Day 30  First of all I have to give such thanks to the people that work at the hospital and live in Sonora and Jamestown, without their faces peeking in or having them tell us what happened last night when we were gone, and they were here caring about Nicole when they didn’t have to, coming up to her floor on their breaks and after their shift, me and Glenn wouldn’t have made it without you. There is no thanks that will ever be appropriate. To the Nurse in Crystal Falls, To the Trama Nurse in Jamestown, To the respiratory therapist who’s mom has been my friend for about 24-25 years, To the respiratory therapist that lives in Coulterville, To the Nurse I grew up with in Jamestown. Get in line, God’s gettin his rewards ready for all of you.

Today Glenn and I had to face the fact that we’ll have to cut down on the time we spend with our daughter the next couple of weeeks in order to visit a hand full of therapy hospitals that Nicole must be sent to. There is a certain criteria for the care she’ll need. She is in a coma due to catastrophic brain injury, that is her diagnosis…very different from the places that could take her in a consious condition and teach her how to live again, the one’s we all hear about. When it’s called catastrophic that enters one into a completely different set of facts and considerations to learn about. It’s stuff we’ve never even heard of.

I’ll have to change these updates to maybe every weekend or so.  The travelling is a factor as well as the prognosis from dr.’s who tell us the fastest stages of changing in her coma have already happened and from here on out things will be moving along even slower. So enter the next chapter of our lives: Accept the fact that we’re in the stage that will last a year before we know what we’re dealing with. So we’ll have to measure things now in seasons of the year instead of what may happen tomorrow. That’s not reality.

We do like your short little words of encouragement that come in now and then. That helps more than you know. Also feel our catastrophy has made a difference in other people’s lives already, had a lady tell me she’s changed her way of driving because of this story.  Had someone else say they hug their kids now with both arms.  THOSE MESSAGES ARE REWARDING AND GIVE US FUEL TO CONTINUE ON. Thanks, Our daughter is still the same, nothing has changed (or taken a turn for the worst, we’ve never had to go down that road) it’s just that the real deal is that we will have to make some required changes in our lives and had to come to the reality that we are no longer equipped as parents to care for our daughter like we’re used to doing. That has changed and we have to change with it.

There are a lot of you who have asked what you can do to help, there’s a fundraiser in the works, if you’d like to be a part of it email justyragan@hotmail.com you can let her know in what ways you can be of help.Give her some time to reply as it is in the very early stage of organization. Glenn and I have been very open and honest with the world since this has begun, I will share with you now that we had a Blue Shield “catastrophic” policy on Nicole. It was the highest deductible for a lower monthly payment, the best coverage you can buy for people that hardly ever had to go to the Dr. The deductible is $5,000. plus we are to pay 20% of all medical expenses, for each calendar year. When Nicole hit the emergency room in Modesto, 1 hour after the accident, the expenses were already over $22,000.  We have assets and do not receive government assistance, don’t qualify for welfare, but filling out all the paperwork they give us anyway.  Until this point, we’ve made it entirely on our own, the one’s that know us have seen us work. I’ll leave it at that. I’ll be in touch, sorry message is so long tonight. Love and pray for Nicole, Bon & Glenn Kolpack