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Ryan's Recovery, Wilkesboro, NC (2025)

11/14/2025

Several updates from the last week
Day 92 of his hospital stay

11/09/2025

Hey everybody! Just wanted to give a quick update. Ryan is still in the hospital. He is not qualified for rehab and that was the final decision made this week. The reason they gave is because he is on a ventilator. He has always been on a ventilator, even when they told me he could go to rehab four weeks ago, so I am extremely frustrated with this misunderstanding. They will allow him to be on a trach collar (basically just oxygen support only at his trach site) during the day and vent support at night, but Ryan has not been on trach collar in over a year. And he has been switched to full ventilator support since being in the hospital. Their recommendation is for him to go to an LTACH (long-term acute care hospital) in Pineville until he's able to go to rehab. I said no and I wanted to bring him home. I can't imagine after such an extremely long stay in the hospital and how weak he is and how much weight he has lost if they could get him back to a trach collar in a decent amount of time and get him into rehab. Or if it's even possible!
BUT Ryan is actually pretty adamant that he wants to try it first before coming home. His hope is after the rehab doctor talked to him is that maybe he can make some progress before returning home. Mainly working on weaning the vent down a little bit while he's there and also get some level of therapy. It won't be as much as he would get an actual rehab, but it would be something. I am not fighting him on this decision, as it is his to technically make if he's sound minded and able to do that, which he seems to be. I will give it a week or so to make sure it will be a good fit for him and then go from there.
I know Ryan and I have a feeling he is trying to make this decision because he knows I am hurt and he wants to give me more time to heal and probably doesn't want to make things harder on me. I love his selfless heart for thinking of me even with all he's gone through…but I don't want him to make the decision based on that. He claims he's not so we will move forward with getting him placed in Pineville.
Unfortunately, there is a pretty long waitlist ahead of him so I don't know how long he's going to have to stay in the hospital to wait for a room to become available. Help me PRAY that the wait is miraculously very short.

My recovery is going well. It's a very slow process but all things considered it's going good. I got my staples out this week. That was a pretty rough experience, but it's over with and now and I can focus on healing. When I go back in December , they will adjust my brace to allow me to bend some and possibly even allow me to bear a little bit of weight in my toes. Like pushing on the floor, not supporting my entire body weight. I wasn't expecting to get to bear any type of weight that quickly so that made me happy to learn. I was told it was a very extensive surgery with all that they had to do to fix my knee so I'm blessed to be healing so well.

Thank you all for the prayers. Thank you for the cards and the gifts that have been sent to our home to help us during this time. We are extremely grateful and humbled at your continued support over the last few years!

Below is a picture that someone visiting Ryan sent me when I told him I loved him over the phone. He signed it back.
(for those of you that may not know, it means I love you in sign language )

10/30/2025

Update 10/29

10/27/2025

Hey everybody. Just wanted to give a quick update. Ryan ran a high fever of 103 last night. His white blood count is back pretty high again and as usual they’re ordering all kinds of cultures and tests. This is all so mentally and physically exhausting. I cannot imagine how he feels. If I was not hurt, I would find a way to just bring him home tomorrow. We obviously keep running in this hamster wheel and two months later, yes there’s been a lot of treatments and procedures, but still having the same issues. It’s so frustrating. In this new unit he’s in I fear he is getting a far less level of care which is so unfortunate considering I can’t be with him all the time. I did have someone that was able to go down a couple days this week. And our Pastor was able to go visit and FaceTime me with him. I was able to get this picture I’m posting from today. A friend was with him and I sent videos of our kids sending messages of I love youse and come home soon. He’s doing his best to smile. I have no idea how he got cut on his nose or a couple other places, but that’s what happens when I’m not able to be with him. I can’t account for things. It’s such a frustrating and helpless feeling.
I was able to talk with the neurosurgeon a couple days ago, and he told me that the verbiage on the CT scan where the radiologist said they saw a new hemorrhage was really just residual blood from his shunt replacement surgery that was showing up in one of his ventricles and it was so small it was not a problem so they weren’t concerned about an actual hemorrhage. They also said as far as a new baseline, there’s really no way to tell that Except with time. He is so incredibly weak. I’m not sure when we would be able to compare for a new baseline.

Just please pray that all of these symptoms would just miraculously resolve so he can get to rehab for a few days and get a little bit of strength training and then come home. And if they aren’t willing to do rehab, then when the time comes for him to come home that things will work out For him to have adequate care. I just want him HOME. Two months is a lot of time to miss being together as a family when you’re not promised tomorrow.

As for me, I am now four days out from surgery and today has definitely been my best day as far as pain being managed. It has certainly not been fun by any means but I am so thankful for my sister who has taken excellent care of me. My knee-jerk reaction… No pun intended lol… Is to desperately miss my mama and daddy when I’m in such a vulnerable state. But I have a good family and support system that helps in those times.

Thank you all for praying. Many of you have sent food and gift cards for DoorDash, which I am so grateful for as it has kept my children fed while I have transitioned from the couch to the bed over the last four days. 😅
most of all keep praying for Ryan🩵💙

10/23/2025

Hey everybody, just wanted to give a quick update. My surgery was a success for the most part yesterday. There was one small piece of bone on the back of my knee that he was not able to reconnect with screws and the plate but hoping that it’s close enough that it will heal on its own. If it causes me too much pain or trouble moving forward, I have the option of doing a knee replacement. Just help me pray everything heals properly and that I can be as pain-free as possible.
My sister and brother-in-law took me very early yesterday morning for my surgery, and my sister has remained by my side ever since then. Taking excellent care of me. Which has been no easy task, I’m sure because the pain has been QUITE intense.

I received an unexpected phone call from a case manager at the hospital today. Letting me know that Ryan in fact was not a candidate for rehab like we had been told and there was much confusion between our understanding of the next steps and his medical team. We have been told this entire time that he was going to Carolina‘s rehab next-door to the hospital to get him back to baseline or at least as close as possible because he has lost so much weight and strength being in the hospital… Yesterday made two months! She even told me that the doctor felt he had a new baseline now due to the damage that was sustained from having hydrocephalus when he was admitted to CMC in September. This was all new news to me, and I was very upset to find it out from a Case Manager versus one of his actual doctors reaching out to me. Also, a CT was done yesterday that the verbiage from the radiologist implies that a new hemorrhage was found. However, after getting in touch with the doctor today, they don’t believe that is the case but I asked for one of his neurosurgeons to please reach out to me, but I have not heard from anyone yet. Praying that I get clarity on these issues and that some of this is just a misunderstanding. Once Ryan was discharged, I was anticipating another 10 to 14 days of him having rehab allowing me some more time to heal. But now they talk like he will be coming home much sooner. Which is a very scary thought considering both his condition and mine. I will update when I get more information! Thank y’all for continuing to pray!🩵💚

10/22/2025

Hey everybody. Just giving a quick update. Ryan started running fevers again. They have started taking various cultures and tests to try and figure it all out. I got to see him Sunday. My sister and brother in law drove me down to see him. It was so good to see him and so sad to leave him again. He’s spent a lot of time alone lately and I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for him.

As far as I go, my surgery on my knee is tomorrow morning. (Wednesday) I have to be there at 6:30a. I just found that out this afternoon at the doctors office. My surgeon said this was a major injury. The force in which I landed essentially caused my bone to explode. At least 6 weeks no weight bearing. Then another 6 weeks learning to bend it again and get motion back into the joint. And then I can tackle weight bearing. 💔😭
My surgery will involve having a plate and screws put in to be everything back the way God meant it to be (his words). Its possible I could still end up with pain and severe arthritis in the area but if I don’t have surgery, it’s guaranteed that I will
I’m quite nervous and pretty emotional I don’t have Ryan to be there with me. But I remind myself he’s been through much worse, many times.

Thank you all for the prayers and support you have shown to me and my family.
I apologize if I haven’t been able to message everyone back or say thank you for what you’ve done but I can assure you I am most grateful.

Oh and thanks to all the help from my sisters and family, the girls had a fantastic birthday!☺️

10/18/2025

Hey everybody. Wanted to give a couple of updates. I’m sorry for the delay in getting you guys this info but that leads me to the first update. Unfortunately on Tuesday afternoon (I went to be home with the kids for a night) I had a little accident on my son‘s four wheeler that I was trying to get started for him. Long story short, I was thrown off and landed very hard on my right leg and then rolled. A friend and my nephew carried me to the car and after a trip to the emergency room, it was confirmed I broke my knee. In two spots actually. I ended up with a lateral tibial plateau fracture with an 8 cm split down the tibial shaft as well. There was some decompression so unfortunately, after meeting with an orthopedic surgeon, I will have to have surgery. Likely sometime next week. The pain has been insane so no need to ask me if I’m hurting lol. 🥴
I am definitely hurting and meds don’t seem to help a whole lot. I’m not allowed to bear any weight on that leg whatsoever. Unfortunately, it’s never convenient to break a bone, but this is most definitely terrible timing. Ryan is stuck in the hospital, all by himself and I’m supposed to be throwing my girls a fantastic birthday party tomorrow.
Thankfully, Ryan is doing well. He actually had surgery earlier this week to have his shunt re-internalized. Just to play it safe they replaced the entire thing. So the device in his head and it is back draining into his abdomen. It went very well, and Ryan has continued to improve a tiny bit each day. Still running some low-grade fevers, but he is a bit more responsive than he was. Earlier today he was moved into the progressive ICU. It was more of a lateral move, so he still has the same nurse to patient ratio thankfully. Since he’s having to lay there alone day in and day out, I worry about him a whole bunch. My niece went to the hospital on Wednesday to tell him what happened to me so he wouldn’t wonder why I disappeared. I know he’s probably worried about me. We covet your prayers during this now even more difficult time. 🥰🩷

10/14/2025

Hey everyone just wanted to give a quick update on Ryan. He had continued to run fevers off and on since the last update, but cultures have continued to come back clear. The new CSF culture they drew revealed that there was no bacteria growth so the fear of the STAPH that showed up in the previous sample has now been deemed contaminated by the lab. So praise the Lord for that! He had a full body PET scan last week, which actually revealed nothing new, which is good. It just showed the consolidation of the right lung and the mild collapse which we already knew about. But in time we hope that those issues will resolve. The nurse practitioner working on the unit that day just decided to do some dopplers after the PET scan and check for blood clots. Even though they had done some on his legs in the previous couple of weeks. He had no sign of blood clots, but thank goodness she felt the need to have him checked because he had a very large one in his left arm. This could very well be the reason he has been having persistent fevers. They immediately started him on heparin IV to help take care of the clot and they will check on it in a few days to see how things look.

Yesterday is the first full day that he has been fever free and he was fairly responsive to me. Very sluggish and tired and you could tell he was trying to respond, but his body just wouldn’t let him many times.

Ryan had a full series of CT scans Sunday night in preparation for re-internalizing his shunt. Making sure that the abdomen looks good because that will be where they want to return the drain. Neurosurgery feels good about getting it put back in quickly this week and Infectious disease has cleared him. I feel as if there is finally light at the end of this tunnel. Ryan has much rehab to do because of the extensive amount of weight he has lost during this stay but one day at a time… And right now it looks like he’s one step closer to coming home!

10/03/2025

Hey everybody, just wanted to give a quick update on Ryan. The live I did last week discussed his transfer over to Carolina‘s Medical Center in downtown Charlotte and how they had to externalize his brain shunt and place a chest tube to get rid of all of the extra spinal fluid that has been draining in his lung. The hope was to have that tube for a couple of days, but unfortunately, he still has it. All the procedures he has had with that lung over the last month along with the excessive fluid I think was just too much for his lung to handle. He developed a partially collapsed lung as a result, so the tube has had to remain in place. He has regular chest x-rays to monitor the amount of air in his lung. The doctor did decide to do a water seal today, which is a step towards removal. He will have another X-ray tomorrow to know whether or not it is safe to remove the chest tube. Also, unfortunately, they have not been able to re-internalize the shunt drain yet. It can definitely never go in the lung again, but I believe we are looking at the abdomen, which is where it was initially placed 3 years ago. The requirement is Ryan needs to be 48 hours fever free before they will consider that. We were actually on a really good track and had hit 48 hours until earlier today. He ran the highest fever he’s had yet of 102.9. His white blood count skyrocketed last week, but it is back down to almost normal now. Just super strange. We also got some unexpected news from the doctor yesterday evening. The cultures from all of the spinal fluid have been clear and not growing anything. The last thing we expected was something to randomly show up. But the lab contacted his doctor to let them know that Staph had shown up in the sample of his cerebral spinal fluid. I can’t begin to understand how that happened but just to make sure that this is not a false positive and that the sample was accidentally contaminated by someone else in the testing process, they collected a new sample of the fluid last night and now we wait for those results. Help us pray that this was just a fluke and a false positive and that he does not have Staph/ MRSA in his brain shunt. We still don’t understand why he would be having such a high fever and also a decline in neurological status which warranted another head CT yesterday. He has been responding pretty well the last few days which was quite the turnaround from the last month we spent in Pineville. But yesterday he started to stop responding again during his neurological exams. Fortunately, the CT does not show anything new. No additional swelling or signs of a stroke. So, we just continue to wait for right now. Last week’s culture did show pseudomonas in his sputum again, which could also be colonized, but they started him back on antibiotics just to be safe. They sent off several new cultures today. They did remove the indwelling catheter and went back to an external catheter to minimize the risk of infection for now while he’s in the hospital. He had a very large blood clot from that, but it seems that has resolved. I am home for a couple days to be with our kids. It’s birthday month for the girls. We should be planning a birthday celebration and doing all those fun things in preparation but we can’t. Please help us pray that miraculous turnarounds happen in the next few days so Ryan can get better and get home. My kids absolutely hate us being apart, and the last thing I want is for them to have to spend their birthday without all of us at home together. The exhaustion is real. Especially for Ryan. 43 days in the hospital. I know he wants to be home so incredibly bad. 💔 It breaks my heart. Thank you for praying and for all you are doing for us!❤️

09/24/2025

No clue what happened to my sound on the live tonight. Sorry about that guys. Anyway, thank you for praying. I’ll update when I can, but it may be a couple of days as we wait for results from all the tests I mentioned. Thank you for all of your kind words and encouragement and all that you’re doing to help keep me going. I do want to say that we were greeted with lots of hugs and smiles at CMC because we made a lot of friends there last year. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. Like a little reunion just not under the most ideal circumstances. I’m glad to know he is getting excellent care.

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