Lora Rising and family car accident

We are raising funds to cover necessary expenses to care for and support our Mom, Lora Rising, and our Dad, Brady Rising as her caregiver, through her recovery from the severe car crash she was involved in. My Dad will need to stay with her in the hospital for an undetermined amount of time. Long term recovery is estimated 6-9 months from now. I have copy and pasted updates from Dad’s Facebook page below, which go into the details of the accident.

Lora’s daughter, Julie, her husband Drew and their three children, Ezra, Jubal, and Gideon were also involved in the accident. At this time, they are all doing well and have been released from the hospital already. More details are in Dads update below.

From Dad:

Monday August 14

Update 2:04 PM

She is still stable and very swollen. They tell us the next three days are the worst for trauma. She’s made it through the first 48 hours with flying colors which was also critical. They are doing another CT scan soon on everything just to make sure there are no more bleeds or developments, and now scheduled an IVF filter to remove any blood clots as the neurologist doesn’t want to use the IV blood thinners. It’s installed similar to a heart catheter except through a vein not an artery. They’ve also ordered an MRI of her spine just to get a better look at everything to make sure no other issues with it. They feel confident with the CT scan they seen everything but the MRI will confirm it.

Today is hard, really hard. It’s all sinking in what our lives might be like going forward. When will normal return, will it ever return?

I don’t care if we go back to normal as long as the new normal still has her in our lives. I give God all credit for getting us this far and all control to get us where we will need to be.

They haven’t changed her prognosis at all. It’s still good with the full expectation of her making a complete recovery. Maybe I just need to stop overthinking.

Patience is not one of my best virtues…

Keep praying please…

Update 11:40AM

Some new issues some old.

Loras vitals are all staying good. She’s not as responsive today to us. She is still sedated. The nurses don’t seem concerned as she is following some commands.

Her breathing is good but when they lower the sedation she fights the breathing machine.

She’s more swollen today than yesterday but is still staying very stable. THE NEXT THREE DAYS ARE CRITICAL as her body being swollen is sign it’s dealing with the trauma and is healing but will also be the worst pain days she will have.

She’s still dealing with some fluid in her chest making it hard to get her lung fully inflated. They increased the suction on the chest tube and that seems to be helping her get good breathing numbers. She is breathing more volume than the machine output under sedation which is good. She also developed a small blood clot behind her knee so they are giving her prophylactic blood thinners for it. They will start her on IV blood thinners later today after the neuro surgeon clears her for it with her slight brain bleed. Scans coming up later today. Keep praying they will be clear. Seems every time they scan her something else is found.

Please Lord no more surprises

Pray request today:

1 Strength strength strength and patience patience patience

It’s going to take some time. The attending Trauma doctor did indicate she is stable enough to move to Pittsburgh. We will wait here and wait on the Lord to make her stronger first. Maybe once she’s ready for a regular room and out of the trauma unit. That will be a couple days at least.

2 for her swelling to go down

3 for her chest tube to be able to drain to allow her lung to inflate fully.

4 for the blood clot to dissolve with the medications

5 for the breathing tube to be able to be removed and her to be able to take over on her own

6 still for infection to stay away

7 for her to be returned to us as a family

8 for the medical team treating her. They are the best. She is not the most complicated case they have here but close.

They are amazed at how well she is doing considering the extent of her injuries. That’s your prayers being heard by our Almighty Gracious God and Savior.

Please keep them going up….please

12:22 AM. She’s already had a cat scan on her leg and another chest Ex ray today.

Everyone says get some sleep. I wish I could. Sleep only comes when exhaustion takes over and it’s very brief when it does.

So far so good today. 25 minutes in and no surprises yet today. I said yet!!!!

Let’s see what comes later on.

Sunday August 13

Additional to earlier

We met with her Trauma team this morning,

The brain bleed and spleen lacerations are very minor so they are just going to monitor them for now. She’s not losing blood anywhere now.

They will start to ween her off the ventilator slowly to see how she does and if she keeps her levels up. That may be later today or tomorrow if she keeps improving.

She is still in critical condition but very stable.

The Long term prognosis is good at this point.

If she can get off the ventilator and have the chest tube removed in the next few days she will be moved from ICU to a room for further recovery and physical therapy

Then at some point hopefully get her moved to physical therapy near Pittsburgh

We’re focused on the short term right now that getting her breathing fully without the respirator and the chest tube, but we’re also looking forward to getting her closer to home and then home. Full term recovery at this point they expect will be 6-9 months so that’s a praise for today so keep those prayers going to.

Thanks

Brady

A little set back this morning for Lora

They told us this morning she has a brain bleed but have not told us the severity of it. She seems to have all her neurological functions so please pray that it’s very minor.

She also has a level 3 cut on her spleen. We knew that was there but they graded it this morning.

They won’t be removing her breathing tube today now. She’s alert somewhat and answering question with blinking her eyes and can slightly node her head to say yes or no.

We played some get wells from the grandkids and she closed her eyes and welled up in tears so she’s still in there. Just have to remind ourselves it’s the sedation but it’s what she needs to start healing right now.

UPDATE on Lora Rising

As many of you know Julie’s family and Lora were in a bad car accident Friday evening. They were stopped at an accident on the highway and someone ran into the back of their car at a high speed. Thankfully EMS was already right there for the other accident and got them out and to the hospitals very quickly.

Drew, Julie, and their boys are all doing ok now and have some injuries to recover from as well.

Lora is going to have a long recovery ahead of her

She has:

13 broken ribs, 6 on one side and 7 on the other, acute renal infarction one on side,

Broken pelvis,

Detached pelvis ligaments

Thoracic Vertebrae fractures, no spinal cord injury that they see thankfully.

Broken Tibia, and Fibula that were double compound fracture,

A large gash in her calve from the fractures,

Dislocated knee,

And a broken ankle.

They did surgery on her pelvis ligaments, reset her knee, cleaned and closed up the gash on her leg, and reset her ankle.

She will need another surgery in few weeks on her lower leg to reconstruct the two bones.

I’ve never looked forward to a surgery but I am that one as she will be out of the woods by then. Hopefully!!!

She is stable now and was alert talking with the nurses when they got her to the hospital in Louisville KY, and before her surgery early Saturday morning.

They put her on a ventilator to help her breath and keep her oxygen levels up. They were low during surgery so the ventilator stayed in. She can breath on her own which is great news.

They have her sedated and on IV pain medications. She is also on medication to keep her BP up since the trauma pain meds, and the sedation medicine all lower her BP. She lost a lot of blood during the accident, and surgery using about 10 units altogether. She has a chest tube in to relieve a Pneuma Thorax and swelling probably from a lacerated lung and the broken ribs. It has been getting better throughout the night and seems to be clearing up.

She hasn’t had any more blood since her surgery and her hemoglobin, oxygen, platelet levels are all looking good now.

She is following directions when the nurses check on her, squeezing fingers, wiggling her toes, moving her arm etc. when they back the pain medication off she becomes alert right away but is in lot of pain which is also good considering the back fractures. The trauma doctor and nurses are pleased with where she’s at now with all her vital signs.

Goals for later today and tomorrow:

Remove the ventilator and hopefully her levels all stay up.

Remove her sedation and BP medication altogether. The sedation has to be taken off completely to remove the ventilator.

They did this already tonight with her BP medication but the sedation causes her BP to go too low so we try again tomorrow, and the next day until we get there. She can maintain her BP on her own without the sedation but the pain is too much right now without it.

They did a complete scan of her. No other internal bleeding that they seen, no spinal cord injury, no head injuries, she does have a neck brace on just to keep her still but no Cervical injuries to her neck, she does have a slight laceration on her spleen. They also put a central line IV in that leads strait to her heart to allow medicine to be directly sent through out her body, as well as blood if she would need anymore.

Please pray specifically:

1. for the pain to subside and the swelling to go down all over her body

2. For infection to stay out of the leg wound and out of her body with the central line ran to her heart.

3. for her to be able to be taken off the medicine that keeps her BP up and that her BP stays up without it

4. for her to be able to breath on her own and still maintain good oxygen levels without the ventilator. She can’t get deep enough breath’s because of the pain from the broken ribs. Once the ventilator is out later today hopefully, she has to start coughing stuff up and they want her up and even moving asap so pneumonia doesn’t happen. Physical therapy even within the next day or two.

5. Pray for her to have the strength to fight through the pain and procedures, and also for complete healing if the Lord would so will it and that she’ll be back to being Nana very quickly

6. Pray for Julie’s family to continue to heal. Ezra needed surgery on his scalp and has a lot of stitches, Jubal was ok, little Gideon had several scans through out the day, and is going to be ok. He has a very slight brain bleed. Drew has a fractured back but can deal with it once they get back home. Julie just bumps and bruises. She’s tough like her mama.

7. Pray for strength, understanding and endurance for our family and Drew’s side of our family also. We love them all so dearly. They are going through this too…

8. Pray for the excellent trauma doctors and nurses who have been taking care of her so she can get better. We don’t know what the overall outcome will be for Lora. They haven’t looked that far ahead yet as they’re only focused on short term goals but we know God gave these people the talents to treat her whether they know Christ or not. They say they are very pleased with her progress so far.

9. This is the hard one for me…but Pray for the man that ran into them. After the accident he stood there watching everything take place while smoking a cigarette, that he’d have some kind of remorse for his careless actions so no other family ever has to go through this again because of him. This probably isn’t his first rodeo. But honestly Pray he will come to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I truly mean that

When these things happen everyone says I’ll be praying for you or her. We deeply so very much appreciate that and I know many of you actually will lift us up in prayer. But here is the challenge to all of us, If you say you’re praying for us please mean it, then do it. Be on your knees in fervent prayer. We’ve all said it before, but we’ve also all not done it before.

Prayer needs to be taken seriously.

1. Prayer has the power to do anything God can do if He so wills it. Answered prayers are from and directed by God.

2. When we earnestly pray we go before the Throne of Grace, but our God allows to do so boldly and make our requests known according to His Grace (unearned favor) and His Mercy (freely given compassion).

Please pray earnestly, fervently and boldly for us. For Lora…

Hebrews 4:16 (KJV 1900): Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

PS: pray for those involved with the gun fire I can hear through the hospital window right no somewhere out in the streets. No joke.

Lora and Ezra were in the 3rd row seats which are now part of the second row seats. It is only by Gods protection they even got out alive.