Hey friends, family and prayer warriors! Thanks for keeping up with us! It has been a couple months since our lost blog update so there's lots to fill you in on! If you have been with us since the beginning you have learned a lot about Jared pre-accident and of course you're along for the ride with what he is doing currently.
I thought I would tell you all a little about myself, so here goes nothing...I grew up in The Woodlands, a used to be small suburb north of Houston. I am the middle child of three girls, my older who I always call Krissy on here, (actual name is Kristel) she is 7 years older than me and is the one who moved from the galleria area in Houston after Jared's accident to help, is an understatement. My younger, Kayla, she is 6 years younger than me, and she has 3 boys and they live just north of The Woodlands now. My mom as you all know sold her house a few months ago in The Woodlands and officially moved here with me! We grew up a pretty standard household, both my parents worked, I was very involved, I did Girl Scouts for 10+ years, I was very active with tons of activities through Girl Scouts, backpacking and sailing were two of my biggest hobbies in my pre teen years, and most summers I would work summer camps as a camp counselor, making all the crafts, singing all the songs and doing all the summer camp activities. I was active with my youth group, where I attended church sometimes with my family in The Woodlands but did all my youth group things in Spring with my friend Britni and her family all through high school. We played basketball at church events, club ball and school; we had enough school spirit to cover all 1200 people in our graduating class, if it involved making t-shirts we were all over it!
I moved to Denton after graduating, where I went to University of North Texas and graduated with my bachelors degree in business and sociology, haha! How things change in life...when I decided to make a complete career change and start over.
I have been in healthcare in surgery for 10 years where I am a surgical technologist now and I absolutely love what I do, and I think I'm pretty good at it! I specialize in breast oncology and plastic reconstruction surgeries as well as liver and kidney transplants! I have been at UTSW in Dallas ever since, and I am looking into furthering my healthcare education and going back to school for another bachelors degree but in nursing, whether I stay in surgery or look into an ICU environment, we will see what the future holds. Going through everything with Jared, it has made me think differently about things, so stay tuned!
Pre accident I was very into fitness, mostly because I have always loved food, so I worked out so I could eat all the foods! I did crossfit for 10 years where olympic weightlifting was my passion and then fell in love with indoor spin classes when I started having some major knee issues. Now, as most of you know it is a bit more difficult for me to find or make the time to do those things at this current time in our lives, but with everyone's continued prayers, support and encouragement we will get past this time and there will be better times ahead that allow all of us to get back to some of those things we love!
Thank you for your time here and in this space, we absolutely love sharing all the things going on with Jared and us here, and although it is not always a win or praise reports, we love sharing it all with you, even the hard stuff, and trust me there is plenty of that too!
OK, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM...
Jared’s grandpa turned 100 last month, and we were beyond grateful to celebrate his centennial! We had not seen most of Jared’s family since his grandpa’s birthday last year, and it was so nice to not only celebrate his Grandpa Mike but also see how much progress Jared has made in the last year. Jared was so engaged with everyone, taking pictures on everyones phones and although not speaking yet, he was participating in conversations. He answers questions when he is being asked, most the time with head nods but it is clear he is understanding everything that is going on around him.
The weekend was a success, and we look forward to Jared continuing on his recovery. I don’t know if Jared was showing off around his family or he just needed to be around his Sawall clan! Either way my heart was full seeing him smiling, and I’m talking BIG smiles, handing out hugs, constantly wanting to get up and walk everywhere. Check out the second coolest thing at Grandpa Mike's birthday...his T-shirt my sister had made for him, a picture of a young Jared and grandpa circa 1999!
Last post we told y’all he was going in for another eye surgery, with a new oculoplastic surgeon at UTSW. His new eye lid is better but still isn’t quite there, although his surgeon was happy with the skin graft used from behind his ear, he still needs just a tiny bit more to get that eye to close.
His eye surgery went well, I was able to handpick Jared’s team in the OR and I was so thankful my coworkers and everyone who was part of Jared’s surgical team took such good care of him. In the past few months we have been in the process of switching and getting in with new doctors at UT Southwestern. We are crossing all kinds of things off our list, getting Jared where he needs to be to be at his best in his journey.
Recently, we met with a cornea specialist at UTSW, to see what our next reasonable steps are. Previously we mentioned praying that Jared would be eligible for a cornea transplant, well that may not be in the cards anymore. Dr. Waldrop was amazed that with all the trauma that Jared’s eye has been through, that he has been able to keep it. There is a lot of thick and dense scarring on his eye that would be difficult to remove. He also mentioned taking biopsies from his good eye to look at them to see if we could put those things toward his injured eye, but that is a high risk for something that may do further damage to his good eye. Ultimately, we want Jared to be able to keep that eye, whether it is working well or not.
So we are going forward with a few more tests including an electroretinography (ERG) eye test that measures the electrical activity of the retina in response to light. It can help evaluate retinal disorders and determine if retinal surgery may be necessary. Meanwhile, he will consult with Jared’s oculoplastic surgeon to see if he can do anything else to help get his eyelid to be able to close.
In the meanwhile, we have kept up with his new physical medicine and rehab doctor where Jared gets his botox injections every quarter, this has been a huge help with loosening up his right side. We are continuing to see progress in his strength as he muscles through physical therapy at CNS.
We have seen a urologist and done a few tests to check for that is called a neurogenic bladder…good news, his kidneys and bladder look great!
We are praying that as he starts talking again he will be able communicate his bathroom needs to us.
At the end of July, I got to have a quick weekend trip with my long time bestie in OKC, where there was a lot of poolside relaxing that went on. Huge thanks to Garvin and Loretta for letting me stay with them and turn into sloth mode at their house every time I visit. No trip to Oklahoma would be complete without getting to see Britni’s daughter, Hannah play JV volleyball as a freshman!!! And also, fitting in some nintendo with the Bergman clan! We sat around and looked at pictures from when we were little and all through high school, it was a fun and emotional walk down memory lane! The Boyd family has always been just that...FAMILY, ever since Britni and I met in first grade; from living down the street from each other, being in classes together, church youth group and, playing basketball together, here we are 30 years later!
Therapy updates:
Last time my sister mentioned how we were needing a turn around with Jared and his therapy sessions, and these last couple months I have heard such wonderful things from his therapy team. Jared has been much more engaged and participating in his sessions. He is responding quicker and more consistently to tasks and questions and it has been great to see! Lately he has been working more on relearning handwriting, sequencing tasks and still working hard with speech therapy on phonation so we can hear that voice again!
Physical Therapy: He continues to work on transitions from sitting to standing on his own, his static standing balance, and of course walking! Sometimes they are using an upright walker that helps with his posture, other says they are working with a standard handheld walker and most recently his PTs are working with walking with handheld assistance.
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” —Isaiah 40:31
Occupational Therapy: Jared's right side has been his weak side since the accident, so we continue to stretch out that arm, hand and fingers to get him back to his functional dexterity with his dominant side. Throughout the week he works on ADL (activities of daily living) in his OT sessions, such as buttoning shirts, using zippers, other fine and gross motor tasks, that are things such as stacking blocks in certain numbers, sequences or colors. He gets tested on a 9 peg hole board, how many of those pegs he can put in and remove in a timed manner using both his right and left hand. They test his grip strength and work his range of motion with his upper extremities and they are getting stronger! We recently had to say goodbye to his OT he started with at CNS and he has started with a new therapist there, so hopefully they keep pushing him and coming up with new ways to keep him engaged and participating in those tasks.
Speech Therapy: Well, as you all know this is one of our biggest prayer requests, we are constantly praying for that voice to come back! His speech therapy team is working very hard at phonation with Jared, with breathing exercises and different ways of communicating. One of which is using a tablet with simple requests, and commands. We all also are still pressing on with his ability to eat different foods and swallow in a safe and timely manner. In the last few weeks we have seen a bot of regression in this area as he has lost weight and lost a bit of energy which we believe is due to Jared not eating enough. It is a tough cycle, he is tired because he is not eating enough, and he is not eating because he is too tired to do so.
As there are still struggles, there are also some gains...here are a few videos to show just that!
I was fortunate to get to go on my first vacation in over 4 years.The last time I went anywhere was with Jared, before Covid took over; we went to Colorado to do some snowboarding.
My mom and sister were so supportive and took over 100% of Jared care for 9 days while I went to visit a friend in Alaska! We used to work together in the operating room, but it really wasn’t until Jared’s accident that we talked on a deeper level other than work and surgical things.
This was the first time I had met any of her family, but since Jared’s accident and her recent move to Alaska, we have grown close. Her sweet kiddos pray for Jared everyday. Without knowing much about him or myself they ask about Jared, ask what they can pray for for him, these kids even hold their church family and their parents accountable to remember to pray for Jared! Without having met me, they were excited for my arrival and welcomed me in their home for the week. And I got to spend my last birthday in my thirties with them! We had an amazing time that of course flew by! Below is a little reel of pictures from my trip.
This weekend we attended a painting workshop for fun at ABLE FAITH, and if you haven'r checked out this amazing organization please DO IT! I will drop the link below. This is the organization that is a neuro community that includes spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and more. They are operated completely off of donations and are a Godsend to us and the community. They donated a standing frame that was going to cost us over $5k, that insurance denied us. They have donated time, supplies that Jared can use, and door dash dinners when life has just gotten too hectic to think about cooking. They have workouts in their center... (any of my PT peeps, if your heart has led you to help in this area, please reach-out, there are so many ways you could be used to help). They organize different social events, activities, and pop up worship services.
Check them out: https://www.ablefaith.org/
Well, although Jared was a bit sleepy for the painting event we tried our best to get a few pictures, and truthfully the most impressive part of Jared'd artwork, was when he signed the bottom of it HIMSELF, with his RIGHT HAND, and in CURSIVE...so naturally, it was FRAME WORTHY! He gifted it to our mom since she was not able to join us due to feeling a bit under the weather.
Just look at that beautiful signature!!! We love this!
As we approach 3 years since Jared’s accident, we can’t help but look back but also look forward to things God has in store for this family.
We continue to ask for prayers for ALL OF US. It can be easy to forget to pray for the same thing or same person when it’s been such a long time, but those prayers do not go unanswered, we’ve seen so many of them come true.
There continues to be hills and valleys on this wild ride, truthfully, most days I find myself trying to figure out how I can jump off the coaster while it is in motion. So we still need all of your prayers and help, and not just Jared, but myself, my mom and sister too!
Check on us, our lives have drastically changed and though I say it on here and to others when I tell them my story, I don’t tell my family thank you enough. They quit their jobs, sold their houses, and left their friends and life behind to move here to Frisco, to help me because I had no one here to help me and Jared, they both have started completely over. So please, check on us, check on them. They could use a reprieve from time to time. It is so easy to get caught up in life, out of sight out of mind, trust me I’m guilty of that often. But this is yours and my reminder, REACH OUT! Make that list of people; whether they used to be a big part in your life once upon a time, send that text, or make that phone call. A little “wellness” check goes a long way.
Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Jared continues to be in that rhythm he found the last couple months at therapy. PARTICIPATION, ENGAGEMENT, and PROGRESS!
May our cups be refilled; Jared, myself, mom and Krissy...we need it, it has been a long 3 years and we are fighting till the end, but it is a constant battle, and whether it be physically, emotionally or mentally, we could use a boost!
Jared's ability to speak, come on voice, ROAR!!!! As well his ability to keep moving forward with his eating, and to gain some weight, he needs to pack on the pounds!
Prayer for the next steps in the recovery of his right eye
PRAISE REPORT: We have a new caregiver (since July), Greg has been a wonderful addition to Jared's journey. He comes a few times a week in the morning to get Jared up and ready for his therapy day, and he is so kind and patient with J, we are very grateful to have him as the newest part of our family! Not to mention, I think Jared is relieved and excited to have a guy around to help him rather than us brown ladies he has had to deal with so much for the past 3 years.
PRAISE REPORT: Jared's family and myself included were more receptive this year at his Grandpa's birthday than last year. They all got to see how hard Jared has been working, and see that he is still Jared and getting better everyday (even if it is slow and at times hard to see). Prayers, that they continue to reach out, and I continue to work on forgiveness and move forward with staying in touch better with them and we can all support Jared for the son, brother, cousin, uncle, nephew and friend that Jared is to them.
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For anyone who might be new here, or wanting to know how they can help, here are a couple options:
-- I'm going to drop the link to Jared's Amazon gift registry here:
The most needed items (due to everyday consumption) are briefs and the various vitamins and supplements. Contributions and/or gift cards are also very helpful for random items that pop up as well.
-- And his GoFundMe is still alive and always useful.
Thank you so much for any contributions and/or purchases. We appreciate it more than you know! We look forward to the day when Jared is FaceTiming all of you to share his gratitude as well!
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