Monthly Archives: December 2009

Hello Everyone. Sorry for the long silence. We have been very busy the past couple of weeks with getting into the swing of things at home and the upcoming holidays. Aaron is doing quite well. He is enjoying home cooked food and getting stronger every day. We are working in conjunction with Lehigh Valley Respiratory to continue the process of weaning Aaron from the vent. He is doing much better with the spirometer which is an instrument that measures the strength of his breaths. In the past few days he has spent several hours each day on just room air (no vent, no oxygen) and has done quite well.

Aaron, Jaime, & Tory went Christmas shopping at Target last week and had lots of fun. Aaron also did some shopping a couple of days ago without Jaime!  😉  Aaron, Jaime, & Tory will be leaving for Malvern today to spend Christmas Eve with Sue and Carl and family. Please keep them in your prayers as the weather could be a bit of a challenge. They will be returning Christmas day (weather perrmiting) to celebrate with his Dad’s family and Sunday they will be celebrating with his Mom’s family.

Aaron has his initial evaluation at Kennedy-Krieger on January 11th. For Aaron and his family, it can’t come soon enough, but we are all very excited and can’t wait to get to work at some aggressive physical therapies. Aaron is especially ready to get to work!

We will try to do better at keeping all of you up to date. We so appreciate all your support and prayers. Merry Christmas!

Aaron took a much anticipated road trip on Sunday to attend Tory’s 5th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese in Downingtown. Any doubts that Aaron may have had about traveling quickly disappeared as the trip went off without a hitch. We were only there a minute or two and he was talking, laughing, and taking in the scenery (a building full of kids tearing up the joint) enjoying every minute. Watching the way that Aaron looks at Jaime & Tory it is hard to tell which one is the love of his life (I think that it is a tie).

As if that wasn’t enough he was on the road again Monday night as Jaime & Aaron took Tory bowling to Clearview Lanes in Elizabethtown. Tory had been invited to a friends bowling birthday party back home in West Chester and the girl got sick and had to cancel. Tory was obviously disappointed (Aaron wasn’t because he got more time with his girls) so J & A brought the party to her. The bowling didn’t last long (1 game) but the three of them went next door to Hennigan’s Restaurant for dinner. Needless to say that the sparkle in Aaron’s eyes is greater the past few days. The next tentatively planned excursion is on Friday night to my JV basketball game at Elizabethtown High School.

Ground work to get Aaron to Kennedy/Kreiger continues to be laid. Nothing in this process happens fast enough. Aaron said that he is ready to tear it up at K/K.

 Aaron’s fantasy football team got back on it’s winning ways once again and is now 12-2  with a two game lead with two weeks left. Magic number is 1.

Just a word of advice…..if you plan on visiting Aaron you better call ahead to see if the Road Warrior is home.

Aaron is now residing at 934 Hedgewyck Lane in Elizabethtown.

Please keep us all in your prayers. While Aaron is on numerous meds the best method for healing continues to be your prayers!

Thanks

The much anticipated day of Aaron’s return home happened yesterday 12/8. For the first time since 8/8 Aaron was somewhere familiar and traveled by transportation (our van affectionately know as Big Blue II) other than an ambulance. The trip was uneventful which is a good thing. Gina, Diane, & I helped Aaron get settled in and Diane treated everyone, including Jeff the resp. therepist to lunch (subs from Pizzatown). The highlight of the evening was Jamie & Tory’s arrival. It was the first time that Tory was able to visit with Aaron since he had left Magee. She fell asleep in bed with him, resting her head on his chest and touching his hand. Dinner (pepper steak w/ mashed potatoes & lemon marangie pie was provided by Mammaw Wood. Dinner tonight (manicotti) is curteousy of Angie Parise. We look forward to the next step in Aaron’s Journey as we the family with assistance from Jeff now take on the task of weaning Aaron off of the vent and moving >forward> once again in the recovery process.

Thanks to everyone for meals, love, hope, & prayers!

Keep em coming!

The Ephrata Lion’s Club is hosting a dance on Saturday, January 30th, to benefit “Aaron’s Journey.” So how did the Ephrata Lion’s Club find out about Aaron you may wonder? Well, it’s a little like playing the old game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, only in this case it’s more like Six Degrees of Aaron Wood. So hold on to your hats, because here we go. Aaron is the cousin of Erin who is married to Nathan Gingrich who is the son of Jim and Karen Gingrich who are the owners of Gingrich Memorials as well as a number of other Memorials including Eitner Memorials whose branch manager is Mike Cisney who is also the president of the Ephrata Lion’s Club. Long story short, Mike went to his Lion’s Club with Aaron’s story and they decided to help by giving the proceeds from the dance to Aaron’s Journey. Whew! And if you check out the “Gingrich Memorials” link on the right, you’ll see that a portion of all sales for the months of November and December are going to Aaron’s Journey.

So about that dance…
Did I mention that it will be featuring DJ “Bouncing Bob”? Okay, so I live in Colorado and have no idea who this Bouncing Bob guy is, but it must be a good thing.
Another very important thing you should know is that the number of tickets are limited, so don’t wait too long to make up your mind. Also, you must be at least 21 to attend.

Here are the details:
Contacts for Tickets: Mike at 717-733-3452, or e-mail Nate at Nathan@gingrichmemorials.com
Admission: $15 per person (includes beer, soda, and snacks)
Dress: Casual
Date/Time: Saturday Jan. 30, 2010 from 8-12 p.m.
Where: Ephrata AmVets Building, 614 S. State St., Ephrata, PA

Aaron’s Aunt Deb was with Aaron this morning and he was awake and alert.  I arrived around 1:00 and found Aaron was STILL wide awake and alert.  That was wonderful.  He had a visitor today around lunch time, April Coble.  April touts herself as being Aaron’s “biggest fan”  because she faithfully attends/assists with as many fundraisers as possible. April’s highschool reunion was recently held where she spoke of Aaron and his accident.  Money was raised at the reunion and will be donated  to Aaron’s Journey.    April, we appreciate all that you do!   Actually, we appreciate ALL OF YOU;  those who attend the fundraisers, those who haven’t been able to attend but still find a way to participate, the local businesses who have so graciously donated gifts for the raffles held at the fundraisers, the business owners who held the fundraisers,  those who send good thoughts Aaron’s way, those that pray for his recovery, those that send cards and gifts, those that visit.  We appreciate everybody who checks this blog and passes the word on about Aaron.    I could go on and on but I won’t.  Oh, I guess I did.  Sorry, I was on a roll!

As the days wind down at Select, we will be busy preparing to take Aaron home.  Today, Gina and I started training on the ventilator Aaron will be using when he leaves Select.  First we learned (or were refreshed) on the tracheostomy, the different supplies used with regards to the trach, etc., then moved on to the ventilator itself.  We  just learned basics today, such as what the buttons on the face of the machine are for and about some of the possible settings.  Tomorrow, we are going to have a four hour training session to learn MORE about the ventilator.  It’s a lot to learn and it’s extremely important, so we have to get as much from this training as we can.  Aaron was involved in the training, too.  (He slept during the very beginning, but was awake for most of it. )

Aaron was in a good mood today, but he was a little saddened tonight before I left him to go home because he talked to Jaime on the phone and both she and Tory are not feeling well.  Hopefully Jaime will be feeling better soon and can get up to Select to see Aaron.  She was planning on visiting tomorrow, but can’t now because she’s ill.  He really misses her when he doesn’t see her for a few days.  Must be love, huh?

Please pray for Aaron and his family as we get ready for the trip home.  Thanks!