mark mclane and family

It's Saturday - Feb. 26th - Great NEWS!!!

So, Mark got the word yesterday that he should be going home, finger crossed - no set-backs - positive energy - come hell or high water - drum roll please.....

Friday, March 4th!  Can you believe it?  Miracle Boy will be going home Friday!  Everyone is so blown away by Mark.  His spirit, his power to heal, his luck and his determination! 

There is still a long time till completely healed.  Everyone knows Mark has to have adult supervision 24/7 for 6 months.  We all knew he was a problem child but 6 months?!  That's because there is still a chance of seizures and strokes.  Each day that goes by the chance decreases, but to be completely out of the woods is 6 months.  **See visiting Mark and how you can help at home!)

He can't drive for 6 months.  (Thank goodness - have your ever ridden with Mark in a car?  On a road?  With other drivers?)  Plus, he can't drink for 1 year.  Melissa will pick up his slack!

The other thing Mark is very excited about is that he got his little bandages off of his head and he was able to actually wash his hair for the 2nd time since the accident.  The price of oil these days, I hope they capped it. 

In all seriousness....Mark - You rock!  You are an inspiration, a miracle and your purpose on his planet is greater than we know yet!  Get you butt home!

As of Monday, Feb. 21st

Well it's been a busy day for Mark and it's only noon!  He has called me twice so excited about his day thus far. 

1)  Mark walked with his physical therapist outside.  He walked over a little bridge, with class 4 rapids due to the rain.  He walked for awhile and then when they turned around, he walked back on his own without any aid.  He said he was going at a pretty good pace too...and in his slippers!  No worries, Melissa is bringing his tennis shoes!  He's advancing to the next level of shoe.  How great is that?!

2)  Then Mark called me to let me know that he is now taking up Gardening.  He planted 6 heads of lettuce in the garden.  Of course he reminded me he had to do it standing up (they have a tall planter) because of his back.  Duh...Mark, I know about your back!  I am a pro at putting on back braces. 

Mark is so excited about his progress and of course so is the whole world.  Without jinxing anything, they said Mark could be home in as little as 10 to 14 days if everything keeps going forward as positive as it is now!  He'll probably be in better shape after this whole mess!

As of Sunday, Feb. 20th

Mark is having a very good weekend!  We are happy for that.  Though there is not a lot of therapy that happens on the weekend, he has been up a lot walking.  Family have been helping him walk around the place and he is practically to a sprint.

He did get back on his regime of walking up the stairs and ramps and working on balance without getting dizzy.  Seems like such simple tasks that are hard for us to comprehend.  For mark these are huge steps! 

He can even see better out of his eye.  The good one, still not much change in the other one!  That's great news cause he's gonna need that one! 

He ate Ice Cream for the first time in over a month!  He very much enjoying that tasty treat.  Though he still worries about his cholesterol.  We told him to relax and enjoy it! 

Visit the how to visit Mark section if you need a Mark fix!

As of Friday, Feb. 18th

So far, things are going really good!  Mark had a delicious nap Friday about an hour after he got up.  He told the nurses, no I'm fine, I'm not tired and then as soon as they left the room, he was out.  It's just not his nature to nap during the day, but he's slowly getting used to it!

Lunch was good....His brother Jeff brought some food from Comforts in Ross and Mark chowed on the Chinese Chicken Salad.  (In celebration of Chinese New Years!)  He ate with Jeff, Melissa, Guapo and Shawna.  It was great to see him sitting there, enjoying his lunch and talking about thinks other than his injury.  The rest of the day was physical therapy.  Walking up and down steps, up and down ramps and really working on his equilibrium as that is his biggest challenge right now do to no vision in one eye and no hearing in the other.  Mark is starting to walk by himself, which is fantastic.  He still has his brace on of course, and will have for 3 months.

Each day he is getting stronger and stronger and making leaps and bounds.  Let's all just cross our fingers this will be his path for the next several weeks.  Every day he goes without a set-back is one day closer to recovery and being "out of the woods".  Though the woods are still pretty thick. 

We will be posting visiting hours soon.  This weekend, he is just getting acclimated back into his routine. 

As of Thursday, Feb. 17th

Another day, another hospital.  Mark is finally back at Kentfield but not after a very trying day.....for everyone!  Last night a roommate joined Mark and that was very trying as he was a very nice man, but wasn't able to control bodily functions very well.  Next up, 8:00am they wake him to go and have a sonogram as they were concerned about his liver.  Mark injured it some during the accident and then with all the drugs he has been on and all that he has been going through, his levels were coming back showing some stress to his liver.  So they did the sonogram and found that he was really okay.  His liver is fine and is healing itself. 

So back to his room so he can eat.  He eats, gets a bath, and takes a nap.  1pm they are there to take him to Kentfield.  Then it's a circle of people/therapists who have to go through the whole evaluation process.  At 5:30, the doctor was still in there and here's what she had to say!

1st and foremost, Mark has specific Doctors Order that he can only see visitors for a maximum of 2 hours on weekdays - that includes his family.  Then on the weekends, he has more freedom.  The next hurdle for Mark besides the therapy and healing is to try to prevent anything else from happening and he has a good chance of having seizures.  Not over 50% but you never know.  He had a slight chance of a blood clot.  The number one reason he could seizure is sleep deprivation.  Unfortunately, our days of visiting Mark when we want to have come to an end at least temporarily. 

We will be posting how you can visit Mark on the "How you can visit Mark" section.  He will be in charge of his own scheduling but he's aware that this is very very important to know that he has to have his rest as there is a risk of seizures.  That risk is there but greater without sleep.  He would see people 24/7 because he's just that way, so it will be up to us too to make sure he is pacing his visitors and that we aren't overwhelming him.  He will be in therapy up to 4 hours a day - pysical, speech, etc....so he will be even more tired.

Next she said that the fact that Mark's chances of a blood clot were so slim and that he survived it was another miracle.  (She told Melissa she should play the lottery. In fact, she did.  We need to check the numbers!) She said that the chances are zero of this happening again, especially since he's on this blood thinning medicine and will be for 6 months. 

Anyway...now I probably sound like Mark all this talking, but really he is sooooo happy to be back at Kentfield.  From a screamer down the hall at Marin, to a trachy guy in his first Kentfield room, to San Quentin prisoners in Marin, and homeless roommates in Santa Rosa, Mark is finally back to his private sanctuary and he is very excited about that.  When he got to the ICU at Marin General, he said, "okay, so I have a blood clot, but please don't let them give away my room!"  Home sweet, Home away from Home.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 16th

Well today was a good day for Mark.  He is doing pretty good and will hopefully go back to Kentfield tomorrow.  Fingers are crossed.  Today, he did a lot of physical therapy and all that jazz.  Tomorrow they are going to do a sonogram on his liver.  Evidently it was injured during the accident.  Exactly how much we aren't sure so they are going to do the sonogram today to try to determine that damage and if something needs to be done.  We'll let you know that outcome tomorrow and if he is back at Kentfield

Mark's spirit continues to shine!

As of Tuesday, Feb. 15th

Sorry for not writing yesterday.  Oh man....where to start.  This has been an interesting two days.  Let's see....so Mark was in the Cardiac ICU all of Sunday (with the exception of ER in the AM) here, he was in great hands in a nice big room with a big window and a great view.  Most of Sunday, he was in a great deal of pain.  Between the pain pills and the IV Morphine, they were able to keep him out of pain so that he could breath (Sleep good and deep breaths) as that is part of his healing for the blood clot. If he doesn't take those deep breaths into his lung a whole new set of problems could arise - like Pnemonia.  But he did good and slept great through the night.  It was nice there for Melissa cause she actually had a chair that made into a bed and she could stay the night.  Monday for Valentine's, Mark said to Melissa when she woke up...."Happy Valentine's Honey....I'm alive".  Certainly the best Valentine's Melissa could ask for.

So then let's see.  Mark did really good on Monday.  It was just controlling the pain, still doing Physical Therapy while in the ICU and continuing the blood thinner (which will be a part of his regimend for up to 6 months now).  He's been eating great, (thanks again to everyone for the food!) and getting the exercise and mobility that will hopefully prevent any other clots. 

Each hospital has had some pretty interesting patients.  In the Cardiac ICU we had a prisoner from San Quentin.  Very interesting when the guards took him out with their guns and bullet proof vests, you could here the chains on his legs as he left.  I quess that was his little taste of freedom.

Now Mark is down in the outpatient section of the hospital where they are really just monitoring his pain (as that's an indication of whether the clot is gone) continuing his Physical Therapy and getting better.   It's a smaller room, smaller bed, smaller window - still okay view, but now there is a "screamer" down the hall as we call him.  Every 10 minutes he's yelling for a nurse and it's not pretty cause he's not asking nicely.  I won't go into any more detail.  We'll save it for when we are really ready to laugh about it.

Overall Mark is doing good.  This was just a speedbump but it hasn't derailed Mark or his soul!  He is grounded and just going along with the flow, even when the nurse put ear drops in his one good eye.  Oh, the stories to be told.

More tomorrow....hopefully the screamer is really really tired and ready for a long sleep, but knowing Mark, if he could he'd walk in there and read him a story.  A really long story.  Hugs and kisses to you Mark!

As of Sunday, Feb. 13th

Well, just when you think it's smooth sailing, Mark hit a "speed bump" today. Last night he was complaining that he had a lot of pain under his heart. It didn't get any better as he thought it was just a cramp or something. Once the nurse asked on a scale of 1 to 10, where is your pain and it was at 7...for Mark, that's alot. He can withstand a lot as he is a tough cookie, but for a 7, that hurts. So at 6:00am this morning, he was taken to Marin General Hospital where they found a blood clot in his lung. Luckily it was there and not other organs that would have been more devastating. He is on a blood thinner to make sure the clot doesn't get any bigger and then it's time that will take for the clot to get smaller and pass through and then the pain will go away. He could be there for up to 5 days. So at this point, it's just a waiting game. It definiately makes us stop, and even though he is doing better, it reiterates the tragic event that happened and that he is still in a very fragile state. Thank you all again for your prayers and support. Mark has posted one comment yesterday for everyone and will do so again in the words from mark section....Our arms are around you Mark and we are loving you hard.

As of Saturday, Feb. 12th

Well Friday was a tough day of Physical Therapy for Mark.  He was in the thick of things the majority of the day, working his upper body with weights, speech therapist and then walking up and down stairs.  But he did it all.....then the reward was going to the cafeteria with his family and eating dinner....sitting up, without help, and while watching his children enjoy themselves with their family.  For the kids to see Mark doing so well is so important.  For them to know their daddy is going to be okay and be a "normal" daddy again helps them everyday.  It's a beautiful thing to watch Mark eat (even when it's spinach) and talk about things he enjoys and how this has affected him.  He loved all the visitors that he had here yesterday and we'll be getting more images up soon to continue to see his progress....we even have some from the ICU we'll post...ick!  Glad that part is over!

As of Friday, February 11th

Mark is going to move to a private room on Saturday at the Kentfield Center. It just seems no matter where he goes, he makes new friends and becomes the "favorite" patient - though we think it's because a friend knows a friend kinda thing.....SHH! Mark sat up yesterday and ate his dinner all by himself. Something that is hard for us to not take for granted. It was a big step for him and certainly a great moment....even though we forgot the camera.

Mark is seeing people this weekend, see Visit Mark if you want to visit him, and I know he'll have a great time seeing people for the first time in awhile. We'll update you on Monday as to how his weekend was unless there is something to report in between. Other than that. Mark is starting the rehabilitation process and we'll have more to report on Monday once they have evaluated him and understand his needs and set goals.

Have a great weekend.