Monthly Archives: January 2010

Greetings All.

Sorry for the time between entries. Aaron has been busy working at getting stronger breathing on his own to prepare for his intense week at Kennedy/Krieger. (More on that later)

Today was his first day of rehab at Hershey. He will be rehabbing twice a week there so he will be in tip top shape come March 1st. He got to do the standing machine for 40 minutes today. It is a piece of equipment that gradually takes him from a sitting to a standing position. He really enjoyed it and was ready to do it again but will have to wait until next week.

Aaron continues to be out and about for appointments, b-ball games, shopping, and dinners out. He, Jamie, Gina, & I went to Rockwell’s the other Saturday and had to wait for over 1.5 hours. We got a free Rhino Tour for our trouble. Went to Smokey Bones the next day but no freebies since we got seated right away.

Keep checking the site as info concerning several fund raisers will be coming soon. Basket Bingo @ the E-town American Legion on 3/20 & a golf tournament in June.

And now the big news………Cousin Chuck from Montana are you ready for this? Aaron has been off of the vent completely for 4 days…..day & night. Look out weeds here it comes. Next step is to get rid of the trach. Chuck…..where do you suggest we toss it?

Gina will be adding pictures to this post later so check back.

Keep on praying

Would you like to do something special for Valentine’s Day? There’s a wonderful Valentine Dinner Dance planned at the Middletown Moose on February 13th with the proceeds going to Aaron’s Journey.

By the way, even though this is billed as a “Valentine” event, don’t let that scare you away. It isn’t for couples only, especially since the real purpose of the event is to help Aaron. Bring a friend, heck bring a whole bunch of friends, and plan to have fun.

Here are the details:

Date/Time: February 13th, start time 6:00 p.m.

Location: Middletown Moose, 100 Mill Street Middletown, PA 17057

Entertainment: The band “Life After Work” (formerly “Crossroads”) will start playing at 8:00, and that’s when the dancing starts. There will be a photographer on the premises so that you can get that special photo taken. There will be roses for sale, and there will be a 50/50 auction. The lodge will be decorated appropriately for Valentine’s Day.

Dinner: The entrée is stuffed chicken breast with buttered onioned potatoes, veggies, and dessert. Drinks (soda, beer, mixed drinks) are extra and require cash. Munchies will be put out later on in the evening.

Dress Code: There isn’t one, but dressy casual would probably work.

Age Requirement: You must be at least 21 to attend!

Tickets: The ticket cost is $15 and there are 130 tickets available. Tickets can be picked up at the Middletown Moose by calling 717-944-9846. You can reserve your tickets for up to 5 days by calling, but if not picked up by then the tickets will be made available for someone else. If you are planning on attending the “Quarter Auction” later in January, you can also pick up your tickets there from Amanda Hackman. There aren’t any special seating arrangements, but if you are buying tickets in bulk for a group you can request to have a section saved for you.

Aaron had his evaluation at Kennedy-Krieger today. We arrived shortly after 9 am and wrapped up shortly before 1 pm. His physician was very well prepared and very thorough in his evaluation and examination of Aaron. His attitude was one of hope and lofty goals (not an attitude we have encountered very often). His recommendation for Aaron is to begin therapy at Kennedy in about 6 weeks. He wants Aaron to further strengthen and stablize his breathing first and also begin “traditional” outpatient therapy close to home as a “warm-up” to his Kennedy program. He talked like their program may really kick Aaron’s butt; Aaron is up for the challenge! Everything about Kennedy from the staff to the facility itself was just very impressive and we all felt very encouraged when we left there today. In the picture below on the wall behind us are the words “In my mind I can do anything”. There were encouraging words like that at various places in the building.

Jaime was in Myrtle Beach for the past 4 days. Please keep her and her family in prayer as her grandfather Paul is in the hospital as a result of complicatons from his diabetes. She was unable to be at Kennedy with us today, but she is here at our house now and she and Aaron are cuddled up watching a movie. A perfect ending to the day. 🙂

There’s a new fundraiser in town, and this one promises to be a lot of fun!

On Friday, January 29th, there will be a “quarter auction” at the Moose Lodge in Elizabethtown, with the proceeds from the admission fee, the raffles, and the bake sale going to Aaron’s Journey.

So what’s a “quarter auction” you may ask? Well, I asked the same thing, and it works like this:

1. The $5 admission fee gets you a number. Additional numbers can be purchased for $1.

2. Each vendor will put 4 items up for bid, one item at a time, and depending on the item it will be assigned a value of between 1 and 4 quarters.

3. When the item for auction is announced you put your quarter(s) bid in the container in the middle of the table and hold up your number. For example: If you have 2 numbers and want to bid with both numbers and it is a 2 quarter bid you must put $1 into the container, i.e. 2 quarters for each number you are bidding with.

4. The bidding is closed and the money is collected.

5. A number is pulled from a bucket filled with all the numbers.

6. If your number is called and you bid on the item, you win it. If you DID NOT BID on the item another number is pulled and called. If there are 6 numbers pulled with NO BID, then the one closest without going over gets the auctioned item.

There will be raffles of baskets filled with goodies. Each Vendor will be donating 1 item to be put in 1 large basket to be raffled off.
Vendors will include: Pampered Chef, Longaberger Baskets, Cookie Lee Jewelry, Premier Jewelry, and many more. There will also be Gift cards donated by local merchants to be Auctioned off to benefit Aaron’s Journey.

There are a limited number of tickets available, so please call to reserve yours (see contact information below).

So start saving your quarters and come enjoy the evening.

Here are the details:

Location: Elizabethtown Moose, 51 N. Market St, Elizabethtown PA. (it’s the old theater on the square in E-town).

Time: Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and you’ll be able to walk around and visit the various vendors including the food stand and the bake sale, and enter the raffles. The auction starts promptly at 7:00.

Contacts for Advance Tickets: Pat Hamilton at 717-367-1150, or Vicki Skees 717-367-1027 .

Concerning Quarters: This isn’t a casino, so you definitely need to bring your own quarters, and bring lots of them!

If anyone would like to donate a gift card or raffle basket please call Pat at 717-367-1150.

I would like to add a special thanks to all of the people who are donating their time, energy and resources to helping Aaron!

Hello All,

One of Aaron’s nurses was with him all day today. When I returned home from work  around 3 p.m. she reported that  Aaron was capped (his trach completely sealed off) all day again; he has been doing this for almost a week now. He’s breathing normally all day through his nose and mouth with no extra oxygen.  The new pulmonologist that we saw last week directed Aaron to use his spirometer at least 10 times every hour while he’s awake; this is how Aaron can strengthen his lungs and the muscles around them in order to eventually wean from the vent and get rid of his trach. We’re really seeing the results of that! The even bigger step that was made today was that as of this writing, Aaron has not had to use the coughalator, a machine that helps him to cough up secretions, nor did he need to be suctioned. Suctioning consists of putting a thin tube down his throat via his trach to suck out excess secretions that he can’t cough up. It also creates some additional secretions because it is invasive… a real catch 22. This is huge as it’s the first time since his accident that he has not had to coughalate or suction almost first thing in the morning. It  wasn’t that long ago that he could spend quite a bit of time especially in the morning trying to get his lungs cleared using these aids. He was also able to move all 3 balls upward on his spirometer today. Awesome! We’re all soooo proud of your determination Aaron. Keep it up!

Greetings. Aaron & his family wish you and yours a Happy New Year and hope that you enjoyed a Christ filled Christmas.

Aaron continues to amaze us with his progress at home. His breathing is getting stronger every day. We had a very encouraging visit with his new pulmonology group on Thursday. They are very interested in helping Aaron to wean off of the vent and think that he will accomplish this sooner rather than later. Needless to say we like them.

Busy schedule with doctor visits today with Dr. Newman (family doctor) and Kennedy/Krieger on 1/11. Aaron says K/K won’t happen soon enough. He is ready to get after it.

Aaron continues to be out and about. Diane & Aunt Den rung in the New Year with Aaron at our house. New Year’s day was spent with Woody, Gina, Aunt Barb, Uncle Pete & Aunt Diane at Mammaw, & Pappaw’s for a traditional pork & sauerkraut meal. We also enjoyed watching the Penn State game (WE ARE!). Then it was off to Malvern for the weekend. This most recent excursion was with Jaime to visit with Carl & Sue. Aaron enjoys his visits with them and always returns refreshed. They have gone out of their way to accommodate his every need. Thanks guys! His next ventures out could be as early as tonight to my J.V. basketball game at EAHS vs. Conestoga Valley and again on Saturday at EAHS vs. Wilson.

And finally….please don’t give up on this website. We realize that the posts have been less frequent but it will continue to be an important part of Aaron’s recovery as we relay information about his progress, future fundraisers, and who knows…..you may even hear from Aaron himself!

We love you guys and are thankful for each and every one of you and the roles that you play , whether you realize it or not, in his recovery.

P.U.S.H.

Pray Until Something Happens