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Craig Vetter injured

The latest from Duane via the /2 list on Craig Vetter's status...things are really looking quite positive!

Dear friends,
Had to take a minute to write you before I head up to bed. You aren’t going to believe it, but it’s all true…. and it’s good… another miracle.

We have had a lot of sickness in the family the last 2 months. Most recently we got a nasty bronchial thing that fill up our lungs with goop and makes us cough all of the time. It had been hard for me to breathe, so I spent several nights trying to sleep sitting up in the recliner. Then Craig caught it. We got him started on the same stuff that I was taking, antibiotics, inhalers and the nebulizer. Saturday night as we sipped our Matzo ball soup and watched TV, he coughed so much I decided he needed a nebulizer treatment. He became nauseous, disoriented, almost fainted, and complained of severe abdominal pain. In about 2 minutes his shirt and sweatshirt were soaked with his sweat.

I got son Zak up and we called our family Dr. at home. He was very concerned about Craig’s difficulty breathing and not as concerned about his abdominal pain. Craig actually wanted to go to the hospital. That was serious. I didn’t know what to do, but my sister, Denise, looked me in the eye and said, “Take him now.”

Zak was not in great shape as he was getting the bronchial thing, I couldn’t go along because I was still hacking, coughing and wheezing so Zak tossed Craig in the car and got him to the hospital. That was it, I was sure it was all over and after they left, I fell apart. I tried to go to sleep, but that was silly, I was upset, crying and coughing …

I saw that Zak was up at 2:30 a.m. so I called him and he filled me in on activity at the hospital.

They had given Craig fluids and another nebulizer treatment, so he was breathing better. They did a chest X-ray and a CT scan of his abdomen and the attending said his gallbladder seemed to be “a little inflamed.” They might want to remove it, but would probably wait until he was healthy… “no rush.” That’s when I heard the sweet words, “and guess who the surgeon is coming in at 6?" Our dear friend who has operated on him 3 times before was scheduled to be there in a matter of hours. That was all I needed because this is a surgeon that we know and trust. Now I could sleep.

Our internet has been acting up and I was unable to call in our out on my cell phone and @ 7 a.m. Sunday, my phone rang and rang and dropped all calls. I raced around to change my voicemail and bring the land line up to my bedroom… called the hospital, tried Craig’s room, the nurses’ station, but all I could find out was that he had been take away for “a procedure.”

As it turned out, the gallbladder was a mess, it apparently had burst. Our Dr. didn’t waste any time and went in to operate 30 minutes after he saw Craig that morning.

Now mind you, 13 years ago or so, this Dr. had to cut a section out of Craig’s colon when he blew a hole in it. He put him back together but he had to move things around. The gallbladder was not where it would normally have been, but he knew that. What should have been a 30 minute operation took @ 2 hours I am told and it went great. They sent the gallbladder out to the lab where they pronounced it disgusting. It had probably been leaking and giving Craig trouble for over a year! It was full of stones and really gross.

Our son, Morgan, who was the only one who wasn’t sick, showed up at the hospital to be with Craig when he got out of recovery and called me with the news. “Mom, Dad looks really good. I mean really really good. He’s happy, talking, clear eyed, not confused, something has changed. “

Morgan was cautiously optimistic, but I knew something was going on. I stayed home Sunday trying to rest having been up most of the night, Zak was passed out down at his place sick and Morgan was at the hospital until @ 5 or so when he called and said Dad told him to go home and get some sleep. The hospital had provided a “sitter” to stay with him because ever since the last accident, Craig has not been safe in a room by himself… he would get confused and try to get up or pull out his tubes. It was scary, so we NEVER left him alone. Morgan went home confident he would be okay.

I talked to Craig on the phone and he sounded like the old Craig. I could not wait to see him. I got up at 5:45 this morning to get over there. True I got there around 7:30 and could not believe what I saw. There he was, like he was on vacation, sitting up eating French toast, cereal, OJ, coffee and had a big grin on his face. It was a time warp He was alert, happy, strong… it was a miracle. PT came in and wanted to see if he could get up and walk… He almost popped out of the bed, showed he could get in and out of the arm chair without assistance and out the door they went with Craig’s walker. By the time they came back, they had chucked the walker and the attendant was holding on to belt from behind him. Craig was not shuffling, he was walking like a regular person down the hall.

This is a miracle. Friends from church stopped in to see him after I left tonight and she sent me a note and said they could not believe what they saw. And I just got a call from Zak and Morgan’s friend Brandon with the same shock. He said he could not believe the changes. Brandon said he has never seen Craig look so good. He is cautiously optimistic, but I am not. We should get Craig home thursday and it’s only up from there.

I think I just got my husband back.

Sincerely Carol

Addendum: it has now been 3 days since the operation. The changes continue to amaze us all. No one understands how a rotten gall bladder could affect his hearing, dizziness, clarity of thought, understanding, peace of mind, and how he walks.

Craig has been very needy and confused for over 3 years. He wants me with him all of the time. He wants to be holding my hand and watching me. That’s all gone now. He tells me to take my time before I come to the hospital.

He is concerned that I am still coughing and wants me to stay in bed. He doesn’t need a “sitter” in the room. He is confident and aware enough to ring for help if he needs it, and no desire to pull out his tubes and wires.

It is late Wednesday morning and when I called Craig he said that he was tired and going to take a nap and that I could come over later. He has had plenty of company. The staff loves him. Everyone likes to hang out in his room. This is so wonderful.
 
Thanks for posting Kurt. I'm passing this on to the rest of the old Vetter crew here on the Central Coast.
 
An update from Duane Ausherman on the Yahoo website:

I visited the Vetter family more than two weeks ago. Sorry, I have been remiss in reporting on Craig and his TBI, traumatic brain injury.
I only saw one improvement and that involves his note taking. Craig has filled hundreds of journals (large note books) with things that got his attention. After his injury, he stopped taking notes. His son, Zak, suggested that he resume his note taking.

Craig had is newest journal at his side, as he always did, and asked me to repeat stuff so that he could enter it. He seemed to have lost some of his ability to remember how he thought about my comments. A short discussion would solve the issue and he wrote about the issue. I have no idea if he will remember to research the issue, or do something with it.

Craig spends most of his free time writing his book. In actuality, he isn’t writing anything, just rearranging existing info and photos. He loses a lot of his work, but Zak has everything backed up. Zak just retrieves it for Craig. Zak is a superb IT person.

I hope to visit again soon, so it will be interesting to see if he is maintaining his journal.

After I make one of these reports, I copy all of your comments and print them to show Craig.
 
Duane posted this yesterday on the Yahoo forum:

A couple of days ago I returned from a two day visit to the Vetter ranch. I
have made a report after every visit. Each report showed some sort of
improvement in Craig after his TBI (traumatic brain injury)

I am sad to report a decline in Craig. We used to sit and talk for an hour
and he seemed almost normal again. Then he would come up with something
completely wrong. He lacked some ability to use logic from time to time.

This visit showed that Craig was almost unable to use logic. He couldn't
stay on topic at all. He would keep going off on some tangent and not
understand that he had done so. No matter what the topic was, he kept going
off on "Doing more with less and using energy from the sun"

He says that he is writing his book. He writes nothing at all. On his
laptop he opens folder of photos and copies them in another place to the
extent that he fills the hard drive. Then he wants to buy another hard
drive. As long as he keeps busy with this, he isn't demanding attention
from family. They need a respite from his needy demands.

The good news is that he still has his sense of humor and is generally
positive.

I would ask readers to share this report as has happened with my earlier
reports. Us old timers know how much Craig's fairing company gave to the
motorcycle world. Craig has played a very important role in my motorcycle
life, so it took me a couple of days to get the energy to write this sad
report.
 
Thanks for the information. The best part is, that Mr. Vetter has no idea and his family is getting the rest that they need......God bless Craig Vetter...……...
 
Sad news

Seems like we’ve been following this thread for years. Thanks for the update Kurt. Though I’ve never met Mr. Vetter, I feel a connection to him as, like him, I grew up in Rantoul, IL the son of an Air Force service member. My dad, bought a Honda silver wing in ‘81 that had a factory installed Vetter fairing. I loved that bike.

The Vetter family will continue to have a prominent place in the intercessory prayers of the Mullins Home.
 
I too, like Reese, have never met Mr. Vetter, but in the same round about way, will always think of him when I think of my start in this wonderful hobby.
My first immersion into motorcycling came in 1975 when a merchant marine friend of mine left me his brand new first year Honda Goldwing during his three month deployment to Alaska. Within weeks of picking it up from the dealer, he had added Lester mags, Kirker exhaust and a VETTER fairing. This was the bike that I took my motorcycle drivers test on and spent three blissful months on, ignoring all other responsibilities, behind that great fairing. This is what started me on many decades of riding joy.

It is no wonder, when ever I hear the name Vetter, it always brings to mind warm thoughts of a motorcycle Icon.






:dance:dance:dance
 
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Seems like we’ve been following this thread for years. Thanks for the update Kurt. Though I’ve never met Mr. Vetter, I feel a connection to him as, like him, I grew up in Rantoul, IL the son of an Air Force service member. My dad, bought a Honda silver wing in ‘81 that had a factory installed Vetter fairing. I loved that bike.

The Vetter family will continue to have a prominent place in the intercessory prayers of the Mullins Home.

I grew up in Gibson City, IL and my mother was a civil servant at the Chanute, so I also have felt a connection to Mr. Vetter over the years.

Thanks for the update, Kurt.
 
I saw another brief update from Duane about a visit to see Craig.

My friend, Andy, and I visited the Vetter ranch this past week.

On the way, I explained to Andy that Craig likes to meet new people and talk
with them. Andy and Craig talked for hours if one adds up the bits of time
here and there.

Craig told a story that I knew well. The overall story was accurate. He
got a few names wrong, but he remembered names that I had long forgotten.

We talked with Craig while he used his exercise machine. We tried to get
him to walk with us, but he wasn't interested.

Andy and Zak got along very well.
 
It's been a while but I heard from Duane about Craig's status. Here's what Duane had to say about a recent visit:

I was with Craig just a couple of weeks ago. I always spend a couple of hours talking with only him. He likes that. He has unusual ideas and has some trouble using logic. He is busy “writing his book” and that takes most of his day. He isn’t writing anything, he just moves photos around etc. This time is a blessing to Carol and the family because he requires no attention from them.
 
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