My Baby Girl - Part 2

    By: J. Suzette Frick

    I arrive in Nashville, turning right onto Medical Center Circle.  Vanderbilt Trauma Center is on the right and I pull into a very large parking garage on the left, East Parking Garage.  Valet service takes over immediately so I can walk across to the Trauma Center.  I walk in and tell the receptionist why I am here and need direction.  She sends me to the 10th floor and I am greeted by an assistant who becomes familiar with the case and relays the status of what is going on with Allie.  There are two general waiting rooms on the 10th floor and I am directed to a private room with windows all around and a very large thick door.  When I arrive, Allie's dad and wife are there also.  The assistant comes in and explains that she has good vitals and that an intern to the emergency doctor will be in soon to discuss what is going to take place and Allie's overall condition.  I am scared to death!  She brings juice and water.   The young intern appears, shuts the door and tell us that they are not going to be able to save Allie's left arm and probably have to take most of her shoulder.  I scream!  I move to the trash can and really want to throw up!  I fall to the floor and scream and cry as I am curled up in ball.  I cannot fathom what is about to take place. It' unbelievable....a nightmare!  How could this happen to sweet Allie?  I was so alone....I traveled to Nashville on occasion for the weekends for fun; but never thought I would be coming to Nashville to experience this.  Later, the doctor comes in and says that there is so much nerve damage that he will not be able to save her arm and again verifies he may have to take her shoulder. He further explains that he normally does not go to the emergency room he stays in surgery.  In this case he felt compelled to go see Allie before he received her in surgery.  Miraculously the artery in her left shoulder had sealed itself off and wanted to insure that it stayed sealed.

How-To Videos

    I know how difficult it can be learning to do things differently. Your life changes completely and I know for myself going through therapy I would often hear I was their first arm amputee. It became a challenge and a learning experience when trying to figure out how to do things one handed. Some therapists just wanted to point me to a catalog to buy a gizmo for everything, and which most devices were outrageously expensive! Then I had another therapist, a student OT, who would work with me to figure things out and make gadgets out of everyday household objects. Not only will I be providing useful videos of my own but I also will be providing you with videos that others have done as well. After my accident I would search the internet for hours looking up ways to do things, it was very frustrating. I hope you find these videos useful. Email me if you have a specific video requests.

 1.) Two Ways To Clip Your Nails With Regular Nail Clippers  One Handed:

 

 2.) Three Ways To Help You Button Your Jeans- PT 1 Using a Wire Clothes Hanger:

  3.) Three Ways To Help You Button Your Jeans- PT 2 Using A Picture Wire:

 4.) Three Ways To Help You Button Your Jeans- PT 3 Using A Tight Belt:

My Baby Girl - Part 1

 By: J. Suzette Frick

 "What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give me glory." Psalms 50:15

     It’s around 8:30, November 15, 2012, and I am sitting at my desk in front of a wonderful couple who have been clients for several years.  Sara, my assistant, comes down the hall to my doorway and says, “Suzette, Allie has been in a very bad wreck.”  I froze with a fear that completely numbed my entire body.  I looked down at my cell and saw that I had a missed call and voice mail  from Allie; my baby girl. I thought, thank goodness, she can at least call me. I listened to the message and it wasn’t Allie. It was a young man who was passing by the accident telling me who he was and that my daughter had been in a very bad wreck. I called Allie’s father and he said he had also arrived at the scene and it looked as if her arm and elbow was really messed up and she was being airlifted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN. 

    Sara took over my client meeting and I started gathering my things. It dawned on me to open my computer before I left the office and request prayer from my Face Book friends. I felt this would be a great way to have many people praying immediately.  It was amazing how the word spread.  All the sudden, I did not feel alone. 

     I left the office and went home to pack a few clothes. Hurriedly, I packed; not knowing exactly what I might need. I drove myself to Nashville with friends calling me along the way to check on me and offer help. I drove in a daze with tears streaming.  As I drove, I kept thinking, I bet they had to take her to Nashville to see an orthopedic surgeon if her elbow is in really bad condition.  Possibly, no doctor was available in the Paducah area at that time.  I tried to stay very positive, even though I knew I was driving to the Vanderbilt Trauma Center.  

                                           To be continued... 

Hair, Nails & Fashion!!

   Living life as an amputee is difficult enough, but I believe it is even harder for women or young ladies to grow up in this society when so much emphasis is placed on appearances. We all have something we don't like about ourselves. I used to worry about my weight a lot and of course wonder if I looked too fat in an outfit. Now my mindset has flipped to, "Does my arm look to skinny in that", meaning my sleeve when I pin it to my body. Ha I never thought I'd be saying that. It's a whole new world I'm introduced to. I had to relearn everything; from fixing my hair to tying my shoes. My goal is to bring you helpful tips on clothing that has worked best for me while trying to remain fashionable, helpful tips and videos in styling ones hair and how to do ones nails. Feel free to share your ideas by posting them below or emailing me.I hope to hear from you.

 

Nails!

     What is a woman without her hair done and her nails did? Ha! In the hospital at inpatient therapy I was asked to make a list of all the things I would like to learn how to do in therapy. I was the only arm amputee they had experienced so it was more so I would give them homework and they would try to figure out the tasks. We would just work together through it day by day coming up with solutions and looking through catalogs for ideas. One important thing I wanted to know how to do was, how to paint my nails? Of course easy answer is having someone paint them or simply go to a nail salon, after all they are half off now ha! My occupational therapist had an idea of a idea of a stand to hold the nail polish cap and it was elaborated on by the OT student Whitney. So me an her put it all together and painted it and it is amazing!!! I love it! All we did was take a doll stand, which typically holds Barbies and such, and glued that to a wood slab. Then we glued small clothes pins to the piece of wood, which can hold nail files and cotton balls.  Easy as pie! Another quick way I paint my nails is I just use my mouth, I just stick nail cap in mouth and paint my nails. I do this when I don't have my board.

Arm Shopping!!

    Great news this week! I went to Vanderbilt to visit my doctor and we discussed getting my prosthetic arm. Originally they discussed shaving my scapula bone, due to the fact that it pokes out and causes me difficulty when laying on it. We worried that it is going to cause problems when the weight of a prosthetic is added. I do not have any muscle or fat over the area, it is just real thin skin. I say its old lady skin minus the wrinkles lol. We are afraid that the bone will cause problems due to those factors.

From my Mothers Eyes

    Hey everyone I was talking with my mom Sunday after church about ideas for my blog. If you all would bare with me I have been trying to figure out ways to organize this blog. I would like to introduce my mother onto my site and have a parents point of view of the struggles they faced and what they went through when a child is hurting. I am not a parent therefore I do not know a mother and fathers love. Parents always wish they could take their child's place when their child is hurt in order to take their pain away. After my accident my parents did as well, although I made a joke with mom I am glad it was me that got hurt and not you. She has never done well with pain and we always joke about it. :)

By His Grace

   "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    When I awoke from surgery and was told that my arm had been taken I knew I had two options I could cry, be depressed and angry at God or I could take the other path. I chose to give my struggles to God and trust.. in Him. I knew that He chose me because He knew I was strong enough to handle the road to come. God tells us that He will not give us more than we can handle, all we have to do is trust in Him and simply have faith. It was very hard; don't get me wrong. I thought about my future of things I may miss out on or just simply greatly struggle with; such as wanting to have a family of my own one day, feeling less of a woman, the daily struggles of life and I'm a big hunter (that was a major worry). My only solution was just to think of it as a daily challenge as something to conquer instead of letting it conquer me. It is a whole new world out their you would not normally think of and luckily I have been blessed with some amazing people to help me along my journey.

   

The Game Changer

    "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me."
Psalm 50:15

    Hey everyone, I have always been a believer that everything happens for a reason and on November 15, 2012 God put me to the challenge. That morning I was coming home from deer hunting, and it was a cold morning, for some unknown reason I lost control of my car. I was not speeding, I did not over correct, I was trying to do everything right that I had been taught. I do not know if I hit black ice causing the tires to go off the road or what but when I corrected it shot my car to the other side and the car spun. Then I corrected to avoid the treeline and the car spun again and headed to the other side I think, I just remember heading for the stop sign. So I ducked in the passengers seat an that is the last I remember till I woke up. I was not wearing seat belt. I was just two miles down road,  I had plan to stop at mamaws but didn't so just was too late but honestly I think I wouldn't have made it if I had it on because I couldn't have ducked, and instead of it being my arm it would be my head. Anyway, apparently I plowed down the stop sign and hit an embankment which shot me up into the tree and there is a scar where I  hit the tree six feet in the air. Then I came back down. But I do not remember any of that.

Contact Me

    Feel free to email me anytime with questions, or just to have someone to talk to and I will get back to you as soon as I can.You can also add me and message me on Facebook.

allie.blake.frick@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/allie.frick