Thank you for visiting Jared's Site. Here you can find updates about how Jared is doing, learn about him, look at pictures and lots more!!

Jared had an upset stomach on Friday and a little Saturday, we are hoping that goes away all the way so he can continue doing great in Therapy.

Jared has been doing GREAT this last week. He is enjoying getting out of the house and going places, especially the MALL. He is doing awesome in Therapy. Yesterday for the first time he sat up holding himself up and also turned his body to the side while laying down. It was sooo exciting. Now that he is holding himself up its the first step to be able to transfer yourself so we are all excited about that.

Sorry for the lack of updates again, we are trying to get used to everything around here again and don't have any time. So Jared got to come home for good 2 weeks ago saturday and is doing ok. (BIG CHANGE) He has been very nasiated since the day he came home so that hasn't been fun at all. They think its because his calcium is REALLY high because he has some HO (some wierd thing where you grow extra bone, very common is SPI) in his hips, so now he is on more medication for that. He loves laying in his OWN bed again. Thats pretty much all he wants to do now he is home.

JSorry for the lack of updates been SOOO busy. Jared is doing AMAZING!!!!!!!!! He is soo excited and so is our whole family because Jared gets to come home on Saturday for GOOD!!! Jared has been doing GREAT in therapy, he has started doing situps with his OT's help. Jared tonight didn't want to be in bed (first time ever) and pushed himself around and went and ate dinner with us in the Cafeteria, then went outside, then went to the gym and WORKED OUT by himself and then played chicken foot with us, it was like the BEST night he has HAD yet!!!

GREATTTTTTTTT NEWSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! Jared gets to come home for this whole weekend and even stay the night. And also in 2 weeks he gets to come home for GOOD!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYY!!! We are all soo excited especially Jared he keeps counting every day he said today that he has been there for 66 days and is ready to leave and got his wish today!!! Jared has been doing great the last couple of days. He is VERY tired from all his therapy everyday but he is doing amazing and working hard. Jared got his hair cut, it was hurting his head being so long and laying in bed for so many hours so he shaved it ALL off. I have some pictures I will post this weekend so look out for those.

We got some GOOD news today, they got Jared's blood tests back and his hemogloben went to 9.5!!!!

Before Jared got to go home they drew his blood to test and we found out that the nurse didn't label the blood and so they couldn't use ALL the blood they drew from him.(One reason they think his hemogloben is so low is because they draw sooo much blood from him everyweek.) So this wasn't good! So we have to try again tomorrow. Jared had fun today with his home day pass. He just loved just sitting on the couch and watching CABLE. We had a BBQ and he ate a bunch, he loved having a nice home meal. Jared wanted to dress in his "regular" clothes so that was a huge struggle trying to get his jeans on and a nice shirt to go around outside. But we did it and he loved it. It was AWESOME to be home and we are hoping to do it every weekend.

Jared's hemogloben went down again so they are trying to figure out why its still going down. If it doesn't start going up soon he has to probably get another transfusion. Some exciting news Jared gets a 1 day home pass for a couple of hours on saturday!! He can not wait to get out of Casa for a couple of hours.

Jared still has the bloodclot in his leg. His hemogloben(red blood count) went down to 7.3 but went up a little now to 7.8 its suppose to be 10-14 for SCI so please everyone pray that his hemogloben keeps rising or he might have to get another blood transfusion. He has been really tired and down still from his anemia.

Jared finally got to get up today after 3 days of bedrest. He did a practice transfer into the car today so that he can have a home visit so that was very exciting he did excellent. Justin (his older brother) is the one that transfered him so he can do it anytime. He still is having a hard time with his anemia with being so tired.

We found out that the thing in Jared's stomach is an abcess and that it has already gone down a little. But we just found out yesterday that Jared has a blood clot in his left thigh because of a medical error at Casa Colina. Jared did not receive his anticoagulant injection for 4 days!!! Now he has his fevers AGAIN and is on bed rest for 24 hours. This is discouraging because Jared was doing so terrific in his therapy the last couple of days.

Jared is doing ok he hasn't had a fever today its been only going from about 98.9 to 100 so thats really good. He is still very tired from being so anemic. They still don't know about his fluid thing in his stomach they are just watching it and waiting to see. They are going to do another test on it tomorrow to see what else they can find out.

Jared got his blood transfusion and his procedure went well they think its just clear liquid like a bacteria so they just have him on anitbiodicts and will watch it for a couple of days to see if the inflamation goes down, thats all they can do right now. He still is having really high fevers so they are hoping after this is gone they should go down.

Jared has to go get a blood tranfusion today because his hemoglobin (red blood cells) are really low and also because they found out from his MRI he got yesterday that he has a fluid filled something in his stomach above his bladder so they have to have enough blood when they do the procedure to get the fluid out and figure out what it is.

We had a very hard weekend this weekend, Jared got another infection and was not feeling too hot and there was NOO doctors on call that have had Jared before so that went for a terrible weekend. Then today, Jared was very pale and sick from his infection and by the end of the day he had a temp of 104.6 so that was very scary he went up to 104.9 through the night.

Jared woke up today with a terrible stomach ache, but he still got up and did GREAT with therapy. It made him very tired working so hard but he did awesome. He is getting the fevers again and they think its another infection but don't know exactly what AGAIN. So he is getting alot of tests to figure out what it is. But he had a pretty good day today. [Thurs. 08-11-05] Sorry we have left everyone on pins and needles for so many days without an update. Life has been very hectic. Jared is recovering well and his kidneys are working normally now. He has been doing a lot of therapy over the last two days and really working very hard. Other than that, there aren't many things to report on this front. Today Jared developed a little stomach bug, so he is going to be on antibiotics again to fight that off. It seems like it is always something. Just continue to pray for Jared's recovery!

Jared has returned back to Casa Colina today. He is doing alot better. His back is hurting from getting transferred we think the guys that transferred him from the gerney to his bed we think messed up his back. So we are now hoping that will get better soon.

Test shows this morning that the kidneys have kicked back in. YEEPEE! They are taking him off all of the fluids so that he can eat and drink by himself. So this way the body can respond to itself rather then having to deal with all the extra fluids and sugars. It is looking really good this morning that he will be returning to Casa Colina in the next day or 2. Also his fevers have not returned.

The kidneys stayed the same as yesterday. All test came back that everything looks great in his body other then his kidneys. So we are now just all waiting for his kidneys to kick back in. Since they are giving him steroid and nourishment that have tons of sugar in them they have to continue checking his blood sugar. It has been a constant high all day so they have to give him insilin shots in his thighs (that way he can't feel them).

Last night Jared had a pretty good night. His temperature stayed normal and he had no "shiver attacks." His blood tests this morning show that even though Jared is producing more unrine, his kidneys still aren't filtering and his creatin levels are still too high. The doctors have decided to run lots of tests in order to make sure everything is okay. So far they have done an EKG and a sonigram of the kidneys.

Jared was finally given an ICU room at 6 am, after over 12 hours in the Emergency Room. In the morning Jared received an MRI to make sure that his neck is not infected. Throughout the day he received a number of tests. His blood test showed that his hemoglobin levels are getting higher (which is a good thing), but his creatin levels are also getting higher (which is a bad thing that shows his kidneys aren't filtering the toxins out of his blood). One of his PIC lines is plugged and they tried twice to unplug it, with no success. This is just another hurdle jared has to get through; they will either have to redo this line, or find a vein and give him an IV. The only two things that went well today was that Jared's fever was much lower and almost normal all day and he started to produce much more urine. WE NEED EVERYONE TO PLEASE PRAY THAT HIS KIDNEYS BEGIN FUNCTIONING SOON!!!!

Well today the doctors came in and told us that Jared had to be transfered to Pomona Valley Hospital because his red blood cell number(hemogloben) is really low and his kidneys aren't functioning right. So they took him to the emergency room and are still waiting for him to be put up in ICU.

Jared's thrust on his tongue and ALL over his mouth and throat are still killing him. He has not eaten in 3 days because it hurts so bad. So they had to put him on IV liquids. He didn't have a fever at all today until tonight when he got in bed about 4pm then he got his high fevers back. He stayed in his wheelchair though from 10:30am to 4pm and did GREAT in therapy even while feeling like crap.

Jared had a great nurse last night that really made the night go great (other than the continuing 102 degree fever). She only came in once and when she did, she didn't wake Jared up at all. This morning Jared felt rested, but his throat and tongue are still really soar and they still haven't started him on the medicine for it that Dr. Patterson prescribed. He woke up with a 104 degree fever. It seems that his chills are getting better,but the constant fevers haven't improved. He took some motrin and we are hoping it will come down soon (and not go up again!).

Jared felt like crap today -- he is feeling very tired, has a soar throat and pretty high temp. His throat and tongue are just KILLING him and Dr. Patterson beleives he has thrush (just like Dr. Mom said) from being on the antibiotics so long. Thrush is basically a yeast infection of your tongue and mouth that occurs when antibiotics kill off the yeast fighting bacteria that naturally occur in your body. Babies are the most common group that get this. It is easily treated and Dr. Patterson prescribed a medicine to clear it up.
With regard to the constant fevers, the Dr.'s have run numerous blood cultures and everything appears fine. Dr. Patterson, the spinal chord doctor, now thinks it may be a result of his spinal chord injury, so he started him on a new medicine today to see if it helps.
Even with all the physical set backs, Jared got up in his chair today and pushed a little. He did some therapy, including writing for the first time with the assistance of a little finger splint. After about an hour and fifteen minutes, he was too sick to do anything else so the therapists put him back in bed. He had a few visitors today, but was not in the mood and did not have the energy to really even talk to anyone. The last two days he has gotten up in his wheelchair without ever getting dizzy. I added a funny picture of Jared eating (aka: playing with) some fries, that was taken on wednesday. He can eat most foods all by himself now.
Dad stayed home most of the day today and tackled the huge task of cleaning out cuboards and closets. One of the Jared's therapists think he will be going home in 30 days, so we are in a mad rush to get the house ready. The construction should hopefully start by the end of next week.

Today, Jared stayed in his wheel chair for 3 hours!! He pushed himself sooo much!!! It was a very good day in therapy. Jared has a soar throat, and the infectious disease doctor thinks it is just a virus that will go away ("Dr. Mom" thinks it is thrush). He has white bumps on his throat and tongue, and now he really won't eat because it hurts too bad.
Jared changed rooms today. At first no one was excited about the change, but it worked out for the best. Jared was originally in a double room all by himself, but they were going to have to put another person in the room and Jared didn't want a roommate. The CEO got jared his own private room. It's a little smaller so we are all squished in there, but it has its positives. For example, it stays much darker than his first room so Jared is sleeping better. It also has this really crazy track system that Jared is excited to try out. They can put him in a harness and then hook him up to the track, then with a push of a button it lifts him out of bed and he can move into his wheelchair, into the bathroom, or just take a ride! Because it is a single room, mom didn't have a bed all to herself, so Dad ran to Sports Chalet and picked up a cot and blow up bed. Just one more thing to add to the list of dad's constant errands.

Jared is still sick, but is feeling a little better since he got more sleep last night. He did alot of therapy today, which was amazing. Jared still isn't eating much, he just doesn't have an appetite.

Jared and my mom had a terrible night last night and didn't ever get to go to sleep. So Jared just was way too tired to ever get out of bed to do any therapy, but he is strong and DID get into his wheelchair for about 1 hour (usually he stays in for at least 2 hours). So then he got back into bed and was just TIRED!! He pretty much just slept all day to make up for no sleep. He still has a very high temp that keeps getting up to about 104 degrees. The doctors think they have found out why he has a fever and are now treating it with some more antibiodicts.

Today, Jared woke up not feeling good at all. He felt very lousy and didn't want to do anything or eat or talk to anyone. So we let him sleep for about four hours and when he woke up they took his temp and it was 104 degrees. They still don't know what these high temps are from but this time he had a very bad headache with it. They gave him asprin and he went back to sleep. Then he woke up and his temp was down to 99 and he was in a better mood and finally ate.

Jared had a GREAT day today. He went ouside in his wheel chair to play dominoes with everyone and had fun for a couple of hours. Then he got back into bed and for the FIRST time he wanted to actually get back in his wheel chair. So that was awesome so he got in his wheel chair and he wanted to go sit out in the sun because he had the shivers. So he sat outside with all of us for about 1 hour and then he got WAY to hot. So he went back to his bed and played Guess Who with Kirstin(he won). So it was a GREAT day!! (He keeps getting high fevers on and off and don't know what it is from yet).

Jared got his Pic in today in his arm (its an IV that goes straigt from his heart to his aorta so that he didn't have to have an IV in anymore in his hand). He has a fever of 102 today they still don't know what all the fevers are from right now. But the doctor thinks it's just his body trying to get back to its normal temp.

They are pretty sure Jared has an infection in his back incision from his second surgery, so they have him on strong antibiotics. They have an IV in his arm which makes it even harder for him to do therapy with his hand it has to stay there for 4-6 weeks which Jared is not to happy about. He still hasn't been eating much, we are just trying to get him to eat ANYTHING. Today, Justin got him some candy from the Sweet Factory which he wanted and loved that it was the first thing he actually felt like eating so that was good. He even used his hand splints to pick up the candy to eat himself. So that was a HUGE achievement.

Today was a pretty good day for everyone. This morning, Gary, Kirstin, Kourtni and Kindra went to United Methodist Church where our next door neighbors, Laurie and Rob Vance, attend. The church made a prayer quilt for Jared and then everyone in the congregation tied a knot on the quilt while saying a prayer for Jared's recovery and strength. It was very moving for all of us. After the service we took the quilt and gave it to Jared. He thought it was so great. We are leaving it at the hospital with him, so that anyone who comes to visit can tie another knot and keep the prayers coming.
The day was a pretty lazy one because it was Jared's one day off from occupational and physical therapy. He watched a movie on the portable DVD player Aunt Jane and cousin Joel bought him and he just relaxed. Later in the evening, one of the doctors came down and said that two of the three cultures of his neck came back and there was no infection found. This was one of the first bits of news that has made Jared so happy. It was really great news, but it is still confusing why he has a low grade fever if there is no infection. We still have to see what the last test shows, but the nurses changed the bandage on his neck and it appears to be oozing less and getting better! Thank GOD!!! Tommorrow the therapy starts again and Jared is going to have to try and work through his very tired shoulders and arms.

Jared woke up from a nap and is feeling a little better. Leighla has stayed with him all day, which makes him feel very loved and more secure with his new reality. Kirstin is going to spend the night again with her little brother at Casa Colina. She has done this a couple nights now, and Jared and mom both seem to really appreciate it. Jared had a little fever after waking up from his nap, but we think it may be because he was covered in blankets, rather than a precurser to any illness, becuase he is feeling better not worse. Keep the prayers, emials, and love coming; it is all very needed and appreciated!

Jared is pretty sad today and feeling very tired. Leighla (aka: girlfriend) has been visiting almost everyday, and that seems to bring him the only happiness in his day. There is no news on his neck, but the occupational therapist did make Jared get out of bed and get in the wheelchair, which Jared was not too happy about. He pushed himself once or twice and was then too tired to continue. His arms are very sore and he just doesn't have the overall energy right now. The occupational therapist also had another girl come down to the room today who has a similar injury to Jared. She broke her back a month and a half ago. She has full use of her arms and hands though. We all talked to her for quite a while, and it was very inspirational to meet someone else who is going through a similar experience. Jared was a little too tired to interact much, but hopefully they can lend eachother support throughout this process.

Today we encountered some difficulties, including we found out that Jared may have to have another surgery because the incision on the back of his neck from his last surgery is not healing and appears to be infected. As long as the infection is just superficial, it should heal and there won't be a problem. However, the doctors are concerned that it may be infected inside, possibly either from the plate that was implanted, or from the spinal fluid that was leaking where the membrane around the cord was injured. Jared is going to get another IV and some major antibiotics and we will know more on monday. Please pray that the infection heals fast!!!! Everyone is pretty bummed, but we are trying to focus on the vast improvements Jared has made and remember that he will get through this also.

There was a very nice article about Jared today in the Daily Bulletin (our local newspaper). If you would like to check out the article online click Here. Today, while Jared was in his wheel chair, he was able to push himself down the hall. It was amazing! EVERYONE got sooo happy; he was even so excited. He is still having a little trouble, but it was the FIRST day and we were all amazed at how well he can use his hands, especially because his hands still aren't working very well and he can't feel his outer two fingers. He also used new splints that were made for his hands, that help him control them. With these splints he was able to pick up many things with his thumb and index finger, including a pat of butter and strawberries. His tricept function is continuing to improve, especially his left arm. We played Yahtzee Texas Holdem game today and Jared was able to hold the Yahtzee cup, pick up and jiggle the dice. As you can tell, it was a great day with large improvements and happy times.

Jared started physical therapy today and they helped him get into a wheel chair and he got to explore around the place.

Jared arrived at Casa Colina in Pomona today at noon. We would like to say he was happy to be there today but that would be lying. He will start his phsyical and occupational therapy tomorrow. Jared will be having a very busy schedule but would love to fit in visits with everyone. We will know tomorrow about visiting hours. Now that the family is back from Long Beach all of our friends and neighbors have been so supported. Tonight, Michelle Hurlbutt brought us over AMAZING lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and brownies with ice cream. Thanks so much!

I added 3 pictures of Jared and some of his friends from the hospital today. Jared is going to be transfered to Casa Colina tomorrow. He is looking pretty good i added 3 pictures of Jared from the hospital from yesterday to the pictures section.

SOME good news!! We were told today that Jared's lungs are looking very good today and he should be released either monday or tuesday to Casa Colina.

Jared had a pretty good night; he had a hard time sleeping, but his breathing was strong. This morning he ate his first solid food, a corn dog from wienerschnitzel, and also drank a dr. pepper. His cousin, Joel came down to visit, and they had a fun time goofing off like normal. His spirits are up some and the doctor says that very soon he will be able to have visitors.

This morning Jared's x-rays showed that his lungs still have some infection still going on but his fever is down to 99. He is now able to eat liquids and this morning we got him a smoothie. The doctor did an ultrasound on his legs to look for bloodclots and all was clear. :) We got Jared a laptop for in his room to be online to talk to his friends. So please some of his friends get on sometime so Jared can talk to some of his friends. We have to type for him because he does not have any finger control.

The doctors wanted Jared to be on a bypass machine while he sleeps to help his breathing while he sleeps it just pushes oxygen into his nose, he tried it for a little while but he couldn't rest so they decided to take it off. Kirstin stayed with him until around 4am so my mom could sleep and all night he breathed on his own beautifully.

YAYYYYYYYYYY Jared got his respirator out today and is doing pretty good breathing on his own. His fever is still 100.4 today but he is thrilled to finally have all of the tubes out. He is still on breathing therapies to fight the infection he currently has in his lungs.

We got the news today AGAIN that Jared should be getting the respirator out tomorrow! His fever has gone down today. Mom had a great night last night and actually slept! So lets pray the respirator actually comes out tomorrow! We are planning on moving Jared to Casa Colina Rehabilitation hospital once he is out of ICU and everything goes as planned.

Jared's fever is a little lower today but still too high to do anything. Doctor gave hope that pneumonia is just from his respirator and is being treated correctly our continual battle with getting his respirator out and please keep us in your prayers!!

Jared's temperature today was up to 104 and because of that and the concern that both of his lungs are so bad right now everything has been put on hold and they still can not take him off of the respirator. Later today the doctors found his infection and have been working on getting that gone but as of right now he still has a really high fever and they do not know that the fever is from and are trying to figure that out. Really TOUGH night for my mom tonight never slept one minute stood by Jared's bed the whole night becuase of a new nurse.

Throughout the day Jared's fever went up and down, but as of 7:30 pm it was 102.7 degrees. Leighla came down and sat with Jared for a lot of the day, which made him very happy. She brought him a "JareBear Jr." and it made him laugh, but we had to tell him he couldn't laugh with the vent in. Mom is very stressed and is just now realizing that this is going to be a VERY long journey. All the girls are spending the night in Long Beach tonight so that we can be nearby to support mom. Aunt Ruthellen is going home tomorrow morning and we are all sad to see her go.

BAD NEWS!! We got here today and found out that Jared was not be able to get the respirator out because one of his lung cultures come back showing he had pneumonia. They have him on the perfect antibiotic and his fever has already improved, although everyone is very disappointed, we are hanging in there and realized there is going to be alot of up and downs.

Jared was hanging in there today, he was a little more awake today and kept mouthing "I want to go home". He also kept mouthing that he wants the respirator out and the doctors told us it might be coming out tomorrow.

Jared's surgery was a success. It didn't start until after 2 pm because they had to replace his ventilator tube; they had a pediatric tube in earlier, and now he has an adult tube - who knows why they thought a pediatric tube would suffice for a 6'3", 215 lbs kid! At around 5 pm, the neurologist came out of surgery and told us that they are very happy they didn't wait any longer to do the surgery because he did have breaks in the back of the vertebrate and some of the pieces had punctured the lining that surrounds the spinal cord and the spinal fluid was leaking out. They fixed the lining and then they fused the vertebrate back together using "donor bone" and bone tissue that they took from his pelvis. His lungs still have mucus in them and therefore, he is still going to be on the respirator for a little while longer. As long as he is on the respirator he is very sedated so that it does not bother him having a tube down his throat. For this reason, he is not able to communicated and is only conscious for small amounts of time. We will let everyone know as soon as he is capable of having visitors. In the meantime, we want to thank everyone for your continued love, support, and prayers.

JThis morning Jared continued to have breathing treatments, and although the lower portion of his lung is still collapsed, the doctors have all decided that since he is able to keep his oxygen levels between 95-99%, they are going to go ahead with his second surgery today.

Nothing much happened today. Jared was very sedated and had breathing treatments every hour and a half to try and break up the mucus in his chest. He is doing pretty good, but I am sure he is really looking forward to being off the respirator. Most of the day the respirator was only breathing for him 35% of the time and he was able to keep his oxygen levels up between 95-99% almost the entire time. Thank god for all that swimming and water polo, because it has made his heart and lungs SO strong.

Jared was not able to have his surgery today. They took him into the operating room, but the anesthesiologist was concerned becuase the lower part of his right lung had collapsed. The doctor assures us that this is a minor complication and Jared is still doing pretty well. His temperature is normal, heart rate and blood pressure great, and his blood oxygen levels have been good. They are putting some more pressure on the right lung using the ventilator and this will hopefully get it reinflated shortly. They are now saying that the surgery may happen on thursday. Mom has also decided that no one is to visit because she does not want to expose him to any extra germs.

Jared is very sedated and seems to be doing ok. The doctors think he is going to have his second surgery tomorrow. While Kirstin was in visiting him, he had an itch on his nose, which he tried scratching. The nurse thought that his hands were moving more in the afternoon than they were that morning. He is able to and constantly holds on to a whale his girlfriend Leighla brought him.

Jared had his first surgery on the anterior of his spine this morning. It took approximately two hours and went very well. The doctors found his C5 vertebrate in three large pieces, with some smaller pieces that they removed. The three pieces were fused back together using donor bone, metal plates, and six pins. The doctors also pulled the vertebrate forward to relieve pressure off of his spinal cord. After the surgery, the doctors informed us that they were going to leave him on the respirator because they were giving him a lot of sedation and didn't want to have to reinsert it for the next surgery.

The accident occured and he was taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital. At the hospital he immediately received large doses of steriods to try and help the spinal cord. Upon arrival he had some movement in his arms, none in his hands or legs. For more information of the accident, see Facts link above.