October 25, 2009
Yo DaVitans,
It is Sunday night. I have been absent for a few days. I am accountable for that, and apologize. Here is why:
2 weeks ago, at 11 pm on Saturday night, Denise and I received that call a parent dreads. It was from the Emergency Room of a hospital saying our 21 year-old son had been in an accident.
Let me immediately jump ahead and say that he had his second and final surgery 2 days ago, on Friday. After a long rehab, he will almost completely recover. We have much to be thankful for, it could have been far worse. He will be back at school as of tomorrow.
I arrived at the ER by midnight. I was with him when they admitted him to the hospital at 3 am. I stayed with him in his hospital room. By the time the nurse finished all the transitional procedures around vitals, drugs, etc, it was after 4 am. They gave me a cot to sleep next to his bed, and woke us up at 5:15 to take us into emergency surgery, in the first possible time slot at 6 am. I had not held my son’s hand for awhile, but I did that a lot in the hospital that night, and as we waited for them to wheel him into the OR that morning.
I was there, of course, when he woke up. And when he had the waves of pain and they worked on stabilizing the meds. Denise took over in the mid-afternoon, and I went home to sleep for 2 hours and to do an important and time sensitive DaVita conference call. Then I returned to the hospital, and we stayed until he was getting ready for sleep.
For those of you who are reading this blog regularly, you might remember I said that I missed exercise on a Sunday for perhaps the first time all year. This was why.
Things stayed intense after the surgery, as it was not clear if he would need another, and if so how much work they would have to do. Many doctor appointments, much caregiving at home. Then, as those of you who were reading this on Monday (oct 19) already know, I messed up my own foot on Sunday/Monday of this past week. I injured it, and then did a bunch of stuff to make it worse, and triggered a strong inflammatory response. So my son and I were in boots and on crutches at the same time, which was cute I suppose, although that is not the word we would have chosen at the time.
I had fluid drained on Thursday, was put on a strong anti-inflammatory, and all that combined with the boot/crutches and elevation … has led me to be almost 100% recovered as of this minute. So my condition was a minor nit in the events of the last 2 weeks , although to describe it as inconvenient would be a bit of an understatement.
Reflections:
1. The caregivers at the two hospitals were wonderful. It reinforced to me how so many of our patients and their families must absolutely love you guys that are in the centers and home programs. The gratitude we felt for how great they were being with our son and for our son was so deep. I told one nurse she was “an angel on earth.” We are trying to figure out how to thank them each appropriately.
2. I have made many DaVita Village Network announcements and personal gifts over the years. It felt quite different to be on the receiving end of the Village. The teammates who work closely with me offered to take over anything I wanted to give up, to take any trip I wanted to cancel, to do anything to support me and my family in any way. To realize what a cocoon of support, caring, humanism and even love I had available to me and my family was an amazing gift.
3. All of us mommies and daddies, we know we love our kids. A lot. But to feel that love in the context of one of them being hurt and at risk was stunning, it was almost overwhelming, except you couldn’t let it be that. In fact I was happy to do some DaVita work as a way of getting some relief from thinking about our son.
4. I guess like many things in life, my son, me and my family get to choose how we feel about this. We can feel unlucky that it happened. Or we can feel lucky that it was not worse, and that we were the beneficiaries of so much support.
Now our family is now moving on with our life. Which of course calls for my answering the question, what about The MM II campaign? Here is the report:
1. I could not exercise on Tuesday-Thursday. I was physically unable because of my injury.
2. I did exercise on Friday and Saturday, in a careful manner — if I kept the lifecycle seat low, and kept the resistance at a medium level, I could keep my foot in a position which did not create pain. I will report on the detail over the next couple of days or in my next grid, but it was 24 minutes on Friday and 50 on Saturday. In addition to the lifecycle I did some stretching, sit-ups, and weight-lifting.
3. Today (Sunday) I could do “inside” exercise almost normally. So I got in a nice robust 60 minutes, and it felt very good to be back in the flow. Within a couple days I can head back outside, so next weekend should allow some good stuff!
4. Diet coke performance was strong. 1 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, 5 on Saturday, zero on Thursday and Friday. My best week in years I bet!
5. Eating was not good. I gained back the pound or two I had lost. I used the situation as an excuse to relax my discipline. Darn it. But I am getting back on this saddle tomorrow.
I hope many of the rest of you had a calmer two week period. I hope many of you hit your goals ! We are all in this together.
One for All & All for One, (not just a slogan to some of us, and I am grateful for that)
KT. (Writing today not as your Mayor, and not as your CEO . Writing today just as a daddy. A lucky daddy. )
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Katrina said,
October 27, 2009 @ 9:34 am
Someone of a weaker character would have cancelled the MM 2; without objection from one person. It would have been understandable. Yet you get up and make sure you are out there not only to keep your word but to keep other teammates going. THAT is what leadership is all about.
My weeks have been slightly less interesting; so I won’t go into details. I’m graduating higher in the crunches and pushups. I have gone out to the tennis court a few times with my 17yr old daughter. It has actually given us more quality time together. (I have four children all together. One in college, the 17yr old and two in elementary school. Time can get thin)
My daughter told me it looked like a had on one of the infomercial wraps around my middle! “you’re not hanging like before” was her words. So it’s working!
I am doing well with eating. Right now hot cocoa is my nemisis but not over indulging.
Will weigh in on Sunday… looks promising!
Good luck with your family and injury KT… sorry if I sound alittle yogic but much love and energy to you and your family.
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Betty said,
October 27, 2009 @ 10:59 am
As a parent I can totally relate, having received a knock on the door late one night some years ago. There’s nothing worse for a parent. But you are right, we get to choose how we feel about it, and having great support helps so much. It’s good you both are mending, and thanks again for sharing life with us all.
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Cari D said,
October 27, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
I am incredibly thankful to be part of this Village (and not a regular corporation!). I am incredibly thankful to have a leader who is comfortable being so very transparent, and who can share his personal experiences “as a daddy” with us teammates. It is amazing how special those little people (mine is still little – nine) who then become big people are. Children are proof that miracles still happen.
As for my diet habits, I am drinking a Mtn Dew right now. With sugar…. shame, shame, shame. However, generally speaking my beverage intake has improved this week. More water, more milk in my coffee w/o cream, another supply of veggies in my fridge after my weekend grocery run. So some consistency in this area. But that said I’ve had a bit too many from the sweet and salty category. I’ve been walking still (outdoors, mall) and during one outing did move to a light jog… so nothing huge and fabulous but for me these are positive steps. I’m glad I signed up for this because it has introduced two months of self accountability to hopefully set me on the right path this winter!
Haven’t mentioned the poundage. Want to lose at least five maybe ten. Scale hasn’t budged yet but I’m going to focus a little harder in weeks ahead.
I also want to add that part of making healthy choices I think extends beyond the physical exercise and eating habits. This week I followed up on a volunteer commitment that I let fall by the wayside over the past few months… could have blamed the group I started volunteering with for not following up with me but I know the onus is on me to be tenacious in my attempt to get out there and be available with my time. Hoping to have a chance to use a little of my skills (HR by trade) to work with some local youth/families who need career counseling. I’ll tell you what – when you feel there is something more purposeful for you to be doing it makes you feel more accountable to take care of yourself. I want to be healthy and have good energy levels to be able to keep up with the important things 🙂
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Pamela Brule said,
October 28, 2009 @ 6:10 am
Wow. KT, I can so relate to that call every parent dreads. We received that same call on January 3rd, 2008 when our 20-year-old son and 3 of his friends were hit by a drunk driver. We saw the car before we saw the kids and we were horrified, and fearful of the outcome after seeing what was left of Rachel’s car. Thankfully, after many hours in the ER, every one of those four kids walked out of there under their own power, albeit some on crutches. Our son ended up with a separated shoulder, ten stitches in his head, neck injuries, and a herniated disc. All but the disc are resolved, praise God. The drunk driver (his 9th offense) broke his neck but survived and he’s still incarcerated. I have to say that my reflections on this closely match your own: the rescue and hospital staff were AMAZING, I felt very, very supported at work, we feel blessed that our son and his friends survived and we’ve moved onwards cherishing every moment even more. I send best wishes to your entire family and especially your son for complete healing and recovery.
On to MMII. On September 15th, I joined a gym, as my efforts at home were sporadic at best. On 9/22, I enlisted the aid of a personal trainer and I’ve been training with him 2x/week ever since. I feel stretched to my potential physically and it’s wonderful! I have been doing my exercise “homework” between training days very consistently, missing maybe 4 times in 6 weeks, which is a huge step for me.
I also joined Weight Watchers to assist with the nutritional aspect, and I am tracking every bite-lick-and-taste, staying within the number of “points” I am allowed daily while also pretty consistently meeting the Good Health Guidelines for each food group, water, and healthy fats.
I have dropped 12 lbs. so far. And counting.
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Joyce said,
October 28, 2009 @ 7:13 am
Well, KT and fellow teammates, I have fallen completely off the wagon. The last week I did not follow my plan and this week I am doing well either. My goal is to increase my activity level to 30 minutes 6 days per week. My head is not in the game, so I am not focusing. It seems I have a million things going through my head of all the items I need to get done that I am not getting done. I know that this is counter productive, so that is why I am writing this to you. Maybe it will help me focus and certainly add to my accountablity. I have kept my food intake in check and I am sleeping well. My stress level is moderate and I am handling it well, so there is absolutely no reason why I can not increase my activiy level. I will keep telling myself this. When I read what is happening in KT’s and some of the others lives, it inspires me to do better. Thank you for sharing.
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Leslie Tighe R.N. said,
October 28, 2009 @ 7:14 am
K.T. I hope and pray you and your family continue on the road to good health. You are an inspiration. With all that is going on with your son and yourself I admire your commitment and discipline, it helps me with mine. I hear you in the back of my thoughts when I park farther, walk instead of taking the car, use the stairs instead of the elevator. I am 53 yrs. young and I had open heart surgery to replace an aortic valve at the end of May.The Cardiac Surgeon thought I was too young a candidate, but those are the breaks. A leaky valve regurgitating blood back into my lower chamber and not allowing it to flow out to my body. Getting through Cardiac Rehab was tough, however I reluctantly continued at my Community Health Center to do aqua aerobics. At first I’d miss a session or two. Was becoming lazy and didn’t want to do it. Thought “I don’t have the time” With joining “Match the Mayor” it has helped me to help my heart. I unfortunately missed the last Match the Mayor. but, now I’m doing great! I have stepped it up and exercise 5 days a week now. Firming up., Losing Inches, and Pounds. I feel better, have more energy. So thanks for that. With the aortic valve replacement I received a Porcine Valve (pig) and have decided to dress as “MISS PIGGY” for Halloween when we dress for our patients this week. Happy Treating Everyone !!
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Chrystal said,
October 28, 2009 @ 9:29 am
KT and family, I am glad to hear that your son is doing ok and that your injury has healed. It is inspiring to see you persevere through all that has happened over the past few weeks. We all have a lot to be thankful for! Our team is trying to use our am and pm breaks to get a total of 20 minutes of walking in each day. We all feel better and more energized after we do. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! Don’t eat too many treats!:):)
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Amy said,
October 28, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
KT, thanks for sharing your daddy story, and know I am happy that things are better. I can’t imagine how difficult this was for you and Denise, and also made me reflect on my own kids and how blessed we are to have them healthy.
Thanks too for always getting back on track with your exercise program, it’s motivating and after a week where I was not at my best, am committed to do better this week. To all of our village teammates on this journey, when you get off track, get back in the saddle. One for all!
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