the bond between these extraordinary women and he, is priceless. They are nurturing his discovery with dignity, care and professionalism.
My biggest frustration was my inability to always understand what he was trying to say- but several times he reassured me that he was determined not to get down, make it happen and he was in control. He wants to be "in the NOW" and his old self..NOW!!! and trying all his might.
He is strong, I knew that from the "get-go". But he will need all of us as much as he needs us today as time moves on. May I ask, please return a visit, write him a letter or note, send him a prayer to revel in his progress and recovery. Make him continue to smile. It is so wonderful to see him in the world of life..and he wants only to be with all of us.
He needs us as much as we all need him.

Thank you all, love you all.

Kate Crist

Excellent Read!!! Signs of a Stroke - Thank you Nancy Cardinet so much!!!

Subject: Symptoms of a stroke-a true story

Susie is recuperating at an incredible pace for someone with a massive stroke all because Sherry saw Susie stumble - -that is the key that isn't mentioned below - and then she asked Susie the 3 questions. This literally saved Susie's life - - Some angel sent it to Suzie's friend and she did just what it said to do. Suzie failed all three so 911 was called. Even though she had normal blood pressure readings and did not appear to be having a stroke, as she could converse to some extent with the Paramedics, they
took her to the hospital right away. Thank God for the sense to remember the 3 questions!

Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

1. *Ask the individual to SMILE.

2. *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

3. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
After discovering that a group of non medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people, you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

BE A FRIEND AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE.

an Update about Murph from Big Al Kirkland...

Just got through reading the latest Blog. What I said about Murph was that 99% of the things he says are true- or at least that's what I meant to say. Murph and I go back 55 years now- Frat brothers from the Zete House and assorted other ventures.