Jacob’s Life Threatening Motorcycle Accident

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Latest Update 7/22

Hi! My name is Laura Barrette and my neighbor, Jacob Zieman, was hit while on his motorcycle on Sunday, June 26 off 151st in front of Sonic. This family is so extremely loving and caring. Please wrap Jacob and each one of his sweet family members in prayers.

Currently, he is in critical condition. Suffering a severe brain bleed, has brain swelling. They have him sedated and on a breathing machine. The left side of his body took the worst hit. It is a wait and see situation.

Any and everything is appreciated. And if you cannot donate please remember him in your thoughts and prayers!

Thanks in advance!

6/25 (Initial intake) Jacob is in critical condition with brain swelling and brain bleed. Was able to get into a stable status with initial shunt placed to alleviate pressure in a controlled manner. They have him sedated and on a breathing machine. The left side of his body took the worst hit. It is a wait and see situation.

6/26 (Day 1)

Status remains the same. Jacob remains in critical condition and remains sedated and on a ventilator in ICU.

The shunt had to be replaced to a be in a better position.

Pelvic surgery is needed due to a tore ligament/alignment fractured, they will need to put a plate in to stabilized and surgery is deemed on the roadmap but unaware when due to current status.

At this time, with the pressure and damage to the brain from incident, we are unaware of where he will be mentally with his cognitive function.

6/27 (Day 2)

Status remains the same regarding the critical condition and remains sedated and on a ventilator in ICU.

Slight positive direction - due to doctors deeming him stable enough for surgery. They are planning to do surgery on his pelvis tomorrow for the plate they are going to put in. That will require a 12 week recovery ❤️‍ We’re praying that he will be responsive once his brain swelling and high pressures improves!!!

Family greatly appreciates the continued prayers for Jacob, who was a young and healthy fighter before this and will continue to fight! Thank you all for the support, and the thoughts. Esp the community who has stepped up to provide meals, and those to reach out directly. The love is felt and they are so grateful.

6/28 (Day 3)

Jacob’s status remains the same regarding the critical condition and he remains sedated on a ventilator in the ICU.

Surgery ended up being postponed due to his unstable condition with the increased brain swelling. (Brain swelling has remained but yesterday went down enough where doctors felt surgery was an option, but today it increased.)

The family continues to appreciate the prayers and support from our community. We are especially praying for restoration of Jacob’s brain function. Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support - its truly appreciated. ❤️

6/29 (Day 4)

Jacob’s status remains the same regarding the critical condition and he remains sedated on a ventilator in ICU.

Surgery for pelvic is scheduled for 6/30 at 9:00am.

Slight positive change in direction - doctors have taken him off of 1 of his medications (one that impacts his brain pressure.)

So due to swelling on day 1 - they had hard time assessing his left eyes reaction. Sporadic responsiveness was occurring from both of his eyes when you shine light (awareness - the medication Jacob is currently on for sedation also could be cause of lack of reaction, so at this time we are taking the reaction from both eyes as a positive change.)

Family is noting when talking to Jacob movements are occurring, one from his brother, John (II) when talking to Jacob, Jacob’s head moved a little from left to right which felt like a sign that Jacob could hear John (II). Jacob’s aunt, Lloydette was holding his arm and talking to him while noticing a slight reactionary movement in the same arm. If he’s reacting, it could be a natural body reaction but this could also possibly a cognitive reaction. Continued prayers and love surround Jacob.

6/30 (Day 5)

Jacob’s status remains the same regarding the critical condition and he remains sedated on a ventilator in ICU.

Slight positive direction - Jacob has come out of surgery a little before 11am and brought back to ICU for consistent monitoring and enhanced care for recovery during his current status. The family is so glad he has made it out of surgery so his body can begin recovering.

Continued prayers for meaningful recovery and mental cognitive functions. Next steps are going to be focused on his breathing the next couple days to assess if he is able to breathe on his own or will be needing a trac put in.

Jacob continues to fight and continues to be covered in prayer and love. The recovery timeline is still unknown but taking it day by day.

Family continues to appreciate all the love, kindness, compassion, thoughts, and prayers in their direction and especially Jacob’s. The family is in awe of the continuous outpour of love.

7/1 (Day 6)

Jacob’s status has taken a major positive turn. Doctors were able to take Jacob off the ventilator and stopped the sedation. He is awake and responding to some commands. Praising the Lord for positive steps! Continue to pray for his cognitive function and emotional healing.

7/2 (Day 7)

Progress is moving slowly. Jacob does have pneumonia. They have put him on an external breathing machine to help assist as with the pneumonia making his breathing a little more challenging. The positive news we got Saturday was the nurse said yesterday am he knew the date/time and where he was. Family members have went to see him right before he had the breathing issue and they both said he was answering questions appropriately but was having a hard time talking as he was so short of breath. We are so grateful to know that cognitively he is able to comprehend

7/3 (Day 8)

Progress continues to move slowly. Jacob was sedated most of the day and on the external breathing machine (doctors have placed Jacob on a couple medications to help with his breathing and wheezing.) During time where he was awake, family was with a Jacob while nurses were restarting Jacob IVs and they saw him uncomfortable, then family asked Jacob if he wasn’t a fan of the needles and he acknowledged and shook his head side to side.

The continued prayers are appreciated. So grateful for the consistent community and graciousness.

7/4 (Day 9)

Progress continues to move slowly. Continued daily visits with family time where he had conversations, although feeling a little worn out talking due to where the breathing tube /feeding tube previously was making his throat sore.

7/5 (Day 10)

Progress continues to move slowly. Off the external breathing machine. Family support and familiar faces are continuing to provide beneficial exposure for Jacob, gaining simulation.

7/6 (Day 11)

Progress continues to move slowly. Jacob has been transferred out of adult ICU into the pediatric ICU as he is slowly improving. Each day Jacob is having a constant flow of family members visiting and providing stimulation and positive challenge to cognitive function.

7/7 (Day 12)

Progress continues to move slowly. Jacob’s pneumonia is also improving. Jacob still has his chest tube. Currently assessing cognitive function and working with Jacob to assess his understanding and capabilities of follow commands.

Thank you everyone for the continued prayers to help lift Jacob’s healing process for mental and physical recovery. So grateful for the community and kindness showing up for providing communications to the family with thoughts and prayers. Especially appreciate all the warm meals being brought over to the family - so many delicious loving efforts which are greatly appreciated. I can’t find the words to explain how much the community has been showing up.

7/22 (Day 28)

I’m sorry the updates on Jacob have been limited lately. His condition has been in a state of flux over the past couple of weeks.

A general status update since the day 12 update:

Originally, in preparation for transfer to an out of state rehab hospital, Jacob was transferred from the Adult ICU to the less staffed Pediatric ICU. As the path is positive, there have been challenges. There was a setback which Jacob had coded. Unfortunately, he coded when both his breathing and heart stopped and required CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). He then required re-intubation and further sedation for an additional three days plus was admitted back into the ICU before he pulled his own breathing tube out (unintentional). He wants to stand but is not supposed to for an additional 9 weeks since he had the pelvic plate screwed in place.

Currently, Jacob knows his name and most others on an intermittent basis. Communication is challenging. He speaks in one word sentences.

While Jacob has been in the adult ICU being visited by close family and specific loving guests. Jacob’s go getter energy has been definitely making him restless. When having a designated support system he has been able to sit up on the side of the bed - as he is only a few weeks out from his pelvic surgery - he is still very limited on movement. As he is so ready to get out of the bed, there are moments where you can tell he just wants to be able to stand up. Being with his brothers and cousins are the time you can tell he is really wanting to be up and about.

Currently, Jacob’s recovery plan is moving forward and they are looking at transferring him out of state to a rehabilitation hospital (where they will focus on brain trauma as well as his physical restoration) next week.

Jacob is thankful for all the family time he has been getting to keep his brain active. At night, he enjoys listening to music.

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts, prayers, and all the efforts provided to Jacob and his family. Truly the love has been unreal and cannot say enough thanks for the outpouring of love that has been provided to this family.