There were so many positive points to this night, it is hard to know where to start.
Chad "the Dad" Schoppa came up with the idea. Most people I ask to come was not aware that Chili's allowed benefits such as this... GOOD FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CHILI'S! Thank you!!!
Chili's created the email poster and sent it to Chad, who printed, distributed and emailed it and then the poster exponentially multiplied like crazy. Debbie Schoppa, Chad's Mom helped coordinate the evening as well as having her whole office in attendance!
Molly wanted to come. We were unsure until almost the last moment because of the tests and other things going on with her medically. I was informed that Ride Away (a company specializing in special needs transportation) would allow us to "test drive" one of their vans to get Molly back and forth to the event. We had a Chrysler Town and Country special. Push a button, the side door opens and the ramp descended. Molly was able to power wheel her chair into the van and away we went!!!
Molly was apprehensive. How would people react to her? Would they stare? Would children be afraid of the chair?
Molly stated on the way that she would not eat because she would have to be fed. She took some pain medicine prior to getting there so she would feel good.
As we arrived, she did not want me to pull up in front of the building because what if she had trouble getting the chair out? She wasn't sure she could get it down the ramp without running off the side.
Well....
We finally got out safe and sound and were immediately surrounded by friends!!! For the next two and a half hours Molly was the star of the night! (she later told me that she felt like a movie star cause everyone wanted to talk to her!)
Many members from her care team at TGH were in attendance. There was a great out pouring of past swimmers and coaches from Carrollwood Village Swim Team. We were touched to see so many parents from the swim team days!!
Lake Carroll Baptist friends were abundant; many of these have been "life friends".
All night, one after another waited in line often for 15-20 minutes just to wish Molly health and happiness. Hundreds must have passed by. And still they came!!!
It seemed like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Fourth of July all in one night.
To eat... count on 45 minutes to an hour to be seated... and it went on all night! Many left without eating.
Chad had put a big jar at the end of the table where we were, simply marked Molly's Trust Fund. By the end of the evening it was stuffed with cards, checks and cash... you truly are the most generous people in Florida!!! Even the servers at Chili's gave in excess of $100 to the fund. We, the Doyal's and the Schoppa's are blessed to have friends like YOU!
On behalf of Molly she thanks you for all the wonderful support. That was therapy worth a million bucks!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Chili's and Molly
Dear friends and neighbors,
Chili's at the corner of Fletcher and Dale Mabry is teaming with Molly this coming Tuesday, August 11th from 5pm till 11pm.
10% of your order that night will be donated to Molly Doyal Santiago Irrevocable Trust.
You must bring the attached flier with you and give it to your server for the credit to go toward Molly's medical expenses.
errr....Because I can't get the flier to stick to this blog, please e-mail tdoyal20@msn.com requesting a file of the flier so you can print it out and take it.
Thank you for remembering Molly.
Chili's at the corner of Fletcher and Dale Mabry is teaming with Molly this coming Tuesday, August 11th from 5pm till 11pm.
10% of your order that night will be donated to Molly Doyal Santiago Irrevocable Trust.
You must bring the attached flier with you and give it to your server for the credit to go toward Molly's medical expenses.
errr....Because I can't get the flier to stick to this blog, please e-mail tdoyal20@msn.com requesting a file of the flier so you can print it out and take it.
Thank you for remembering Molly.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Day 58
The care team at TGH had said that Molly would come home tomorrow. Because of the continued medical problems, Molly's discharge date is now August 20th.
Yesterday Molly passed out during physical therapy. There has been a continued drop in her hemoglobin count. Last week she took 4 units of blood and everything seemed fine but now it is declining again.
Drs are concerned about the blood clot enlarging in her left leg.
After many tests and searching the blood loss seems to be coming from the GI tract in the pelvis area and sinking to the leg. At least that is the way I understand it. Surgery will take place soon to correct this.
Despite the setbacks where Molly cannot do her work in physical therapy nor occupational therapy, she has continued to make some strides.
Her right arm continues to build strength and range of motion while her left arm is unencumbered from the support brace she had been wearing. The left elbow will require surgery down the road in months to come as there is little range in movement due to the unexpected bone growth that occurred there following the breakage.
Molly was able to be placed in a harness that enabled her to be held in an upright position similar to walking. She cried tears of joy.
Biggest news is that Molly has been able to slightly, and I mean slightly... able to move her left thumb!!!
58 days ago she was not able to move anything except her eyes and mouth. She has made remarkable progress.
Work on Samy Dr continues. We have now cleaned out the garage as well as the living room/dining room area of our home.
There is no furniture to speak of the the LR/DR to make way for living quarters for Molly. Living room sofa, chairs, coffee table... gone! Bakers rack, gone! The dining room table and chairs... gone! Even the old big screen TV (console style) in the living room will be gone on the next load out of town (to the dump)!
A mechanical bed and lift are being installed to take their place. This will be her living area for the next couple of months when she is able to come home.
"The project" was emptying the garage! Tons of stuff!!! This is getting ready for the builder to start turning the garage into Molly's long term digs. A special needs roll-in bath will be installed that will allow Molly proper care with greater ease.
Doors will be widened through the house as needed.
We are still praying that some money will become available so Molly will have the opportunity to have extended physical therapy and learn more life skills that she will need on her road to recovery.
We also pray that sometime in the near future Molly will have the opportunity to attend The Miami Project To Cure Paralysis. This facility at the University of Miami was founded by Nick Buoniconti and Dr Barth Green after Nick's son suffered a spinal cord injury (not too different from Molly) while playing college football.
Today the Miami Project is the world's largest and most comprehensive spinal cord research center. They are taking innovative approaches to curing paralysis.
Thank everyone for your generousity!
Yesterday Molly passed out during physical therapy. There has been a continued drop in her hemoglobin count. Last week she took 4 units of blood and everything seemed fine but now it is declining again.
Drs are concerned about the blood clot enlarging in her left leg.
After many tests and searching the blood loss seems to be coming from the GI tract in the pelvis area and sinking to the leg. At least that is the way I understand it. Surgery will take place soon to correct this.
Despite the setbacks where Molly cannot do her work in physical therapy nor occupational therapy, she has continued to make some strides.
Her right arm continues to build strength and range of motion while her left arm is unencumbered from the support brace she had been wearing. The left elbow will require surgery down the road in months to come as there is little range in movement due to the unexpected bone growth that occurred there following the breakage.
Molly was able to be placed in a harness that enabled her to be held in an upright position similar to walking. She cried tears of joy.
Biggest news is that Molly has been able to slightly, and I mean slightly... able to move her left thumb!!!
58 days ago she was not able to move anything except her eyes and mouth. She has made remarkable progress.
Work on Samy Dr continues. We have now cleaned out the garage as well as the living room/dining room area of our home.
There is no furniture to speak of the the LR/DR to make way for living quarters for Molly. Living room sofa, chairs, coffee table... gone! Bakers rack, gone! The dining room table and chairs... gone! Even the old big screen TV (console style) in the living room will be gone on the next load out of town (to the dump)!
A mechanical bed and lift are being installed to take their place. This will be her living area for the next couple of months when she is able to come home.
"The project" was emptying the garage! Tons of stuff!!! This is getting ready for the builder to start turning the garage into Molly's long term digs. A special needs roll-in bath will be installed that will allow Molly proper care with greater ease.
Doors will be widened through the house as needed.
We are still praying that some money will become available so Molly will have the opportunity to have extended physical therapy and learn more life skills that she will need on her road to recovery.
We also pray that sometime in the near future Molly will have the opportunity to attend The Miami Project To Cure Paralysis. This facility at the University of Miami was founded by Nick Buoniconti and Dr Barth Green after Nick's son suffered a spinal cord injury (not too different from Molly) while playing college football.
Today the Miami Project is the world's largest and most comprehensive spinal cord research center. They are taking innovative approaches to curing paralysis.
Thank everyone for your generousity!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Prayer requested
I let my guard down.
As soon as the post went up titled "A Good Week", I should have know that the enemy would attack. And he did.
Molly's hemoglobin dropped to the low 7's yesterday morning. She is passing blood. Not sure why. She was to take two units of blood yesterday; first unit went well but she had a reaction to the second unit and it had to be stopped.
Today she went down to the PT area to be fitted in a new power chair that has been arranged for her (pink of course). During the fitting, she almost passed out and had to be returned to her room. Also during the "fitting", in total innocence, the wheelchair rep was saying things like "in years to come", etc... I think this also led to depression that she was experiencing the rest of the day.
She is currently taking more units of blood. I think the Drs have found the reason for the blood loss, but I'm in the dark at this moment.
Our prayer request is that the reason for bleeding will be stopped and that Molly will regain a positive attitude.
As soon as the post went up titled "A Good Week", I should have know that the enemy would attack. And he did.
Molly's hemoglobin dropped to the low 7's yesterday morning. She is passing blood. Not sure why. She was to take two units of blood yesterday; first unit went well but she had a reaction to the second unit and it had to be stopped.
Today she went down to the PT area to be fitted in a new power chair that has been arranged for her (pink of course). During the fitting, she almost passed out and had to be returned to her room. Also during the "fitting", in total innocence, the wheelchair rep was saying things like "in years to come", etc... I think this also led to depression that she was experiencing the rest of the day.
She is currently taking more units of blood. I think the Drs have found the reason for the blood loss, but I'm in the dark at this moment.
Our prayer request is that the reason for bleeding will be stopped and that Molly will regain a positive attitude.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
A Good Week
Its been a good week.
Some relatives has come down for a third trip since the accident. They pointed out something to me... every trip she has made there have been dramatic improvements in the movement of Molly's arm and neck. I suppose that we are too close to the situation and cannot see that improvements as a whole are significant!
On Wednesday Molly wanted to show me something. I held her right wrist while she lifted her hand about an inch or so! WOW! This was one of the things we were waiting for. Previously there was only movement in the arm and shoulder. The therapists told Molly that when the wrist and hand got strong enough, the fingers should start moving. Hallelujah!
The hospital team that cares for Molly has decided that they need to keep Molly until August 6th! Hallelujah! We needed the extra days.
And today... today after work I got home and checked my email and found a short one from Molly. When I got to the hospital she told me she was able to craft the email herself! A special device enables Molly to s-l-o-w-l-y type a short message. But this opens up a whole new frontier for Molly and allows her some freedom! It is not easy for her to type out the words. (I had already been looking at voice recognition software for her) She's working hard and will get it done one way or the other!
Julie and I are busy revamping the house. We need widen some doorways, move furniture, and maybe, just maybe put down a wooden floor.
We will be converting the guest bath into a chair friendly area by removing the tub, re-tiling the entire area to make a shower with no floor impediments and rearranging the sink without any underneath interference. We can only accomplish this by removing the door and adjacent wall to the bath. We'll work it out...
We are turning the living room into a bedroom for Molly. She wants us to paint it pink... oh well, OK!
Some men from the church have indicated that they will oversee all this renovation. This, I believe, is the church in action; showing love in pure form.
A Bible Fellowship member has donated a hospital bed to us. We are most thankful. We need to find a hoist/lift for getting her out of bed and into her chair and we need to find a rear car lift to carry her chair while getting her to and from out-patient therapy once we get her home. If we can find a titanium chair at an affordable price then we can wait on the car lift.
Molly will be in 3 day-a-week sessions for about a month. We are trying to find additional therapy time for her as she really wants to hit the training to reach her goals of becoming independent. This is true to her competitive nature.
Things are finally moving forward, and...
Yes, its been a good week!
Some relatives has come down for a third trip since the accident. They pointed out something to me... every trip she has made there have been dramatic improvements in the movement of Molly's arm and neck. I suppose that we are too close to the situation and cannot see that improvements as a whole are significant!
On Wednesday Molly wanted to show me something. I held her right wrist while she lifted her hand about an inch or so! WOW! This was one of the things we were waiting for. Previously there was only movement in the arm and shoulder. The therapists told Molly that when the wrist and hand got strong enough, the fingers should start moving. Hallelujah!
The hospital team that cares for Molly has decided that they need to keep Molly until August 6th! Hallelujah! We needed the extra days.
And today... today after work I got home and checked my email and found a short one from Molly. When I got to the hospital she told me she was able to craft the email herself! A special device enables Molly to s-l-o-w-l-y type a short message. But this opens up a whole new frontier for Molly and allows her some freedom! It is not easy for her to type out the words. (I had already been looking at voice recognition software for her) She's working hard and will get it done one way or the other!
Julie and I are busy revamping the house. We need widen some doorways, move furniture, and maybe, just maybe put down a wooden floor.
We will be converting the guest bath into a chair friendly area by removing the tub, re-tiling the entire area to make a shower with no floor impediments and rearranging the sink without any underneath interference. We can only accomplish this by removing the door and adjacent wall to the bath. We'll work it out...
We are turning the living room into a bedroom for Molly. She wants us to paint it pink... oh well, OK!
Some men from the church have indicated that they will oversee all this renovation. This, I believe, is the church in action; showing love in pure form.
A Bible Fellowship member has donated a hospital bed to us. We are most thankful. We need to find a hoist/lift for getting her out of bed and into her chair and we need to find a rear car lift to carry her chair while getting her to and from out-patient therapy once we get her home. If we can find a titanium chair at an affordable price then we can wait on the car lift.
Molly will be in 3 day-a-week sessions for about a month. We are trying to find additional therapy time for her as she really wants to hit the training to reach her goals of becoming independent. This is true to her competitive nature.
Things are finally moving forward, and...
Yes, its been a good week!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday July 17th
Hi folks!
Been a while since I have updated you on Molly I know. The urgency to do something of a breakthrough nature and the need to complete details are conflicting and draining.
Thanks to all who continue to help in so many ways!
The garage sale that Alicia (college girl in our neighborhood) came up with is taking on its own life. One neighbor is storing "out of the neighborhood" items in her garage and it is almost full!! Others in our great neighborhood are having bake sales, cooking on the grill to sell food and others are selling water.
Our family is so thankful for the love and caring they have shown us on Molly's behalf. The money will be used wisely on her behalf.
There has been an Irrevocable Trust set up for Molly. Anyone wishing to donate may make the check out to Molly Doyal Santiago Irrevocable Trust.
Also, if you know of any corporation, foundation, or individuals that wish to participate in any way, they would be able to make the donation at a Regions Bank in that account name. The trust is held at "arms length" from the Doyal family by a Trustee and is only allowed to assist in Molly's medical needs.
There are other fund raisers that are taking place:
-In Albany, Ga, my brother's church is having a cookout where the pastor cooks donated prime cuts of meat and the plates are bought by church members. They are are also having a special offering for Molly.
-In the Tampa area, there is a fundraiser going on the 31st of July for Molly's benefit. I will be elaborating on this in a separate e-mail.
Let me tell you what the official assessment (as of this week) on Molly's condition:
Feeding: needs maximum assistance
Grooming: total care
Hygene: total care
Dress: total care
Bed mobility: max assist
Rotation (finding different position in bed): max assist
Transfer (one place to another): max assist
Locomotion in wheelchair: w/assistance
Sounds discouraging doesn't it?
Now let me tell you the GOOD NEWS!
This week Molly was able to put her hand on her nose!!! She proudly proclaimed that she was now able to scratch her nose. Can the top of her head be far away?
She was able (with the assistance of special devices) to get one spoon full of food to her mouth!!! Can total self feeding be far away?
Wow!!! Great progress!!!
Both movements were with her right arm. She is not seeing movement this week in her hand or fingers but we are looking forward to next week. Her left arm continues to improve; needs more bilateral strength.
Pain management is improving and hopefully soon she will be able to decrease the assortment of medicines she takes.
Good news is best, right?
Discharge date from Tampa General Hospital is scheduled for July 30th. Our family would desire that she be under the care of attending physicians and skilled nursing another four weeks or so but the hospital states that it is no longer able to keep her.
Molly will be going to outpatient physical therapy 3 times a week for the next month, then...
We are still looking for an acute inpatient care program. Our option now is to learn as much as we possible can on primary care skills, prepare house for her with wheelchair and other space needs, transportation methods/lift/chair skills, etc...
Those of you close by, please come to the Samy Dr charity sale on Saturday morning starting at 8pm.
More later
Been a while since I have updated you on Molly I know. The urgency to do something of a breakthrough nature and the need to complete details are conflicting and draining.
Thanks to all who continue to help in so many ways!
The garage sale that Alicia (college girl in our neighborhood) came up with is taking on its own life. One neighbor is storing "out of the neighborhood" items in her garage and it is almost full!! Others in our great neighborhood are having bake sales, cooking on the grill to sell food and others are selling water.
Our family is so thankful for the love and caring they have shown us on Molly's behalf. The money will be used wisely on her behalf.
There has been an Irrevocable Trust set up for Molly. Anyone wishing to donate may make the check out to Molly Doyal Santiago Irrevocable Trust.
Also, if you know of any corporation, foundation, or individuals that wish to participate in any way, they would be able to make the donation at a Regions Bank in that account name. The trust is held at "arms length" from the Doyal family by a Trustee and is only allowed to assist in Molly's medical needs.
There are other fund raisers that are taking place:
-In Albany, Ga, my brother's church is having a cookout where the pastor cooks donated prime cuts of meat and the plates are bought by church members. They are are also having a special offering for Molly.
-In the Tampa area, there is a fundraiser going on the 31st of July for Molly's benefit. I will be elaborating on this in a separate e-mail.
Let me tell you what the official assessment (as of this week) on Molly's condition:
Feeding: needs maximum assistance
Grooming: total care
Hygene: total care
Dress: total care
Bed mobility: max assist
Rotation (finding different position in bed): max assist
Transfer (one place to another): max assist
Locomotion in wheelchair: w/assistance
Sounds discouraging doesn't it?
Now let me tell you the GOOD NEWS!
This week Molly was able to put her hand on her nose!!! She proudly proclaimed that she was now able to scratch her nose. Can the top of her head be far away?
She was able (with the assistance of special devices) to get one spoon full of food to her mouth!!! Can total self feeding be far away?
Wow!!! Great progress!!!
Both movements were with her right arm. She is not seeing movement this week in her hand or fingers but we are looking forward to next week. Her left arm continues to improve; needs more bilateral strength.
Pain management is improving and hopefully soon she will be able to decrease the assortment of medicines she takes.
Good news is best, right?
Discharge date from Tampa General Hospital is scheduled for July 30th. Our family would desire that she be under the care of attending physicians and skilled nursing another four weeks or so but the hospital states that it is no longer able to keep her.
Molly will be going to outpatient physical therapy 3 times a week for the next month, then...
We are still looking for an acute inpatient care program. Our option now is to learn as much as we possible can on primary care skills, prepare house for her with wheelchair and other space needs, transportation methods/lift/chair skills, etc...
Those of you close by, please come to the Samy Dr charity sale on Saturday morning starting at 8pm.
More later
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday July 9th
Julie and I were in Molly's room last night. The usual was going on. I was logging into Molly's social sites on the notebook so she could see who was sending what and then sending greetings back.
Julie was changing dressings on her legs and generally getting her settled for the evening.
The attending physician came in and told Molly that there are some "things" she needed to know.
1. There will be a tri-port catheter system placed in her upper chest area (this we knew) on Thursday which will require her to undergo anesthesiology during the surgery
In addition to the blood clots discovered the day before last we are worried about...
2. Molly has an urinary track infection
3. She also has a lower abdominal muscle infection (how do you get that?)
4. Her left arm that has been immobilized for such a long period of time has decided to grow a bone to cover the elbow joint and they (Drs) will have to take care with that by disolving it ! That may have been the reason she had so much trouble in rehab with this arm besides the fact that it has a couple of fractures
This news was not received well by any of us in the room. We are tired of the negative reports! We want only positive things to flow around us now!
Molly understands the necessity of keeping a positive attitude and not letting herself slip into a depressed state.
Although she cried some, within a few minutes or so she told me to put the notebook back (on the table that hangs over the bed) She was determined to get her hand to the computer and work it herself! What seemed like an hour of great struggle and pure determination (really probably just 5+ minutes) she got her hand to the pad on the laptop. Although she could not maneuver the cursor (fingers don't work yet and arm doesn't always go where she tells it to) it was a great accomplishment to do just what she did. I had to tell her to quite for the evening because she was so drained of strength and concentration. I told her we would try tomorrow night and the next and the next... until she gets it!!!
I'm not sure I would be able to keep a positive attitude if I were in her shoes. Could you? Could you get up again after all the trauma she has received hit your body? I'm not sure I would. Could you keep your mind clear of negativity, when time after time and time again you hear the kind of news she has heard?
She is a fighter! She is tough!! She will prevail!!!
We are currently sending Molly's medical records to U of Miami, The Miami Project which was spurred by the Nick Buoniconti Fund. They are doing some great things there to help cure paralysis. Pray that Molly will be accepted by the sister hospital of the Miami Project, Jackson Memorial, which shares a lot of doctors that go from the advanced research to practical rehab. Then eventually into the Miami Project itself.
More later
Julie was changing dressings on her legs and generally getting her settled for the evening.
The attending physician came in and told Molly that there are some "things" she needed to know.
1. There will be a tri-port catheter system placed in her upper chest area (this we knew) on Thursday which will require her to undergo anesthesiology during the surgery
In addition to the blood clots discovered the day before last we are worried about...
2. Molly has an urinary track infection
3. She also has a lower abdominal muscle infection (how do you get that?)
4. Her left arm that has been immobilized for such a long period of time has decided to grow a bone to cover the elbow joint and they (Drs) will have to take care with that by disolving it ! That may have been the reason she had so much trouble in rehab with this arm besides the fact that it has a couple of fractures
This news was not received well by any of us in the room. We are tired of the negative reports! We want only positive things to flow around us now!
Molly understands the necessity of keeping a positive attitude and not letting herself slip into a depressed state.
Although she cried some, within a few minutes or so she told me to put the notebook back (on the table that hangs over the bed) She was determined to get her hand to the computer and work it herself! What seemed like an hour of great struggle and pure determination (really probably just 5+ minutes) she got her hand to the pad on the laptop. Although she could not maneuver the cursor (fingers don't work yet and arm doesn't always go where she tells it to) it was a great accomplishment to do just what she did. I had to tell her to quite for the evening because she was so drained of strength and concentration. I told her we would try tomorrow night and the next and the next... until she gets it!!!
I'm not sure I would be able to keep a positive attitude if I were in her shoes. Could you? Could you get up again after all the trauma she has received hit your body? I'm not sure I would. Could you keep your mind clear of negativity, when time after time and time again you hear the kind of news she has heard?
She is a fighter! She is tough!! She will prevail!!!
We are currently sending Molly's medical records to U of Miami, The Miami Project which was spurred by the Nick Buoniconti Fund. They are doing some great things there to help cure paralysis. Pray that Molly will be accepted by the sister hospital of the Miami Project, Jackson Memorial, which shares a lot of doctors that go from the advanced research to practical rehab. Then eventually into the Miami Project itself.
More later
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
