Kevin's Recovery Helping Kevin Mather on his road to recovery

Letter from Tiffany

July 5, 2009 6:00 p.m. The Stout’s wrote:

The following is a letter written by Tiffany that she would like shared with you all:

“This morning Kev asked for me at 2 a.m. His vitals are getting stronger and more consistent.  He kept asking me throughout the early morning what the plan was today, when any type of physical treatment would start, etc. I explained again that so far the doctors want to be cautious with his spine and need to let the swelling go down before they would be able to start physical therapy.  But I definitely was encouraged to see him already so motivated to try to do something to regain feeling and motion.

Please continue to pray as we know we serve a faithful, compassionate, and loving God.  Kev did seem to get a fair amount of sleep last night and says his pain levels are okay, but seems a bit more discouraged today.  Every time they do a sensory test the results differ slightly- at this point he seems to have some sense of pressure in his upper thighs, but actual feeling seems to end in his lower abdomen.

His neurosurgeon was just here to check the wound and change the dressing.  She said the wound looks great-they seem a bit concerned about the fluid build up, so they have changed his bed position and discussed potentially putting in a drain depending on how he does over the next few days.

I feel very confident in his neurosurgeon, she has been incredible and went over the entire surgery in detail and explained everything she did and why while showing me his x-rays and CT scans.  He lost 7 liters of blood (average body holds 5.5 liters) all trauma related and had 3 anesthesiologists. They did another CT scan yesterday and the neurosurgeon seemed very pleased with the results and confirmed the decompression is gone.

I also was told that they will send a social worker in at some point to discuss rehab options, etc.

We have been absolutely blown away by the love and support and can’t even express how much it means to know so many people are praying.  It has truly been astounding to watch God move so quickly by sparing his life, allowing his vitals to remain strong, providing movement in his upper body, protecting his brain, vision, and speech.  We can’t thank you enough for your prayers and ask that you would continue to pray for miracles.”

Specific Prayer Requests:

• That we would cling to hope instead of fear
• That God would work a miracle and provide use of his legs
• That I wouldn’t be an emotional mess-don’t do so well when I’m tired-3 hours of sleep so far
• Comfort for Kev and I that we would take our thoughts captive and not freak out about not having much feeling yet.

Social Networking for Kevin

Hey, Everyone.

The outpouring of prayer, encouragement, and support for Kevin and Tiffany has been incredible! It’s so important for them to know that we’re in this with them for the long haul. In anticipation of our need to keep people informed, motivated, and focused on the needs and goals, we’ve instituted some social networking tools. Here are two quick and easy things you can do to spread the word and keep the ball rolling…

1. Subscribe to receive email alerts from Kevin’s Recovery Team. To do this, simply click here or click on the “Register” link in the User Menu in the right panel of this page. Once registered, you’ll get instant email notification whenever a new blog post is added to the site. In addition, you’ll receive subscriber-only emails we may send from time to time. (Note: If you’ve already registered, then you don’t need to do anything.)
2. Use the “Share This” social bookmarking links at the bottom of any blog article (including this one) to easily spread the word among all your online friends. This includes support for popular sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo!, and LinkedIn. There are also options to email or print any article.

We’ll soon be posting information about practical ways you can get involved in Kevin’s recovery. Having a strong network in place will be critical, so this is just the start.

Lastly, it has been amazing to witness the love and concern from so many, including people who just met Kevin. What a testament to what it means to “love your neighbor.” On behalf of Kevin’s Recovery Team, thank you for your support!

–Mark

Message from Kevin’s Dad

1:00 am, July 5: We received the following update from Mark Mather:

Kevin’s dad here. First I would like to thank all the Highway Patrol, Fire Fighters, Paramedics, and Helicopter transport that worked so fast to save our sons life. His mother and I are very grateful. We left Kevin at 10pm [last night] at the hospital, and he was resting. Much needed I am sure. He is in stable but critical condition. His surgery yesterday [Friday] was from 2:00 pm to 2:30 am. 12 hours. He has 2 metal bars and 12 screws in his back supporting his spine. His spine injury is a level 4 to the best of my knowledge. They took out his respirator tube today, and he is talking with a normal and clear voice. The swelling has gone down on his head. He is cracking jokes in the ICU and enjoying his ice chips. To see him yesterday going into the OR and then to see him today was amazing. The power of prayer really works! He has sensation feelings in his legs but can not move his legs or feet at this time. We are hopeful for a speed recovery understanding that it will take some time.

Our many thanks to the family, friends and others that have been praying for Kevin and Tiffany. They are great kids and have a strong hand with God. I think we had 30 people in the waiting room and we had to upgrade it to a suite. Tiffany has been an incredible woman during this ordeal. Very strong but Kevin and I think that she could use some sleep. Greg and Janice have been incredible staying there for so many hours with us praying and just being there. Many thanks to all the family and friends that brought food and drinks to the waiting room. It was great!

Also a hugh thank you to [the great medical team at USC] that put Kevin back together. I will never forget you. You did an incredible job!

Please keep your prayers coming for they are surely working and lets pray for Kevin to have speedy recovery and pray for Tiff to be strong during this difficult time. We will update you with information as we receive it.

My love to all. Mark