The Teardrops Fell

Ryan, Fletcher, Bjorn, and Bart said their good byes to Clark late Sunday morning and then headed back to SD. A couple hours later, Kristin, her husband Kellen, and their two children joined me at the hospital. Kristin and Kellen went in to see Clark. It wasn't long before Kellen came out and said, "Kristin wants you to go back there." I asked "is everything okay?" He said "yes, just go on back." As I got near I could see that Dr. Box was in the room hovering over Clark's bed. Then I could hear him asking Clark to follow some commands, one of which was to squeeze his hand. Clark followed all commands as needed. Dr. Box then looked at me with a HUGE smile on his face and said, "You can't complain about success." They are so pleased with his mental state. He is doing better now than he was before the comma was induced. I stood quietly beside the bed and returned a HUGE smile back to Dr. Box. Then I asked, "can I touch him?" "Oh sure you can, and you can talk to him too." I gently touched Clark's hand over all the wires in it and said, "Clark, this is Mom." He opened his eyes as best he could and looked toward my voice, then a river of tears ran down his cheek. He squeezed his eyes together and became a bit excited. What a wonderful feeling! Kristin said he had cried when she and Kellen first came in his room too. Kristin and I stayed at his side asking him some yes and no questions to which we liked all the answers. He said he is not in pain, he was comfortable with the temperature, and he could see us and knew who we were. He pursed his lips as if trying to say something but we assured him that everything was OK and he just needed to relax. He winced his face with emotion. He didn't like the cuffs on his calf's that constrict to prevent blood clots and fidgeted with each rotation. I told Clark I was going to go the waiting room while Kellen came back in since he hadn't been able to be with Clark much during the entire time. Clark shook his head no. I asked him if he wanted me to stay and he shook his head yes. Every time we stepped away from his bed, he reached his hand out to be held again. Kristin and Kellen had to leave shortly after as their baby McLane was getting a baby's blessing at their church that evening. I stayed for a some time more with Clark, then I left too to attend the blessing.

They took the paralytic medicine off and reduced some of the medication that was keeping him sedated, so they could check on his responsiveness etc. They were very pleased. They were able to drained 2 liters of fluid, helping reduce the puffiness and swelling. They rotate Clark every two hours, stuffing pillows under his back and legs to avoid getting bed sores. We are heading back to the hospital early this morning. He will go back to surgery today to have his belly flushed and cleaned and to check that the attachments are functioning properly. It's doubtful that they will sew him together as he still has a lot of swelling and the skin cannot be pulled together. Now that he is awake and responsive we will be spending much more time at his bed side. We cannot have phones in his room but will respond to messages when we can. We haven't been allowed to take a picture of Clark because he has been unable to give his consent. We will ask today if we can if Clark says it's OK.

Many have asked what they can do to help and how to give a monetary donation. The financial department said that if we do any fund raising it has to be done in a certain way to prevent being dinged with taxes. We will find out more about this today and set something up if you're interested. If you would like to send a card, Clark will be staying with Kristin Purles. You may email her at klkimble@gmail.com to get her personal contact info. Thank you.