It has been a year since M’Lynn was gracious enough to start this blog for us but I still remember as if it was just yesterday when this “trip” began for our family. It was one year ago today that Kelly was transferred to Dallas and I still remember the empty feeling I had when we boarded that medical transport plane to fly there. I just thank God that He was with us through the whole ordeal and continues to be with us, promising never to leave our side.
Kelly has been doing well since her hip replacement surgery and has been transferred to the rehab hospital. Me and Zach just got home from visiting her. She seems in good spirits but admits she is ready to be home and I must admit, me and Zach are ready for her to be home also. When we saw her nurse as we entered the hospital, she told us that Kelly had a very good day and is improving every day she is there. I’m glad that she had a good day since I still listen to “our” song from Diamond Rio, “One More Day”, and know I have a great day every day that God allows me to spend with my beautiful wife. Thank you God and thank you for all prayers and support. God bless!!

It has been a while since I last updated the blog and I apologize.
I will try to catch everybody up since my last update. Kelly returned to work half days while going to physiacl therapy twice a week. She is getting stronger and making improvements all the way around. The last day of Kelly’s school year for the 2009-2010 school year was last Friday, June 4th. She was making plans for the summer off which included more cooking at home and concentrating more on her therapy but her plans changed on June 7. Kelly was getting up during the night to go to the bathroom when she lost her balance and fell on our bedroom floor. I helped Kelly back into bed and she realized that something didn’t seem normal and she was in a lot of pain when she tried to move. I called an ambulance and Kelly was taken to Northwest Texas Hospital emergency room, a familiar place with not very fond memories for the Perez family. Kelly was examined and found to have fractured her right hip and would require surgery to repair it. Kelly was admitted into the hospital but the surgery had to wait because of the medication she was on. The surgery was scheduled for yesterday, June 8, and at 7:30 am they came to get Kelly for the surgery. Of course, it is a hospital and nothing ever happaens in a hurry at hospitals and Kelly was taken into surgery at 10:40 am. When I talked to the Orthopedic surgeon before the surgery, he said that because of the nature of the hip fracture, he was going to do a hip replacement on Kelly to possibly avoid a need for future surgeries. He also said that the fracture was probably due to the loss of bone density during Kelly’s inactivity during the time she was in a coma. At about 11:35 am, the surgeon came to tell us that Kelly’s surgery went well but that she had a substancial amount of blood loss due to the blood thinners she had been taken and that she would need blood transfusions. Kelly received four pints of blood yesterday and has gotten her color back. I know she feels better because she made a comment about how she feels like a vampire because of all the blood she has been getting. She had a good breakfast and we are waiting for the therapists to come evaluate her to see about getting Kelly up and about on her new hip. The blood pressure is still low so we may have to wait for a couple of days before that actually does happen.
Thank you again for all your support and prayers. God bless.

It has been quite a while since I have updated the blog and I apologize. Trying to juggle work, home and everything in between seems to get the better of me and I run out of hours in the day before I finish everything I want to get done.
Where to begin, Kelly has improved so much in the last month that it is amazing to see the miracle that God keeps revealing to me everyday. She has been discharged from Occupational Therapy because she has met all of her goals. She continues to improve in Physical Therapy also and is still getting stronger. Kelly is using the cane to walk around and is even going up and down stairs during therapy and at home. The improvement has been so noticeable that Kelly started talking with her therapists about trying to return to work before the TAKS test in April. The idea of going back to work was just that, an idea, until Kelly set her mind that she IS going back to work and started the ball rolling. She asked the therapist to set up an appointment for her to get measured for a “power chair”, which is an electric powered chair for Kelly to use in case she has to travel a long distance. She will use the chair until she is strong enough to walk those long distances. She was measured for the chair last week and then Kelly started checking with her principal about what was needed for her to return to work. Kelly was told that the doctor had to release her to go back to work before the district would make a decision about Kelly returning to work. A visit to the doctor on March 24th brought some good news in that he did release Kelly and we are now waiting for the district to make their decision. We are praying for good news and that Kelly will be able to return to work soon.
Thank you for all the prayers and support. God Bless!!!!

It has been a few days since my last update and Kelly continues to be going to therapy three times a week. I just received a phone call from Kelly’s Occupational Therapist about Kelly’s progress. The therapist said that the strength in Kelly’s right arm and hand seem to have been at the same level for a while so they are concerned that if no progress is seen in the therapist’s reports to the insurance company, the insurance company will decide to stop approving therapy sessions for Kelly. They are giving Kelly two weeks of intensive treatment and exercises that she will do at therapy and at home so they can re-evaluate her progress at the end of the two weeks. They need some “significant” improvement for their report so that Kelly can continue to receive the therapy approvals. Once Kelly heard this, she seemed to be more motivated than ever. She started using her cane exclusively to move around during the day and only uses the walker at night when she is getting in and out of the shower or going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Kelly was so motivated that she decided it was time that she made dinner for us. So, last night, I had homemade spaghetti that my beautiful wife prepared. It was the best meal I have had in my life!!! Kelly also started doing the exercises at home and seems determined that this little obstacle will not get in her way. The determination that God has given Kelly has always been one of her best attributes but now it is even more evident on how valuble that attribute is to her progress. I spoke to my friend Hector Dominguez today, who is battling some health issues of his own, and it was though God had told him to call me. Hector’s enthusiasm about God and about life is so infectious that he made me more at ease about this obstacle that is before us now. I am proud to call Hector a friend and a brother. Hector, we will continue to pray for your full recovery and I look forward to talking and praying with you again real soon. Take care brother and God bless you.
Please pray for some progress in the next two weeks so that we can show the “enemy” that the power of prayer can overcome anything. God bless!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day to everybody!!!
The day of love. For me, it has a whole new meaning. I have always known that I love Kelly very much but today just made me realize how much I love her. She is my “everything” and always will be.
Therapy is still going well but yesterday, Kelly was able to open up to us for the first time about her feelings on our situation. She said she knows how much everybody says she is a miracle she is but is getting frustrated that she is not back to her “normal” life yet. She told us that her daily routine is not what she wants to do and is ready to get back to her “normal” routine of getting out of the house. It is the first time she has shown so much emotion about how tired and frustrated she is. I have been praying extra hard for God to give Kelly, and me, the strength to get through this next obstacle. Between work and then coming home to take care of Kelly, I’m not sure if I am doing enough to keep up with our family life in the way I should but I am pretty sure it has not helped our situation. Sometimes I don’t think there are enough hours in the days or enough days in the week. A friend of mine, Hector Dominguez, wrote that the devil always puts doubt in our lives but we just have to believe even harder and put our trust in God. That is what I will be doing even more. Thank you for your support and prayers. God bless!!!

The first week in February and Kelly is still making progress. They have started using a walking cane that has four tips in Physical Therapy so hopefully Kelly will be graduating from the walker to the cane soon. They have also given her a folder with workouts she can do at home on the days she doesn’t have therapy. A recommendation was made for Kelly to start working on some puzzles at home to work on her concentration so we have started a 500 piece puzzle that is trying BOTH of us. It has intrigued Zach however, so he has started working on a 25 piece puzzle of his own. The improvement we have seen is amazing and I’m so thankful for all the blessings that God has bestowed upon our family. Thank you God!!! God bless and we hope every one has a great week.

The last day of January and things are getting better every day. I was reading the posts on my last update, which I again have to apologize for the time in between updates, and there was one about Kelly’s Physical Therapy. The therapy is going well and Kelly is getting stronger. She still is using the walker but her right side is getting more movement and getting stronger. Kelly’s Occupational Therapy is also going well with Kelly being able to get more range of motion in her right arm. Every time we see some one who has not seen Kelly since she was in ICU either at Northwest Texas Hospital or Zale Lipshy Hospital, they comment on how amazed they are at Kelly’s improvement and the miracle that God has blessed us with. Thank you God!!! Kelly’s vision in her right eye is still blurry but according to Kelly’s Eye Doctor, he has had patients whom have had the same surgery as Kelly and have gone to bed with blurry vision and then woke up with almost clear vision. The doctor said that they can’t explain it but that the eye just waits until it’s ready before getting rid of enough blood to allow normal vision to return. He does not seem concerned about Kelly’s vision and anticipates a lot of improvement very soon.
This weekend we are snowed in with about 12″ of snow on the ground so we are catching upon some old movies and working on Kelly’s homework therapy by playing some Wii games and Brain Games on the computer.
2010 has started a new and greater beginning for our family but we will always remember the “highs and lows” that God has seen us through. There is a saying that we “pray to God when times are bad and we praise God when times are good”. I have to admit, I have been praying and praising God more than I have for my entire life. Maybe one of the messages God was sending me was that I need to rely on Him, no matter what is going on in our lives. Thank you for your support and prayers. God bless!!

Again, time has flown by and I have been unable to update the blog but please understand that we still appreciate all who check the blog, along with the thoughts and the prayers.
We have just returned from Dallas for Kelly’s follow up visit to the doctors there. The day started yesterday with an MRA and then an arteriogram so the doctors could check on the anuerysm and it’s progress. I have been praying that God cure Kelly’s aneurysm and once again God has shown how He still performs miracles. After both exams, which lasted most of the day, Dr. Pride informed us that Kelly’s aneurysm is GONE!!! He said it was completely occluded and that everything looked great. Thank you God!!!! They still want to keep an eye on the aneurysm but said that they might be able to just check it with an MRI every 6 months at first and then go to a yearly MRI until they feel they do not need to check any more. The doctor said that after a year after the coiling with no change, that the chance of the aneurysm coming back or rebleeding was so minimal that he could not even give us a percentage because it was so low. Again, God has touched my beautiful wife and the wonderful doctors who have helped her to remind me of how the power of prayer works.
Tomorrow we go back to the Retina Specialist to check on the progress of Kelly’s eye. Kelly is still going to therapy 3 times a week and getting stronger with every session.
Thank you again for the thoughts and prayers. Thank you God and God bless!!!

It is Sunday, the day of rest and that is what Kelly is doing today. Therapy and the home health care lady are working out pretty well. Kelly is still making improvements and her just being home makes the biggest difference in her improvement. We get to spend time at home with Zach and that in itself is the best therapy Kelly is getting. The therapists doing Kelly’s outpatient therapy are great and usually wear her out by the time therapy is over. I can tell Kelly’s core strength is improving and she able to do more and more by herself. The therapist told her that she needs to be like a 2 year old and have the mindset that she has to do more for herself without help. With Kelly on one side and Zach on the other side, I get a lot of “I can do it by myself” answers and looks when I try to help too much. With it being Sunday, we will be getting some rest but we will also be praising and thanking God for all the blessings He has given our family. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. God bless.

Kelly is adjusting to being home and to the outpatient therapy. Kelly’s home care lady is very nice and she has already been to therapy with Kelly so she can work with Kelly at home on some exercises. We visited Kelly’s primary physician today for a check-up and he said everything looks good. Kelly also got her AFO today and you can tell the improvement in her standing and walking. It is amazing how many people will come up to us to and tell us that they have heard of Kelly from all of the amazing people who have put her on their church’s prayer list or by word of mouth. Christi sent me an email about how God sometimes uses “normal” people as angels and I have truly seen the this up close and personal. Thank you to all the “angels” and thank you God!!
Happy New Year and God bless.