catch up...

"Where there is love there is life."

geesh, seems like every time i sit down to right a blog update i get distracted, just want to spend time with my man in the evening, or oh wait, get distracted.

currently ben is watching the tour de france so i have some time while he is distracted by that! actually it is his choice because a few days ago while watching olympic swimming trials (again his choice but i love too) he saw an advertisement for it and kept track of the days to when he could watch it! he is in charge of the controller this am...that's what I get for having a man who used to be an avid road biker on my hands!

these past few weeks have been busy, yes i say that alot but it was! even it being busy i was able to sneek away for a few days to san diego! yes you read it right, i flew two states away! the last time i was away (and the first time i had left ben overnight since being home) was back in march for the wounded warrior wives retreat. this time i went during the week for four days. it was hard to leave but once i was on the plane and knew that i couldn't just jump out to get back to ben i was alot better!

i went down to hang with my amazing friend lindsey! it was going to be a time of relaxing but yet having fun. we pooled it, beached it, climbed it, ate it and funned it up! it was weird to wake up (no i couldn't sleep in even though i tried) and not have any responsibities but me. ususally it is getting ben up, breakfast, meds, ready for therapies and the activities of the day...it was weird but a good break!

here are just a few pics of our fun times (i actually didn't get that many and there are tons on linds phone i have to get)...

{left the rain}

{for the sun and palm trees}

{first stop!}

 {we reached the top}

{the view}

{loved me some beach}

{no, the colors were not planned!}

{friends unite!} 

{havent seen shelly in years!}

i got home last thursday night and the next morning were were out the door and on our way to easetern washington. my lil bro who graduated this year was selected to play in the all star highschool football game. some of my family hoteled it and some camped it. when we were not at the hotel we were hanging with everyone at the campgrounds that was less then 10 min away! we had a busy weekend but it was alot of fun!

{making signs for uncle wilson}

{and the girls}

{lil bro is #12}

{prob the best burger joint in wa!}



when we got home some of our flowers needed some watering but these beauties came from the yard...

{rose}

{peonies}

this week was getting back into the swing of things. there were a few added appointments for ben and also some therapy time changes so it was more like juggling the calendar in all different ways. ben ended up in the orthodontist chair on post. it should have happened a few months ago but that's a long story. he has major issues going on with his mouth that may include a broken jaw stemming back to the accident. we are being referred to the oral surgeon and so we go up there on monday. i am praying against a broken jaw but if it is there it would explain alot of ben's issues he's had! hopefully we will get answers on monday and see what that treatment plan will be. please be praying for that!

we wanted to thank you all for your support, thoughts and prayers after diesel passed away. it has been hard on both of us but we are getting through it. when ben sees other dogs that is when he feels it most. we did get some answers and they were that he had some necrotic (dead) tissue in his bowel track and 3 areas where his bowels actually ruptured. even if i would have taken him in when i got home there was nothing that we could have done. it was just a very sad situation. we will get another pup but as to when we don't know. summer is probably not the best time just because we have alot going on and we will also have to decide it we want another puppy (we love them) or get a dog that already has his service dog training. maybe we will get a lil one (loving me some french bulldogs) and then get one that is trained already. we shall see. another goal would be to get in our own home first. that we would love to happen sooner then later!

thank you for baring with us and our random posts that seem to be few and far between! summer months get busy and i have a feelin they just might keep getting busier with upcoming plans! :)





diesel...

sad, heart breaking news

diesel passed away last night

very unexpectantly and very quickly

i was on the phone with the vet office

and while i was on hold i went to check

on him and he was gone...

he is going back to the vet this morning

to see if they can find out what

went wrong since his surgery was on

tuesday. i hope they do because it

might bring a little more closure.

our sleep last night was not good

ben kept waking up and talking

about him and i just couldn't sleep.

ben blamed himself and so did i but

we talked about it and know that is

so not the case nor should we go there.

we woke up this morning and all of the

reminders were there. the dog bone, the

leash, the ball, the collar, the dirty wet

kissed sliding door, the dog hair,

his toys, his tail not leaving bruises on our

legs and so many more things.

we have had him since he was 6 weeks

old and he was almost 10 months...

he worked his way into our hearts and there

he forever will be. he became apart of

our family and for as much as he was a stinker

he made up for it in his crazy sweetness.

please pray for us as we walk through this

time and our hearts are hurting.

we will miss him so much...

Diesel aka Stinker Butt August 27, 2011 - June 15, 2012

poor diesel...

If I am friends with you on facebook or you follow "Prayers for Ben" on facebook you would know how our afternoon has gone down! Ben and I are just fine but Diesel our pup has had a rough few days and afternoon.

This past Friday afternoon I noticed he had been a bit sluggish and he was refusing to eat. Ben I took off for an over night trip (blog post to come) and my brother tended to him. Well, Diesel didn't eat that night or the next am. We got home in the afternoon and he was still sluggish and just wanted to sit close to us. I watched him for a few days. He would play fetch, drink water and lay down. Poor guy just didn't look to hot!

Thursday he had some rocks in his crate so I knew he had swallowed them and got them back up...this is not new for him at times! I took him to the vet today and she checked him out saying he didn't have a temp, heart and lungs were good and she didn't feel anything in his stomach or intestines. She wanted to do an xray just in case.

It was a few minutes later and I heard shrieking from the xray room. I had stayed put in the exam room and I am glad I did because Diesel decided that he would have a huge blow out back there! I am sure he felt much better after the case but I'm sure the techs were not to thrilled...although they were all laughing and I heard, "no way" "oh my gosh we have a big one" and "umm, this is Diesel and we think he has a rock in his gut!" Well, they got the xray and sure enough he had a massive rock in his small intestines!

I left him there to have immediate surgery and they said the vet would call when he was out. Poor guy was to get a midline incision large enough for the vet to get his hand in his abdomen, iv's, monitoring and pain meds! I know it's not the same but it took me back to the days or my surgery although it was seat belt related and not rock!
The vet called me about 2 hours later and said that they had retrieved the massive rock that was lodged deep into his small intestine and caused significant inflammation.

Diesel will be monitored there for the next few nights. He will have to be on pain meds and IV fluids and then weaned onto food and see how he does.

The timing of this incident is good and bad. I am glad that we caught it and that we were able to get it taken care of quickly. It's just that schedule and emotional wise there is so much going on in our lives! We really didn't need this but here it is!

We would appreciate your prayers at this time. The biggest prayers is for when he comes home we can keep him laying low so he doesn't burst his incision and also that there is no infection. Also pray for us as this week is super busy and full of stuff! We will be fine but your prayers are appreciated!

Oh and if anyone has any ideas on how to keep him from eating rocks besides keeping him crated that would be great!!

self steps and pull ups...

Saying we are busy is an understatement! Saying we are, ok maybe just me, tired is an understatement! Saying our brains are on overload, another understatement! We are busy, tired and the brains are def on overload! I don't know if anything else can fit in our brains! Earlier today as we were talking to Ben's OT I said something and it didn't come out right. Ben looked at me and said, "and you say I have the brain injury?" Seriously the nerve of that man in that moment. All we could do was bust out in laughter! I will agree Ben has the traumatic brain injury but I have aquired brain injury better known as ABI! Everytime I went to start a blog I would wake up...yup, that's how I am at night! tonight is the night for a blog post!

There is no way that I can go back and post all of the pics, videos and updates that have been going on! Way to many! I will share some amazing things Ben has been doing in therapy just in the past few days and then also some random things.

So as some as you know, and you follow our Prayers for Ben on facebook. I have been better at putting things on there that Ben has said or things that are going on. I wanted to share some of those with y'all who just read on here too. Some are funny, amazing and bitter sweet!

...while laying in bed and waking up Ben told me that he wanted to use his GI bill, become a physical therapist to help soldiers and others get better

...listening Ben pray in bed after he told me he's discouraged and bitter of the fact he was in the accident and cannot do the things he wants. I told him the best thing to do was pray and let Jesus know his heart! Lord bring more healing to your son and bring peace to his heart...

...this morning I gave Ben his pants and tshirt while he was sitting on the couch. I went to our room to finish getting ready and I knew that his shirt would be on when I came out and then I would help him put his pants on. To my surprise he had both his shirt and pants on! I asked him how he did his pants and if he stood up to put his pants on. He did not stand but he said he just moved them up! WOW! I think I will soon be fired as his care giver and just be his wife...

...took Ben to get his get his haircut for the first time in almost 2 years! Yes, I had been cutting it! After he saw it and we were in the van he said, "you're fired!" Say what! Haha I will glady accept that firing...

...ben saw someone smooch on tv and he looked at me and told me he remembered our first kiss! He gave me the details and got all bit one lil detail right! He kissed me and the said our kisses today are much more meaningful. love him...

It is all these lil things that amount to big things!

So, on to some amazing video clips I have! Ben has been doing so well and working so hard in his therapies. He gets so frustrated when he cannot do more or do it better but just reminding him how far he has come seems to help a bit. Of course to him if it is not 110% every time it is never enough but his 110% is just different now!

So, he wanted to do some pull-ups last week. First attempt, got his arms up, second attempt, this...

Something AMAZING Ben did today was take a few steps on his own! When I get this it was about his 5th time doing it so he was a bit sluggish but he did awesome! He was very proud of it for sure!

Pretty darn stinking cool huh! Prayers are continuing to be answered right before our eyes! We serve an amazing God! So awesome He is!

Ben is off of all the meds below. A few are duplicates but these were all the ones I threw away. Currently Ben is only on 2 seizure meds and vitamins. Our next step is to get him off the seizure meds and pray that he doesn't need to be on them. This will come in time...

Just a few random gym pics...

We got our hyperbaric chamber set up on Saturday. It has been a long time in coming but it is here and Ben has had a treatment every day since then. We pray over his treatments that the Lord would just use this piece of equiptment to bring more healing. The plan is to rent it for 2 months and then go from there. Today I sat in there and did my devotions. I read the Bible out loud and even though Ben couldn't hear me that well, his spirit was getting it!

Today Ben had his hyperbaric treatment, his own Bible reading time, Speech therapy, lunch, OT for 3 hours and then back to play with 2 nephews and a niece we had for a bit. When I came in from checking the meat on the grill this is how I found him, he was pooped...

I am sure I look the same at night but ha, no one is here to take my photos! I am sure that taking these of Ben and posting them will come back to get me because he may take some and post them at one point! Lord help me if that ever happens!!

Thank you for being patient with me on my lack of postings! Most weeks I think I am going to get better but as you have seen I get behind! Thank you also for your continued prayers! They are a huge blessing and are still very much needed! Y'all are a blessing to us...