Live the Lion was created in an attempt to keep everyone up to date on Lance O'Cull and his road to recovery.

Lance was involved in a car accident near Morehead, Kentucky about 30 miles from where we grew up Thanksgiving weekend of 2010. He was airlifted from the scene of the accident to UK Medical Center in Lexington. The doctors told us that they could fix everything below the neck, but his brain was in God's hands. On December 22, after multiple surgeries, Lance was transferred to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for an intense rehabilitation program.

It was there that Lance began to gradually emerge from a coma. Lance was discharged to home, in Vanceburg on February 17th, to continue his therapy with family.

On March 10th, Lance's 25th birthday, he stood on his feet for the first time in 103 days, with lots of help. On May 11th, Lance was accepted into Cardinal Hill's brain injury unit. There he impressed and amazed our family and friends, as well as his therapists through the progress he made everyday.

Between September 2011 and April of 2012, Lance was back and forth between Cardinal Hill's inpatient program and Shepherd Center's inpatient and outpatient program. He has had a couple minor surgeries to enhance his healing and a baclofen pump inserted to help with the tone in his body.

For the past year, Lance is back in Lewis County splitting his time with both parents. He continues to travel to Ashland 3 times a week and Lexington once a week. He is learning to walk again and we couldn't be more thrilled.

It hasn't been easy, Lance has had some setbacks and tears still fall. But he is up and running this marathon. And we are all running right along beside him.

Most of the blog entries have been made by myself, Chelcee, the big sister, Brock, our baby brother, and Dr. Johnny, our dad. Our goal is for Lance to finish this blog as soon as he is able.

God has been with Lance and our entire family, giving us strength. We give Him the Glory. He is the God of Miracles.



~Chelcee




Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wednesday, December 15th 2010

Lance has been moved to a progressive care unit. So, that's the plan... to progress!
He has done really well with not needing as much suctioning. Physical and occuptional therapy have been working with him to keep his arms and legs in shape. It's not equal to his usual everyday 7 mile run or 30 mile bikeride, but it will work for now. He has a wound vac on his leg that has to be changed every 3 days. When they did that today, they gave him some stronger pain medicine. So, he was sleepy for most of the day.

A lot of people have been asking me about a timeframe. And that's something that we just don't know. No one does. Lance's brain is trying to help his body heal from all the broken bones, internal injuries, loss of blood and trauma, in general, from the accident. Plus, he does have a brain injury. And until his brain wants to wake up, we aren't going to know the extent of that injury. We can just pray that Lance is in there and he will soon make an amazing recovery.

My Aunt Christa had a hip replacement on Monday. She was up walking on Tuesday. She actually came home from the hospital today. She is doing wonderful. Walking better than she has for a long time.  After Thanksgiving dinner at our house, Lance was showing her how well she would be able to do lunges. And if I know my Aunt Christa, she is probably pushing herself to be able to do those as quick as possible, so she can show Lance. Maybe they can do some therapy together.

Apparently, we are in a wintry mix advisory. I was scheduled to work today and Friday. My dad has given me strict orders to not be out in the bad driving conditions. So, I won't be back in Lexington until Friday after work. Thats a long time to not be laying eyes on Lance or holding his hand. However, he is in good hands.

If anyone has come by the hospital and couldn't find us... I'm sorry. We moved around quite a bit last week. If you are coming for a visit. Give one of us a call or a text, and we can let you know where we are. We have been trying to limit his visitors at times. Infection is a big concern right now. So, please, if you aren't feeling good, drink some orange juice and come back when you are well. We also dont want him to be overstimulated. We don't want to offend anyone, just thinking in the best interests of Lance right now.
As my parents would say, "Don't hold back, Chelcee, tell them what you think" :)

Visits, prayers, hugs, stories of encouragement are always welcome!
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4 comments:

  1. MarilynDecember 16, 2010 at 9:14 AM

    Chelcee and family, you are all in our thoughts and prayers daily. Please be very careful about driving and traveling back and forth. It's good to hear that Christa's surgery went well. Thanks for the blog!May God's blessings continue!

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  2. UnknownDecember 16, 2010 at 10:41 AM

    Thanks for the update. Lance is on several prayer lists here in Montgomery,because I have told all my friends what a special young man he is. Wish your weather would improve. Look forwatd to your next update. Thank you and love,Martha

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  3. AnitaDecember 16, 2010 at 11:54 AM

    I say you are right about your Aunt Christa working on her recovery so she can show Lance how she can do the lunges he showed her. It is probably good for Lance's brain to sleep and heal as much as possible right now. His body knows what it needs and since Lance has taken such good care of it over the years, it is now taking care of him. Thanks for the updates. Lance and all of you are in many prayers. Take care and stay safe.

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  4. MaryHelenDecember 16, 2010 at 3:31 PM

    We at Southland continue to pray for Lance and his family and friends. We are thankful for the encouraging posts. It is so good to hear how Christa is doing post op surgery and that she's been discharged already. I will continue to look for new blogs. I update our prayer team and hospital volunteers with them.
    Praying,
    Mary Helen for Southland Christian

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