Thursday, March 20, 2014
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Tandy Elisala's Inspire Newsletter
Tandy Elisala's Inspire Newsletter
Good Morning Everyone!
If you aren't already a subscriber to my awesome (OK, I may be a little biased) weekly newsletter, you are missing out! These newsletters include a short story, reflections on my life and/or world events as it relates to the weekly theme, affirmations for the week and a weekly gratitude list (some serious and some fun). As a subscriber to my newsletter, you are the first to know about upcoming events, products and book releases. Subscribers also get discounts:-) As a bonus, when you subscribe, you get a free e-book titled "10 goal setting tips that can change your life."
In this week's newsletter, I discuss the importance family has on our relationships, children and legacy. I provide four (4) tips on taking Thanksgiving as an opportunity to create memories and encourage what it was created for: To Give Thanks! In the spirit of food (which is a big part of this wonderful day), I share some really fabulous recipes to try. You never know... one of these recipes could be the start of your next family tradition!
Click on over to my website www.tandy.elisala.com and subscribe today. By the way, when I say weekly communication, I mean ONE email from me weekly!
While you are at it, I'd love to have you on
Good Morning Everyone!
If you aren't already a subscriber to my awesome (OK, I may be a little biased) weekly newsletter, you are missing out! These newsletters include a short story, reflections on my life and/or world events as it relates to the weekly theme, affirmations for the week and a weekly gratitude list (some serious and some fun). As a subscriber to my newsletter, you are the first to know about upcoming events, products and book releases. Subscribers also get discounts:-) As a bonus, when you subscribe, you get a free e-book titled "10 goal setting tips that can change your life."
In this week's newsletter, I discuss the importance family has on our relationships, children and legacy. I provide four (4) tips on taking Thanksgiving as an opportunity to create memories and encourage what it was created for: To Give Thanks! In the spirit of food (which is a big part of this wonderful day), I share some really fabulous recipes to try. You never know... one of these recipes could be the start of your next family tradition!
Click on over to my website www.tandy.elisala.com and subscribe today. By the way, when I say weekly communication, I mean ONE email from me weekly!
While you are at it, I'd love to have you on
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Day That Changed Our Lives 12/22/2009
December 22nd, 2009, at approximately 11:45am, I received a call from a nurse at the Maricopa County Medical Center, asking me if my dad was William Stevens. After affirming I was his daughter, she advised me that my dad had been transported via helicopter to the hospital and that he was involved in a multi car accident. She said I needed to come down as soon as possible. I asked for the extent of his injuries. She repeated that I needed to get there ASAP. I asked if he was OK... alive... anything... give me something!! She wouldn't give me any information and asked me how long it would take for me to get to the hospital. After getting cross streets of the hospital, I said I'd be there between 15-20 minutes. She asked me who Carolyn was and said he kept saying her name over and over wondering where she was. Carolyn is my mom - his wife. The nurse couldn't tell me whether she was involved in the accident or not and said I needed to get there ASAP.
My son, Steven, and my daughter, Sarah, were at home at the time as it was the holiday break from school. I told the kids to put the dogs in my room, close the garage, get my shoes and come to the car. While on the way to the hospital, I tried reaching my mom... calling their home and my sister's cell number. After leaving a message on machines, my sister called me right back within about 5 minutes... it seemed like forever though. Once I confirmed mom was home safe and sound and was not with Dad during the accident, I then advised them both on the phone that Dad was in a car accident and I was on my way to the hospital. I told them I would call them when I knew more. They live in Casa Grande; about an hour away from the hospital. I then called my oldest daughter, Amanda, at work, and let her know about her Grandpa. She left work shortly thereafter and went from Phoenix to Casa Grande to get my mom and sister and bring them back to the Phoenix hospital. Meanwhile, my other kids were looking up local news on their phones for multi car accidents. Low and behold, we discovered my dad was involved in a 20+ car pile up on the I-10 freeway in Casa Grande. People were at the scene most of the day clearing everything out. 3 people died. 4 people were taken to various trauma hospitals via helicopter. Others were taken to hospitals via ambulance. At the end of the day, my dad was the only remaining hospitalized victim from the accident that day.
As soon as I arrived and was taken back to see my Dad, I saw he was in the main trauma bay and a Doctor was with him at the time I arrived. The first thing I saw as I looked in the room was my Dad looked gray - all over his body, he wasn't moving and he had a tag on his big toe/right foot. For a moment, I thought, oh my God, my Dad is dead. He didn't survive the accident. I thought, how in the world am I going to tell my mom, sister and kids that he is gone... just like that. I panicked thinking about the things I didn't say to him and wanted him to know. Just as tears were coming to my eyes and I started shaking, there was movement. My dad started to move and say his shoulder hurt like hell. I can't describe the relief I felt. Relief turned to anger about why he had a tag on his toe. I don't see many dead people or tags but TV shows have shown me that dead people get tags on their toes...
As I walked up to the Dr who was charting in his file, I introduced myself and asked what the extent of his injuries were. He shared that he was brought to the hospital from a 20+ car pileup and let me see his chart. He explained that they were still evaluating his injuries. Thus far, they knew he had a shoulder injury of some kind as he was complaining about shoulder pain. He also had bone protruding out of his elbow and that hurt him quite a bit. Amid all of this, he was asking me the same questions/saying the same thing every 10-15 seconds or so. He was thoroughly confused - to say the least. He didn't know where he was or why he was there one minute, asked about where my mom was another minute, continued telling me he hurt like hell and kept asking the same loop all over again... I asked a silly question of the Doctor; one that I figured I knew the answer to but hadn't ever experienced this before. I asked the Doctor, is there a way to tell the extent of his confusion? Is this normal? How long will this go on? The Doctor replied that the confusion is very normal; particularly when someone was been as banged up as my Dad had. They still needed to get xrays and CT scans of his head, back/spine, neck, shoulder and elbow.
I asked the Doctor if I could remove the tag from his foot. He said I could do that and that they tagged everyone at the accident site. After saying I see things like this on Law and Order, ER and Grey's Anatomy and didn't appreciate the tag, I wanted it removed. Then, I got Steven and Sarah, let them know what was going on and what to expect. Then, they each went in to visit him; one at a time. They could only handle seeing him for a few minutes at a time as they got really emotional seeing him laying there like he was. After seeing him through the tests and answering staff questions about test results, I 'nudged' the hospital towards having my Dad transferred to Barrow's Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's hospital. Since my dad had a previous history of brain bleeds and a brain cyst and shunt, I wanted him moved for continuity of neurological care. After talking to the team about this, they stepped away for a few minutes, came to me and said... you know, we were thinking... we'd like to move your Dad to Barrows sine Dr. Spetzler is his Doctor and knows his history. They are best equipped to handle his care. I smiled, agreed and asked when he would be moved.
I stayed with my Dad until the point that the ambulance would move him... or so I thought. My Dad held our hands as we visited and kept asking the same questions over and over... After about 6 hours of continually letting my Dad know my mom wasn't in the accident and she was OK and on her way with Amanda and Felicity, his conversation shifted a bit. Out of the blue, he wanted to know if the lady was OK. I asked what lady and he said, the blonde lady driving the car. Despite my telling him that he was the only person in the car at the time of the accident and he was driving, he repeatedly said that this blonde woman was driving. We would later determine that it was his Guardian Angel. Given how his car was positioned during the accident in that his car was next to the other cars where the two teenagers died and and the young man died and he was between two burning semis, there was no question that Angels, his guardian angel, his mom, his dad and/or all of the above were with Dad.
Fastforward to 10:30pm, he finally arrives at St. Joe's Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. Amanda finally arrives at the hospital with my mom and sister. Because the I-10 was closed and severely backed up for more than 8 hours, Amanda got lost going the 'back way' from Phoenix to Casa Grande and back to Phoenix. With everyone in tow, I work with the hospital staff to get my Dad situated, answer questions and determine next steps.
He is transferred to Critical Care and needs surgery quickly to take care of his protruding elbow bones. They are still waiting on the results from his head CT but advise they need to do surgery on his elbow or we risk infection. I authorize the surgery (as his Power of Attorney) and I am allowed to walk with him down to surgery. My Dad continued to be confused and consistently said he hurt like hell. I explained what was happening and asked how long surgery would be. The Doctor said it would probably be about an hour or two for surgery and then awhile for recovery before we could see him. It was close to 3:30am before we could see him. The kids had posted various messages on Facebook throughout the day and during our 'downtime' in the hard, straight chairs in the waiting room, there was an outpouring of support and calls about my Dad. I prayed and gave thanks for our great family and friends. We love you and thank you for all your prayers, positive thoughts and concern.
Lesson learned today: Be thankful for the Angels and Great Spirit. I've ALWAYS believed that things happen for a reason. While I wasn't sure why my Dad was spared this day nor the full extent of his injuries, I realize I underestimated my Dad's strength and determination. In the days and weeks to come, we would just start scratching the surface of what his injuries may mean for him and for our entire family and how fragile the human brain is.
My son, Steven, and my daughter, Sarah, were at home at the time as it was the holiday break from school. I told the kids to put the dogs in my room, close the garage, get my shoes and come to the car. While on the way to the hospital, I tried reaching my mom... calling their home and my sister's cell number. After leaving a message on machines, my sister called me right back within about 5 minutes... it seemed like forever though. Once I confirmed mom was home safe and sound and was not with Dad during the accident, I then advised them both on the phone that Dad was in a car accident and I was on my way to the hospital. I told them I would call them when I knew more. They live in Casa Grande; about an hour away from the hospital. I then called my oldest daughter, Amanda, at work, and let her know about her Grandpa. She left work shortly thereafter and went from Phoenix to Casa Grande to get my mom and sister and bring them back to the Phoenix hospital. Meanwhile, my other kids were looking up local news on their phones for multi car accidents. Low and behold, we discovered my dad was involved in a 20+ car pile up on the I-10 freeway in Casa Grande. People were at the scene most of the day clearing everything out. 3 people died. 4 people were taken to various trauma hospitals via helicopter. Others were taken to hospitals via ambulance. At the end of the day, my dad was the only remaining hospitalized victim from the accident that day.
As soon as I arrived and was taken back to see my Dad, I saw he was in the main trauma bay and a Doctor was with him at the time I arrived. The first thing I saw as I looked in the room was my Dad looked gray - all over his body, he wasn't moving and he had a tag on his big toe/right foot. For a moment, I thought, oh my God, my Dad is dead. He didn't survive the accident. I thought, how in the world am I going to tell my mom, sister and kids that he is gone... just like that. I panicked thinking about the things I didn't say to him and wanted him to know. Just as tears were coming to my eyes and I started shaking, there was movement. My dad started to move and say his shoulder hurt like hell. I can't describe the relief I felt. Relief turned to anger about why he had a tag on his toe. I don't see many dead people or tags but TV shows have shown me that dead people get tags on their toes...
As I walked up to the Dr who was charting in his file, I introduced myself and asked what the extent of his injuries were. He shared that he was brought to the hospital from a 20+ car pileup and let me see his chart. He explained that they were still evaluating his injuries. Thus far, they knew he had a shoulder injury of some kind as he was complaining about shoulder pain. He also had bone protruding out of his elbow and that hurt him quite a bit. Amid all of this, he was asking me the same questions/saying the same thing every 10-15 seconds or so. He was thoroughly confused - to say the least. He didn't know where he was or why he was there one minute, asked about where my mom was another minute, continued telling me he hurt like hell and kept asking the same loop all over again... I asked a silly question of the Doctor; one that I figured I knew the answer to but hadn't ever experienced this before. I asked the Doctor, is there a way to tell the extent of his confusion? Is this normal? How long will this go on? The Doctor replied that the confusion is very normal; particularly when someone was been as banged up as my Dad had. They still needed to get xrays and CT scans of his head, back/spine, neck, shoulder and elbow.
I asked the Doctor if I could remove the tag from his foot. He said I could do that and that they tagged everyone at the accident site. After saying I see things like this on Law and Order, ER and Grey's Anatomy and didn't appreciate the tag, I wanted it removed. Then, I got Steven and Sarah, let them know what was going on and what to expect. Then, they each went in to visit him; one at a time. They could only handle seeing him for a few minutes at a time as they got really emotional seeing him laying there like he was. After seeing him through the tests and answering staff questions about test results, I 'nudged' the hospital towards having my Dad transferred to Barrow's Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's hospital. Since my dad had a previous history of brain bleeds and a brain cyst and shunt, I wanted him moved for continuity of neurological care. After talking to the team about this, they stepped away for a few minutes, came to me and said... you know, we were thinking... we'd like to move your Dad to Barrows sine Dr. Spetzler is his Doctor and knows his history. They are best equipped to handle his care. I smiled, agreed and asked when he would be moved.
I stayed with my Dad until the point that the ambulance would move him... or so I thought. My Dad held our hands as we visited and kept asking the same questions over and over... After about 6 hours of continually letting my Dad know my mom wasn't in the accident and she was OK and on her way with Amanda and Felicity, his conversation shifted a bit. Out of the blue, he wanted to know if the lady was OK. I asked what lady and he said, the blonde lady driving the car. Despite my telling him that he was the only person in the car at the time of the accident and he was driving, he repeatedly said that this blonde woman was driving. We would later determine that it was his Guardian Angel. Given how his car was positioned during the accident in that his car was next to the other cars where the two teenagers died and and the young man died and he was between two burning semis, there was no question that Angels, his guardian angel, his mom, his dad and/or all of the above were with Dad.
Fastforward to 10:30pm, he finally arrives at St. Joe's Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. Amanda finally arrives at the hospital with my mom and sister. Because the I-10 was closed and severely backed up for more than 8 hours, Amanda got lost going the 'back way' from Phoenix to Casa Grande and back to Phoenix. With everyone in tow, I work with the hospital staff to get my Dad situated, answer questions and determine next steps.
He is transferred to Critical Care and needs surgery quickly to take care of his protruding elbow bones. They are still waiting on the results from his head CT but advise they need to do surgery on his elbow or we risk infection. I authorize the surgery (as his Power of Attorney) and I am allowed to walk with him down to surgery. My Dad continued to be confused and consistently said he hurt like hell. I explained what was happening and asked how long surgery would be. The Doctor said it would probably be about an hour or two for surgery and then awhile for recovery before we could see him. It was close to 3:30am before we could see him. The kids had posted various messages on Facebook throughout the day and during our 'downtime' in the hard, straight chairs in the waiting room, there was an outpouring of support and calls about my Dad. I prayed and gave thanks for our great family and friends. We love you and thank you for all your prayers, positive thoughts and concern.
Lesson learned today: Be thankful for the Angels and Great Spirit. I've ALWAYS believed that things happen for a reason. While I wasn't sure why my Dad was spared this day nor the full extent of his injuries, I realize I underestimated my Dad's strength and determination. In the days and weeks to come, we would just start scratching the surface of what his injuries may mean for him and for our entire family and how fragile the human brain is.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The calm before the storm
November 16th, 2009, I had non life threatening surgery and was to spend 6-8 weeks at home recovering. I was not to lift anything at all the first month, lift no more than 20 pounds after 4 weeks. Surgery went well and I was recovering well. I was released from the hospital November 18th and spent the following 4 days recovering at my parents' home. My kids demonstrated they were unable or unwilling to keep the dogs away from jumping on me and hadn't done what I asked... so within minutes of arriving home, I left again to my parents home. The following week, Thanksgiving week, my sister was involved in a very bad car accident leaving her with a totaled car, broken ribs, a dislocated hip, a broken ankle requiring surgery and PT and lots of pain. Thankfully, the other party was OK. The following week, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer requiring surgery, radiation and possibly chemotherapy treatments. My dad was back at work at US Airways and my sister, Felicity, was recovering at our parents' home.
While Felicity was hospitalized, I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and stayed away from hospitals as best I could. Also during this time, my precious Great Dane, Colonel, under a year old, got pneumonia and was very, very, very ill. My Angel, Roxy Noodle, my one year old mutt, woke me up in the middle of the night crying and wanted me to get to Colonel. I got up, Roxy led me to Colonel where he was laying in his bed and I saw how sick he was. I immediately got him in the car and took him to the 24 hour animal hospital. About $3,000 and a few days later, he was feeling better and although he was still sick, he was on the road to recovery. We had also recently put one of our kittens to sleep. I was also preparing to file for divorce from my second husband.
Yes, this was the calm before the storm... Really, it was. What would happen next would change our lives forever. So many lessons learned. Main lesson learned: Life waits for nobody. Life doesn't stop for us to catch up.
While Felicity was hospitalized, I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and stayed away from hospitals as best I could. Also during this time, my precious Great Dane, Colonel, under a year old, got pneumonia and was very, very, very ill. My Angel, Roxy Noodle, my one year old mutt, woke me up in the middle of the night crying and wanted me to get to Colonel. I got up, Roxy led me to Colonel where he was laying in his bed and I saw how sick he was. I immediately got him in the car and took him to the 24 hour animal hospital. About $3,000 and a few days later, he was feeling better and although he was still sick, he was on the road to recovery. We had also recently put one of our kittens to sleep. I was also preparing to file for divorce from my second husband.
Yes, this was the calm before the storm... Really, it was. What would happen next would change our lives forever. So many lessons learned. Main lesson learned: Life waits for nobody. Life doesn't stop for us to catch up.
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