Community Dinner and an update

Community Fundraising

Dinner

To benefit the Cloukey Family

Saturday, March 1, 2008

5 To 7 P.M.

Bowdoinham Community School Gym

Cash Donations Accepted At The Door

Bowdoinham Community School will be holding a benefit dinner for the Cloukey family on March 1st, Saturday, from 5-7pm. There are many ways people can help to make this a successful event.

If you would like to be involved, or have any questions, contact Heather Small @ 841-9865.

Update:

Naomi is looking good! The cardiologist will take a look at her heart in 3 months. She could have some complications as she heals, so he will continue to monitor her.
Her spinal fractures appear to be healing nicely, and she will continue in her back brace until March 31st. There will be more x-rays at that time. The pelvic fracture and the blood clot will be looked at in late March and mid-April.
There is a small chance that Naomi will be able to return to school in late April.

We plan to attend the benefit dinner on Saturday!

Some good news this week?

Jason had his last Orthopaedic surgeon appointment this week and it was decided that he will not have to have anymore surgery. This is great news as the surgery they were considering would have involved a metal plate in his chest and permanent nerve damage. He will be in his brace until the end of March and still has a low tolerance for it. He can take lots of breaks from it at home, so it's mostly when we have to go out that it bothers him.

Naomi will see the Cardiologist on Monday to continue monitoring her heart and lungs. Then on Tuesday, she will see the Neurosurgeon. We are hoping he will tell us she is healing well!

So here's a 'heads-up' that there will be news of how Naomi's back and pelvis are healing on here very soon.

I especially want to thank my very dear friend, Renee, who has organized some help with housework for me (And thank you, Liz!). I needed that!

Bowdoin/Bowdoinham Roller Skating Night

Come join us for fun and help raise money

for a family in need!!

All money raised will go to the

Cloukey Family!!

What: Skate Night
Where: Rollerworld in Topsham!!!
When: Thursday, February 21, 2008
6:00-8:00pm
Cost: $4.50 per person (includes roller skate rental)
$2.00 extra for in-line skates
Why: Because it's fun and it's for a good cause.

Any questions call Heather Small @ 841-9865

A 'Thank You' to a local church

This past week, TnT Bible Ministries held a concert to benefit the Cloukey family. Jason was able to attend for a short while, along with the youngest member of the family, Tamra. Jen was home caring for the boys and Naomi.

There were many in attendance at the concert, as TnT had done an excellent job of putting the word out.

We would like to thank this local church for the consistent level of care they have shown the Cloukey family from the beginning...from visits at the hospital to help with the bills and all their prayers and encouragement.

Cardiologist news...

Things were looking good at our last Cardiologist visit. The fluid he drained has not returned...plus, the fluid he left behind has significantly decreased on its own, along with the fluid that was around her lungs. Naomi will still need to see the Cardiologist for many follow-up visits, to check her progress and keep an eye on a few other things, but this does look good for her.
Sadly, she has come down with a nasty case of Strep throat and is very sick in bed today. She's also a bit discouraged and feels like she's just not getting better.

We will (hopefully) spend the rest of the week getting some rest and doing some more healing.

Naomi is back home!

I've had several emails so I figured I'd better update here with the news that Naomi is home. I do not get a chance to email or post every day, so they can really build up on me.

We stayed in the hospital until Monday afternoon. Naomi has a blood clot in her right arm that we will continue to monitor. Hopefully, because it is an "organized" clot, it will stay put and slowly be reabsorbed. She had a total of 360 cc's of blood (and fluid) drained from around her heart and still has some fluid around her lungs. We will be headed out to the Cardiologist for our usual Friday visit to have her heart and lungs checked. We are also dealing with anemia.

Hoping for good news on Friday!

Jason hurts (or course), but seems to be healing well. The little ones are doing their best. My (Jen) Occupational therapist said I was overdoing it a bit, so I've been taking a break from working on my wrist. I did make a bit of progress, but I was doing to much "work" around the house and my wrist was not happy about that (p-a-i-n). So, once it calms down a bit, I will continue to work on it. I have to make sure not to lift anything, or even open a door.

In just a couple of weeks, we'll be meeting with Naomi's Neurosurgeon for news on how her fractures are healing. I will update when I can!

More news from the front...

"At the hospital now...

Naomi is keeping up a very good attitude! We are here until Monday - at the earliest. There is some fluid around her lungs again that they aren't too worried about yet, but have to keep an eye on it (of course). The catheter is still in and continuing to drain. There is some inflamation around the heart, after all it's been through, but it sounds like they think that will get better (???). I'll know more as we go.

It's snowing here...again! Talk to you soon...and thanks for praying. Pray that I can get my wrist working. It's hard to do the physical therapy exercises, and I can't use my heating pad as much being at the hospital, but I'm hoping I'll still make improvements.

Love, Jen"

email from Jen...

"The fluid around Naomi's heart was/is blood and it is draining via the catheter they inserted today. She had to be intubated (the dreaded ventillator) during the procedure, but is now eating/drinking a bit. We'll be here 'til they can take the catheter out. It is in her chest just under her breast. They are stopping the Tinzaparin (blood thinner) for now, in hopes (I think), that if the bleeding is due to an injury, it will be able to clot. That's just my very undocteresque guess on that one anyway."

email from John Brophy...

"It's time for what we hope is the "one step back" before the "two steps forward". Jennifer called us just as she was entering the hospital this afternoon. She had taken Naomi for her scheduled cardiologist appointment today, and he discovered that the fluid around Naomi's heart had actually increased since last time. He sent Naomi directly to Maine Medical in Portland where they will insert a catheter to drain off the fluid. This will let them find out exactly what it is, and (presumably) why it has not gone away. Naomi will stay in the ICU for 2 or 3 days; Jen says she is quite sad at the prospect. When Jen called us, she was planning on staying with Naomi until the procedure was done, then go home to pick up some clothes, set up some meals for Jason & the other kids, get someone to check in on them, and return to stay with Naomi while she's in Portland. Jen was entering the hospital at that point, so that's all the news she had time to impart. I did ask about the Methadone treatment, and she said it was being tapered off as scheduled with no problems. Keep those prayers coming; just one more big push, I hope.

Love, John"

Another visit to Maine Medical Center

Our dear Naomi is down at MMC for the day. The fluid around her heart wasn't decreasing, so they had upped her ibuprophen dosage in hopes that would do the trick. Alas, no, so she's down in Portland for the day to have the fluid drained so they can find out what it is. When Jen called Hawk, she didn't elude to them staying overnight, so as it is now, it is just a day procedure.

Physical therapy has been going well for the family. The home visits make it much easier on everyone. Jen is able to drive now that her cast is off, but the less time on the road the better. There are still trips to the pharmacy and lots of appointments so the gas tank is like a money monster. The aftermath is probably the most draining part of this entire experience. Events have an end. The effects seem to linger longer than we would like, though.

Update...

Another 5 or so hours were spent visiting the Cardiologist again yesterday, along with getting some blood work done. Naomi gets sick at least once a day, so we went in a bit early to have her heart checked. There is still quite a large pocket of fluid surrounding the heart, but it does not have to be drained at this point. (Naomi is really scared at the thought of the Doc having to drain it!)
For now, we need to keep her rested and continue with the medications she is on.

We really appreciate the Nurses and help we are receiving from CHANS. They will be coming every day, starting tomorrow, to help out with a new medication.

It's hard when you're 12 (0r 33, for that matter) and you can't do anything!
However, we have so much to be thankful for, and we're hangin' on.

The cards, gifts, and emails really help!