Day 12ish: Back to School

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry that i haven't been keeping everyone updated in the last few days i made my transition back to Eastern on Sunday and have been trying to settle in with my new classes. So far classes are going good but it is hard to concentrate when the only thing on your mind is your big brother! I haven't seen Josh in two days and it seems like a life time! Luckily i get to go home tomorrow night and share a family dinner with everyone... and by everyone YES i mean including Josh also!

Josh has been allowed to get "hall passes" from rehab to go out to dinner or just get out to get some fresh air every once and a while since he is making such progress. He got to go out to dinner with my parents and grandparents last night and also got to go watch The Grinders, the hockey team that he had been skating with prior to the accident.

My mom has told me that although that Josh is doing better he is starting to have pain in his jaw, we aren't sure if it is because he has been eating more solid food in the last few days or if the numbness in his mouth is starting to wear off. I could imagine that since the bullet stopped right underneath his tongue it is probably likely that his mouth is going to hurt.

Thank you for your continuous prayers, my family really appreciates it! I really excited to see my brother tomorrow and i am hoping that he can go out for the day on Sunday, so we can spend Easter Sunday as a family. Each day my brother and my family are getting stronger. I have posted the note that Josh wrote me last week in my wardrobe so that every time i look at it, i can remember to stay Strong because Josh is definitely a strength throughout our family right now!

Day 8 & 9:

Saturday and Sunday
March 29 & April 1, 2012

Sorry to everyone who has been reading my blog everyday! We had quite a busy day yesterday so I forgot to post! As I write this and sit in my living room with my mom and dad, I am kind of dreading going back to school this evening. I know that it will be good for me to go back to “normal” life but I feel like my mind will thinking about Josh, until I know that he is home and doing 100% better. I guess that’s just me being an over protective sister, (funny since I am the baby of the family!) But I find myself a little nervous to go back to school, although I am blessed to only be going to school at Eastern and I can drive to see Josh after my classes, I have been so attached to my family that I’m almost afraid to step into the outside world, where it seems like 80% of Eastern’s campus knows Josh or what happened to him! I love sharing his “superman” recovery story but I don’t want to get too overwhelmed at school!

Anyways, when we left Josh on Friday he seemed like he was really exhausted by the move from the hospital to his rehab facility. But Saturday when we saw him, even though he had just gone through 3 hours of physical therapy he was in great spirits. We went outside with him to get some fresh air and just kind of talked about everything. It’s nice to Josh’s personality shine! He was sitting in his wheelchair and reached up with his left arm to itch is head. Sometimes his left arm movement is a little delayed because of the “neglect” part of his brain getting damaged from his stroke. When Josh reached up to itch his head his arm didn’t follow his command right away and when Josh looked down at his left side to see what was going on he slapped his left hand and said “common buddy, don’t embarrass me!”  Josh is always making jokes about what happened to him. I think it’s his way of staying in good spirits because he is healing so fast and the doctors are saying that he should make a full recovery.  We left Josh to go get his a steak dinner from twigs, he keeps getting frustrated from his lack of appetite and when he does have one the hospital food is so bland that it’s  not even worth eating! We brought Josh is dinner and he ate a little bit of it while we all sat in the room and hung out with him. Around 8 pm he took his next round of medicine so he got tired really fast. We left him to get some rest for the night!

Today, Sunday and we are getting ready to go see Josh again! I’m sure he will be in good spirits like always!

Thank you for all of your love and support J

Day 7: One week since the accident and things are looking up!

Day 7:

Friday
March 30, 2012

It’s been a week since the accident and Josh is finally out of the hospital and on to rehab! He was transported this morning and the move was a little rough on him. It’s amazing how going normally a small car ride wouldn’t normally affect Josh but today it made him exhausted. He got settled into his new facility around noon and we just kind of sat in his room.

There has been what seems like 15 different people in his room visiting him today and I can tell that my brother is exhausted and wants to get some sleep. Josh appreciates all the love that he is getting but now that he is in rehab he is ready to focus on himself and get out of rehab as fast as he can. Josh is really itching to live independently and sit around our back deck to have a barbecue. Josh is still in good spirits but he just gets tired really easily! Today he has had a really horrible headache so we are trying to keep everything quiet until he starts to feel better.

Josh is really pushing himself to overcome this, so he can go home and relax. Since the facility that Josh is in does not allow visitors, if you would like to send anything to Josh you can contact my dad or I personally and we will direct you on where to send it. My family and Josh love all of the flowers and gifts that people have been sending his way!

There has also been a fund set up in Josh’s name through Banner Bank. This was set up by one of the owners of the company that Josh works for.

I don’t really have much to say today; except that Josh remains in good spirits and that he is working hard every day to get healthy and feeling 100% again!

DAY 6: Ready to get out of the hospital!

Day 6:

Thursday
March 29, 2012

It’s been almost one week since Josh’s accident and he is already getting ready to move to St. Lukes for the start of his rehab process tomorrow! What an incredible journey that he has gone through the last week and what a miracle it’s been to see my brother show that “Josh Pickens” personality once again.

Today I went down to the hospital at lunch time and when I walked into the room he was sleeping and getting some rest. Josh hasn’t had much rest in the last few days because every time he thinks that he has the chance to rest he gets woken up by a doctor or nurse. He was woken up right when my mom and I sat down quietly in the room. Once the doctor left my mom had to go back across the street to work. It was just Josh and I in the room which was nice.

We got to talking about everything that we wanted to do this summer, go on road trips and go indoor skydiving. I have always been scared to do stuff like that but right now I would go bungee jumping off of the highest building in the world if that’s what Josh wanted to go do. I don’t really have much to say today other than Josh continues to be in good spirits.

Josh is making a ton of progress, today I was sitting there talking to him and he went to get out of bed on his own to use the rest room and a loud sound started yelling throughout the room.  The alarm sounds when the weight of his body isn’t censored on the bed. It definitely scared me but on a more serious note Josh’s therapists have been saying how great he is doing. I know he is doing great! A week tomorrow from Josh’s accident and he is out and ready for rehab!

He appreciates all the visitors that he has been having the last few days but he gets head pain easily when he has a lot of interaction with people because his brain is trying so hard to keep up with everything that is going on. So we are trying to wait until Josh feels 100% to have a lot of interaction with people. He’s tired and wishes that he could be in downstairs and heal in his own house where he is comfortable, but he is making do with the hospital bed.

Josh has had a lot of support this last week, last night a hockey buddy, Todd Ulrich had the team that Josh was skating with prior to the accident that he had the team circle around the center of the ice and pray for Josh’s quick healing. He is definitely ready go get back on the ice and do what he loves again!

I’ve realized from this situation that my brother has gone through that you really do need to live in the moment because you never know when your life will flash before your eyes, or you come really close to losing someone that you truly care about.

I’m honestly so overwhelmed by how many people who are reading my blog! I really appreciate it and I never thought that a little college girl sharing her story about her brother would have so many readers. I really appreciate it!

Day 5: Finally out of the ICU

Day 5:

Wednesday

March 28, 2012

Today wasn’t the normal routine, we got to sleep in a little because the last few days have been exhausting and we all needed to catch up on some sleep. Shasta stayed at the hospital with Josh last night so she was giving us the update early this morning that he has been so excited to talk that he wanted to stay up all night! So when I got there this morning he was getting some rest.

We had a good friend come up and see Josh this morning, he had just found out about his accident last night so he came to the hospital to see if everyone was doing okay. My family hasn’t seen this friend in a year so it was good to catch up with him and tell him Josh’s story. The best part was telling him that he was doing alright and could talk now. We finally got to go back and see Josh, I was the last person to go back there and talk to him but he seemed like he was in great spirits!

 The nurse had come into the room and told Josh that his time was up in the ICU and he was moving up to a general room today. She asked if Josh preferred to go to his new room by stretcher, hospital bed, or wheelchair. Josh replied “whatever is easiest for you guys!” Seriously J?  You just got shot and almost lost your life 4 days ago and you told the nurse whatever is easiest for THEM! What a selfless human my brother is! He didn’t care how he got up there as long as it was easiest for the person transporting him! They ended up taking him up by wheelchair. I left the room while they prepared him for his journey up to a floor where he wasn’t going to constantly be watched over. I know for a fact that Josh was relieved!

After about ten minutes of waiting in the hallway my brother came down that hallway in a wheelchair with a HUGE smile on his face! Of course Josh being Josh wanted to show dad that he had been working on the strength in his left arm that as he drove by him, he threw a little ball at him with his left hand! We are all so excited and relieve because we never thought we would see the day that Josh would be moving from the ICU. Josh got up to his new room and a few visitors started flowing in. His best friends Mike Truex and his fiancé Ryanne, and Christian all came to see him this afternoon.

The coolest part about seeing my brother get visitors is that as soon as he has a friend walk into that room they automatically get overcome with joy when they see my brothers beautiful and healthy face. Since he has been able to speak yesterday he has had the biggest smile on his face. There has not been one moment that I have seen him down in the dumps or angry that some “bastard” would shoot him.

Josh has been working so hard to get his left side to cooperate with him these last few days and has made such an improvement since yesterday. He is able to give a firm hand shake with his left side now.   

I don’t think I could be more proud of any human in my whole entire life. It always makes me think that God had a plan for Josh that night. He definitely had an angel sitting next to him at the time of the accident.  Most people in Josh’s position Friday night would have done anything to protect themselves. But not very many people know that when my brother heard gun shots he thought about his friend sitting next to him first and made sure that she was out of the way of the bullets because he didn’t want to have his friend’s two little kids to grow up without their mommy.  My brother is a selfless man and everyone has every right to be proud of him!

Our new family motto is “No pity for cowards.” Josh came up with this one because if you pitty yourself like the man that shot him that night and almost took my brother’s life from him, you will get nowhere in life! Stand up for yourselves and preserver though your tough times because you CAN get through them with a little elbow grease and motivation!

DAY 4: "If you have a body like me, you dont cover it up with a shirt!"

Day 4:

Tuesday

March 27, 2012

I’m sure that everyone knows the daily routine by now. Get up early, get ready, and get to the hospital and see Josh! When I went upstairs to see my mom, she had told me that the hospital had called because Josh was writing about his friend Mikey Truex. The nurse said that Josh had requested that Mikey knew what was going on because he is supposed to be the best man at his wedding in August! (Or so Josh thinks!)

We got to the hospital and normally we walk right into Josh’s room to let him know we are there. But this morning we were told that Josh  couldn’t have any visitors and that his blood pressure was up too high. Josh has been in a laying down position for the last few days and they decided to see if there would be any changes if they put him in the sitting position.  Hours and hours had passed and we were all getting angry that we couldn’t see Josh. Finally the nurse came in and said that Josh had requested that Shasta came to see him. So she went into his room and was in there for what seemed like forever. We have had no news about Josh all day and that was really frustrating for us….

Shasta came back about 45 minutes later  and said they took out Josh’s ventilator and that he asked to see his sister! At first we were kind of angry that no one told us that they were taking out his ventilator but we were still excited because that meant that Josh was progressing.

I walked into Josh’s room and said “Hey dude, how’s being able to breathe on your own?” and he replied “it’s awesome!” HOLY SHIT JOSH CAN SPEAK!!! I was so excited that Josh could talk, his voice is a little raspy and deep but he can speak and his is speech is normal!” Josh must have had so many things going through is mind that he is full of things to talk about now that he is able to speak instead of writing down his thoughts.

The coolest thing that Josh has been saying to everyone is “I had a stroke, but it’s no big deal because I’m gonna get through it!” What a fighter! He has told my mom that he wanted to start training for the Ironman so they could do it together next year! He told me that we were getting tattoos on Monday and that he was going to call his guy tomorrow!

Josh has moved from his hospital gown to a pair of hospital shorts. He is sitting in his room without a shirt and just pants on. When my mom walked into his room she said, “Josh, are you cold?” and Josh replied “When you have a body like this, you don’t cover it up with a shirt!”   Ladies and gentleman THAT is a typical Josh Pickens saying and we couldn’t be happier that even though he has been beaten up the past 4 days with scars he is not insecure with himself one bit!

For some reason I’m having a hard time writing today because it has just been an overwhelming day full of excitement. But as many of you would probably agree, a picture is worth a million words so here you go… THIS is what all of your generous thoughts and prayers have done for my family and most importantly my brother.

DAY 3: In Good Spirits

Day 3

Monday

March 26, 2012

We are back at the hospital bright and early! This time I actually got up with enough time to get ready and have Starbucks! We didn’t get any bad news throughout the night and we got to catch up on a little bit of sleep!

We got to the hospital this morning and walked into Josh’s room. Josh is awake and ready to see us! The stroke that he had yesterday had not damaged his motor skills which is great news. But it did do I little bit of damage to a part that is called the “neglect” part of his brain. This is the part of the brain that makes your body aware of what is going on to both sides of your body without having to consciously think of what you are doing. So unfortunately his braining is “neglecting” the left side of his body, Josh isn’t able to extend his fingers out on his left arm unless he makes a conscious effort to do so. The good and bad thing about Josh is that he gets pissed easily and pushes himself to overcome the obstacles that are put in front of him so when he really thinks about it he can extend his fingers

I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone who knows Josh but he’s starting to get pissed and annoyed of people telling him what to do! Josh has always been the person to fly by the seat of his pants and ready for any type of new adventure but sitting on his butt in a hospital room isn’t ideal for his gotta move and be active kind of personality. He wants to get up and walk and put on his skates and shoot some pucks around which again I’m sure that’s not a surprise to people who know him!

I had a little alone time with my brother this morning, it was amazing just to be able to stand next to him and talk to him. Although he can’t respond with words most of the time I can understand what he is thinking. I think it might be our crazy brother and sister connection that we have! Of course like any big brother he has to put his sister in tears over something. But this morning they were good tears. He wanted to write and when I gave him a piece of paper he wrote “you look beautiful today, worth living for”. He definitely made me cry on that one! After I cried, I just talked to him about who has been coming to visit him. It was good to catch up with him even though he couldn’t really communicate with me! He went down form another head CT scan and since then has been doing well.

There really isn’t much to say today! No dramatic news which is good! Josh has been in good spirits for the most part today! Right now we are letting him get some rest to keep his blood pressure down! He has been having severe headaches and been uncomfortable to the hospital bed.

Dad did an interview with KXLY this morning and will be on the 6 pm news talking about Josh, so make sure to turn on your TV’s and watch that!

Josh really wants to see his friends, but is remaining in the ICU for the next few days. I am asking for his friends to send little positive notes to my Facebook inbox or even my email so I can put them in a little journal for Josh to read when he is healthy enough to read them! Please please please write notes for him! My email is kpickens10@gmail.com

Thank you for your prayers!