Melanie has updated on the month I kind of missed, October 2008. When I say missed people could see me, my eyes were open, but 5 minutes later I could not tell you were there or what was said. It’s a pretty scary feeling and to go through it for 18 days you do wonder if that’s just the way it’s going to be because if it was some decisions needed to be made. But constant patience from loving life Melanie, Reassurance from one of our best friends Robin Juhren and the passionate spirituality of my sister-in-law Dee who were all my “sitters’ I finally “came back!”. Trust, faith, and prayer – good things to pass some time away.
I thought I’d end this part of the year with the beginning of this year.
New Year’s Day; January 1, 2008
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
As my precious 5 year old nephew, Prescott, would say, “Happy New Year Everybody!” Most of us get to the end of a year and think “I’m glad that year’s over!” Every day, every month and every year our lives are filled with good things, bad things and ugly things. How we deal with each one of these is the secret to a full and blessed life.
January 13, 2008
My 54th birthday
February
Went to Vegas for 10 days; meeting with 2 groups MDA and ALSTDI as we are seeing if it’s feasible to have a charity golf tournament in my name in Las Vegas.
March
Shawn, my sister, Alex, my brother-in-law, Prescott, my 5 year old nephew and Aubree, my 10 month old goddaughter came and visited for Easter. March Madness was as good as ever. DR. Silver became my new pulmonologist so I don’t have to always drive to Portland. I like him, he’s smart, he has a wealth of information and he spends quality time with you. On March 26th Melanie and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary; I had something designed that has been in mind for over 10 years.
April
As always the second week of April kicks off golf with the Masters. Congratulations Trevor Immelman, your life has change. Dana Londin, our Club’s head pro had planned a special event to kick off May, which is ALS Awareness Month. H had 10 of the top local PGA pros compete in a 9 hole shootout and the pros procured “pledges” from their members. We raised $23,601.00, an unbelievable amount and that’s when I thought of the Spotlight Person of the month because Dana did as good as job as anybody could possibly do on this event.
May
Sometimes you really get surprised in life and this is one of those times. May is ALS Awareness Month. National MDA picks 31 people (one per day) as “their day” for fighting through the disease and helping in some way to help spread the Awareness of ALS. I had just been honored to be named MDA-ALS Research Spokesperson for the State of Oregon for my fundraising efforts that were starting to get some media coverage. I was honored and proud to have May 13, 2008 proclaimed Jim Culveyhouse Day forever.
June
It took a lot of years but while we were in New York for the US Tennis Open I saw the neatest fountain. I grabbed a couple of napkins and copied it in small scale on the napkin. I found a great guy here in Salem through a mutual friend who was willing to take it on. He did a great job and it is an exact small replica of the one in New York City.
July
I thought I wrote one of my best updates that month. All these are on the website www.jimculveyhouse.com’ It was called Body, Heart and Soul. My body was deteriorating, my heart was broken as I couldn’t play golf anymore, but the one thing ALS could never take from me was my soul. Our best man and my old running buddy JT, Jim Terry, from Atlanta stopped for a day in between some business in Seattle and a late flight. It was great to see him and we had a nice talk.
August
Met with everyone we needed to; Sarah will go to South Salem High School and Pari to Sprague High School. Melanie had her 54th birthday on the 18th. Please go to Past Updates at the bottom of Jim’s updates page and read the tribute I wrote for Melanie, people have no idea how good she’s been for me for the past 25+ years and here she is again being ask to sacrifice everything for a dying husband, This lady is something, I lucked out big time in world of romance.
September
Did the US really win the Ryder Cup? And by that much? I still must be dreaming. My beloved Dodgers made a pretty good run and if they wouldn’t have gotten Manny in the best trade for one team I’ve ever heard of since Babe Ruth. I received a brace to strengthen my right leg, that matches my left leg.
October
On the 3rd I received the most memorable thing, next to my darling wife; I’ve ever received that is on the front page. A day’s tribute with an award that will be presented every year to someone who portrays what I tried to the game of golf and that’s the spirit of the game. (Please refer to the front page.
October 6th I was rushed to the hospital (see Melanie’s update) and returned home on October 23rd.
Lots of ups and downs, but I honestly feel like the luckiest man on the earth.
The more you give you get twice more in return.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
October 28, 2008
Medical update from Melanie Culveyhouse (Jim’s wife)
On Monday, October 6th Jim was admitted to the Salem Hospital for, what we thought was a mild case of pneumonia. We were instructed by his pulmonologist, Dr. John Silver, to go to the emergency room and have them evaluate Jim. By the time we got him to the emergency room Jim was in respiratory distress; I knew we were safe because we were in the hospital, but I was really scared. Emergency staff put him on his BiPap/AVAPS machine which assisted his breathing and allowed the doctor to get his heart rate down and his oxygen levels up.
Many tests were done and lots of antibiotics were given those first two days. Dr. Silver told us Tuesday night “it was time for a trach to be placed.” Because Jim’s lungs are compromised by ALS placing a tube in his trachea opens his airway and allows him to breath on his own or on a ventilator.
A tracheotomy was done on Thursday, October 9th by Dr. Nicole Vander Hayden, a trauma surgeon at Salem Hospital . She was wonderful!! From surgery, Jim was placed on a ventilator and sent to ICU. In ICU the goal was to get Jim off the ventilator during the day and only use at night while sleeping. The first two days that worked great - then the bottom fell out!
Jim started to decline and decline fast. He was unresponsive and his vitals were the pits. I have to admit I thought we were losing him on Monday, October13th. As we later found out Jim not only had a very severe case of pneumonia, he was battling sepsis (Sepsis has been dubbed the medical "perfect storm" because it is a medical crisis that can attack patients who are fighting off even seemingly nonfatal illnesses or injuries. Severe sepsis killed Muppets creator Jim Henson, who had been hospitalized for pneumonia, and recently took the life of actor Christopher Reeve, who was being treated for pressure sores of the skin. With this insidious illness, the body attacks itself. Bacteria inside the body may grow out of control or invade the body from the outside through wounds or IV lines. Sepsis is not an infection; it is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome to an infection, which poses dire risk of organ damage and death.) and kidney failure (due to the sepsis).
By Tuesday night, October 14th Jim was showing signs of improvement but he was very disoriented and delusional from the disease and medications. On Wednesday, I had not slept at the hospital and I arrived that morning at 7:30. The respirator therapist came in at 8:00a for Jim’s normal treatments. He turned to walk out of the room; I was standing at the bedside holding Jim’s hand. Before the Respiratory (our hero Mike Phillips) therapist got to the door Jim starting struggling to breath and is oxygen saturation levels fell like a rock. Mike acted with great care and precision in getting the appropriate help for Jim. Mike called for Dr. Silver. When Dr. Silver arrived he assessed the situation and cleared the room of unnecessary people and started to work on Jim. A mucous plug had lodged in Jim’s airway (Dr. Silver said to tell Jim it was the size of a golf ball) and it needed to be cleared. It took LOTS of medication to calm Jim down, so he rested most of that day. When I was explaining what happened to my family, it was like a scene out of the television show ER. It was like a perfectly choreographed dance, everyone knew what to do and when.
After Wednesday, Jim steadily improved. We were told a date of Oct. 23rd was the target date for release. In order for Jim to be released from the hospital, all caregivers had to learn to take care of his “new” medical needs. We attended classes and passed our 24 hour test (we had to care for Jim for 24 hours.) Last Thursday Jim was sent home in an ambulance accompanied by two very pretty blond, female paramedics!!
We’ve been home five days and Jim continues to regain his strength. The ventilator is going well and we are creating a new “normal” around our house.
As many of you know, Jim and I have a very strong faith in Our Lord, Jesus Christ. He was with us at every turn. The care and the people He placed in our path were nothing short of a miracle. We felt every prayer and witnessed God’s power and mercy first hand.
Jim and I want to thank you for the many prayers and calls of concern. We especially want to thank my sisters Dee and Melinda and our friends Robin and Peter who spent numerous hours by our side in the hospital and with our family helping to keep things going.
Much love to all,
Melanie
On Monday, October 6th Jim was admitted to the Salem Hospital for, what we thought was a mild case of pneumonia. We were instructed by his pulmonologist, Dr. John Silver, to go to the emergency room and have them evaluate Jim. By the time we got him to the emergency room Jim was in respiratory distress; I knew we were safe because we were in the hospital, but I was really scared. Emergency staff put him on his BiPap/AVAPS machine which assisted his breathing and allowed the doctor to get his heart rate down and his oxygen levels up.
Many tests were done and lots of antibiotics were given those first two days. Dr. Silver told us Tuesday night “it was time for a trach to be placed.” Because Jim’s lungs are compromised by ALS placing a tube in his trachea opens his airway and allows him to breath on his own or on a ventilator.
A tracheotomy was done on Thursday, October 9th by Dr. Nicole Vander Hayden, a trauma surgeon at Salem Hospital . She was wonderful!! From surgery, Jim was placed on a ventilator and sent to ICU. In ICU the goal was to get Jim off the ventilator during the day and only use at night while sleeping. The first two days that worked great - then the bottom fell out!
Jim started to decline and decline fast. He was unresponsive and his vitals were the pits. I have to admit I thought we were losing him on Monday, October13th. As we later found out Jim not only had a very severe case of pneumonia, he was battling sepsis (Sepsis has been dubbed the medical "perfect storm" because it is a medical crisis that can attack patients who are fighting off even seemingly nonfatal illnesses or injuries. Severe sepsis killed Muppets creator Jim Henson, who had been hospitalized for pneumonia, and recently took the life of actor Christopher Reeve, who was being treated for pressure sores of the skin. With this insidious illness, the body attacks itself. Bacteria inside the body may grow out of control or invade the body from the outside through wounds or IV lines. Sepsis is not an infection; it is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome to an infection, which poses dire risk of organ damage and death.) and kidney failure (due to the sepsis).
By Tuesday night, October 14th Jim was showing signs of improvement but he was very disoriented and delusional from the disease and medications. On Wednesday, I had not slept at the hospital and I arrived that morning at 7:30. The respirator therapist came in at 8:00a for Jim’s normal treatments. He turned to walk out of the room; I was standing at the bedside holding Jim’s hand. Before the Respiratory (our hero Mike Phillips) therapist got to the door Jim starting struggling to breath and is oxygen saturation levels fell like a rock. Mike acted with great care and precision in getting the appropriate help for Jim. Mike called for Dr. Silver. When Dr. Silver arrived he assessed the situation and cleared the room of unnecessary people and started to work on Jim. A mucous plug had lodged in Jim’s airway (Dr. Silver said to tell Jim it was the size of a golf ball) and it needed to be cleared. It took LOTS of medication to calm Jim down, so he rested most of that day. When I was explaining what happened to my family, it was like a scene out of the television show ER. It was like a perfectly choreographed dance, everyone knew what to do and when.
After Wednesday, Jim steadily improved. We were told a date of Oct. 23rd was the target date for release. In order for Jim to be released from the hospital, all caregivers had to learn to take care of his “new” medical needs. We attended classes and passed our 24 hour test (we had to care for Jim for 24 hours.) Last Thursday Jim was sent home in an ambulance accompanied by two very pretty blond, female paramedics!!
We’ve been home five days and Jim continues to regain his strength. The ventilator is going well and we are creating a new “normal” around our house.
As many of you know, Jim and I have a very strong faith in Our Lord, Jesus Christ. He was with us at every turn. The care and the people He placed in our path were nothing short of a miracle. We felt every prayer and witnessed God’s power and mercy first hand.
Jim and I want to thank you for the many prayers and calls of concern. We especially want to thank my sisters Dee and Melinda and our friends Robin and Peter who spent numerous hours by our side in the hospital and with our family helping to keep things going.
Much love to all,
Melanie
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