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jumperconway

Serious Prayers Needed for One Of Our Own!

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C3-C5 "keep you alive"...
responsible for the diaphragm (chest and breathing)

I hope it's just swelling & the surgery tomorrow will help!!!



If he moved his shoulders then I'm sure he'll be breathing on his own soon enough. To find out why take a look at the Level and Function chart below the spinal cord diagram on this website.

Edit to add: Also read farther down about complete and incomplete injuries. Most injuries are incomplete and after some time a level or two of function is regained if not more.

I guess I wrote all this just to be informative. Most people don't know about spinal injuries. Hopefully none of this will apply to him though! :)

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Dejavu....My best friend and I on a jump two years ago, he ends up on the ground with a c3 complete. The worst thing about it for me intially is the doctors will never give you a prognostication, no percentages no nothing, not malicously it is just that, as advanced as we are, they still know very little about the spinal cord. He fought his way off the respirator and got the tube out of his throat, and has his own apartment. I don't know Rico but I do know that he and his family are in for a long road. My buddy tells me that the amount of people visiting him in the hospital reduced pretty quickly when it was known he would survive, so don't stop visiting it really means alot. I don't even know how many days and nights we spent in the IC and eventually at Rehab institute of Chicago, but they were worth it. I had never appreciated the nurses I have known in my life til this happened, they do the real work in a hospital. My best thoughts are with him and his family. And one more thing that probably belongs in the other forum, but screw it, let Bush know that we want stem cell research. Peace!

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Update per Rich Delgado;

Pam (my wife), Leah, Shari, and I went to the hospital to see Rico and talk with his family last night. FYI if you plan to go visit, they close visiting hours after 8:20. We almost didn't get to see him. Rico looked better than he did Sunday evening. He is on a bed contraption thing that slowly rolls him from side to side to relieve pressure on his body.

He definitely knew we were there when we talked to him. He moved his mouth slightly and squinted his eyes. He briefly opened his eyes for Leah and Shari when Leah mentioned that she wants to eat some of his famous Fajitas.

Per Angie, they should begin to prep him for surgery at about 9am this morning. Prep will take about 3 hours and the surgery will take about 5 to 6 hours. They plan to repair C2 to C5. C4 is their biggest concern and the area putting the most compression pressure on his spine. He still requires the the ventilator to breathe and has a infection in one of his lungs. The next few days, weeks, and months are going to be a long hard challenge.

There is a huge prayer chain for Rico that goes across the U.S., down to Mexico, to Puerto Rico, and Taiwan. Let's all pray for a medical miracle today.

Rich












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Hey Conway, I'm guessing he's going to be in post-op ICU for a bit, but as soon as he gets into a regular room, can you post an address that we can all sends flowers/balloons/etc to?

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

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The surgery lasted from 3-8PM this afternoon and they said that they were successful! He is still a quadraplygiac from the neck down at this point but that may change in the coming 2-4 weeks. They placed whatever metal in his spine and he is still in need of the ventilator to breath. Please pray for him!
[:/]












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The surgery lasted from 3-8PM this afternoon and they said that they were successful! He is still a quadraplygiac from the neck down at this point but that may change in the coming 2-4 weeks. They placed whatever metal in his spine and he is still in need of the ventilator to breath. Please pray for him!
[:/]



Thanks Conway - your updates are very appreciated!!

Prayers for Rico are speeding his way. Heal quickly man, the big first step is done. Now it's up to you. You can do iiiiittt!!!
Thanks also to the outstanding medical team who performed the surgery! (I wonder how many other jumpers they've worked on?)

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

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I visited this morning. Visiting hours start at 10:00 AM for this ICU area, whereas the other areas start at 6:00 AM. I got there about 9:30, but no one hassled me and they allowed me to stay.

If you ask for "Rico" or "Ellie" they may not know who you're talking about. His formal name is Elizar Estrada.

The halo is removed. He was awake and is able to nod and shake his head in answer to questions. He can't move his arms or legs yet, and he can't speak because of the tubes in his mouth.

It's very painful to see someone you know in this condition. Show an optimistic face. Wait until you get outside the door to cry.

Best parking is "Garage 4", but it's pricey. Get a ticket as you enter and carry it inside the hospital with you. You pay it at the machine in the hallway on your way back out to the garage. If you leave the ticket in your car, there is no attendent at the garage exit, and you will have to re-park and go back inside to pay the fee. The payment machine spits the ticket back out, and you feed that into a reader upon exit, which will recognize that you paid the ticket fee and raise the gate.

Either I wrote down his location wrong, or he has been relocated from the info provided earlier. He is still in Hermann Hospital Jones Pavilion on the 4th floor, but he is in Pod B, Bed 9. From the elevators take a right and go past the visitor waiting lounge, straight ahead through the double doors. Pod B is down the hallway to the left of the nurse station. You have to don disposable gown and gloves to enter the ICU pod - they are located beside the door. Bed 9 is straight ahead as you go inside the pod door.

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Last night I talked to my temmate who visited Rico. He says Rico was still paralized and couldn't breathe on his own but clearly there were signs of improvment after surgery. Rico was councheous, looking at visitors and communicating with them. Lets pray for Rico and hope he recovers well.

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Last night I talked to my temmate who visited Rico. He says Rico was still paralized and couldn't breathe on his own but clearly there were signs of improvment after surgery. Rico was councheous, looking at visitors and communicating with them. Lets pray for Rico and hope he recovers well.



I got a call from Angie.his wife. He is moving his shoulders!!!!!!! He also has some feeling in his arms from elbow to shoulder! This looks like the beginning of the beginning! God bless all that have prayed for my brother in his time of need~ He is very head strong and determined to jump again!!!!!!!

Blue skies, Mom 11/15/2004 Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth ..., Put out my hand and touched the face of God!

=)












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Conway,that sent a chill through my body.Rico is in my prayers and thoughts each waking moment.My earliest recollection of Rico was when he yelled"Hey Fucker" at Brad Lambert when Brad showed up late at Ballunar a couple of years back.Of course the couple of hundred people in the general public look over and see Brad slowly make his way over.Keep us updated as time heals Rico's Injury. Blue Skies, Dave

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I got a call from Angie.his wife. He is moving his shoulders!!!!!!! He also has some feeling in his arms from elbow to shoulder! This looks like the beginning of the beginning!



This is awesome news!!!! B| Keeping my fingers crossed that more movement and feeling come back as time progresses.

Is he in a regular room yet or still in ICU?

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

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