May 28th - Saturday - No News But Please Send Cards and Encouragement

Saturday Evening, May 28th - no news to share this evening, but a reminder that you can email Jerry on the Shands webpage - here is the link https://www.shands.org/public/message/default.asp

Jerry is registered as EDDIE Cribbs, not Jerry, so be sure to address the message to EDDIE. He is in a room on the Ninth Floor.

Please take a moment to send a word of encouragement to Jerry and his family and keep Jerry and his family in your prayers.

Bill Kent

Tuesday May 24, 2005 a Little Better

Forwarded by Steven Kruer/FLMF/11/FDO on 05/24/2005 01:12 PM -----Dottie Began/FLMF/11/FDO wrote on 05/24/2005 11:57:32 AM:> he says that he's back at work today, but that Leslie is going there> this afternoon. They did do the tracheotomy yesterday and that they> are trying to control his fever. He is responding better. Kyle> said that he'll try and give us a better update when Leslie get therelater.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Mimi said that she spoke to Leslie yesterday - he has not been asresponsive the last few days - doesn't seem to recognize people or respondto commands. Also they are going to insert the trach tube and that will bein for the foreseeable future. Originally, they had hoped to have him outof ICU after 14 days but that time has now passed and he's still there.All we can do is keep hoping for the best.Lisa Call, Assistant Federal Defender

Please Contact Me With News About Jerry

Please contact me at kent@williamkent.com if you have an update on Jerry suitable for this Blog. We have had no news since May 18. Thanks, Bill Kent.

Words of Encouragement from Judge Moore

The Honorable John Moore, II, former chief judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, sent the following message of encouragement to Jerry and his family:

My wife and I just returned from a rather short vacation and I learned that my good friend, Jerry Cribbs, has been sufferring from severe medical problems. I hope that my understanding that he is improving every day is correct. He and his family have our best wishes and our prayers for his ultimate recovery and return to our mutual place of serving the public and to his return to a quality life with his family.
It has been a few years since we have seen each other but my respect and admiration of Jerry has never diminished. He is a great public servant anbd I wish him all the best that life can offer.
Sincerely,
Judge Moore

May 17, 2005

Lisa Call/FLMF/11/FDO wrote on 05/17/2005 10:09:54 AM:> I just spoke to Kyle, Jerry's son, this morning. Jerry had a rough> night again - had to have the procedure again to address the spasms> in the blood vessels in the brain. The doctors however seemed very> excited that this would address the situation. He is back on the> ventilator and may be for 2 or 3 days. The family is still very> hopeful and is even thinking that once he's past the first crucial> 21 day time period, he could be moved to a hospital here in Jax.>> That's all I know for now, but will keep you updated as we can.>> Lisa Call, Assistant Federal Defender

Also a correction - a prior post referred to a colonoscopy may have been error. We do not know what the procedure was.

May 15, 2005

I have been told Sunday that Jerry is alert and okay. He is having some abdominal pain. The doctors intend to do a colonoscopy. I have no more details.

May 13, 2005

Roz called. Jerry is doing well, but now has pneumonia, high fever and chills. He's still on the ventilator and does not know how long that he'll have to endure that, but she says that he's doing very well with it. She doesn't think that she could do it. All in all though, she's very hopeful and positive, and says that Jerry is very alert...raising his eyebrows and using his hands to talk. She also thanks everyone for their prayers, cards, e-mails to the hospital and says that the family is treating them like it's their own...can't wait to see what has been sent and said. That's all for now...she'll keep in touch.

Out of Touch Until Monday

I will be out of town until Sunday night so I will be unable to update this report on Jerry. I encourage anyone who reads this who has news of Jerry's most current condition to post a "Comment" to this report. You can do that anonymously if you choose, or you can identify yourself. Bear in mind that everyone can read this, including Jerry's family, so be considerate of anything that you post. Comments can be read by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of this posting. Thanks, and let's please keep up our prayers for Jerry, his family, and the medical team caring for him. I know that he can come home well and I hope that he does so soon!

Bill Kent

PS - I will have my cell phone 904-552-4419 with me and Caroline will have her cell phone with her, 904-422-4419. Hers is an international phone, mine isn't, so you may have to call on Caroline's number to reach me.

Email Your Message to Jerry!

Steven Kruer reports:

Here is a website for sending e-mail messages to patients at ShandsHospital. According to the site, they deliver the messages with the normalmailhttps://www.shands.org/public/message/default.aspAlso, you have misspelled aneurysm on the Jerry blog.No news yet this morning.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Jerry had a little setback today and had to be put back on the ventilator at least temporarily. He also had to go back for some follow up surgical procedure to deal with some vasospasms, which is a side effect from the prior surgery, but we know this is just a temporary setback and he will be doing better soon.

Remember to send cards and letters and encouragement.

Send Jerry Cards and Letters at This Address

Here is the address for cards and letters for Jerry to encourage and cheer him:

Eddie Jerry Cribbs
PO Box 100351
Gainesville, FL 32610-0351

He cannot have flowers because he is in an ICU room, but cards and letters will get to him and do him good!

May 8, 2005 Report

May 8, 2005 Report:

Lisa just called as she was leaving Gainesville. Jerry opened his eyes this morning, and when prompted by the doctor to hold up two fingers on his left hand, did so. He is expected to be two weeks in the ICU in Gainesville. That's all I know right now.

May 9, 2005 Report

Here is an email from May 9, 2005 on how Jerry was doing that day:

Apparently he is alert, and has made some good improvement from Friday. Roz asked him his SSN and he was able to give it to her as they have removed the ventilator and he is now able to speak, but they are trying to keep it to a minimum. when I hear more I'll let you know. I was able to talk to Frank Murphy this morning, Wendy Wieser the other day and have gotten an e/m through to Mike Cosenza. please keep Jerry and family in your prayers - thanks for caring, Peggi

Jerry Cribbs - Earlier Reports

For those of you who had not seen the earlier reports on Jerry's illness and condition, here are some email reports from the past few days:

Over the weekend, we have received an update about Jerry's condition. On Friday afternoon, he was moved to Shands in Gainesville. Because he was on a ventilator, he had to be transported by ambulance rather than air lifted there. When he arrived in Gainesville, the doctors installed a shunt to relieve pressure on his brain.

On Saturday morning, they performed a procedure to cut off and remove the blood vessel that had burst. This seems to have improved things a great deal.

After the surgery, Jerry was still sedated. However, when they lessen the sedation, he can respond to the doctors and to his family. He is still on the ventilator [Jerry has since come off the ventilator and is breathing on his own- 5-10-2005] and still mostly sedated but the family is very hopeful. The ventilator may be removed as early as today. Until he is off the sedation and ventilator, the doctor will not be able to tell if there is any long term damage and if there is, what the extent of it is. However, a great deal of the issues can be addressed with therapy and rehabilitation. Again, as I said though the family is very hopeful that they have turned a corner. Jerry will likely be in the ICU at Shands for about 14 days. He cannot receive visitors other than immediate family and because of the ventilator cannot speak to anyone. Also he cannot have flowers in his room. However the family would like to receive cards for him.

You can mail cards to

Eddie Jerry Cribbs
PO Box 100351
Gainesville, FL 32610-0351

(this is Jerry's full legal name and is how he is listed at the hospital).

Jerry's wife (Roz), his son (Kyle) and his daughter (Leslie) credit a great deal of his recovery to the good thoughts and prayers being sent on his behalf and are very thankful. We will try to keep everyone updated as we learn more.

Lisa Call, Assistant Federal Defender

*****

Jerry Cribbs Update May 11, 2005

As soon as we have a report on Jerry today we will post it here. If you have news on Jerry today, please add a post or comment to this posting, thanks! Everyone everywhere continues to pray for Jerry and his family - for a full and speedy recovery.

Jerry Cribbs is loved by everyone who has had the blessing to know him, so prayers are pouring out for him from every direction!