Stephen Murray - Update: December 19th

November 19, 2007 @ 5:15 PM by Robin Fenlon

www.myspace.com/murraystrong

www.stephenmurray.org

and thanks to BMX Talk for all these updates. www.bmxtalk.com

November 19th Update

Hi to everybody, from dad Jeff --STEPHEN IS BACK IN CALIFORNIA--

Where has the time gone? it is now 6 months since the dreadfull accident, we were all warned by experts to expect a non stop rollercoaster and boy oh boy have we all had one--big time.
Stephen had to spend an extra week in Craig Hospital, Denver due to his new tailor made electric wheelchair arriving late.As dissapointing as that was, when I arrived back in Denver I could see straightaway that Stephen was in no fit state to leave the Hospital anyway,he was on another I.V. drip feeding him more antibiotics to defeat another pneumonia attack and looked as weak as I had seen him for a long long time.
Eventually 5 days later the doctors said he was O.K.to leave the Craig [after 21 weeks!] so we said our goodbyes and thanks, to some wonderfull people, and took a 30 mile road trip to the airport to board a plane for the 2 1/2 hour flight back to Los Angeles.Due to the nature of Stephens injury it is not possible for Stephen to sit in one position for anymore than 15minutes, or else internal skin sores develop and cause massive problems--so he has to do what is called weightshifts, frontal, rear or side movements to take the weight off his butt for a minumum of 2 minutes each 15 minutes.That meant pulling off the road on the way to the airport, stopping to carry out rear weightshifts in his wheelchair, but on the flight itself, we had to have an aisle seat for Stephen, a seat next to him for wife Melissa and an aisle seat opposite Stephen for myself in order to carry this out.

Every 15 minutes we would have the other passengers wondering what we were up to, cos up came the 2 aisle armrests,I would pull Stephen across the aisle towards me whilst Melissa would push his butt up off the seat so his weight was now on his right thigh, then I would push him back towards Melissa so she could pull him towards the window and I would then lift his butt up off the seat and lean him onto his left thigh to complete the weightshift.All in all there is no option, this is an absolute must, it simply has to be a way of life now for Stephen, it is a lot easier when he is sitting in his electric wheelchair cos Stephen can touch his headrest with the back of his own head and command the chair to tilt itself backwards into a near 180 so he ends up just about horizontal for 2 minutes or more every 15 minutes to take the weight off his butt.

Stephen has had a very complex electric wheelchair made for him so that he can use the back of his head to touch switches inside his headrest which allows him to go forward, reverse,steer, control acceleration and top speed, and also carry out the important weightshifts himself just in case he is without a companion for anymore than 15 minutes.Mega amounts of time have been spent trying to master all these touch sensitive movements and as difficult as it is, there is no other way, as Stephen has no control of anything below his shoulders and must learn to fine tune this complex operation.

2 of Stephens friends were waiting at the airport in california for us, with his newly purchased handicap van[Ford E 150] kindly sold to us by a bmxer friend Justin who has lived with a similar injury for the last 12 years.At the touch of a button[inside or outside] twin side doors open, a hydraulic ramp moves out from the van and then drops itself onto the ground allowing Stephen to move his chair onto the ramp and then be lifted electronically up and then into the van where he is manouvered and locked down into a safe travelling position,yet still allow an electric rear weightshift whilst travelling

What an emotional homecoming, mam Cynthia, sons Seth and Mason, beloved retriever sisters Cassie and Geordie, St. Bernard, Rockie and several well loved friends were waiting as we pulled up the long driveway to Stephens new house.
After 24 weeks in Hospital Stephen was at long last back in California amongst some wonderfull friends and I honestly dont know who was happiest out of all of us,we will never forget it.
Nor will we forget the next 8 days of absolute turmoil, no home nursing care available, after 24/7 hospital care of 24 weeks we were on our own and not able to call out any nurse or doctor due to a terrible mix up between the Hospital, the insurance company and the appointed care agency.
Stephen was going downhill and we could not get anyone to analyse his position no matter how we tried , it was like being in a vacuum so after 3 very worrying days we finally had no option but to rush him into another Hospital where he was diagnosed to be suffering another pneumonia and an infection in his bladder. Another course of antibiotics to start, just a week after finishing the last lot, a very nasty situation which would not have happened with home nursing care in place but thats the way it was and we had to get on with it----how we wished there was an NHS in California.

Cynthia has done an amazing job with the new house, fitting it out and furnishing it in a 5 day period ready for our arrival from Denver, it looked fit for a King. Internally it allows Stephen to get around comfortably in his chair and allows him to exit the house from a choice of 4 doorways to a very nice set of grounds where he can watch the children and his dogs enjoy themselves.
Stephen has been very fortunate in finding this house but even more fortunate in having 2 lovely sets of neighbours with young children of their own who will go to the same school and spend lots of time with Seth and Mason over the coming weeks and months .Tony and his wife Katrina, Mitch and his wife Cindy, have spent a lot ot their time helping at the house, making Stephen comfortable in his new environment, and whilst both Cynthia and myself were sad to have to fly back to England this last weekend, we left feeling really pleased that Stephen has 2 lovely sets of neighbours who will give him and Melissa a huge amount of support and help with everything in front of them.

Hopefully the next few weeks wont see anymore healthscares for Stephen, I wish them all the best for the festive season and look forward to seeing them again on Saturday 5th January in Baltimore near Washington D.C..where Stephen starts a 6 week course of intensive physical therapy with Doctor John McDonald, designed to help Stephen gain control of some body movement.We have said before that this is an absolute marathon and are going to do everything possible to help Stephen have the best chance of recovery no matter how long it takes ,no matter how hard it is, we must keep moving forward and look to Stephen having a future without a wheelchair in his everyday life.

The last 6 months has seen Stephen mirracoulsly survive a most horrific injury and learn to cope with it, whilst at the same time, learn to live in a wheelchair.Normally that would be all anybody could hope for , but as everybody keeps telling me --Stephen is not a normal person-- and will not accept what normal people will accept.
Doctor John McDonald worked with Christopher Reeves[Superman]helping him to regain some movement before he sadly died, and he is very strong in his belief that Stephen is the type of guy who will be strong enough to cope with all that will be neccessary to overcome the very hard road ahead and finally get the reward. The first stage towards recovery is this 6 weeks back in Baltimore and as Stephen makes progress, his program will be altered suitably by Dr John McDonald.We are so fortunate that we are able to work with John as he is at the forefront of research into all aspects of spinal cord recovery and is committed to finding the cure for Stephen and other people around the world who are sufferng from this most dreadfull type of injury.

Once again our friends, the Murray family most sincerely thank you all, for your amazing support, it would not have been possible to be where we are today, without your moral and financial support, we truly are greatfull to everyone and wish a happy festive season and a successfull 2008 to each of you.

ALL THE VERY BEST TO ALL OF YOU



November 20th Update

Matt Hoffman visited Stephen today, click here to see the story on BMXtalk.com and here to see the pictures.






Official Murraystrong blue wristbands and Murraystrong stickers are available from The Stephen Murray Family Fund for just £5 (which all goes into the fund). All you need to do is send an SAE to: The Stephen Murray Family Fund, c/o Med Bar, 28 Codbridge Road, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, ST1 5JQ.

November 17th Update: Seems ages since I tapped these computer keys and typed out an update for you but for these last 2 weeks we have been waiting for some important confirmations from the Craig Hospital and it is only today that I feel confident enough to spill some juicy juicy news---more about that later in this bulletin.

During my last trip out to stay with Stephen we saw some huge changes in his breathing abilities and we were on a countdown to try and get rid of the trach from Stephens neck which has been keeping him alive for the last 21 weeks via the life support machine[ ventilator].
The large diameter plastic trach with the speaking valve and inner balloon was removed with a lousy yelp fromStephen, it really hurt me just watching let alone having that monster pulled all the way up his throat and out of his neck.
No pain no gain! thankfully they managed to quickly insert a stainless steel jackson trach with a slightly smaller diameter as a replacement, then after 4 days they pulled it out [not so much pain this time cos there was no inner balloon to worry about] and inserted another jackson stainless steel trach with yet again a slightly smaller diameter
This procedure allows the hole in Stephens throat to heal up a bit and get smaller and smaller each time.
Finally and thankfully Stephen managed to breathe well enough by himself ,without any support from that life support machine; and the nursing staff gave the long awaited OK to pull the smaller Jackson trach from Stephens neck, then a special patch was put over the hole in his neck in order to keep it surgically clean and to help close up for good ,that horrible neck wound.
YES---YES ---YES----AT LAST NO FOREIGN OBJECTS IN MY MOUTH OR THROAT
These were Stephens words at the time-----can anyone imagine what that has been likefor 21 weeks?

Because Stephen is breathing air at a very high altitude[Denver is a mile high]he is taking in a lower oxygen content than we are down at sea level, so as long as he remains in Denver he has to wear an oxygen tube up his nostrils and get his top up from an oxygen cylinder and get his lungs used to breathing on their own without that life support machine

This has been the news we have been praying for and dreaming about, it is such a huge step forward for Stephen in his determined efforts to get better from this most crippling of injuries. A huge well done son, is my way of thanking him for staying strong and continuing to fight to get rid of that machine

BLOODY WELL DONE SON---------WE ARE ALL VERY PROUD OF YOUR ATTITUDE

Other good news is the fact that Stephen and Melissa have found a suitable house to live in,[ back in the Riverside area of Southern California ] and signed a 12 months rental lease,.
Because of their unfortunate financial position we had to come up wth all the 12 months rent up front---thanks to all who have helped with the STEPHEN MURRAY FAMILY FUND we have managed to do this, so today, Friday 16th November, Melissa is flying back to California to pick up the keys and start the house moving process.
In my first paragraph I did say we have been waiting for some news from the Craig Hospital for the last 2 weeks, this following is what it has been about
Stephen has been waiting for his own personal brand new electric powered wheelchair to arrive at the Craig Hospital so that he can have it fitted around him comfortably and learn to use all of the controls
with the back of his head,[ cos that is all he has the use of at present].
It is now believed that his new wheelchair will arrive in Denver Friday 23rd November and if all goes well, the hospital staff will work with Stephen for about a week or so to ensure he can totally control it well enough to be finally discharged from the Craig Hospital in Denver , keeping our fingers crossed for hopefully Friday 30th November.
I will be flying across the Atlantic Ocean for the umpteenth time to spend the last week in Denver with Stephen and then flying with him from Denver to California and spending another week or so helping him to settle in to a new way of living away from the Hospitals which Stephen has been living in for these last 21 weeks
Cynthia is flying to California a few days ahead of us so she can put her own little touches into making their new house, a nice new comfortable home, ready for Stephens arrival, and will also be staying with Stephen for a week or so to help him to get to get to grips with his new way of living in his own home, with his wife Melissa and their 2 sons 5 year old Seth and 2 year old Mason------ not forgetting Stephens 2 Golden Retriever sister dogs Cassie and Geordie and his giant St. Bernard, Rocky.who have been such a miss to Stephen but have all had very good homes these last 5 months.

Thats all for now folks and it goes without saying that you are so much appreciated for everything you helped with ,YOU have made us all STAY STRONG FOR STEPHEN

Thanks everybody------- Jeff



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