This page will be used to keep everyone updated on Kathy's progress. If you wish to leave a message, please use the message board. Richard reads them regularly, and once Kathy awakens, will be reading them to her as well.
The band family would like to thank you all for your prayers and support during this difficult time. We can't wait to see her up and around... KEEP PRAYING!!! |
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For the latest Update, please scroll to bottom entry
An Important Message for our Fans and Friends We thought it was important to let some of you know of a difficult situation concerning a member of the immediate band family. Blanco’s wife, Kathy, experienced a medical emergency Sunday afternoon and is currently hospitalized in Grand Rapids. While we don’t feel it necessary to explain every detail, we will tell you that she is in a coma following surgery and has a very long road ahead of her. Those of you who see us often I am sure have spoke with her due to the fact that she RARELY misses the opportunity to see her husband play. At this time the band is not cancelling any dates, but we ask for your thoughts and prayers while we wait for her to wake up. We will keep you posted via the message board, and please feel free to leave comments there if you choose. . We will see you at River City Saloon UPDATE Kathy is in a medically induced coma in the Critical Care Unit at Spectrum Hospital. She still has an additional surgery ahead of her to remove a 2nd aneurysm discovered while prepping for her first surgery. Obviously, the situation is still very serious and this is putting a huge financial strain on the family. Many people have asked about sending flowers to the hospital. While the thought is very much appreciated, they don't allow live plants of any kind in CCU. Some friends have set up an account for Kathy and Richard at Lake Michigan Credit Union for those who would like to help. This is a great alternative to flowers or plants because it satisfy a genuine need for the family. The information if you would to give is as follows: Routing Number - 272480678 Transit Number - 101010 020228 Anything you can do would be appreciated. Richard is spending everyday at the hospital and they don't have health insurance. The Boogie Bash has been transformed into the Boogie Benefit Bash. Information about it can be found by clicking here, or on the link on the front page. Once again, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated greatly. 8/20 Kathy has been off a few of her medications and remained stable. Based on that success they began to take her off sedation. The CAT scan looked good but during her Angiogram some of her levels began to go up which caused concern. They sedated her slightly again and waited for them to return to normal. Yesterday they took her off sedation again and are trying to bring her out of the coma. She moves around and sometimes fights the respirator, but still is not breathing on her own. We are looking forward to her waking up in the next few days, keep praying that she will. 8/21 Not the Update we were hoping for but here is where is all stands. After 10 days in a coma Kathy is not progressing the way they had hoped, and some of the tubes and machines she is hooked up to apparently start having adverse effects to the human body, so they need to be removed for a while. The good news is that she is breathing on her own for the most part. The respirator is at 25% as of 9pm last night. However, after being given 2 options, the family has chosen to move her to a long term care facility. They will perform a tracheotomy and put in feeding tube until such time as they find a place to move her. We won't discuss option #2. Please keep praying that she will wake up and continue her road to recovery, she has made very slow progress, but is still making progress 8/24 It has been an eventful weekend. Friday night In The Red managed to play as scheduled and we received news after the first set that Kathy began to open her eyes with increased frequency. She was even answering questions via the "blink once for yes" method. On Saturday she was even squeezing the hands of loved ones on occasion. We all believe she can hear us now and is fighting her way out of the coma. Its still could be a while before she comes out completely, but we are all so thankful that she seems to be aware of our presence and we have part of her back. Please continue to pray. Everyday. 8/25 Its a beautiful thing to see her open her eyes! Kathy is still in a coma, but she has long periods where she is responding to commands (and probably sick of hearing them at this point), and sometimes looks right at you. She probably has about 1/3 of the gadgets hooked up to her than she did this time last week, and as far as we can see, is fighting like hell to communicate when she can. Things continue to slowly progress, but when you see her look at you, you can't help but believe she is on her way back. 8/26 Yesterday was a very good day. She is reacting to pain again and the doctors actually had her sitting up for about 4 hours. She looks around the room alot and locks eyes every so often when you speak to her. Today they are planning on removing some stuff because they don't believe she needs it anymore. They've opened up the shades and are actually going to put her in a chair and take her outside today!!! Richard is going to grab some of her favorite CD's and bring up a boom box. Kathy is climbing out of this mess!! Thanks again everyone for your support and prayers, we hope to see you this Saturday!! 9/3 Nothing new and exciting to report. Actually Kathy has good days, and some not so good. They want to get her stablized enough to move her to a long term facility, but that is proving to be a little difficult. They had a scare on Sunday with infection, and they are starting to move her around because of muscles seizing it up. This would be so much easier if she would just wake up. Please keep praying... 9/8 PROGRESS!! Kathy has been moved to a care facility, but its temporary before they get her into one that is specifically designed to rehabilitate someone who has gone through what she has. Hopefully that will be soon. While she remains in a coma, it is becoming increasingly evident that she is aware of what is going on around her. In several instances Monday, Kathy responded directly to questions by squeezing hands, thumbs up, and other mannerisms. Its almost as if she is conscious inside her head, but can't make everything work on the outside yet. There is reason for optimism, but as we have said, its a long road ahead. Please continue praying for her full recovery. The Boogie Bash Benefit yeilded nearly 5,000.00 that was badly needed. All of us would like to extend an extra special thank you to everyone who showed up and made it such a great success. Pictures of the event will be posted as soon as I get my hands on them. 9/10 More Progress Kathy has had a real good day today. The most alert she has been so far, and Richard is actually able to communicate on a limited basis. She tried to speak, but the tracheotomy makes that nearly impossible. They still haven't said she is "out of the coma", but obviously there are many levels of coma and hers isn't very deep anymore. The moving around therapy they do must be working, and we see little signs of improvement each week. Keep praying, its working!! 9/11 Yesterday was a very good day. Kathy finally began talking!! Rhonda posted this on the message board, if you missed it, here is her story... "I went to see her today she was sleeping she had just got back from her cat scan. So I didnt try to wake her...Her daughter had left me a note saying that Kathy had a really good morning and she had left some nail polish up there for me so I could paint Kathys nails[she failed to mention her mom had spoke to her] So anyways I didn't wake her I just painted her finger and toe nails[sorry part of the story].......While I was doing her nails she woke up and I said Hi to her and told her that Shelley had said she had a very good morning...I said I don't think you were tap dancing but maybe you will next week and she was smiling and trying to laugh...Then she was looking up at the helmut she still had on[she has to where it when they move her].... I told her I would get the nurse to take that off for her and she looked at me and said "what" Of course I started crying and said Kathy did you just say what.....And then she said "Yeah What"....I told her I was sorry for crying but I come up here everyday and talk to you and this was the first time you answered...She just kept smiling at me...I asked her some questions and she was answering them with either a yes or a no....Then I told her I was sorry for the crappy paint job I did on her fingers..But I said your toes look good and I held up her foot so she could see it and she looked at them and said "thank you"....She was still talking when I had to leave..It was hard and I didn't want to.....I can't wait to get out of work tommorrow so I can get back there.....Keep Praying she has alot of therapy to go through......" So she is cognative and aware of whats going on. Keep praying and soon she will be joining us at a show!! 9/18 They are considering removing the Tracheotomy soon, which will be very helpful now that Kathy is beginning to speak more. Her memory has been affected slightly, but even then there has been some improvement over the last few days. Yesterday she even got to go outside. I will write more after I find out more, but once again, much prayer is needed. 9/29 Kathy continues make little improvments here and there. They removed the Tracheotomy and I'm sure thats a bigger relief to her than the rest of us. She has begun trying to eat solid food (well, pudding isn't solid, but its also not hanging in a bag) and speaks a little more. Richard and Rhonda treated her to a video of the Benefit, and when she saw Richard singing "Icky Faced", she mouth the words, which is a great sign as far as her memory goes. They feel she is stable enough to begin discussions on what they are going to do with the 2nd aneurysm. They will probably Coil it (google it) because that is less invasive. After that is done and she is eating better, it looks like Richard will be able to bring his wife home. While there still is a long way to go, She has come a LONG way already, and I thank God for all of it. 10/7 Kathy is now eating REAL food. Not just pudding, pretzels and diet coke, but genuine substance!! Ah yes.. progress. While there are still issues with memory loss here and there, for the most part she is aware of her surroundings and who is there. They are consulting with the surgeon on when they will schedule the surgery on the second aneurysm because they now feel she is stable enough to handle it. It will be non-invasive, so there shouldn't be any set back in her recovery. Hopefully, now that she is eating, they will be able to get the feeding tube out, and she won't be hooked up to ANYTHING!! A far cry from the 500 tubes and needles sticking out of her about a month ago. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. 10/8 Rhonda Checks In'..... Last thursday I when I went to Kathy I asked her if she knew who I was She said "yes the same person you were yesterday" After I got done laughing i told her yesterday she got it wrong and lets she if she gets it right today and then she said "you are Rhonda" I was so happy.....She also knew who Richard was and what her birthday was...She hasn't remembered my name since but she is starting to remember a few more things...We just continue to talk to her and help her remember things...Some days are better then others and it seems that the early morning hours are the best time for her memory....She is eating three meals a day now and the feeding tube will be removed soon...They have also cleared her for the surgery to replace her bone plate....So hopefully we can bring her home soon...Keep praying... 10/22 Sorry for the long delay. Surgury is scheduled at 9:30 am on Nov. 3 at Spectrum. This is replace the portion of her skull that was removed to operate on the first aneurysm. She is eating on her own for the most part, sometimes more than Richard would like. She is also in therapy everyday. Some days she remembers things, others not so much. Unfortunately, they have discovered that they will NOT be able to coil the second aneurysm. What this means is that once she recovers from this first operation, she will be facing another operation on the other side. Hopefully, they will be able to operate on this before it bursts. They don't currently think that it will be bursting anytime soon and they are controlling her blood pressure to help alleviate the danger of that happening. With any luck, after she recovers from the Nov. 3rd operation, she will be able to come home. 10/26 Kathy continues a very slow process of recovery. After spending some time with her on Sunday you can see where she is struggling to put together the 50 years of memories she has running through her head. Bits and pieces of different memories (and possibly TV programs) all jumble around and she tries to connect them together... sometimes successful, sometimes not. What would REALLY be helpful is for those of us who know her can somehow find the time to go and visit her at the Kent County Care Facility. (Fuller St. 1 block North of I96. 5th Floor). When she was in a coma, there was a tremendous outpourring of support which Richard and Kathy truly appreciate. Now that she has emerged from that state, she needs us more than ever. The more familar things (and people) that she is surrounded with, the more chances she has to start putting it all together again. We hope you can find the time, it will be invaluable to her recovery. Its great to see her talking again, and very fluid when she does. She just really needs our help putting it all back together again. You can come up just about anytime, let her know who you are and just talk to her about anything. Times you spent with her at the bar, boogie bash memories.. anything that will continue to exercise her mind will be invaluable. Thanks again for all your support and prayers. Also, if you have a particular story or memory that you think would stand out to her, WRITE IT DOWN. She can read very well and I think (in my completely unmedical opinion) that by activating several parts of her brain at once it will help facilitate a return of her memory. It certainly couldn't hurt, but she did experience a pretty accurate story about me while reading the back of a book. It jarred something... so why not give it a try!! Nov. 3 Well, today we have a set back of sorts. For those of you following along from home, you were probably aware that Kathy was scheduled for surgery this morning. They were going to replace the "bone flap" on the right side where they did the original operation. Saturday they discovered that the bag it was being stored in had a small hole in it, therefore there is the potential for contamination that has to be tested before they can proceed. They are doing those tests today. If the flap is uncontaminated, they will reschedule as soon as possible. However, if they find evidence of contamination, they will have to reconstruct a new piece, which could take a month. That would suck. Otherwise Kathy is still responsive and trying to put it all together. If you can go up and see her, please do. If you cant. do it anyway. ;) 11/14 Rhonda sent this update: Good News!!!!! Kathy's bone plate was not contaminated and her surgery is rescheduled for next Wednesday the 19th at 8:30 am.....If all goes well this should not change bringing her home for Thanksgiving....As a matter of fact all this week Jay her therapist has been working with her on getting in and out of the car and going up steps and on Saturday she gets to leave the hospital for a little while....This will the first time since this has happened....She is doing awesome in therapy.... she is getting stronger everyday...As for her memory, we are still working on that....Some days she knows who I am and some days she does not....On monday when I got there and had asked her if she remembered my name she said "I sure do...you are my girl Rhonda"....But today she said I was Lawanda....Pretty close.... we are getting there.....Please keep praying and leaving her messages....and if you can please visit her....... 11/18 Kathy is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning at 8:30 am to replace the "bone flap" on the right side of her head. As Rhonda previously stated, it was not contaminated to she is getting the real deal, not a prosthetic. Please pray for her and a continued great recovery. I will post the results of the surgery tomorrow evening.. 11/20 Kathys surgery went very well. And she looks GREAT. The surgery took about 90 minutes and began about 9 am. Much to my surprise, when we went into to see her at about 11:45, she was aready awake!! She opened her eyes and looked right at Richard and said "good morning sweetie". Memory is still an issue, but she is getting better at putting faces and names together. This morning they are doing a CAT scan to see if there is any lingering damage, but so far as looks VERY very good. For now, she is still at Spectrum on the 4th floor, so if you can PLEASE go see her. UPDATED UPDATE: The CAT scan shows no additional damage as a result of the operation. Kathy is awake, alert and continuing to recover. |
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