Two Whole Years

Two whole years...they went by much faster then we thought they would.  It is so hard to believe that it has been two years since the accident that changed our lives forever.

Campbell Family Fall 2011

Craig is doing wonderfully!!!!  He has a few small personality changes that we his close family, and a few of his close friends, see but other then that you would never know he was in such a tragic accident.  Our family regularly thanks our Heavenly Father for the miracle that has taken place.  We are so blessed to still have Craig, as a fully functioning person, with us in our lives.  As Craig's sister put it, she is glad we are celebrating today and not mourning.

To celebrate his victory over death Craig is running the Ogden marathon tomorrow, May 19, 2012.  If getting hit by a car can't keep him down then nothing will.  He is constantly improving physically and is excited to have four different running races, bike races and triathlons planned for this summer.  I am sure he will add more before then end of the year.

He was a little side tracked from all his athletics recently when one of the screws in his collarbone came loose and started backing it's way out through his skin.  He had it removed and was again back to normal, so normal that he helped a neighbor lay a wood floor the next day.  We really knew he was back to normal when he got bored a few weeks later and decided to rip out walls and flooring in our kitchen and remodel it...again.

Tomorrow, in addition to running a marathon Craig can apply to fly again.  We are now in the final count down to the last hurdle to overcome.  Excited, nervous, anticipation are a few words to describe how we feel.  Craig has to go through yet another neuro psychology testing session, see the neurologist and visit with an FAA medial examiner.  After he has finished these three appointments he can submit all the required paperwork to the FAA and the waiting game again begins.  It could be days, it could be months.  Lets hope they come back with a speedy all clear and Craig will finally be allowed to fly again.

Craig recently shared a story about how before his accident he felt like there was more for him to do then just flying. He felt like he should use his brain more and/or find something in which he could help others.  He prayed to be guided to the right answer and even considered a new profession.  He then related how Heavenly Father answered his pray in the most unexpected of ways.

He hit him with a car.....

A couple of months after his accident when we found out he could not fly for at least two years we were devastated.  We were not sure what he would do for employment or how we would make ends meet. But Skywest needed someone in the training department and they asked Craig to fill in.  Craig is still enjoying teaching new hires and recurrent training for Skywest.  He has also been working on the training development team.  The most exciting news is he was asked to become a Simulator Instructor in Long Beach, CA.  There are very few of these instructors and you have to be asked to be one.  It is not a job you can apply for.  This position has actually taken him back to traveling which is a good segway back into being gone more when he can fly again.  His prayer was truly answered.  He was able to use more of his brain (I keep telling him that he's not using more, the accident just got rid of some of it.) and he is helping others.  He has truly been enjoying the opportunities these positions have offered him.

We would like to again thank everyone who has supported us through this trial.  All the prayers, service, donations, etc. were much appreciated and will never be forgotten.  We as a family have grown more through this experience then we could have ever imagined.  We have learned not to take things for granted, be grateful for the small things, and that no matter what our Heavenly Father will always be there for us.

Teaching Abigail how to ski 2012.  

Spudman 2011

Getting bored and ripping out the kitchen.

Working on putting it back together.

Biking jersey given to Craig.

UPDATE

So it has been a while, August to be exact, since this has been updated. I figured I would fill everyone in on how Craig has been doing.

Craig got to have collarbone surgery two days before Christmas. He now has 11 pieces of titanium in his shoulder. That brings his total metal count to 20 when you include his hand. He is sad that he still does not set off any metal detectors. He did give us quite the scare during his surgery. It took the nurses a while to wake him up. Once awake he was just fine though. I did yell at him at one point and that helped to speed the process along. Do not do that to your wife two days before Christmas!!!

Other than recovering from the surgery things have been going well

for Craig. He has made great progress since the accident. He still gets tired easily but it is not nearly as bad. His collarbone never did heal and that is why we had it fixed. If you didn't know he was in an accident you would never guess.

Craig is still working for SkyWest. He is teaching new hire and upgrade classes for them. They have him scheduled teaching through the end of the year. He cannot even apply to fly until 2 years and 1 day after the accident. That is when he can apply again, not when he gets to fly again. He is enjoying teaching but he really does miss flying.

The kids and I are enjoying having Craig around more. He hasn't been home this much in 6 years. For all the other pilot wives out there - it does take some getting used to! It is nice though and we are excited to have this time with him.

He has already signed up for his first post-accident triathlon this summer. I think he is crazy. But he loves them!

And the light at the end gets further away...

Everything for Craig has been going great. Until today that is...

Yesterday he graduated from Physical Therapy, last week the Neurosurgeon said he was impressed and thought he was doing great and over all he is almost 100% himself.

Today Craig talked to the FAA. They said two years, May 18, 2012, before he can apply to fly. It just seemed to be going so well that this was a devastating blow to us. Craig is pretty sad. He really loves flying. He can't fly any airplane unless it's a remote control one during this time period. Yesterday the light at the end of the tunnel seemed so close. Today it got further away.

Why two years you ask? Well, they found his injury to be moderate, not mild or severe, according to their guidelines. This is the predetermined amount of time he has to wait. Everything is based off of the initial injury, not how fast he has recovered. We still have the right to appeal the decision. We are not sure if that will make a difference or not though. The hard part is that is when he can apply to fly again. Not when he can start flying again.

Both of us are still processing what this will mean for our family. We have a lot of decisions ahead of us but for right now we are just trying to absorb it all. SkyWest is pretty good about these types of situations and we are hoping his job will still be there for him at the end of the two years.

I think we were both looking forward to a normal life again. It's hard to believe one split second can change your life so much. I think this is a good wake up call for all of us to always be paying attention to what we are doing and to listen when we are counseled to get out of debt, save six months for an emergency like this and to be prepared to face the challenges that come our way.

The Joy of Testing...

Today Craig got to meet with the Neuropsychologist. We weren't supposed to see him till August 2nd, but he had a cancellation and his nurse called to see if we would come in today. We got there at 8:45 am and didn't leave until 3:00 pm. Poor Craig, he had to take test after test after test. After the brief 30 min part I had I got to entertain myself at the mall... poor Shannon :)

Craig's testing was done at 1 pm and at that time he got an hour lunch break. We ate lunch at the hospital cafeteria. Craig was amazed at how well I knew my way around such a big hospital. I reminded him that while he was on his luxurious vacation in Rehab I had the joy of wandering the halls.

The test results were ok. He is not 100% yet. The Neuropsychologist said he tested like a normal 36 year old male. There was just a few areas that need improvement. He has to go back in 6 weeks for retesting. The Neuropsychologist said Craig's brain just need more healing time and he expects him to be close to 100%.

It has only been two months which in brain healing time is not much!

Craig had a hard time with this news. Hopefully the fact that he gets to go back to work tomorrow, only on the ground, will help to cheer him up. Sitting around doing nothing but healing gets old fast!

Craig also gets to see the Hand Surgeon tomorrow. He is hoping to get the brace off so he can start doing more.

HE CAN DRIVE!!!!!

I know it has been a while since I have updated the blog but life has been pretty boring. Doctor's appointments, physical therapy, phone calls and paperwork. Nothing much to blog about until today.

Today Craig saw the neurosurgeon. He was very impressed with the progress Craig has made over the last seven weeks. He checked all of Craig's reflexes and cleared him to drive!!! He also does not have to have someone with him 24/7 anymore. I am so excited not to be his chauffeur/babysitter anymore!!! Not that I don't like spending time with my husband but not having to drive him to all his PT appointments will free up a good chunk of time. Now to figure out what to do with me time again. :)

The neurosurgeon also cleared Craig to do work as long as it is on the ground. He prefers that he not fly for at least six months after the accident. Craig is ok with that. He has been working in the training department at SkyWest before the accident so hopefully he can do some work for them. He has been VERY bored here at home not being able to do much. Working again will help to lift his spirits.

He also said that Craig should make a full recovery with out any long term effects. There may be some changes to his personality , which we have already noticed, but that could be chalked up to having a near death experience. None of the changes are major. He is just very thankful to be alive and to have wonderful people who care about us. We think part of it is boredom. When your used to being extremely active and now all you can do is sit around it is hard to deal with.

Last week Craig got his cast off. He had to go that same day and have a custom brace made for his thumb. He had his first Hand PT appointment today. He has great movement in his hand. The therapist said that they will mostly just need to work on getting his hand strength back. We have to wait until we see the hand surgeon in two weeks before he can start on strength exercises. When they took the castoff the doctor made him promise to be very careful or he was going to have to recast it. Craig would much rather have the brace!

Enduring to the End

Today I took Craig to the fire station to meet the first responders on the scene. We walked in and I told them my husband had been in an accident last month and wanted to meet them. I didn't even have to tell them which accident, they all knew. It was a pretty cool meeting. The first two on the scene looked like they were going to cry when they saw how well he was doing. They really didn't think there would be this good of an outcome. After accidents like this they very rarely get visitors who are in as good of shape as Craig.

They went into detail about what they saw and experienced when they were on the scene. They even gave Craig a great description of what the car looked like after he hit it. (Pretty gruesome) We had a lot of our questions answered about exactly how he hit the car and where he landed. Craig had fun showing off the x-rays of his thumb.

One of the firefighters has been doing this for 16 years. He said Craig's accident is the first one that actually made him go out and buy a helmet for his motorcycle. He has seen plenty of motorcycle accidents where the helmet made no difference. But seeing how Craig's helmet protected him in this instance made him a believer.

Craig volunteered to speak about bike safety for them anytime they want him to. They said they were planning on taking him up on that. We kept his helmet. That and pictures of his bike and the car will make great visual aids.

We also spent the day going from place to place getting copies of Craig's medical records. Yesterday we received the list of all documents (which is long) we will have to submit to the FAA. They will review the documents and send us a letter stating the length of time before Craig is considered medically cleared to fly again. They said this period can be anywhere from six months to five years. The length all depends on the severity of his injuries. There are many factors which they go by so it is hard for us to predict what they will be telling Craig. We are hoping for closer to the six months than the five years!!!

Knowing it could possibly be a long time before Craig can fly again has been hard, but we know we just need to Endure to the End. We have been taken care of so wonderfully up to this point that we just need to have faith that it will all work out in the end!

The power of prayer (and fasting)

Today has been the best day we have had yet!!! We are convinced the power of prayer and the ward fast, which was held the Sunday after Craig's accident, have gotten us this far.

(The picture is of our celebration - we took the kids to Cold Stone for ice cream)

Speech - Craig's speech therapist could not find anything wrong with him no matter how many rocks she looked under. After four visits she discharged Craig. She has been doing this for over 20 years and she told us she has seen full recoveries but never this fast! She kept looking at me and saying, "You know how luck you are, right?"

OT - Craig passed all the OT testing including the two drivers test. She too discharged him after only four visits. She also said, "You know how luck you are, right?" She then followed that up with a couple of horror stories so I really understood how lucky we are.

Both OT and Speech said they see no reason Craig would not be able to fly again. We still have to meet with a Neuropsycholigst for testing before he can be cleared. Our appointment isn't until August 2nd. They like to wait at least two months after the accident before they do the testing. That's ok. He still has three broken bones that need to heal! (And lots of PT to help get back range of motion.)

That being said we are still aware there can be set backs. Both therapist want Craig to go "back to life as normal". I am supposed to watch closely for any changes or behaviors that are not quite right. Neither thought there would be any but just in case. You never know with a head injury.

I of course fully know just how lucky we are. I got a good look at some of the other patients in Neuro Rehab and I TRULY know how lucky we are. I have also felt everyone's prayers helping us along our way! We are both grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves us and watches out for us. This truly has been a miracle.