Goodies

Brandon wonders how we will get all these ballons home!! hahaha



Brandon has been very furtunate to get some gifts while staying at the hospital. He has received a box full of cookies, a bouqet of ballons, a basketfull of many different things, and some more ballons!! Just wanted to share these with you all.
Thanks so much everyone who has sent stuff, it is greatly appreciated and brightens the room.

New Pictures...always smiling

Right after surgery and recovery, this was the first time we saw him.


His face was pretty soar last night, so this was before the they put the medicine on.


Here he is in his Barney Rubble out fit with the PT!

Tuesday Morning

The energy bunny died lastnight. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to update the blog, we finally got to Brandon's room around 6pm. We were all so tired. I didn't even want to drive home lastnight. We finally left his room around 9mp. Those are the visiting hours 9am to 9pm. Once I went home I went straight to bed.

Everyone here in the Burn unit has been so nice. His first nurse was from Germany and she was so nice. She loved being in the states. She said she loved everything about the USA. Her dream was to come here, so 10 years she left Germany and came to Vandy. She is very happy here and has no plan on going back. So that was nice to here. But his nurse lastnight was really sweet, and then his nurses today have been really funny. They made some shorts for him they said they look like pirate shorts, but I think they look like Barney Reble shorts. (i have a picture I will post later).
Today when I got here, he said that his Donor leg was bleeding pretty good. (this is what they call the place where they took the skin from) It was bleeding more than they usually like to see. So they are keeping him probably for 3 days. Just so they can monitor his donor site and his pain. He said he finally felt the pain meds kick in this morning. The PT stopped by and made him walk around so he doesn't get stiff. So we are just hanging out in his room.

Prayer list....
1. His donor let to heal, and for the bleeding to stop.
2. Reduce the swelling in his arm, and the skin to take
3. His face for continueing healing.

Brandon's Room Info is...
Burn Center
11th Floor
Room 11220
He can have visitors from 9am-9pm. Only 2 in a room at a time, if anyone would like to visit. Just give me a call to check and see what is going on.

Thanks for all the support.

Still going & going

Brandon got out of surgery around 1:30 today. That is central time for us, and we still haven't seen him yet. It is now 5pm. The doctor came down around 1:15 and told us that he was out of surgery and that things went good. We were shocked though when she told us that she had to graph most of his right arm, she graft the shoulder, bicep, and forarm. Alot more that what we were told or thought would happen. I just hope that when Brandon wakes up he will be ok. We only though that his bicep would be graphed not the majority of his arm. She said that it just wasn't healing properly so that is why they did so much. She said his face is healing nicely, but it will take time. He has waken up from surgery, but he is in a lot of pain. And the pain is around his shoulder. We need to pray that that pain goes away. It kind of worries me, because the pain is suppose to be in his leg. So the nurse said she is shooting him up with a lot of drug so he is resting comfortably right now. Hopefully soon we will be able to go and see him. He will be spending the night tonight, and we will know more tomorrow. Everyone has been so supportive. Thanks for all the emails, messages, calls and everything you all our doing. Its nice to know that we have support during this time. I will write more later.

Oh if you would please pray for the family of Pastor Ray we meet his family at the hospital while waiting all day. A week ago he was in a car accident, and he has been in trauma 1 since then. He has numerous things wrong with him, and they aren't sure he is going to make it. He is a pastor here in Nashville at Cumberland Presbyterian Church here on Nolensville Rd. So keep his family in your prayers. If you want to read about him go to www.growingandgrowing.com.

I will keep you posted. Thanks for everything.

Its a Monday

So we arrived at 5:30 this morning thinking that everything would have been ready. Well welcome to mondays and hospital management. We went to the surgery check in desk, and nope couldn't find Brandon Hoop anywhere. So they told us to go to Admitting, to see if they could find him. So we went over there, and nope no Brandon Hoop there either. Finally we had a nice women work with us to try and fine what is going on. Basically what had happened was that they put everything under his Stat name. Some of you might wonder what a stat name is. Its a name they give a patient that is brought into emergency and they don't have enough time to get all their information. His stat name is Newburgh, Stat!
So she found the information out so we were booked in OR 3. So now the surgery isn't suppose to take place until 11. We are thankful that he is on the board and that he will have it done now.

Resting

Last night he was feeling better. As you can tell by the pictures! You can see a difference in his face!! We can.


We were all tired last night, Maddie was tuckered out!


Here is Nala in one of her favorite position when she sleeps!


The patient was starting to get lippy with me! He was feeling pretty good last night.


This weekend Brandon's parents came into town, to help with things. And let me tell you what a blessing that was. His mom is a Nurse, so her help has been greatly appreciated. His Dad, well lets just say he doesn't know how to rest. He came here with a servants heart this weekend. Helping around the house, trimming plants, cleaning, and just doing things Brandon would be doing if he could. This was a great help. His mom helped with cleaning and cooking and taking care of Brandon while I get things done by running around, yesterday I seemed like I was on the go picking up things, taking Maddie to the vet and so on. Last night I was really tired, but we did all go out and get Ice cream.
Brandon has been doing really good. The mornings are harder. He usually is running a temp. His arm is swollen, so we need to make sure that he is keeping it propped up. The evenings he becomes himself more. Especially tonight because its sunday night football, and his team is on GO BEARS!!
Just so you all know his face is getting much better, today though it was really sensitive so we couldn't do as much scrubbing. He is taking morphine around the clock, and if the pain becomes over powering he has codine. He is eating lots of protein, and drinking tons of Propel. He needs to be drinking lot of water. I need to get things around for tomorrow. It will be a early morning for sure. Leaving the house at 4:45am, since he needs to be at the hospital around 5:30. I will update tomorrow. Hopefully they will have wireless internet!

Two Days

Waiting to be discharged from the hospital

The black badges are made of silver, and silver is very good on the skin.

The upper part near his shoulder, basically on his bicept is the area that is going to get the skin graft. Not sure the size of the area yet, but it won't be the whole are you see covered.

The first night, as you can see the swelling is beginning.

The second day. The darker spot is the area we need to scrub! But you can see the healthy skin!

Things the past two days have gone rather smoothly. Brandon is doing good. We are scrubbing his face 3X a day. Slowly the dead skin is coming off. The new skin looks good, healthy and white! Today however he wasn't feeling that good. He woke up and needed more pain meds, and slept most of the morning. He didn't really have much of an appetite and was running a temp. But around dinner time he was getting hungry which is a good sign, and was in better spirits tonight. Brandon's parents arrive friday night, and that was a great blessing. This morning I was running around like crazy. When i got home this morning from going to the grocery store, Maddie has decided that she wasn't feeling good. So I called the vet, and took her there and got her taken care of as well. Attached are some pictures that we have taken the past couple of days. Not sure if some of you have seen these or not. I will update tomorrow as well, with new pictures.
Yesterday his face was pretty swollen in the morning and from then on the swelling has decrease, so that has been a huge blessing.
Thanks for all your prayers!

Please Pray!

Hello Everyone,
Some of you I have spoken to on the phone, if I didn't get a chance to talk to you is because as you will be able to tell at the end of this email that I have had a very busy day and relaying info on to family as things changed from one min. to the next.
This morning Vince one of our ground crew guys called me and told me that I needed to come to the job he and Brandon were working on because their had been an accident and I needed to take Brandon to the hospital. He told me that engine oil had exploded on Brandon and that he was running his face and arm under cold water. So as I am getting into the truck to take off to get him, he calls me back with in min. Explaining that we need to call the Ambulance because its burning his skin. So I assumed that he was calling the ambulance. I take off, I am about 20 min to the job and calling my family and his along with our bosses to let them know what is going on and to pray. About 10 min into my journey I call Vince again to see if the ambulance had made it there, and he thought I was calling so obviously they were. So he got off and called 911. At that time I got a little more detail. It (power steering fluid) had splashed on to his face and right arm, and he was still running his face and arm under cold water. By the time I get their, still no ambulance and Vince was still talking to the 911 operator. I run over to see Brandon and help him get the water to the area's it needs to be. At this time I could tell that his arm was blistering all ready. He was concerned about his face the most, so that was the area that was getting most of the water. Certain circumstances could only be God watching over us. The area he was working in was a brand new subdivision. The houses are really close together, closer than our house is to our neighbor. No one is living in the new community and so the house next to where he was working was finished and had the water turned on. While we were waiting I wanted to see if the next house had cooler water, but the water was not turned on. So it was a blessing to have this one work. Vince was still trying to get the dispatch to where we were. This community is brand new, and sits on the border of two counties, this is why we were having a problem with getting one to us. Finally it got to us. He was taken over to the Ambulance and she said he had second degree burns on his body, and were really concerned with the area around his shoulder. She said they were going to be heading to Vanderbilt and would be going at a high rate of speed, and for me not to follow. After the fact Brandon said they went really fast, and that the medic said I need to get him their like yesterday she was really concerned about his shoulder area.
I finally got to Vanderbilt, and he was already admitted to the Burn unit. He was also in intensive care. Mainly because there were no beds on the other side of the burn unit. When I got back to his room, the nurse explained to me that he has second degree burns and that he is going to probably to have a skin graft over the area below his shoulder where it was white. They hadn't taken him to get washed down and that they would know more after that. So about 20 min later he was taken to get washed down, and I went and walked outside and make phone calls to update those who were heading down here. When talking to the nurses, the earliest possible time he would have surgery would be monday because surgery's were already booked for friday.
When he was done getting washed down I walked to his room and he had some good news. They were going to release him and let him come home. Their was really nothing they could do for him other than change his gauze and dressings. And I could do that for him at home. He is going to have surgery on Monday morning at 7:30am for his skin graft. So he need to be at the hospital at 5:30 monday morning.
So right now we have redressed his wounds area with cause and ointment. He has second degree burns, with 3rd degree burns near his soulder where the skin graft is going to take place. He is on lots of pain medicine and is finally sleeping. He feels fine under the circumstances.

Some things to pray about...
1. That he won't be in to much pain tomorrow, and that we can manage it with the meds.
2. No infection
3. That the skin around his face will start to fall off (the dead skin) and that when we scrub that it won't be painful for him.
4. That his arm will heal.

If you want to call him or I feel free. He will just be relaxing this weekend. Monday morning he will be having the surgery, and after that we will have many more prayer request I am sure. Once surgery is over with he could be in the hospital after that for 3 days. We wont' know until after surgery how many days after the surgery he will be at Vanderbilt. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for all your prayers.

Nashville Shortage!

Last week I posted something on the shortage of gas. Well while I was out, I took some pictures! This is what its like down here to try and find gas.

You Go Donald tell it how it is!!!

VAN SUSTEREN: What do you make of Senator McCain saying that if he were president he would fire Christopher Cox, who is head of the SEC?

TRUMP: Well, it's certainly a strong statement, and I guess he's saying that he wants tighter regulation. But a lot of people like Christopher Cox and I think he's done a very good job. But certainly it was a very strong statement today by Senator McCain, who's a very talented guy.

VAN SUSTEREN: You say he's a talented guy. You have now formally endorsed him. I know that last spring that you stayed a little bit out of it, and you donated some money to Senator Clinton. But now have you gone "On the Record" that Senator John McCain is your guy?

TRUMP: Well, I have. And I've known him for a long time, and I've known Hillary for a long time. But I don't have to make that choice any longer.

I was amazed that she wasn't chosen as the vice-presidential candidate. I think things might have been a lot different for Obama. Right now it's a very close race, and I even have seen some polls where McCain is leading.

But I've known Senator McCain for a long time. He's a great guy, a great man. He's just a very strong guy, a very strong leader, and he's very, very smart.

VAN SUSTEREN: Are you endorsing him because you've known him for a long time, or is it--tell me the difference between Senator Obama and Senator McCain in your eyes.

TRUMP: Well, I can tell you one of the differences is that Senator Obama wants to raise taxes beyond belief, and senator McCain doesn't. And in a fragile economy like we're in right now, you cannot go around raising corporate taxes and lots of other taxes. You just can't do it. Then you really will see the great depression.

VAN SUSTEREN: But when we talk about taxes, you're a rich guy Donald. You just sold a house for an enormous amount of money. You're one of the richest guys. Senator Obama says he's not going to raise taxes on the people who aren't rich.

TRUMP: You know what I find? I find when people say that, and yet they're raising the taxes on the rich, they ends up raising the taxes on everybody. And ultimately, that's what would happen. Whereas John McCain is not going to be raising taxes and could even be lowering taxes.

And frankly, that's the language I like to hear, because the economy is very weak, it's very fragile. And any talk of tax increases, it's over, it's going to be over.

So I endorsed John McCain. I've known him for a long time. He's a brilliant guy, and I think he'll be a great president.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why do you think Senator Obama did not pick Senator Clinton as his running mates? And I don't mean to take from Senator Biden.

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to take from Senator Biden either, because he's a good man and he's a good guy, from what everyone tells me, although I don't know him.

But he ran for office, and when he ran for office he got very few votes. He got less than one percent of the vote. And Hillary Clinton ran for office, and she probably got more than 50 percent of the vote. So it's a little bit of a strange situation how, she didn't get the nomination to start off with.

But she ran and she got at least 50 percent of the vote. So you would have certainly thought that he would have picked Hillary Clinton, and I think it would be much different poll numbers.

Right now the polls are even, and in some polls, I guess McCain is leading. I think if you chose Hillary Clinton you might not have that. But he decided not to do that.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why not? What's your theory?

TRUMP: I guess he didn't get along with her. I guess he didn't like her. I guess he felt uncomfortable with her and Bill. And I can tell you- I know both of them, and they're fantastic people, fantastic people, and they've already proven to be good team players.

Because she took a lot of abuse, in my opinion. I think she was pretty badly abused in that campaign.

VAN SUSTEREN: What about Senator McCain's choice of Governor Palin? She has certainly lit two sides on fire. She's got her incredible supporters, people rallying around her, and she's got a lot of people coming out of the woodwork who are not her fans.

TRUMP: I think it was brilliant, and I think it is a great testament to him.

He took a chance on somebody, and it's been amazing, the response. I don't think I've seen a response like this that people have to her--some negative, but mostly positive.

And she's just amazing. And she has totally united the Republican Party like I've never seen before. It was a brilliant choice, and I think she'll be fantastic.

Where is the Fuel??

I don't know if anyone else seems to be having a problem with fuel or not, but here in Nashville we are. Its crazy, and I don't know why I am not hearing about it on the news. Since Ike went through texas we have been having a problem with gas stations having fuel to sell. But it seems to be only us. Maybe I am wrong but please let me know if you are having problems it would make me feel better. On my drive to work today I could hardly find a station with gas. I passed about 15 stations before I got to one. But they were charging 4.29..they are robbing us. Then I drove about a mile and found one that had gas for 3.94. So I pulled in. The guy next to me told me that the city of Brentwood was out. Which was about 10 min away. I don't get it. I was talking to my parents this morning who live in Michigan and they aren't having this problem. Let alone the cost we are paying. Their average is about 4.00 and usually I see gas for inbetween 4.09-4.19. That says a lot, because Michigan is usually hirer than us. Before the hurricane we were at 3.25. I want to know when we are suppose to be recieving more fuel around here, and I don't get it why the news isn't talking about it. I know the economy is very important, but how are we suppose to be getting to work if all the gas stations are out of fuel??

new website

Something that the media doesn't really want you to know about.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09152008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/obama_tried_to_stall_gis_iraq_withdrawal_129150.htm?page=0

something to chew on

I heard this on fox new today, it is in regards to the goverment bailing big corporations out.

" We penelize success. and praise failure."

Interesting Fact on Obama

I just find this article very interesting!!


Barack Obama's Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Connection
Tuesday, September 16, 2008

By John Gibson

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Lehman Brothers collapse is traced back to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big mortgage banks that got a federal bailout a few weeks ago.

Freddie and Fannie used huge lobbying budgets and political contributions to keep regulators off their backs.

A group called the Center for Responsive Politics keeps track of which politicians get Fannie and Freddie political contributions. The top three U.S. senators getting big Fannie and Freddie political bucks were Democrats and No. 2 is Sen. Barack Obama.

Now remember, he's only been in the Senate four years, but he still managed to grab the No. 2 spot ahead of John Kerry — decades in the Senate — and Chris Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Fannie and Freddie have been creations of the congressional Democrats and the Clinton White House, designed to make mortgages available to more people and, as it turns out, some people who couldn't afford them.

Fannie and Freddie have also been places for big Washington Democrats to go to work in the semi-private sector and pocket millions. The Clinton administration's White House Budget Director Franklin Raines ran Fannie and collected $50 million. Jamie Gorelick — Clinton Justice Department official — worked for Fannie and took home $26 million. Big Democrat Jim Johnson, recently on Obama's VP search committee, has hauled in millions from his Fannie Mae CEO job.

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Now remember: Obama's ads and stump speeches attack McCain and Republican policies for the current financial turmoil. It is demonstrably not Republican policy and worse, it appears the man attacking McCain — Sen. Obama — was at the head of the line when the piggies lined up at the Fannie and Freddie trough for campaign bucks.

Sen. Barack Obama: No. 2 on the Fannie/Freddie list of favored politicians after just four short years in the Senate.

Next time you see that ad, you might notice he fails to mention that part of the Fannie and Freddie problem.

Rooms 1 & 2

So this past weekend we did a lot of painting! Not something we enjoy doing but something I guess everyone has to do once and a while. A year ago this past weekend we were in Mexico, and how I wish i was there again. But life goes on. We decided to paint the living room and dining room, along with our master bedroom. Well 2 out of 3 isn't so bad. Brandon wasn't too excited about the colors that I picked out, but I had this idea in my head and this time it worked out. I picked a dark grey for the walls and a lighter grey for the ceiling. So what do you think? I will post again about the colors for the bedroom in a little bit. So if anyone reads this some input would be great!