February 4th

It's hard to believe this all started 3 weeks ago, in some ways it feels like yesterday and in others like a year ago. We really don't know much more than we did when we went to our family Doctor on the 15th. Thus when they say they "practice" medicine, they really mean they are practicing on you!
What we do know; Jami is sick, she has had one heck of a viral infection in her brain and brain stem that seems to have began to turn, but, just when we feel things might be really moving along, the virus likes to show it's sense of humor and revert back to one of its many tricks just to remind us it is still here. There has been significant nerve damage, the whole extent we do not know, but, we are optimistic for a full recovery.
Jami has been a trooper and really re-written the definition of endurance. One of the nurses who has had limited interaction with Jami, but has seen her on this floor since she came in and has helped a number of times during her seizures and contractions, today was here to help during one of her massive contraction attacks. He knelt down and talked to her, he has been nursing on this floor, and in the renal unit (this floor is one step down from ICU and CCU) for years. He told Jami that she was by far the toughest person he had ever met, to go through such pain, frustrations, length of stay, therapy, regression, tests, tests and more tests and always with a smile, always happy and grateful. It was encouraging for her, this guy has seen it all. He was very serious and is not the type to fluff somebody up, he knelt down and was talking to her, wiping tears (his and hers) calming fears and offering encouragement as well as admiration for her endurance. The other nurses were shocked to see this side of him. She is the epitome of strength through all of this and has been a true example to me and others.
Her time here at the hospital is coming to an end, we are now trying to find a rehabilitation facility in Utah county that fits her needs, so if anyone has advice we are all ears!
Please continue to keep Jami in your thoughts and prayers, she is still very sick and the Doctors are still trying to get the right cocktail of medication to keep her from having seizures, suppress the viral infection and stop her headache so she can be stable enough to start real therapy and look to coming home.
Thank you for all of your love and support, Jami has found true peace by connecting with friends old and new, family and strangers through all of this.

Doing better

Things here in room 382 are looking up, Jami is doing better in allot of ways and we are so grateful for the smallest improvements and she has made some pretty big steps. Knock on wood, it seems as though the seizure medications have finally been dialed in, they have really been spread out and we are so relieved. We are hopefully optimistic that the virus has peaked, it really seems she is on the fast track to recovery. Everyday people cant believe how much better she looks. She has been working really hard with her therapists. The physical therapists come by 2x per day. She has a speech therapist that drops in once a day and is always followed by the occupational therapist. Needless to say she is getting lots of attention. They are very hopeful that they will be able to mend the nerve damage and optimistic that it will not be permanent. She still has major headache pain and lives in her sunglasses, she is definitely the coolest patient on the 3rd floor. Next week we are hoping she will be moved into the transitional therapy unit and begin the next stages of recovery.
Once again we are so grateful for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. Starla is always telling us of all the people who have called, dropped off cards, helped with the kids and are praying for us. The kids are doing great, Grandma Starla and Grandpa Jim have been such a blessing and it sounds like it has been one big adventure with a little school mixed in to fill the slow times of the day. They are very happy and have loved the cards, gifts and phone calls that have come into "just them" THANK YOU FOR LOVING OUR KIDS!
We are so thankful for friends and family who share their love in so many ways. Please continue to keep Jami in your prayers, we are not out of the woods yet but the timber is getting thinner!

Update Saturday night

It has been amazing all the support we have felt as a family, what more can we say than, Thank You to you all.
Today we met with another one of Jami's doctor's and kind of vented some frustrations. He handled it well and expressed allot of the same concerns and frustrations at their inability to put a real name or terms or to be able to provide some expectations that might be able to help along the way. They can give diagnosis, that are broad sweeping but contain no real or applicable information, more as something to call "it" or to calm some of the nerves and questions we have than actual facts and steps to take so we can move forward.
The medical teams are working diligently, calling each other at all hours brainstorming with ideas, or, "have we considered this", studying medical journals from all over the world, and just talking it through with colleagues locally and all over the country. Thank you for all of your suggestions, and questions to ask, we bring them up continually and apologize to the Doctor's for second guessing or questioning, they are always professional and open to questions and not afraid to run one more test to make sure.
We are so appreciative to all who are going through this with us, Jami continually says "I can feel their prayers". Thank you to all, there is no greater appreciator of people and their time and talents than Jami, and even in all of this, she is continually thanking everyone, or apologizing to the Doctors and nurses for taking time away from their day's, at first they did not know how to take her, but her sincerity and love shine through even in the darkest times and they have all shed tears with her, tell her they love her and continue to ignore the poor people on this floor of the hospital.
Thank you for your inspiration, calls, blog comments and text's, we have read them all many, many times and feel your love, they have been a true "re-charge" for her through some very hard times. I have always thought I had an amazing and very strong wife, it has been made more than apparent through this time that she can take more than her share and smile through it, apologize for putting you out and make you feel more comfortable by laughing through some very hard times, I am so blessed to have her as the mother of my children and so proud to call her my wife!
Thank you again for your prayers, and continued prayers in our behalf, we feel your faith and it helps us to continue on.

Greg & Jami

Thanks and update

First off, thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, tears and worry. It has been a blessing to read all of your texts, voice mails, emails, tweets, blogs, comments and cards to Jami. It has been such a great distraction in tough times to be able to read and re-read them to her, she always smiles and cries, (so yes, she is still the same Jami) and says how much she loves whomever had sent the note.

Her personality and love has all the nurses neglecting their other duties to stay and chat, laugh, cry and spend a little more time with her. She has 2 awesome nurses that work at night that are literally angels sent from God to look after her. Both of them on their time off today (when they should have been home sleeping and being with their families) have come into check on her, and give her hugs and encouragement. It is truly amazing to see people who are devoted to healing others and see Gods hands at work through them.

Her doctors are hopeful and have spent many, many hours trying to figure out what is causing this to happen. They are fully invested in her recovery, and continue to come up with new ideas, and tests to try to pin this down and make it right. If anyone has Dr. Houses #, Jami would gladly make you the pie of your choice, I would even promise a whole summers worth of lawn cutting for his mobile number!

Jami is on a roller coaster right now and wants off, the highs and lows are frustrating to say the least. The good news, the paralysis in her face appears to letting up, the bad news is the migraine that has yet to stop, her constant joint, skin and deep bone pain and that her body is continually racked with whole body contractions almost like a seizure so she has been unable to get any real rest. Pray for her to be strong, for her body to accept the medication and to stop fighting itself, so that she can get the rest she needs to begin to heal and for her Doctors and nurses to be continually inspired to provide the care our Jami needs and has given to others.

The kids are staying at Grandma Starla and Grandpa Jim's, the boys are going to a BYU basketball game tonight, they are well cared for and loved. Homesick but happy.
Thank you to you all for your continued love, prayers and support

Greg & Jami

BRING ON THE CARDS!!!!!

Tonsils and Traditons

After years of sore throats and missing over 4 weeks of school, the stars aligned and yesterday Coleyboy finally got his pork chop sized tonsils removed. We know, what a bummer, missing days of Christmas break recovering, but it was that or re-do 4th grade!
He is recovering well and the anticipation of Christmas is helping to ease the pain.

One of our family traditions going all the way back to Coley's 2nd Christmas is to brave the crowds at the mall and let the kids sit on Santa's lap to tell him a few of the things they want and get their picture taken. Below is the picture I took of the kids talking with Santa, Cole was giving his list which includes a Butterfly knife, as you can see, Santa was quite concerned!
Here is a picture of the picture of the kids all smiling with SantaChristmas Eve brings another tradition of opening one gift, to our kids frusteration the present is always the one containing pajamas, here they are infront of the tree!This year the kids all got robes along with their P.J.'s, here Ysabel is showing off the Tinkerbell robe and pajama's she got

Taggert got Iron Man pajama's and robe, not sure why, but robes= karate when your 6 year old?

Coleyboy doing his best to smile through the pain, Hef would be proud son!

This year due to snowy weather and schedules we got to spend Christmas Eve with just our family. In keeping with the spirit of "A Christmas Story" we went out for Chineese food, to our disapointment, we weren't able to get the waiters to sing Deck the Halls for us no matter how hard the kids begged, or sang Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra, Ra Ra, Ra, Ra loudly! The duck however was amazing!
After we came home we decorated a ginger bread house as a family, (a first for all of us if you can believe it!) by the way, you have to glue the house together prior to decorating? Who would have thought? After rebuilding the roof, it looks pretty good we thought, just watch out for the toothpicks!

The kids are now tucked in bed, next to the warm glow of the TV showing Polar Express!
Santa is on his way, get to bed and stop playing with your lap...
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CHECK OUT THEM PEEPERS!

Taggert got new glasses, check em out, he really diggs em!