The Herriman hero

Lynn Allred says anyone would have done the same, but his recent actions saved a woman’s life.

On Feb. 6, Allred, a vice-principal at Herriman High School, had just left work and was heading to the local credit union to turn over a Dodge Durango to its new owner.When he came to the intersection of 13000 South and 5500 West, he noticed the Honda Accord in front of him appeared to be stalled.

“I was getting ready to jump out and go help push the car,” Allred said, but then he noticed the driver was moving around in a strange way.

Allred realized that something was wrong with the driver, and then the other driver hit the gas. “She was driving through construction cones and barricades, so I hurried and punched the gas to pull up alongside her.”

When Allred looked inside the car, he could see that the woman driving the car was having some sort of medical episode. He also noticed that her car was heading straight toward a tractor with a digging bucket that was at the same level as the car’s windshield. The car was going about 25 to 30 mph at this point.

“I didn’t really have time to think about it. I just knew that if she hit that bucket, it would probably kill her,” Allred said.

Allred took action. He pulled in front of the car and hit his brakes to allow the car to bump into the back of his Durango a few times to slow it down. Allred then swerved out of the way at the last minute to avoid hitting the bucket himself. The car slowed down and rolled into the backside of the tractor at about 5 mph.

Allred immediately jumped out of his vehicle and tried to get into the other car to help the driver. The other driver, 25-year-old Shareena Knight, was conscious but unaware of what happened or was happening. An ambulance soon arrived and emergency crews were able to break into Knight’s car and take her to the hospital.

Knight had a massive stroke two years ago and had to relearn basic skills many of us take for granted. She was doing well prior to the accident.

Two days after the accident, Knight’s mother, EvaSue Taylor, sent Allred an email thanking him for his actions. Allred said that the email was wonderful and really touched his heart.

A week later, Knight came to Herriman High School with her husband and 3--year-old daughter to thank Allred. Unfortunately, Allred didn’t get to meet her at that time.

Knight left a gift basket and a card thanking him “for helping [her] be around to be a mother on earth a little longer.

“I’ve been hoping to see her again ever since the accident just to know she’s okay,” Allred said.

Allred is quick to point out how good the school and community have been to him following the accident.

“I wasn’t asking for anything, I’m just grateful she’s okay, but a lot of great things have happened since,” he said.

On March 13, Jordan School District Superintendent Patrice Johnson came to the school and presented Allred with a certificate recognizing his heroic actions. The teachers gave him a standing ovation.

Students like to call him ‘The Herriman Hero’ and keep telling him things like, “I can’t believe you did something like that.”

Also, Superior Auto Parts in Riverton fixed the Durango, and when they heard that Allred’s insurance wouldn’t pay for a rental car, they even covered the cost.

After the accident, the original buyer was no longer interested in the Durango, but a teacher at the high school ended up buying the vehicle.

“Herriman is a great area. Everyone has been so kind to me,” Allred said. “It’s great to see all the good things people do.”

“Anybody would have done the same,” Allred said, speaking of his actions that Feb. afternoon, but he also acknowledges, “I was there for a reason.”

The mighty journalist

About nine months ago, I adventured out and got a job as a journalist for a local newspaper called the South Valley Journal. The South Valley Journal covers four cities and is delivered to every home for free each month. In case you're wondering, as I was, they pay for publication through advertising.

I have covered the education beat for the newspaper. I have really enjoyed writing for the newspaper. I have to admit, that while I love to write and although I taught journalism for a couple of years, I really had no idea what I was doing at first. It took a big learning curve for me, and I'm really grateful for a patient editor. I realize that I've always been more into creative writing. I love telling stories. Writing in the newspaper genre is completely different than what I'm used to. If I were to go back to teaching journalism again, I would do a lot of things differently, now that I've had some real experience in the field. But I do feel like I improved over the months. I'm proud to say that I started our writing three to four articles a month and now average six to seven articles each month. And I have had so many priceless learning experiences and have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people. It was wonderful for me to still have a connection to the education world, and it was my job to really spotlight the amazing things going on in the education world. And believe me, there are some AMAZING things going on! I have been touched and inspired many times by what the children and teachers are doing in our schools.

Here are some of the things I've learned from this experience:
1. I can do hard things. It was very intimidating to me at first to write in a different way and to go out to schools and be assertive. So often I want to fall back into my shy shell, but this job has really pushed me and taught me to talk to people. I've realized that I really can do challenging things if I set my mind to it.
2. I've learned that there really are wonderful things going on in this world, we just have to keep our eyes open for the good in life and not always get bogged down by the bad.
3. I am still a procrastinator. It seems I receive my best inspiration when my articles are due in two hours! =) When I was teaching, I remember getting frustrated with students who waited until the last minute to get their assignments done, but I'm realizing that, sometimes, that's okay. We just need to be patient with people and realize that we all have our own way of doing things. And while I might be a procrastinator, I'm still dependable. Sometimes the kids would be running around in just their diapers, eating cereal out of a box and watching reruns of Barney as I hurriedly wrote my articles last minute, but I really worked hard to get my articles done by deadline. I also have learned that deadlines are my kryptonite!
4. I love being involved. I like the idea of making a difference. And I truly believe that the written word can make a difference. I also believe that the media has a greater responsibility to promote good in the world than it realizes.
5. I really, really do love writing. It has been so good for me to be forced to write more often. I definitely need to make goals to write every day. Life is just better when I'm writing!
6. My husband is a very talented headline writer. For some reason, I really struggled with writing headlines. Nic probably doesn't want me to announce this to the world, but he's got a way with words and many of the really good headlines were written by him!

So, as I'm approaching a new chapter in my life--having three kids under the age of three--which I've entitled 'Insanity'. I've decided that I just won't be able to write for the newspaper anymore. This is my last month. In fact, tomorrow is my last deadline, and of course, I have four of my six articles to write still. I'm sad to not being doing this anymore but happy for the experience. I feel like I've really grown from this experience. I have a lot more confidence in myself and am excited to try new things like this through out my life.  In honor of my journalism 'retirement' I'm just going to post a few of my favorite articles in the next few posts. Please take note, that these aren't my favorite articles because of the amazing writing skill demonstrated (often it's quite the opposite!), but because of the inspiring people I met in writing the articles and the good changes they brought to my life.

Operation Bishopric

I realize that I have really been slacking on updating my blog. So much has happened and the boys are constantly doing cute things that I'm afraid might get forgotten because I haven't taken the time to write them down. I must do better! Currently, by some miracle, both boys have finally settled down to take a nap, so I had better take advantage of this time and catch up as much as I can.

Well, as noted by the title of this post, one of the biggest changes right now is that Nic was called into our ward's bishopric. For those not familiar with the LDS church, I would describe the bishop of a ward as the father of the ward. He is in charge of the spiritual and temporal welfare of all members of the ward. He has two counselors to support him in this calling, and  I see these counselors as kind of older brothers who help take care of the family. Nic is now the first counselor in the bishopric.

Two weeks ago, before church, Nic received a call from the stake presidency asking if we could come meet with them after church. We weren't really anticipating a calling into the bishopric at that time. Nic had been serving as Elder's Quorum president for over six years, so we were thinking maybe he was just being released. Then at church, the bishop announced at the end of sacrament meeting that the next week we would be having a homecoming and a farewell--we would be hearing a homecoming address from a sister who had just returned from serving a mission in Russia, and we would be hearing the farewell address from the bishopric because they were being released. Suddenly, Nic was starting to sweat bullets. Still, he thought maybe they were releasing him to fill a spot left empty by someone else being called into the bishopric.

After church, we loaded up the boys and headed over to the stake center to meet with the stake presidency. The stake president met with Nic for a couple of minutes and then we all met together, and they extended the calling. They offered us some wonderful counsel and told us that they were aware of our needs having a young family.

After that, we had to keep it all a secret until it would be announced the next Sunday. It didn't make it any easier that I think we ran into the entire ward randomly through out the week, and everyone was speculating who might be in the bishopric. We were able to tell our family, however, and invite them to church the next Sunday.

On July 15, Nic was officially called and set apart as a member of the bishopric. It was a wonderful, overwhelming day. Our old bishop, Bishop Spencer, and new bishop, Bishop Messmer, both spoke. The love that a bishop has for every member of his ward is just so amazing. Bishop Messmer had just retired from his employment a few days before he was called as bishop. He joked that while many friends were wondering what he was going to be doing with all of his free time now that he was retired and many were encouraging him to let his hair down and take a long vacation, his plans were now a little different and his first thing to do with his retirement was to attend young women's camp. He also expressed his love, his testimony, and commitment to serving the ward. His words really touched my heart, and I really felt the spirit that this man had been called of God to lead and direct us.

Every day since then, it has been slowly sinking in just what this is going to entail. Nic has had meetings or church responsibilities pretty much every day this week. I'm realizing that 1-I'm not going to see a whole lot of him now and 2-this is how it's going to be for quite some years.  I have been really touched by how many people have come to me and offered their help. We have quite the list of people ready and willing to sit by us at church and help me wrangle the boys. I'm going to need it! Sam used to be really good at church, but he's really taking this toddler thing seriously and is Mr. Wiggles these days. Actually, a more accurate description is that he's my little pin ball. He is often just bouncing off of the walls. He's still a good kid--just high energy! People have also offered to help me take care of the boys during the week as needed. Miss Lavon, who has taken care of the boys for me when I went to my newspaper staff meetings all year, has offered to be our 'Granny Nanny' and help in whatever we need. It has been good to be the recipient of such an outpouring of love and support.

When Nic was set apart, I felt the spirit strongly that this is exactly where the Lord needs him. I might be prejudice, but Nic is such a good man. His genuine love and acceptance of all people and his willingness to roll up his sleeves and work, are two of his best qualities that will really bless the lives of people. He's not perfect, but he has a great love for the Lord and an honest desire to do what is right. I cry as I write this because I'm realizing how truly blessed I am to be married to a man like Nic.

This is going to be a new adventure for our family with many ups and downs. But above all, I know that the Lord is aware of our family and will bless us abundantly through this new calling. And, hey, we've already had our first miracle: I had the boys loaded up by 8:30 a.m., and we made it to church by quarter to nine. Usually, if we make it by the sacrament, I'm feeling pretty good about things. My first Sunday of getting everyone ready on my own, and we made it ON TIME! Nothing short of a miracle! =)

A post for my Lover Man

This is a post from a few months ago that, for some reason or other, I never published:

With the recent Valentine's day and having celebrated our wedding anniversary at the end of January, I've had love on my mind. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband? I know for a fact that I found my soul mate. I know that Nic and I were best friends long before we ever met or before we ever came to this world. Some relationships, the important ones, have no beginning and no end. How happy I am to have a forever love with Nic.

During the past year we've had a couple of people that we know well get divorced. The first couple was married for about five or six years. We were there on their first date. We used to do double dates every once in awhile. I was so sad when I found out. There was no big event that broke up their marriage. They just drifted apart. The second couple was only married a couple of years. Again, there was no big event, no major issue. As Nic told me, "their goals in life were going in different directions."

I guess I've always thought that divorce was caused by some major event such as an affair or some conflict that is impossible to overcome. But I'm realizing more and more that it's usually the little things that make a difference. And I'm realizing more and more how many little things Nic does every day to keep us going in the same direction.

I love how much Nic hates going out of town. He has to travel for work quite a bit sometimes, but he never looks forward to it. I know of too many people who are constantly trying to get away from their spouse. I love that Nic is constantly thinking of excuses to be with me.

I love how Nic shares his interests and dreams with me, and listens when I share my dreams and interests with him. He is the foundation to my dreams and one of my greatest dreams come true.

I love how Nic expresses his love for me in so many different ways every day. I don't ever doubt his love for me.

I love how happy Nic is to be a father. He wasn't too sure about the whole thing before we had Sam, but the minute that little boy was born, Nic's heart was changed. He loves his boys and wouldn't change a thing.

Have I mentioned how much I love that guy?!

 

So, sweetheart, Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Anniversary. Thank you for being the best husband ever.

An announcement

Mark's Miracle at Primary Children's Hospital

**Warning this post is extremely long, and some things are still rough for me to read about, so it might be a little rough reading for you also!

I've had mixed feelings about doing a recap of Mark's scary time/miraculous moments at Primary Children's Hospital. Part of me would like to forget about all of it. But the better part of me realizes that, despite of how hard this has all been, we have been so blessed, and I want a record to always remember those blessings. So here is Mark's story. Most of this is from a notebook that I wrote in while we were at the hospital. I've also included the update emails that Nic would send out each day.

Sun., September 4, 2011
It was just a normal day. The night before I had been debating whether or not to take Mark to church. I was feeling good and he was doing really good. But I decided to give him at least one more week before exposing him to all of the germs that float around with any large gathering of people. Saturday night, Mark had slept longer through the night than ever before, giving me almost seven hours of sleep. He had always been a sleepy baby, but this was an added bonus.
Sunday morning we mainly lounged around all morning. Nic had a meeting before church, so I got Sam ready for church and then the two of them headed off to church together. I gave Mark a sponge bath and trimmed his finger nails. Around 1 p.m., Mark nursed the best that he has ever done. Then, while he was napping, I took a much needed shower. After that, I started getting out my pump and bottle supplies because I was planning on trying to introduce Mark to the bottle later that day.

Mark started to fuss a little, so I picked him up and rocked him in my arms a little until he fell back asleep. Then I decided to throw in a load of laundry. When I came back into the bedroom, Mark's eyes were open, but his head was kinked back in a weird way. At first I thought he had wiggled into a weird position and gotten stuck that way. I said something like, "What are you doing, silly boy?" and then I tried to straighten him out. But his body was completely rigid and then I noticed that his eyes were bulging and seemed to be stuck looking outward in opposite directions. His left side was the most affected. I didn't know what was happening or what to do. I didn't know if this was some little baby quirk or what. But deep down I knew that something was wrong. It was the worst feeling in the world. I felt so scared and powerless. First, I tried to call the pediatrician's office because they have an on-call pediatrician. But I couldn't focus on the message enough to get the information that I needed. I needed to talk to a real-live person. I had the phone number for Alta View (where I had Mark), sitting right there on my bed, so I called them. The nurse that I talked to told me that she couldn't make a diagnosis over the phone but judging from the concern in my voice (I was bawling at this point), she recommended I bring him into the ER.

So then I called Nic at church. I knew he had his phone on him, and I was just praying that he would answer. He didn't answer at first, so I texted him, and then called him again. All of these calls were within a five minute time frame. Luckily, Nic had been visiting with the bishop, so he noticed my call. He answered the second time and I managed to tell him that something was wrong with the baby and that I needed him to come home right then. He hurried and got Sam from nursery and came home. Meanwhile, I got Mark into his car seat somehow, grabbed our insurance information and the diaper bag, put Gus away, and, at the last minute, thought to put my shoes on. It seemed like forever waiting for Nic to get there, though it was less than ten minutes. I didn't know what was happening but I did know that something was seriously wrong with my baby. He wasn't making any sounds, but continued to be completely rigid, his head arched at a terrible angle, and his eyes wide and in different directions. I would learn later that this was a seizure. He was in this seizure the entire time until we got to the hospital and they gave him some drugs. Just before Nic got home, I called him again to see how close he was and to see if maybe I should call 911. Nic hurried even faster and as soon as he pulled up, we loaded the baby into the car and headed to the hospital. I sat in the back seat between the two car seats. I felt bad for Sam because he was excitedly trying to show me his picture of Jesus that he did in nursery, and I was trying not to be hysterical in front of him while I tried to assess if the baby was still breathing. It was only about a ten minute drive to the hospital, but it seemed like forever. I swear every slow driver in the world was on the road, blocking all lanes. Nic even ran a red light (after making sure there was no one coming in either direction)! On the way, Nic had it together enough to call his parents and have them meet up with us at the hospital. He also called 911 and they patched us over to the hospital, so the ER was ready for us when we pulled up. They actually had us pull right into the ambulance entrance. Nic jumped out and grabbed the baby's car seat and rushed into the ER. I sat there for a couple of seconds, trying to figure out what to do. It felt like my brain was frozen. I wonder if there is something like mental shock where your brain just shuts down? Finally, I was able to think enough to go park the car, get Sam out, and head into the ER. When we came into the ER, there was already a pack of nurses and doctors surrounding Mark. They had also sent for someone from the NICU because they didn't have any equipment small enough for an eleven day old baby. I was quickly losing the battle to hold it together. I felt so powerless. A nurse noticed that I was struggling to hold it together and offered to take Sam for a treat and a stuffed animal. About the time that she took Sam, Nic's parents showed up and were able to take care of him. A doctor pulled us aside and told us that Mark was having seizures. He also told us several possible causes of the seizures, none of which sounded good. He also told us that they were working on stabilizing him and then planned to life flight him to Primary Children's Hospital. At this point, it was really starting to hit me that this was really happening and that this was really serious. Nic and I mostly just tried to stay out of the way and talk to Mark while the hospital staff got in an IV, gave him anti-seizure medicine, and put him on oxygen.

An interesting note, before all of this, we hadn't really decided what we were going to call the baby. We had had a hard time deciding on his name at the hospital, but had finally given him three names: Mark Emmitt Clay. Nic was leaning toward calling him Mark, but I wasn't really going for that because he has two uncles named Mark, and I thought it would be too confusing. I leaning toward Emmitt. Basically, for the first few days of his life, I would call him by a different name, trying to gauge which name sounded right. Well, at the hospital, they asked me what my baby's name was, and without hesitation, I told them 'Mark'. And so it was decided. He goes by Mark now.

One of the nurses, noting Nic in his suit and tie, asked Nic if he was LDS and if he wanted to give Mark a blessing. Nic's dad came in and all of the doctors and nurses kept working on Mark in complete silence while Nic blessed our baby. The blessing brought so much peace to the room. I'm so grateful for the priesthood!

Soon after that, the life flight team arrived. Primary Children's hospital has their own life flight team that is specialized in children emergency care. They were so impressive with how quick and efficient they were. They had this specialized stretcher for babies that they were able to transfer Mark with all of his wires and IV to. Because it was labor day weekend, all of the life flight helicopters were too far out dealing with other emergencies, so they decided it would be faster to take Mark to Primary's by ambulance. For some reason, it was a relief to me that I wouldn't have to watch my baby fly away in a helicopter. It didn't change the serious of the situation really, but I don't think I could have handled the helicopter. I was able to ride in the ambulance with Mark. Nic made sure that Sam was under control, switched vehicles with his parents, and still arrived at the hospital right after we did!

We were rushed into the ER and, again, I was amazed by the skill and efficiency. The doctors and nurses were a fine working team; everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing, and everyone was doing their part. A social worked named Tim immediately arrived to help comfort us and walk us through what was happening. It was crazy how everything came to us--the pharmacy came to the ER with the drugs the doctors ordered, the lady came to us to check us in and get our insurance information so that we wouldn't have to leave the baby. What really impressed me was that, above their skills, the team was so compassionate. Mark was their number one concern, but they still took time to explain things and say, "it's going to be okay." One of my dearest memories was watching this tall, ER doctor put his arm around my husband's shoulders and talk to him. We knew we were in the right place for the best care of our baby.

While we were traveling to Primary's, I had called my family and told them what was happening, and they arrived shortly after us. They gave us hugs and then waited anxiously in the waiting room.

Mark's seizures were under control at that point, so they began blood tests and did a head scan to figure out what was causing the seizures. The head scan immediately answered the question--intraventricular hemorrhaging. Basically, he was bleeding in his brain. Luckily, it was the best kind of bleed. From my understanding, the ventricles are like the brains pipe system through which spinal fluid flows back and forth. Mark's ventricles were full of blood causing pressure on his brain and thus causing the seizures. Now that we knew the cause of the seizures, we needed to get the seizures under control and figure out what was causing the bleeding.

Mark was transferred from the ER to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) around 6:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., they do what we began to call the changing of the guard.. During this time, parents have to leave for a half hour so that the nurses can change shifts without any distractions. So as soon as we got to the PICU, we had to leave. We went and found the waiting room where my parents, my sister, and my Uncle Allen and Aunt Suzy were waiting. It was so good to see them. I remember my dad just hugging me and telling me that everything was going to be okay. "Remember that, Jolene. Everything is going to be okay," he told me over and over again.

We were so shell shocked. We had been crying on and off for about six hours and were so tightly would up during that time. It was hard to believe that it was really happening to us. We ate some food and counted down the minutes to when we could get back to Mark. Nic made some calls to his family and his boss, and I made a post on FaceBook. The more we had to say it, the more real the situation became. When we left to go back to Mark, my family headed home. Nanny Manda went to the house to take care of Sam and Gus.

That night, the hospital made arrangements for us to have a room to sleep in. We decided that I would sleep in that room and that Nic would stay with the baby. One really hard memory happened while I was laying down in the room, trying (without success) to sleep. The sleep rooms are connected to the PICU waiting room. On the other side of the wall of my room was a Hispanic family. Now I don't speak a lot of Spanish, but I understood enough and knew from all of the crying that they had just lost someone. And the fact that we were at a children's hospital told me that it was a child. I lay there for quite awhile listening to them mourn. Then I felt really strongly that I should go out and do something. I didn't know what to do. Finally, I went out into the waiting room and hugged them. I told them I was sorry and went back into my room and cried. I felt so sad for them and at the same time, so happy that my baby was alive.

From Nic's email update:

On Sep 5, 2011, at 8:02 AM, Nic wrote:
Ok just a mass email to get everyone up to speed.
Yesterday lil Mark went into a seizure about
3:30pm. By 3:50 we were at Alta View by 5:00 life
flight was taking him to Primary Children's Hospital.
Luckily Papa and Mama J were able to meet us at Alta
View and take Sam.
A CT scan showed he has blood on his brain which is
causing the seizures. Sounds bad but it actually good
that they know what is causing them.  They have been
able to control the seizures with medication.
The body has the ability to absorb the blood with time.
So that is what we are hoping for. His chances of full
recovery are best without any procedures but they have
a list of things they can do if needed. They are watching
him closely.
Grandpa and grandma M met us at primary and made a run to
the house for necessities. We are hanging in there, Joey
and I spent last night with Mark, jolene's sister Amanda is
staying with Sam and Gus.
One day at a time. Keep us in your prayers.
Love,
Nic and Jolene
Email is probably best. We don't have a signal in most of
the hospital. 

Well, that was the first day. Monday, Mark seemed to be doing okay. He was hooked up to monitors, an IV, and who knows what else. We met with many doctors and the hope was that the seizures were under control and that Mark's body would absorb the blood and heal. We were thinking that we would be out of the PICU by the next day.

From Nic's email update:

On Sep 5, 2011, at 9:25 PM, Nic wrote:
Ok thought we would take a second and give an update.
We are still in the PICU at Primary.  Lil Mark has made some progress.
But we still have a ways to go.
He is off the hi flow oxygen and most of the meds. Currently just the meds
that control the seizures.
We are hoping to get out of the PICU and into a regular room in the next
day or two.
Big thanks for all the prayer on his behalf. 

However, Mark had a really bad night Monday night. Nic was with him and said that it was basically a seizure fest, one quick-fire seizure after another. He was originally on a less aggressive seizure med, but they had to put him on a more aggressive medication called phenobarbital. The phenobarb got his seizures under control again but, unfortunately, just the one dose knocked the poor baby out. Basically, Mark slept for the next three days. We did learn many new words from the doctors and nurses for being heavily drugged--everything from 'snowed' to 'ploughed' to 'snockered'. It was good for Mark to be able to rest, but it was really hard on me. The last image I had of my baby being awake was when he was having a seizure and I desperately needed him to look at him with those beautiful, blue eyes of his, in order to get that terrible image out of my mind.

Mark was hooked up to an EEG monitor, along with all of his other monitors, so we weren't able to hold him. We couldn't really even touch him very much because they didn't want him to be overstimulated or exposed to too many germs.

On Tuesday, they did a MRI of his brain and things looked really good. His brain appeared to be a healthy, newborn brain. I like to joke that when Mark is a teenager and wanting to do something stupid, I'm going to tell him, "I've seen your brain, so I know you have one! Now use it!" Unfortunately, with the MRI, my already sleepy baby had to be sedated so that meant a breathing tube along with his feeding tube. And even though I knew that the breathing tube was just in case of problems during the MRI, it was so hard to watch them put that tube down his throat.
We had to warn visitors that came about Mark's appearance. He looked a lot worse than he was. He had his head wrapped in order to keep the EEG wires stuck to his head and then he had a lot of 'hardware' (as Nic put it). And even though we were used to it, it didn't make it any easier! We wanted to put a skull & crossbones sticker to put on his head bandages to make Mark look tough, but, thus, the gift shop didn't carry such things, so we had to settle for an American flag.

One sweet memory--some time during this week, my brother came to visit us. Now, my brother doesn't deal well with this kind of stuff. He never came to the hospital when Sam or Mark was born and wouldn't even hold Sam for the first few months because it just freaked him out. Jason was also preparing for his wedding that week. Imagine how surprised I was when we ran into him out in the hall. He came in and saw Mark and did pretty good with it. I don't think he'll ever understand how much that visit from him meant to me because I know that it wasn't an easy thing for him to do.

From Nic's email update:

On Sep 6, 2011, at 8:03 AM, Nic wrote:

Well it's Tuesday morning. We have had a pretty rough night. The seizures came
back and we had to increase and change the meds.They have him hooked up to a EKG to more closely monitor the seizures and brain activity. It gives us some comfort to stop guessing at the seizures. Sam is with papa and mama j and doing well. He likes country life.The outpouring of love and concern has been amazing. We are so grateful for family and friends. Emails, facebook posts, phone calls, most especially
the prayers. It has definitely given us strength to keep going. You all are the best.As mentioned before no cell phones the PICU so emails are best.

Thanks again for all your love and support,

Nic and Jolene

On Sep 6, 2011, at 11:18 PM, Nic wrote:
Ok Tuesday night update. After a rough last night, today has been a pretty big upswing. They have been able to control the seizures and continue to fine turn the meds. For the most part of the day he has been resting comfortably. He did have an MRI done today which had some pretty positive results.
Despite the blood in the ventricles the MRI showed his brain is healthy without any abnormalities. It also showed that the trauma that caused the bleeding was consistent with labor and shouldn't be a factor going forward. Because of the medications and the MRI he now has a feeding tube and breathing tube in addition to the other wires and tubes. So our next hope is to get this stuff off and back to eating and breathing on his own. I know that sounds bad but most of the extra equipment has been either mandatory
to sedate him for the MRI or as a precaution to increased drugs to control the seizures. He is currently breathing without assistance from the machines, which is awesome, but the tube is there just in case. Sam has been hanging out with papa and mama j and having a great time.
They brought him up again tonight so we could spend time with him. Grandpa and grandma M also came up tonight so it was a nice break to have sam entertain all of us over dinner. Thanks again for all the prayers and kind words. It is funny how they seem to show up at the hard times and help pull us through.

Love,

Nic and Jolene

Wednesday was just a rollercoaster of ups and downs. He would be looking really good, then have some hard times, then be doing better. He had the breathing tube still because he wasn't breathing on his own 10% of the time. He was doing pretty good, but wasn't quite conscious enough to function on his own.

On Sep 7, 2011, at 3:43 PM, Nic wrote:
Ok my Wednesday morning update didn't happen. Sorry.
But on the positive side, we are 24+ hours seizure free. (I am a little nervous about saying anything for fear of jinxing things, but hey why not celebrate the progress). They just removed the EEG sensor leads so he doesn't have the dreadlocks anymore.
Yeah part two!!
Jolene is currently working on getting EEG goop out of his hair. Everyone is getting a kick out of his hair! With the sensor leads wrapped in gauze no one could tell how much hair he had let alone the how blond it is.
I have had a lot of questions about what it is like up here so I thought I would write a min about that.
Primary children's is amazing! There is only 2 hours a day that we can't be by the bedside. 7-8am and 7-8pm during shift changes. This allows for the leaving staff to bring the oncoming staff up to speed. It also works out for good times to get food for me and Joey.
That is when we usually go outside and walk around too so that is when we get our voicemails and can make phone calls on our cell phones.
At night they have a chair that makes into a bed here at Mark's bedside that I have been sleeping on and they also have "parent sleeping rooms" that have a single bed that Joey has been sleeping in. We feel pretty lucky that we have been able to get the sleeping rooms for Joey every night so far. They are assigned by need and availability.
Our next big milestone will be when he is conscious enough to maintain a regular breathing pattern so they can remove his breathing tube.
Well thanks again for the kind words and prayers. We are definitely making progress.
I am reminded of a favorite quote, "Faith in God, includes faith in His timing."
- Neal A. Maxwell
Love, Nic and Jolene

Sam was staying with Nic's parents and having a good time 'out in the country'. He was having a blast feeding the horses, the cows, the dogs, and the cats every day. Around 7 p.m. each night, when they kicked us out of the PICU, Papa J and Carol Lee would bring Sam to the hospital, and we would get to hang out with him for an hour. He always brought such comfort and smiles with him. I felt so torn though. It was hard to have to say good-bye to Sam each night and not be with him, but it was also really hard any time we were away from Mark. I was suddenly learning the pain that comes from not being able to be in two places at once. Thursday through Sunday, Sam went and stayed in G-ville so that he could be a part of the wedding festivities. He had a good time with my family, and then, because they all had to work, went back to Nic's parent's house to stay.

Thursday was a big day for us though, because that was the day when Mark finally woke up. It was actually a wonderful/difficult moment for me. I had promised Sam that I would come home and go to story time at the library with him. It was the first story time since spring, and I wanted to give Sam some mommy-time and let him know that he was loved too. Well, right before I was to leave the hospital, Mark opened those beautiful, blue eyes of his and started responding to people talking to him. I wanted to stay and enjoy this wonderful, miraculous moment, but I had also promised my other boy that I would be with him and a promise is a promise. It was yet another moment of wanting to be in two places at once. I went to story time and was glad to get some time with Sam. That kid was such a trooper through everything! It was so weird, though, being out in the world outside of the hospital. I was almost unsure of how to act!

Mark was also finally able to get his breathing tube out. While we were in Primary's, we learned to really celebrate the little victories like Mark breathing on his own. Every time a monitor or tube was removed, it was a big celebration for us!

From Nic's email (this email was actually just before Mark woke up) update:

On Sep 8, 2011, at 9:14 AM, Nic wrote:

Thursday morning.2 days no seizures. Wahoo!
On the other side we haven't found the magic point of balance where he isn't having seizures and is at a functioning level of conscienceness. So he is still has the breathing tube and he is breathing on his own probably 90-95% of the time, but the machine is there for the other 5-10% of the time.
The Doctors feel like when they find the magic balance point in meds we will be able to take the breathing tube out.
Since last night he has woke up a couple of times on his own, once to say hi to his Mom and the others to flirt with the nurses.
We are currently waiting for some blood work to come back so we can know what the medication levels are at. This will give us a better understanding to find the magic point. :-)
Have a great day. ;-)
Love,
Nic and Jolene

On Sep 8, 2011, at 5:57 PM, Nic wrote:
Thursday afternoon.
Yes, I am early but lil Mark has been awake this afternoon and they just took the
breathing tube out!!!
It is has been sooo good to see his eyes and now his mouth!!! Its funny I know, to be so excited for something so basic, but we have been waiting for about 48 hours to get him awake and breathing tube free. :-)
He still has some swelling in his throat from the tube that he still need to overcome, but he is looking good.
Thanks for all the support and love. We're getting there, little by little. :)
Love,
Nic and Jolene

Friday was a wonderful day in so many ways. My little brother married his sweetheart Felicia that day. It was hard at first to decide what to do. Jason and my family told me that it would be completely understandable if we didn't come to the wedding or anything. But this was my baby brother and I was so happy for him! Mark was doing really well, so we decided to go to the wedding ceremony just down the street at the Salt Lake Temple. I am so glad that we went! It was a beautiful ceremony performed by a friend of the family who was the same person that set me apart to be a missionary. He was also bishop when I was a young woman and put up with a lot of my crazy antics. It was such a special experience to be in the temple with all of my family for the first time and to be reminded that we are an eternal family. It was also a great reminder of all of the promised blessings in the temple. Being there and feeling the spirit brought me so much comfort with everything that was going on with Mark.

Afterwards, we did the traditional pictures outside the temple. I took lots of pictures of Sam and felt a little sad that Mark wasn't there to get photographed/smothered by me too. We dealt with a couple of Bridezillas, but got through it okay. We decided to also go to the wedding luncheon afterwards. It was hard being away from Mark but it was also so good to be there with so many family and friends. Nic and I really tried hard to keep the focus on Jason and Felicia, and not Mark, because this was their big day. But it was good to see everyone's concern and support for Mark.

When we got back to the hospital, the nurse that let us into the PICU, grabbed us right away and told us some good news. While we were out, Mark had been moved out of the PICU to a regular room on the Infant Medical Surgical Unit (IMSU). We were told the room number and hurried off to find our baby. I'm glad the nurse caught us because I think we would have freaked out to find him gone!

Being in the IMSU was good and bad. It was funny because we had become so used to the routines of the PICU and we were used to always having a nurse in the room with Mark. In the IMSU, there's always a nurse assigned to you and available at the drop of a hat, but she doesn't stay in the room the whole time. We were also a little sad to say good-bye to the good doctors and nurses that we had become friends with in the PICU. But we were ELATED to be graduated to a regular room because that meant Mark was on the road to recovery and doing well.

On Sep 9, 2011, at 2:37 PM, Nic wrote:
Hi everyone!!!
Big news! We are officially out of the ICU!!!
The doctors are feeling comfortable with the progress in meds and Marks response to them. So we are in the regular hospital now.
We still need to figure out swallowing and the other basics. But hey we are really excited!!!
Thanks everyone!
Love,
Nic and Jolene

The first day in the IMSU, Mark ended up with a fever, so they were worried about infection. He had to undergo so many tests. He was one tough cookie though. He got through all of them like a champ, even a spinal tap. All of the test results we were getting back were inconclusive. So he was put on three different antibiotics until they could eliminate different infections. Finally, they got him down to just one antibiotic. They were never sure if he had an infection, but, as they say, better safe than sorry.

On September 11, 2011 Nic wrote:
Well I just got a reminder I am a little behind on updates.
We thought that getting out of the ICU meant getting closer to getting home.
Yesterday was a little rough. Lil Mark woke up with a fever which led to about every kind of test you can imagine, including spinal fluid test. :-( It will take a couple of days to get the results of the tests but in the mean time he is getting a TON of meds to fight what might be.
Today the fever is a little more in control and we have been able to hold him, which is AWESOME.
Also his seizures meds are finally in the range they would prefer and Mark is SO much more active. Which is fun. I have been holding him and watching some football this afternoon. :-) Which also gave Jolene some time to get out of the room and to take a nap.
It's weird to think we have been here for a week. Being in the regular hospital room is good but different. I think we were spoiled in the PICU, but we can rough it if it means getting Mark healthy. :-)
Our next steps are getting a pic line, dedicated iv, for the antibiotics. A swallow test to make sure he can swallow milk without things going to his lungs. Then hopefully nursing. Luckily, Jolene and I have both been able to still stay here at the hospital, but the sleeping rooms aren't available like before. So we just take turns watching mark and sleeping on the available chair/bed thing. :-) Never been so happy to get so little sleep.
Hope this finds you well and thanks for all your support.
Love,
Nic and Jolene

Our time in the IMSU is a blur in my mind. The days and nights just kind of meld into one.We settled into a routine of meetings with doctors, eating in the cafeteria downstairs, and waiting. People would ask when Mark might be getting out of the hospital, but we never asked. We focused more on little goals like passing a swallow test so that Mark could get his feeding tube out or getting his medication level in a good range. The first time we were able to take Mark outside was so wonderful, and nerve-wracking! But it was the little moments that we focused on. I think it was a faith-building experience for me because I knew that I could leave the big stuff in God's hands and just worry about the little things.

On Monday, Nic had to go back to work which was hard for him. The first day, he only made it a couple of hours and then ended up back at the hospital. The next day, he made it half a day. It was hard to
think that the world was still turning outside of our hospital room! I stayed during the day and at night with Mark and got quite used to sleeping on the chair in Mark's room.

Little by little, tubes and monitors were removed.



Our first trip outside. Poor Mark, he was so little when all of
this happened that he hadn't really had much experience
 with the world except for hospitals!

Let me mention here how wonderful the staff at Primary Children's Hospital is. All of our nurses were absolutely amazing. I truly think they are angels on the earth. They took such good care of our baby and of us. We made many special friendships with them. And our doctors were amazing also. We had a neurology team, a neurosurgery team, a pediatric team, and an hematology team working with us. All of the doctors, interns, and residents were not only exceptional at what they do, but also compassionate and patient with us. Two resident doctors, Dr. Dean and Dr. Kody became close friends with us. Dr. Dean was with one of the neuro-teams and was always so good to come check on us and really explain things to us. Dr. Kody was on the pediatric team and would check on Mark regularly and visit with us. He even brought us some Ben & Jerry's ice cream one night! I ran into Dr. Kody a month later at Primary's when we were there for a doctor's appointment, and Dr. Kody still remembered Mark and had been keeping up with his case to make sure he was doing well. The entire staff, from cleaning staff to nurses to social workers to doctors, became like family to us.

Tuesday update-

Well, as much as I am nervous about jinxing ourselves, I am really excited about Marks progress.

So Monday he was able to go from 4 antibiotics to one and his ultrasound came back great. No new worries. :-)

Just now he came back from getting his PICC line and the placement went very well. Now we can skip the IVs. Yeah! I am not sure if you are aware how hard it is to get an IV in someone who is under 8 pounds.

Next step: swallowing test. If he can pass that we can get back to nursing. It probably won't happen today, with the sedation required to get the picc line he isn't likely to be awake enough.

Thanks again for everything. Jolene and I have decided we need a better word or way to say thank you. It just doesn't feel adequate to describe the gratitude we feel for the love we have felt as we have gone through this.

With all our love and appreciation,

Nic and Jolene

Ok Wednesday update a little Late. :)
Soooo Big News.
Mark passed his "swallow test" with flying colors yesterday afternoon. Yeah!!!
Then came the bonus. Since there wasn't any complications of milk going into his lungs, he was able to eat from a bottle! They gave him 20 min to finish a bottle and the lil man polished it off in 4 min! I think he has remember the joy of eating!
We also had a lot of learning yesterday, we learned how to take care of the PICC line,
possible problems with it, and how to give him his medicine through it. Pretty intimidating at first, but we felt a lot more comfortable after we got a chance to have some hands on training with nurses watching over our shoulders. :)
Mom and Dad brought Sam up a little earlier last night and he got a chance to work with a Child Life Specialist. The Child Life Specialist is a person who helps siblings learn how to deal with family members being in the hospital and helps prepare them for spending more time around the medical equipment. She brought a "buddy" which was basically a doll that had the same extra lines as Mark has right now, picc, eating tube, etc. That way Sam could check out all of the hardware and not hurt his little brother. We actually get to take the "buddy" home so when we are working on Mark, Sam can help by working on his buddy. :)
The last couple of nights in the IMSU, Nic's parents didn't bring Sam to the hospital
any more because it was just getting so hard on all of us. Being away from us and from
home was starting to take its toll on Sam, and he would start having tantrums when he
had to leave the hospital. And having to say good-bye to him every night was taking
its toll on me. It was so good to see him but so hard to say good-bye. Thursday night, Nic went and spent the night at his parent's house so that he could be with Sam. The next night I went and spent a few hours with Sam at their house. Luckily, we didn't
have much longer of this.

On Saturday, September 17, Mark got to go home! We were so excited and so nervous. They had started talking about him going home the day before but we didn't want to get our hopes up. But on Saturday, it finally happened. Mark was still on antibiotics so he
came home with a PICC line. It was a little unnerving learning how to administer his
antibiotics, but we got it down. If anyone wants to know a great acronym for remembering how to do it: SASH (Saline-antiobiotic-saline-heparin). I was really glad
that I wouldn't have to do the feeding tube because initially, we thought he would be
coming home with that also.
Words can't describe the emotions and the feelings of being home at last, in our own beds, with BOTH of our wonderful boys with us.
It is also hard to describe the amazing love and support we received from our family
and friends. I truly could feel the power of the countless prayers being offered on
our behalf each day. Emails, calls, texts, Facebook messages...every little bit of
support was so much appreciated and really got us through the hard times. Neighbors
even came while we were at the hospital and cleaned up the house a little, mowed our
lawn, and for two weeks after we got home, people brought us meals, so that we could
really concentrate on our little boys. My heart just felt so full with the love of
those around us. My boys are lucky to be growing up with such a strong support net
under them!

This is Mark--no more wires, no more tubes--ready to go home! It's crazy to think that
we took a two week old baby into the hospital and brought home a one month old baby!

A post from 9-11-2011

This is a journal entry that I wrote on 9/11.

The big question everyone is asking today is, "Where were you? What were you doing ten years ago today?" This was the day as the country song says, "when the world stopped turning."
I was at BYU. That morning, as I was walking to my first class of the day, I remember running into one of my neighbors, Dinah, who was heading home. She stopped me and asked, "Have you seen the news?" She told me what little she knew, and I continued to my class. I had no idea what I was about to encounter. While many classes were cancelled due to the events unfolding on T.V., my education professor continued on with class, giving us an impromptu lesson on how to react and help students deal with tragedies. After class, I hurried home and joined the rest of America in watching the tragedy on T.V. I remember being glued to the T.V. for hours and even though I knew that none of my loved ones were near the terrible things happening on the other side of the country, I had an overwhelming need to hear the voices of all of my family and know that they were safe.
I remember in the aftermath of 9/11 being overwhelmed by the evil that was unleashed that day but also overcome by the patriotism, heroism and brotherly love that arose also. It was as if, for a small moment, we set aside our differences and became a united family. It was a terrible and wonderful time for our country.
Today marks the tenth year anniversary of that fateful day. It is crazy to think that it has been ten years. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago. But so much has happened since then. I graduated from BYU, went on to get my Master's from the U of U, taught middle school for eight years, got married, had two babies...the world started turning again. Most of the kids in school right now were babies or not even born yet when 9/11 happened. To them, it's just something to be studied in history class.
I will never forget 9/11 or the things I learned from that experience. And, as I sit here in a hospital room with my baby, I don't think I will ever forget this day and these experiences either. Years from now, I will still remember where I was for the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
Being at Primary Children's hospital has really opened our eyes to the difficult trials others have to face and to the amazing people out there serving and helping other people through their trials.
At the hospital, they have a short LDS sacrament meeting, so Nic and I decided to go to that. It was like a deep breath of fresh air for us. The spirit was so strong and wonderful. I have felt the spirit in different ways, depending on my needs. Today I felt the spirit as strength. As I looked around at the other people in the room and thought about the wide range of hardships and heart ache being faced by each individual in that room, my heart was impressed by the strength of the human spirit, the power in our souls that comes from being children of God. We struggle, we cry, we stumble here and there, but, with God's help, we push forward.
As they've shown images on T.V. from 9/11, I've been remembering the devastation, the overwhelming sorrow from that day. But we have moved forward and have become stronger. The really hard trials leave scars that can still hurt years later, but they can also leave strength and growth.
I like a comment someone said on my FaceBook. She said, "The miracle of children is their innate capacity to overcome. They know nothing of fear and failure. They are indomitable spirits that are strengthened by the knowledge of their spiritual history that the veil hasn't closed on yet."
I love that! Mark is definitely an indomitable spirit straight from God! And everyday I'm learning from him.