Tragedy Strikes a Family Friend

Liz Ann’s brother John has a very good friend who was injured traumatically yesterday in a bicycle accident. Ed Farrar is an orthopedic surgeon (he operated on John’ back) and a good friend of John’s. Ed was riding his bike to work in Wenatchee yesterday morning when he was struck head-on by a motorist. He is in critical condition with a severe spine injury (higher than Liz Ann’s). Ed was a resource and sounding board for John and the family while Liz Ann was in ICU. Ed is a respected spine and neck surgeon who helped many people professionally as well as being an outstanding community member and athlete. He and John kayaked together, attended Wilderness First Responder together and are good friends. Ed continued to check with John and followed Liz Ann’s progress offering insight and advise to John, Liz Ann and the family.

We would like to ask you to include Ed and his family in your thoughts…sending them the kind of energy you continue to send Liz Ann. If you would like to know more about Ed you can read the article online at
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081023/NEWS04/710246540/1001

You’ve proven yourselves to be quite a force of healing goodwill and positive compassionate support. We thank-you.
- Amber Jean

Photos from Liz Ann's Sister Jane

Liz Ann and Jane

Liz Ann and Bus Driver

Group effort - a contribution to the Benefit Fund

Northern Lights is going to deposit $1000.00 into the Liz Ann Kudrna Benefit fund. The funds were raised during the “Real Rock Film Tour” September 19th in Bozeman. Sponsors for the event were Northern Lights, the Alpinist, and Barrel Mountaineering. The sponsors agreed unanimously to donate a significant portion of the funds raised during that evening to the fund set up for Liz Ann. The event featured rock climbing and mountaineering films.

The heart-warming support from the local climbing community is a gift and a blessing on many levels for Liz Ann
Thank-you.

-Amber Jean

Road Trip to See Liz Ann

Denise Musynowski and I (Jenny McCune) drove down to Denver in Denise's little red Prius to visit LizAnn this past weekend.Much has changed since I last saw LizAnn when she was in the hospital in Billings. No more chest brace, leg brace is soon to follow suit, and so much more independent!We caught up with her on Friday morning at the start of her day. She'd already dressed herself -- quite a feat when you consider her lower body can't really pitch in and she has to wear this clunky knee brace -- and we dined on a mixture of Chez Craig vittles and her secret stash of yummy Kashi cereal and fresh press coffee.Then I got to see Craig Hospital's rehab from the eyes of a supporter rather than a patient. (For anyone who doesn't know me, I have my own spinal cord injury from a cycling accident on July 5, 2007 and spent three months at Craig myself from late July through November 1.)Both Denise and I were exhausted just watching LizAnn work out. In addition to the occupational therapy and physical therapy, she had awheelchair class where she excelled in a game called "go ball," where each team and its teammates have to wheel the ball across the "field" and then throw it into the goal. The catch is each team mate has to touch the ball before it can go into the goal. It's part soccer, basketball and hijinks played in the large gym on the first floor of Craig West. There was muchhooting and hollering and lots of wheeling back and forth. Able-bodied people were invited to join in and grab a spare wheelchair to join in on the fun. Denise and I both didn't think we could keep up -- there were a lot of fierce competitors on both teams -- so we just gamely cheered Liz Ann on.I really enjoyed getting to see Liz Ann's weight class. Back when I was at Craig, I was on the quad track and since I didn't have much in the way of upper body, there was no weight workout for me and certainly not in a fully equipped weight room.Liz Ann and her buddies worked the whole circuit in the weight room while the stereo was blaring disco tunes. I had not heard so much Donna Summers since the 1970s. Among her other feats, Liz Ann did 130 pounds on a latt pulldown bar. The idea is by the end of her stay shall be able to manipulate at least her own body weight. At this point, she could easily benchpress me!After her therapy was done for the day, we went to an Indian restaurant. Denise and Liz Ann have their own particular kind of adventure. I had already jay walked across the street -- the first time I had jay walked since my injury! -- when I saw they were fiddling with the wheels for the wheelchair. The wheels have to come off in order to get them in the car and I guess one of them was not on securely. Fortunately, a local detective -- identified by the polo shirt he was wearing as well has a gun holstered under the armpit -- came to the rescue with a wrench in hand and got everything secured so LizAnn could wheel herself across the street without losing one of her wheel chair wheels.Saturday, was an exciting day for both of us. One of the fantastic therapeutic recreational women -- Carol -- offered to open the pool to LizAnn and her guests. We got to go swimming. Well, in my case it was more of a case of learning how to dog paddle again, but it was huge for me to actually be able to do that. The last time I was at Craig, basically someone had to support my body and move me around in the pool.But LizAnn, wow LizAnn! She is definitely going to have to join the Bozeman Barracudas when she gets back. There she is doing laps in the pool. Name the stroke and she did it. With each lap, she improved. She did the backstroke, crawl, butterfly, breaststroke, you name it. And as Carol, the T. Rec Person, pointed out, she was doing this all wearing this really heavy leg brace. Imagine not having the use of your legs and having a lead weight strapped to one of them. I can definitely see a triathlon or some Paralympic races in the future for Liz Ann.After swimming, we headed over to a local used clothing store to go shopping for Liz Ann's Halloween costume. Halloween is a huge holiday at Craig with all the doctors, nurses, nurse techs and patients gettingdressed up. Shopping is actually pretty challenging. The place we went -- Savers -- is cavernous and huge. I think it's an old supermarket. I know that Denise and I were just overwhelmed by the whole size and decibel level of the place. Liz Ann, I think, was too busy shopping to notice.After we got that out of the way, we headed to Boulder for little more shopping therapy. We had fun going up and down the streets of Boulder and going shopping at the Title Nine store. LizAnn and I took over the two dressing rooms. This is a huge step for me because I haven't had the confidence to even try clothes on just because it takes me so long to get dressed and undressed. Being with LizAnn, buoyed my spirits, I figured what the hell. So we all had fun trying on clothes.After a stop at Whole Foods to pick up some staples for LizAnn as well as shop for dinner, we headed back to the Rehab Ranch otherwise known as Craig Hospital.While we were out and about, LizAnn easily did six transfers to and from the car. She's definitely getting stronger and more adept in terms of getting out and about and dealing with ADLs, otherwise known as then activities of daily living. I feel much stronger and happier just having had a chance to see her in action again. Yahoo!Many thanks to Denise, our able-bodied friend. She did all the driving from Bozeman Downs in Denver and back and cheerfully and graciously helped me and LizAnn whenever we needed a helping hand.
- By Jenny McCune 10/20/08

Recent Photos

Here are a few photos from the visit Susan and Merry had with Liz Ann at Craig last weekend.

Humor remains one of Liz Ann’s strong points while she faces the many challenges of rehab. Reports of “laughing ‘til we nearly cried” were shared by Merry from their weekend together with Liz Ann at Craig. One of the humorous incidents involved a public restroom at the mall where they were all squeezed into the handicapped stall and realized how strange their conversation of the technicalities of “assisting” would have sounded to someone outside the stall.

Keep in mind Liz Ann’s love of humor as you send thoughts, notes, messages, and gifts to her while her rehab continues. She needs our energy, warmth, love and laughter to help fuel her through the rigors of another four weeks of rehab.

- Amber Jean

Launching the Remodel

Plans are underway to remodel Liz Ann’s Koch residence. Peter Belschwender from OSM has volunteered to head the project. Permits from the city must first be obtained once the scope of the project is determined, then we can come together to remodel Liz Ann’s “digs.” Many of you have expressed interest in helping with the project. If you have skills/resources/time to give then e-mail Peter with a description of your skill level and/or resources so that he can organize the various tasks. Please put Liz Ann’s name in the subject line of your e-mail. PeterBelschwender@onsitemanagement.com

Liz Ann watched the final debate last night. She has already voted “absentee.” She’s getting into tennis, improving with her swimming, has played football…in other words, typical to her style she hasn’t “missed a lick” and is participating in everything offered.

Weekend with Girlfriends

Merry McKenny and Susan Sheard spent the weekend with Liz Ann at Craig. Here are some excerpts from Merry’s e-mail about the weekend:

“We arrived late Saturday morning and spent the whole day just catching up. It was GREAT to see how far she has come since Billings! She looks like her old self with spark in her eyes. She's doing so much independently. She gets herself dressed, bends forward and backward. Wheels herself around, up hills & down.
She educated us on her life at Craig and how to help her. She transferring from one seat to the other almost independently. She likes one of us there just for comfort. We rented a minivan. We thought this would be ok with the wheelchair, but it proved to be very challenging because we had to get her from down low to way up in the back van seat. We did alright, sometimes smoother than others.

At night we went to this quaint French restaurant in Denver called Le Central. It was great to go out and eat good food. Then we all went back to her room. We had a big slumber party, staying up late to catch Saturday Night Live and the Tina Fey skit, which made us laugh all over again! On Sunday we went to the IMAX, the rose gardens and Cherry Creek. It was a cooler day. Liz Ann gets cold in her wheelchair, so we didn't spent a ton of time outdoors.
Liz Ann just rolls with it all, finding the humor in it and laughing until she has tears.
We returned to Craig after a stop at Whole Foods. Susan and I made a delicious salad and we watched DVDs on crazy sled racing and mountain biking with disabled men. It looked very scary.
Liz Ann has had the chance to ride a hand cycle and is very excited about it. She hopes to get one for Bozeman. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up with her once she takes to the road on that! She is showing she has maintained the "go-getter" attitude and is thinking of all the things she will be able to partake in. It's amazingly cool to learn about what is out there for paras.
It's Monday morning. Susan, Liz Ann, and I had breakfast and are doing the morning routine with Liz Ann. We have a busy day of "classes" to go to, with an hour break for lunch. Liz Ann really is SUPER busy all weekdays. It's a rigorous schedule. She gets up at 6:15, after being woken up at least twice in the night and doesn't seem to hit the hay until after 10. It is easy to see why she doesn't always get the chance to call people back or e-mail them back!”

Yoga Motion Fundraiser a Success

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Open House benefiting Liz Ann on September 27. $1,800.00 was raised for the Benefit Fund. The day was full of joy and heartfelt camaraderie. Namaste from Everyone at YogaMotion
(written by Nancy Ruby of Yoga Motion)

Eventful Weekend

Liz Ann sounded spirited and happy on the phone tonight. She’s getting stronger. Leslie is visiting her and Glenn has been with Liz Ann for the past few days. They’ve had some fun outings this weekend. The text below is pasted from an e-mail Glenn sent:

Glenn writes, “The new president of the hospital donated a couple of rink side, on the glass tickets to a NHL hockey game. Neither of us were a fan previously, but now… It was her first transfer and ride in a car. We forgot that we needed an OK from the hospital. Oh well. Saturday we did sign out this time and took a tour of Red Rocks, just a short drive from Craig Hospital. Nice light and impressive terrain. Excellent views of the foothills, the great plains to the east and downtown Denver. Sunday the weather was better than forecasted, so we opted for the Zoo instead of a museum. Rain chased us out eventually. Had a nice visit and dinner with Leslie, who climbed with LA on Mt. Cowen.
Liz Ann has incredible energy and spirit. There will be no stopping her.
Look out Bozeman!” - Glenn