Jerry is Getting Better!

June 28, 2005

Dear Friends,

On June 10th, Jerry’s doctors evaluated his progress. The long periods of sleep were a concern and a lumbar puncture test was performed. The fluid on his brain was normal but his ventricles were enlarged. Therefore, the doctors recommended a permanent internal shunt to regulate the pressure in his brain. On June 16th, Jerry had the shunt procedure. He was taken back to ICU and within 2 days we could see improvement.

On June 21st, he was given a private room on the trauma floor. While on this floor, Jerry has sat up for 1-3 hours a day and does physical therapy everyday. He listens to the CD player, yes, mostly country western music. His physical therapist has put him in a wheelchair and taken him outside for some sunshine and fresh air; he loved it. We were allowed to bring his dog, Misty, for a visit. He was so surprised and even asked how we were able to bring her into the hospital.

We are continuing to work on getting the trach out. Due to the shunt procedure, the weaning off of the trach had to start over. After getting the trach out they will perform a swallow test, if he is able to swallow, they will remove the feeding tube.

June 26th was a wonderful day. Jerry was awake the entire day with the exception of a few cat naps. He told us “Get me out of here; I’m tired of this!” Had he had the strength, he would have gotten up and walked outJ

Thank you for your continual concern and support through prayers.


God Bless You,
Rosiland, Kyle and Leslie Cribbs

Here is a website for sending e-mail messages to patients at ShandsHospital. According to the site, they deliver the messages with the normal mailhttps://www.shands.org/public/message/default.asp

Really Good News - June 24, 2005

Here is some really good news!

I just got off the phone with Leslie...she's leaving Gainesville right now. Jerry is improving so much every day since the shunt was put in. They are taking him outside in a wheelchair now, he actually got a shower on this table thingy for the first time since he's been there yesterday. He's lifting his arms, legs, hugging the family. He still can not talk, but can mouth words, names, things like that. He's starting to ask questions, couldn't believe that he'd been in the hospital almost two months. He doesn't remember what happened, but now that he is so much more alert, he's feeling the staples from the shunt surgery, point to the pictures, which Roz had hung on the wall, along with all the cards that his friends and family had been sending, she's now able to read them to him, which he finds humorous. The next thing that they are going to do is to put something in his trach that will help him to talk at the same time weaning him off the oxygen. Rehab was not going to accept him, but now that he has gotten so responsive and alert, it's probably not going to be long before he goes straight to rehab. Leslie says that she believes it will still be a couple of weeks before they will allow any visitors outside of the family. That's all for now, but not bad for a Friday. Things are lookin up!!

Please send Jerry emails and cards. You can email him via the hospital, and his family can read the emails to him.

Here is a website for sending e-mail messages to patients at ShandsHospital. According to the site, they deliver the messages with the normal mailhttps://www.shands.org/public/message/default.asp

Friday, June 17, 2005 Update

The following is an update from a conversation Dottie Began had with Jerry'sDaughter Leslie yesterday [June 16, 2005]:

I [Dottie] just spoke with Leslie. She said that they did surgery on Jerry today [6/16/05]. They put the permanent shunt into his brain to relieve the pressure. This will apparently release the fluid into his body. The doctors believe that this was causing him not to be as responsive, and that now they should see marked improvement. Also, they are trying to wean him off of the trach. They have been shifting him around from floor to floor and room to room, Roz is now staying with him in his room and his mother comes up to relieve Roz so she can go home for short periods. He still is unable to have visitors.

Letter from the Cribbs Family

June 3, 2005

Dear Friends of Jerry's,

Kyle, Lesie and I are so grateful for all the outpouring of prayersand concern since Jerry's aneurysm on May 6th. Your calls, cards, e-mails,and care packages have been a blessing to our family. We know how much hemeans to us, but have realized how very special he is to all of you. Weare thankful for your friendship.

Jerry's doctors describe his recovery as "going up stairs." Thereare improvements, but then longer periods of what we like to call "rest."We have accepted that this is a slow process and that the doctors justdon't know how long it will take to see the Jerry that we know and love.There are some good steps, Jerry is off the ventilator but still has atrach which keeps communication to a minimum. On good days, he shakes hishead yes or no, frowns at our repetitious questions, smiles withrecognition of family and raises his eyebrows in an effort to understand.On several different occasions he has given two thumbs up, wiggled toes,squeezed our hand, mouthed I love you and the name of family members. Weare so grateful for the little things we used to take for granted.

Jerry was in surgical intensive care (SICU); he is now inintermediate intensive care and will remain there until his lungs clear.He has begun physical therapy and on Monday, June 6, they will beginputting him on a lift table in an effort to start standing him up. Thedoctors think he will be in this intermediate intensive care unit for 2more weeks. Then he will be moved to a medical, surgical floor and receiveadditional therapy for another 2 weeks. By this time we will have decidedwhere to take him for the rest of his therapy and hopefully this is when hecan have visitors.

We will let everyone know if there are any changes. We also want tothank you for your continued prayers. God is so good and we give him allthe praise for Jerry's life and recovery.

God Bless You,

Rosiland, Kyle and Leslie Cribbs

Friday, June 3, 2005 GOOD NEWS!

Received an update, this morning, Ron Stewart, one of Jerry's good friends.Ron advised that Jerry is doing a little better. They had him sitting upyesterday, in the morning, for physical theraphy. He's still not able totalk yet, but can track with his eyes. The results of the scan revealedthat he still has some fluid around the surgical area, which may be thereason for the minor setbacks. Nevertheless, they had him sitting on theside of the bed watching Roz walk around the room to monitor how well hewas able to track her movements with his eyes. He did very well.Another good sign was, while sitting on the side of the bed, Jerry felthimself falling backward and was able to catch himself. This indicated agood sense of balance and mobility. These are excellent signs ofimprovement and goes to show that he's on the road to recovery, althoughit maybe a long and slow process.Will update further as more information becomes available.

Thursday, June 2, 2005

Late yesterday, Dottie and I [Lisa Call] spoke with Leslie, Jerry's daughter. She
advised that Jerry had a good weekend--very responsive and alert, smiling,
mouthing words and they even had his bed in the sitting position for
several hours. However, on Monday evening, he became lethargic and
non-responsive and there was no improvement through Tuesday. His eyes were
checked with light and found to be responsive, which was a good sign. A
CAT Scan was done and the results revealed Jerry had undergone several mini
seizures -- although not life threatening, were the reason he was so
sluggish and non-responsive. The doctors said this is not uncommon and
they are still very hopeful of a good recovery.

That's all I have for now. Will try to keep you updated as more
information becomes available.