Reiteration on Visiting Kait

Friends & Family-

On behalf of the Rice/Wanberg/Thompson family...we are begging you to PLEASE continue to respect our wishes to NOT visit Kaitlin at this time. I hope that we have been adequate in expressing our deep thanks and appreciation for your support and love...truly we are overwhelmed in the best possible way.

Know that the staff at Craig is even limiting our immediate families' visiting time with her because Kaitlin desperately NEEDS to rest in order to heal and to be ready to work hard in her rehab.

Since we have been at Craig we have had a few visitors just show up at Kaitlin's room and we have had to ask them to leave. If you show up, we WILL be asking you to leave. Although we understand that there may have been some confusion in Kait's transfer to Craig about visiting being more acceptable, we want to be clear now in saying that unfortunately, the door is still closed. This is not a time in Kaitlin's recovery to flood her with a lot of people, but a time to listen to the doctors, nurses and staff who know BEST how to take care of her. Her body has been through major trauma, and it is essential that we do what is best for Kaitlin in this season. Please respect our family. Love us well by listening to our requests! There are no exceptions to the rule of: no visitors outside of immediate family at this time.

Please know that we understand how hard it is to stay away when someone you love so dearly is in pain. We hate to add to your heartache and know that you are desperate to help and to be near. We feel your prayers! Kaitlin feels your prayers. She will feel your prayers, even if she can't hear them. She will not forget your love for her just because she can't see you right now. Have faith in your relationship with Kaitlin, have faith in her recovery and most of all-have faith that the God we serve is taking care of Kaitlin better than any of us ever could!

All of our love & thanks,
The family.

Post from Megan 9/12

Friends and Family-

This is Kaitlin’s sister, Megan! First of all I wanted to say thank you to Carolyn and David for starting and keeping up the blog. Like my mom said in her post yesterday, the blog has been such an excellent way to keep all of the people who know and love my sister informed about her health and life changes. 

I also wanted to say another huge thank you to this community for functioning like a body taking care of one of its parts. It has truly been amazing to witness.Thank you for supporting my sister and my family- we cannot tell you how grateful we are. 

Update on Kaitlin’s health: She is all moved into Craig and adjusting to the new landscape! Today was tiring: lots of scans and x-rays to check for blood clots and other potential complications. That being said, she is still on an upward trajectory in terms of her healing. Her pain is still present, but getting better daily. Tomorrow she gets her lungs drained again, so hopefully her breathing will continue to improve. For the next few days the doctors/nurses will be gathering data to set goals for her rehab. We all know how hard of a worker Kaitlin is, and I think it’s going to be nice for her to have specific ladders to climb. 

Tonight as I was sitting on her bed with her we talked a bit about both of our thoughts on her paralysis. The interesting facet of spinal cord injuries is that she might gain feeling back with time... and she also might not. The degree of sensation that she gains back (if any) can also vary immensely. Regardless, in Kaitlin’s words, “This is a really big thing. This sort of thing doesn’t happen on accident.” She said she is going to keep a positive outlook no matter what the outcome of the injury ends up to be. We talked about what an interesting perspective these first few weeks have afforded her in terms of things like mobility, freedom, and health- things I know I personally take for granted. 

That being said, my sister is on a long road of healing. She needs rest, support, and continued thoughts/prayers in order to actualize the larger picture behind this injury.  

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I know Kaitlin’s legs better than anyone else’s in the world other than my own. I’ve walked, ran, skied, rollerbladed, swam, hiked, and biked next to them for 22 years. I’ve cried on them. I’ve slept next to them and sat on them. I’ve (probably) kicked and punched them. I’ve tickled them. I’ve borrowed the jeans, skirts and dresses that covered them. I have loved them and even envied them. 

This incident is shocking and disorienting, but I have a sense of peace surrounding the future. I know Kaitlin, John, and both of our families do as well. 

I grew up with Kaitlin’s legs, but I also grew up with her heart and her brain. I grew up with her words and expressions and strengths. My sister is a collision of innocence and power. She is a fighter. I look at her and can’t help but believe that this injury is going to spread her gifts and sweetness further in the world than two legs ever could. 

Keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she transitions to rehabilitation at Craig! 

Thank you all again.

Love,

Megan 

Post from Sue 9/11

Hi family and friends,

This is Sue Rice, Kaitlin's mom, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to communicate with you through this blog. I would first like to thank Carolyn Wanberg Thompson, John's sister, for the countless hours she has spent on setting up/updating this blog. It has probably been the single, biggest godsend to both of our families during the past ten days. As a method of communication it relieved us of the burden of repeating the story a hundred times and also of feeling guilty when we have simply been unable to respond personally with each of you. We're are so grateful, Carolyn, thank you.

You have no idea just how much we appreciate your prayers. I know that sounds trite and you've heard it said a thousand times, but I want to assure you that this mother's heart feels such indebtedness to you for lifting up Kaitlin and John to the Lord and asking for healing and His help in their regard. All of your expressions of love have been so tender and heart warming. I have come home many nights from the hospital, sat at my kitchen table and opened your cards one by one and cried and rejoiced and let your tenderness just wash over me. Thank you. This would be such a lonely road without you.

Kaitlin moved to Craig Hospital today. It is one of the top spinal injury hospitals in the world and we are so grateful to have it just 15 minutes from our home. Her spirits were pretty good. She's struggled with some respiratory issues the past few days which have been challenging to her both physically and mentally. But I think those are now behind her. We've been staying with her 24/7 while at Swedish Hospital knowing that she has needed an advocate and extra TLC during the lonely evening hours. But now I see her feisty determination returning. This is great to see. It's going to be a long road of recovery for her requiring much work. Please continue to pray for her daily. I am asking people to tie a pink ribbon (her favorite color) around their coffee pot handle as a reminder to pray for her healing each morning. I hope you all drink coffee! Please also remember our wonderful son-in-law, John. Pray for strength and courage as he completes his PhD studies in Boulder while adjusting to his new life with Kaitlin.

I would like to clarify the extent of Kaitlin's injury for all of you so that we're praying with the same expectant hearts. There has been some confusion in this area and we apologize for that. When the neurosurgeon performed the spinal fusion surgery (T1 through T8) on Kaitlin he found that the spinal cord was not severed. There is a covering over the cord fibers called the dura. Although the T5 vertebrae was shattered, the dura was still intact and was not torn. It is impossible to know what damage lies beneath the dura. Another doctor told us that only 5 specific fibers need to be intact in order to walk. This is our very specific prayer for Kaitlin. That God would knit together the fibers to restore her to complete and total healing so that she may walk once again. 

So far, this has been an incredible journey... raw and filled with every emotion. Through it all, we have felt the palpable presence of the Lord by our side. We don't understand why this happened, but we do know that the God we loved and worshiped the day before Kaitlin's accident is the same God we love and worship today. This tragedy has not changed anything about His character or goodness in any way. It has only made us more dependent on Him. And that's a good safe place to be. We are being called to trust Him as we never have before, and it has made us grow.
 
One last thing that I wanted to share with you. They told us at Craig yesterdaythat usually 80% of their patients are men. But for some reason in the past 2 weeks they have admitted 10 young women to the program, all under the age of 30. I smiled when I heard that, knowing full well that God is already planting good friends there for Kaitlin and that she will inevitably rise to be an inspiration/leader among them, just as we have seen her be so many times in the past. God is good.

Immediate specific prayers include:

healing in the spinal cord fibers to help her walk again
gentle transition to Craig Hospital
a good roommate and friends for her there
strength, focus, courage, optimism and dependence on the Lord for both Kaitlin and John
healthy strong lungs
that our families be continually and divinely united in strength and love

A verse speaking to me today:

I will be your God through all your lifetime...I made you and will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.
Isaiah 46:4

 

Keep praying. With my love and deep appreciation for you!

Sue

The eagle has landed! 9/11

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.....Kaitlin has made it to Craig! Thank you for faithfully following her progress, we are so humbled. From now on, I will not be the only family member posting updates and or thoughts on what's going on. This also means that there may not be a post every single day. We will update you as often as possible, but if you don't hear from us for a few days-know that Kaitlin is in the best place possible for her to recover, that we are so grateful for your prayers and that we will keep you all updated on what we need and on any significant progress or set back! Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Narnia 9/10

Going to be a quick post tonight because by the grace of God, Kaitlin slept for most of the day! {added to the fact that I've waited until 9:26 to begin writing this post-I'm sorry to keep you waiting!}

A quick story from last night to make you smile...
My Aunt Carol stayed the night with Kait last night. These two have always had a special bond-I think in large part because they are both so quick to see the joy in the small things. One thing that has really been relaxing Kait in the hospital is being read to-whether it's the Bible or one of her favorite stories...like The Chronicles of Narnia. Last night while Carol was reading Narnia to Kaitlin the two of them decided the some of these "narnianisms" should be used in daily interactions {ie with the nurses & any visitors that Kaitlin may have}.

The list they came up with:
"jolly well" as in..."oh, my day has been jolly well, thank you!"
"gassing" as in... "well don't keep on gassing about it." {I'm sure this is going to be a favorite with the nurses}
"blast & botheration!" as in... "Kaitlin, are you ready to do your breathing treatment?" Her response: "blast & botheration!!"

Hilarious. I have the greatest family on the planet.

Kaitlin is in great spirits. She is ready to be moved to Craig tomorrow! As I said, she slept most of the day--I told her to enjoy it while it lasts... from what we've heard from Craig, she's going to be working all day every day once she gets there! She had physical therapy, another wonderful massage AND even sat in a wheelchair for about an hour. She also had Chipotle for lunch. We are thankful for so many things. Continue to pray for her breathing...it is MUCH improved, but not 100%. Pray for a positive move tomorrow...we are so hopeful for what is to come. Because we believe in a God who works miracles-continue to pray for walking legs! If we believe that He can do anything, but that He is sovereign no matter the outcome, why wouldn't we ask for big things?

Tonight I am comforted by Isaiah 41:13 which says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you."' I will never stop being grateful that we have a God who does not leave us in our sorrow, but one who pursues us, fights for our good, and brings us closer to Him. Our families' prayer for you is that you would know Him like we know Him....He is the only thing worth giving your life to!

Thank you for reading, praying and loving.

Love,
Carolyn

Eye Exam - A Note From John

(Posted on behalf of John)

Three days ago I had an eye exam. Towards the end of what has been the most stressful week of my life, I started to realize that my eyes were not focusing on anything further than 15 feet away. This was concerning, and I wanted to know if extreme stress could make an otherwise strapping young fellow go blind in a week. The prognosis: my eyes are fine, but at the moment they are ‘stuck’ in near focus, which is why far away things seem blurry and ill formed.

The past week has been a whirlwind which I never saw coming. In fact, this path is not one that I would ever have asked for or hoped for….but here we are. So many people have kindly asked how we are doing, and the genuine love and care which characterizes our community has been astounding. After a long conversation with my good friend Matt Varnell, he made clear to me a beautiful metaphor which God has provided in the midst of this hectic week.

Right now, both Kaitlin and I are emotionally, physically, and spiritually focused on the moment… we are trying to take each new day as it comes without getting too far ahead of ourselves. Some days, we have good mornings and bad nights. Other times, we feel hopeful yet sad, or discouraged, or elated at some small step forward. On several occasions I have blindsided by a wave of grief as I drive home from the hospital, and other times I feel peaceful and eager to see what the future holds. Right now, our perspective on life is like my eyes… stuck on short focus. Even on good days we feel that our vision for the future is blurry and ill formed. Think about it… in a short moment, nearly every plan and dream that Kaitlin and I had made was irreversibly altered. It has gone a long way to destroy the illusion that we are in control, and yet... both Kaitlin and I feel a deep sense of peace about the future.

A wise man once told me that when we read the Bible, we should fight against interpreting the scripture in light of our lives. Rather, we should interpret our lives in light of the scripture. Just as the eye doctor told me that my vision was fine, God has told me who I am, and how I am supposed to love and pursue Kaitlin. Even though the future seems fuzzy and ill formed, we know that God is good, that he cares for his children, that he is sovereign, all powerful, and merciful. None of this has changed. We have confidence that our role is to love and pursue the God of the universe, and that he will take care of the rest.

We are living out Proverbs 16:9, which says “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Even so, we are told “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value then they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:25-27). Perhaps this is why Jesus, when teaching us how to pray, said that we should only ask for our daily bread. Although Kait and I do not yet know what the future holds, God has not been silent, but rather has given us instructions. “He has told you, o man what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). We worship a God who has told us that we are loved (Romans 5:8), adopted as sons (Romans 8:14), and given a purpose (2 Corinthians 5:17-20). The best part? None of these things have changed now that Kaitlin is paralyzed. So Kait and I, despite being stuck in the short term, are not without direction.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5).

We’re stuck for now… injured, but not out of the game. Both Kait and I firmly believe that this is just a rough start to a great adventure that God has planned for us;

…so here we go.

- John

Purple Flowers 9/9

Friends & Family,

We are praising the Lord for another good day! Kaitlin had a little bit of a rough morning, but it quickly shifted as the day went on. By about 11AM she was in great spirits and even said, "I'm hungry"-such a victory! John suggested "not hospital food" and Kait said, "YES." True to form, they got home depot hot dogs and Jamba juice (thanks to Sue's bible study ladies for the gift card & mapquest!) and Kaitlin ate it all. I cannot express what a blessing it was to see her ask for & truly enjoy a meal. This is a BIG DEAL! She had her right lung drained today and they took even more fluid out of it than her left lung which is a lot. We are really hoping this will alleviate some of the breathing issues she's been having. The physical therapists were in today and when I came in, Kaitlin was sitting up at 90 (ish) degrees which is phenomenal. We had another visitor from Craig who told Kaitlin what it was going to look like over there. As has been our experience with every person we've interacted with from Craig-she was positive, encouraging and helpful. Kait expressed that she was ready to get out of the hospital and get going...this girl is going to ROCK her rehab. No doubt in any of our minds! We are all ready. At this point, Craig really is our light at the end of the tunnel. Although I LOVE writing an update like this one full of good news...please hear me say that Kaitlin is not out of the woods quite yet. We still covet your prayers! Again, the most specific thing we can ask is that you beg the Lord on Kaitlin's behalf for the gift of breathing. She still has a lot of "gunk" (for lack of a better term) in her chest and it needs to come out before she can really begin to breath comfortably.

"I love you with..." 9/8

I have to start with the interaction I was lucky enough to witness this afternoon between Kait & my charming husband......

Daniel: "Kaitlin, I love you with the fire of a thousand warriors."
Kait: "Daniel, I love you with the ice of a thousand ice cubes."
Daniel: "I love you like a fat kid loves cake."
Kait: "I love you like a skinny kid loves fruit."

As my Dad so perfectly put it..."There is nothing wrong with Kait's brain!" The normalcy of that interaction {yes, this is normal for both of them} was refreshing and VERY welcomed after the day we had yesterday.

Penguins 9/7

The good news: Last night Kaitlin had a great night. Megan stayed with her and she slept well (she got a new bed a few days ago that's basically an air bed but more high tech and it's much easier for her to lay on). One of the neurosurgeons came in to check Kait's incision, and said it's healed perfectly...another praise.

"I'm thriving!" 9/6

                                           

Thank you from our family to you!!!

We had a productive family meeting this afternoon and will be updating y'all soon on future plans. We have some amazing people helping us to get things organized and are really looking forward to being educated at Craig next week-we have a family tour on Monday. 

YOU ARE TOUGH DOE 9/5

Friends & Family,

I am writing this post from Kait's hospital room today...even as she lays in a hospital bed, time with her is my favorite part of the day. I know this is the reality for so many! I'm thankful that some things never change.

The first thing I saw as I walked into Kaitlin's room 30 minutes ago was a BEAUTIFUL card sitting on the chair by her bed (picture below-art done by one of her students). As soon as I found out it was from her 8th period science class I proceeded to read the notes aloud to everyone in the room (including Kaitlin). Needless to say, every single one of the 30 notes written said something along the lines of, "Dear Mrs. Wanberg, don't tell the other teachers, but you are my favorite teacher I've ever had." A few that I can't resist posting:

Sassy & Fighting 9/4

We want to begin the update tonight with a sassy story from our sassy Kaitlin....

While I was visiting Kait this afternoon after work she woke up from a nap and was in quite a bit of pain. The machine that compresses her legs to get blood flow going to prevent blood clots was also not working-so we called the nurse. When the nurse got there I said, "we need to get Kaitlin some more pain medication and also fix this machine ASAP." Although I'm sure she didn't mean to make a poor judgement call, the nurse chose to first tinker with the machine instead of attend to Kait's pain. Kaitlin promptly said, "hey-do you think maybe you could get my pain meds going BEFORE you fix the machine? In my brain that just seems like more of a logical sequence..."

First Chance to Help Out!

Edit  & Update @ 12:00 on Wednesday (See below for original post): I wanted to provide a quick update to everyone. As has been the case, the response here continues to be overwhelming. As of noon today, we have exceeded the funds needed for the iPads. Thank you. The generosity and care pouring in continues to be amazing. This community is incredible and they will love their gift.

Joy in the Pain 9/3

Good evening-

A brief update on our Kaitlin for this evening....
We are going to be going into a bit more detail than we have in the last few posts on purpose. We covet your intentional and specific prayers and believe with all sincerity that our God will honor them. He is a God who hears prayers and listens to them. Even better-he answers them in His perfect way. We have great hope.

Blog Introduction 9/3

Sweet community,

Due to the overwhelming (and wonderful-we are so humbled) amount of e-mails I received yesterday/today requesting to be added to the email list and to our families continued realization that this is a marathon, not a sprint...we have started a blog earlier than we thought. This will be our form of communication until further notice. The address is: http://getwellsoonkait.blogspot.com/

First update 9/2

Friends & Family,

First of all, on behalf of John and the Rice/Wanberg family we cannot express how absolutely humbled and thankful we are to have a community that is this unbelievable. The amount of prayer that is being dedicated to Kaitlin & John, Mark, Sue & Megan and our family is truly something to celebrate. Y'all have made us feel loved, supported, taken care of and comforted since the moment Kait got hurt-and for that, we could never say thank you enough. We are confident in the healing powers of the great God we serve and are continuing to follow Kaitlin and John's lead of turning to prayer and worship. They are authentically a couple who seeks the heart of God and we have been and continue to be amazed by their strength and positivity.