What a difference a week makes!

One week ago today Jerry had his accident. He has come through so much already and every day we see answered prayers that are nothing short of miracles. We are still standing on James 5:15 for his complete healing - look it up and you'll see what we mean. Today he had 1 of 2 chest tubes removed. (Hopefully tomorrow the other one will come out.) The nurses had him up in a sitting position for almost 4 hours today!! His voice has returned to the point that you can actually hear him when he speaks now. Still sounds a little rough - but yours would too!

PLEASE NO VISITORS in his room - come to the waiting room and check in with the family first. Sleep is one of the most important things he can get right now to help himself heal and unfortunately you don't get a lot of it in ICU. So the family wants to limit his visitors.

We covet your continued prayers - specifically for continued healing of his lungs, no infections and healing of his skull fractures. We, Jer's family, are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support by his friends, coworkers and employer. We will never be able to articulate how much you all mean to us and what a blessing it has been to witness the love you have for our son, brother and soon to be husband! Much love to all of you - the Gallimores

The Best News Yet!

Jerry is off the ventilator! He is breathing on his own! He is also temperature free. Thank God for answering our prayers! He seems much more comfortable. He is laying there with his legs crossed like he was watching TV on his couch. The doctors were able to correct some imbalances in his magnesium that caused a little concern yesterday. Today all is well and he is back on the healing fast track! Doctors are still watching very closely for any infections so Jerry's visitation is still restricted. However, if you want to come see Jody, Bonnie, Jerry Sr, or Jamie, everyone is welcome to see them. They appreciate all the love and support you guys have shown them.

Classic Jerry Moment

Today Jerry has stayed about the same. Each day of recovery will present little ups and sometimes little downs. His lungs need a little extra time to heal so he is still on the ventilator. The doctors plan on trying everyday until he can breath completely on his own. Please keep praying for those lungs to heal! The nurse took off his dressings today and Jody says his incision sites look awesome! No puffiness or redness at all! He is going to have a couple of pretty cool scars to show off. Of course he will have to shave all that hair to see them.

He is attempting to communicate which brought about a very classic Jerry moment. His dad and I were in the room with him and we could tell he needed something so we started asking him questions. As we go through different things we can think of, he is giving us a very classic "NO dang it, this is so obvious" kind of look until we finally guessed right. He just needed a new pillow to be a little more comfy. He is showing more and more of that personality that keeps all of us laughing. He was able to look at the pictures on the wall next to his bed today. He kept looking back and forth between the pictures of him and Jody and the one of his nieces. If you have a great Jerry photo, get it to me or someone that can get it to the family. We will try to put some more up in his room.

I got a brief update from Keith about the bake sale. It was a HUGE success! Thank you to every single person that prepared, sold, bought, or helped in any way.

Day 5, May 28, 2009

Today was a good day. Jerry was able to follow simple commands and easily recognized all his family members. He can squeeze their hands and at one point even tried to write something for Jody. He really brightens up when she is there with him. You can still see him giving her the eyes and rainbows and butterflies all around them! LOL. He was very excited when I played a message from his nieces to him. It was very good to see him recognize their voices. On the other side, his body temperature was a little elevated today. It was not a fever, but please pray that it doesn't become one. Doctors are watching very closely for any infections. They were not able to remove the ventilator today but will attempt to again tomorrow.

Thanks for the many gifts and prayers! Jerry is a very blessed and loved man.

Ways To Help

I know there are a lot of friends that want to help. There will be a blood drive at AA on June 1st in Jerry's honor. The blood won't go to him but it will help replenish the blood that he used. If you can give, please do because it saved Jerry's life. Also, a bake sale is being organized by his friends at AA to help with expenses for his family. They all live out of town and are staying in a hotel right now. There will be an account at his credit union as well. I'll post information as soon as I get it. If you would like to send a card or donation, you can mail it to me and I will get it to the family.

Jerry Gallimore
c/o Jacque Lauder
144 Country Lakes
Argyle, TX 76226

Jerry Gallimore's Journey

This blog is to follow our beloved Jerry through his recovery. On May 24, 2009 Jerry was on his way to work at AA when he was involved in a horrific accident. It was about 4:35 am. God truly had protective angels with Jerry in his truck. There was a fire station a few hundred yards from the accident and he was able to get care almost immediately. He was taken to Parkland Hospital Trauma Center under the name "Sigma K". He was taken into exploratory surgery to stop the bleeding and try to ascertain some of the injuries. His injuries were very severe and at the time all they could do was pack his belly and then he went MRI and CTs. He continued to bleed so they took him back to surgery and they were able to see the damage to his diaphragm. Later in the day, they found damage to his aorta and did a 3rd surgery to repair it. He was given over 20 bags of blood during these procedures.

Jerry was put on a ventilator early on Day 2 in order to help his lungs. Doctor's also discoved a occipital condyle fracture which is a skull fracture of the bone that connects the head to the spine. He was put in a modified c-collar which covers the back of his head and keeps him from moving his neck. He stablized some and that afternoon the doctors decided to go in and remove all the packing and repair the massive chest injuries. During that surgery, doctors removed his spleen, repaired his diaphragm, almost all the ribs on his left side and a few on the right are fractured and were stablized. It was a long but very successful sugery.

On Day 3, May 26, 2009, the doctor's finally upgraded his condition slightly to critical but stable! He is able to hold his own blood pressure. His lungs improved a lot today. He is only getting minimal assistance from the ventalator. The doctors also inserted a "filter" into his main artery to keep any blood clots from traveling to his heart or lungs.

Day 4, May 27, 2009, was a good day of recovery. Jerry had another CT scan and a MRI done with good results from the CT scan. We have learned that waiting for results is difficult but usually worth it. We should know something tomorrow from the MRI. His CT scan did not show any brain injury. THANK YOU GOD! The ventilator is on the lowest setting now and Jerry is initating every breath. The machine is only assisting him now. He responded some to his dad by blinking "yes or no" to a simple question. He also responded to his mother, sister and Jody. He smiled and opened his eyes when I said Hi to him and told him the girls were praying for him.

Right now because of his pain and discomfort level, the family is the only one's allowed in to see him. As he improves that will change. Please leave remarks here for Jerry and his family to read.