Deanna Babcock - Thoughts and Prayers (Page 12)

Way to fight Dee! Welcome Back!

Way to Go Deanna.  Most of us don't know you personally but thanks to the updates generously provided by your family, we've been following your fight closely.  We all know that it could be any one of us in your situation and we all hope that we would fight as well as you have.  Welcome back!

As I always put in people's race reports .... Deeana, you frickin' rocked that recovery!!  Awesome work girl, now kick some more azz getting back up to speed so you can get out training again!  There is still an IM in your future if you want it to be!

Welcome back Deanna, we are all very proud of you and wish you well. It's been amazing "watching" you come back and we'll be with you all the way. With all our prayers, love, and support.

Yippee!!! Such fantastic news! I'm so excited for you, Dee, and for your family and friends. Checking on you is part of my daily routine and I'm just thrilled for you to have come so far. Keep up the amazing progress!

I have been lurking here for weeks now, checking up on Danna on a daily basis and talking about her often.

I want you to know, Deanna, that we are all thinking of you and praying for you. You are a total inspiration and I am so proud of you even though we have never met.

I also want you to know that I am doing my first HIM in late September. It was going to be my last race of the season, but I decided to sign up for another race a week later. A few friends and I are doing it and we are referring to the race as "one more race for Deanna". You are the absolute only reason why we would be crazy enough to race a week after an HIM.

You are in my thoughts always and I hope and pray for your continued recovery.

Hi Folks,

Here's the latest. I haven't even read it because I'm in a hurry to get back up to VISIT with Dee Dee!! Just came down to grab her some cereal and yogurt!! Cool, eh!?

Cheryl Read on....

[email protected] wrote:

Deanna is amazing. That?s basically what everyone is saying. Nurses,
family, friends, doctors, beginner triathlete website users, and complete
strangers all think and know that Deanna is a miracle. Not only has
Deanna made it through all the physical hardships and impossibility from
her accident, but she has come through it with a smile. It?s pretty hard
to sum up in words what this has meant to many people.

She has even come through all the hardships with a sense of humor. Her grandmother brought a small stuffed frog from a friend in Michigan. It is one of the plush stuffed animals with long legs that has Velcro on the hands to wrap around
things. Deanna made an official mascot out of this frog by taping the
left leg so it is ?anatomically correct? like her and deemed him ?Stumpy?.
I thought Deanna may have her sense of humor back in a month after a
rough bout, not 3 days after waking up. It makes you step back and think
of all the miniscule little things you worry about during the course of
any average day. Things that put you in a bad mood normally aren?t really
that bad. Deanna is so positive about everything and is sharp as a tack.
She also passed a swallowing test yesterday, involving an
uncomfortable camera down the nose and food colored blue. This was to
see if any of the coloring would make its way to her lungs.
Thankfully, nothing went to the lungs and she?s ready to start eating
anything she wants. She said she saw the food network Thursday night
and couldn?t go to sleep because it made her so hungry? Deanna?s back.
I don?t know how it came up in conversation, but somehow, she knew
the state bird of Utah was a sea gull. I couldn?t believe it, so I
looked it up, and believe it or not the official state bird of Utah is
the Common American Gull.
As for moving to the rehab department, it may be just a little longer.
The cardiologist came in to give the news that she will have the AICD put
in. This is the stepped up pacemaker/ defibrillator. They preformed a
heart MRI on Friday to try to diagnose any heart problem. The doctor
said that in the unlikely event that Deanna has another episode like she
had in the pool, this could correct it on the spot. They still are not
sure exactly what happened, but they are leaning towards the enlarged
right ventricle in the heart. This enlarged ventricle is misshapen at
birth and the body replaces some of the tissue with a fatty deposit.
This fatty deposit may then cause a short circuit that causes the
arrhythmias.

Until the dialysis catheter is removed from her neck, they
do not want to risk an infection. The kidney doctors say it is only a
matter of time before her kidneys resume normal function and she can be
removed from dialysis. Until this happens, in the step-down unit, she
will wear a vest that has the same function of the AICD. I also talked
to the doctor about normal physical activity once she is out of the
hospital and back on her own. He said that she will not even know the
defibrillator is there and will be able to do anything she wants. The
only problem is that the AICD will read a heartbeat of anything over 185
beats per minute as irregular and try to correct this.

With Deanna?s resting heart rate being close to 50 when she went in the hospital, I think she could sprint a marathon before her heart got close to 185 b/m.
I apologize about how long the email is, but there is just so much
good news.

Deanna is back. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers,
she?s not totally done yet, but the finish line seems to be in sight.
-Chris

Simply amazing. Thanks for all the updates. Keep up the great work Dee

Deanna, you are the most awesome triathlete that I have ever read about. You are absolutley amazing!

Pam

DEANNA - SUNDAY, AUG 26
Hi Folks,
Yesterday morning as Brent and I were on our way up to see Deanna, his cell phone rang. "Hi, Dad." Brent's face lit up, huge smile, then a major sinus attack -- red eyes, tearing, the whole 9 yards! An no hanky! He stepped up his crutchered pace, forgetting about major discomfort in his arm pits!!
Later we watched as Dee Dee had physical therapy by a young woman that has done 7 Ironman's! She and Dee enjoyed talking about road bikes vs. tri bikes; how they love eating all the unhealthy food right after a marathon or triathlon; and how cool the Disney World Half Ironman (HIM) is. All the while, Dee Dee was wincing at the deep muscle releasing and stretching. Ow ow! Muscles have really stiffened up!
But if you've been following the BT posts, you know these triathletes are a different breed -- nothing's gonna stop them! What a wonderful day, visiting with Deanna!!
Cheryl Read on....

[email protected] wrote:
SHE'S OUT!!! Well, out of the ICU, at least. Deanna finally got out of intensive care yesterday into a step-down unit. Here, she will have a lot more privacy and a lot less commotion. She is in a hospital room that is not on lockdown 24 hours a day.
More good news is that I don't think there is any mental sharpness lost whatsoever. I made sure her soils knowledge was up to par and there’s no worry there either. We discussed
how manganese concentrations may be indicative of saturation at some point during the year. This doesn't sound like a subject that someone with any type of damage would be discussing.
She seems to be very happy, as happy as anyone could be in her situation. She says the hospital food is terrible, but she really doesn't have that much of an appetite after dialysis. She gets pretty worn out from that procedure. As soon as the dialysis treatments can be stopped, she will make her way to rehab.
She can talk very well with a cap on her trache tube. We have been promising her this for quite some time. Her oxygen levels look good while breathing room air that doesn't have elevated oxygen levels like the past month or so.
Also, rehab is all Deanna should be thinking about right now. Her roommate, Saket, and I have set up a paypal account that is linked to her bank account that was set up. The webpage that Saket constructed is
Dollarsfordeanna.org
Any small donation will help her. She can't wait to get the prosthesis. (Brent says she has already been measured for this.) Keep Deanna in your thoughts and prayers.
-Chris
P.S From Cheryl, I went to the above site. If it doesn't come right up to that page, you may have made a typo, cuz it's there. When the page comes up, scroll way down on the page -- the link to PAYPAL is toward the bottom of the page. The other way to contribute is to make check out to Debra Babcock (Dee couldn't sign the signature card, but will soon) and mail it to
State Employees Credit Union
2802 Hillsborough St
Raleigh, NC 27607
clc

The news just keeps getting better for Dee!!!  Every day I check and every day it just gets better and better. 

Thanks for the updates, it makes my Monday even better to know that she is progressing so fast and so strongly.  Go Deanna!

AWESOME NEWS!!!! and don't worry about post length. It's good top hear the details.

Doug

Hi there Deanna,

I know it must be overwhelming and maybe a bit weird to see the outpouring of love from us BT "strangers" from all around the country, but boy are we glad to hear you are reading these posts yourself. Your story has touched us all, and we have all been pulling, praying, sending positive healing vibes to you since we are all part of the same tri family. I know we all can't help but be thrilled with your progress, and we can see your awesome circle of family and friends has helped you blow away everyone's expectations thus far. With that said, don't ever forget you are the reason you are here today. Not only did your previous training and mental toughness help you survive the accident, but your "base training" has helped you recover faster than most anyone else would.

We, as athletes, are constantly challenged by the physical limitations of our bodies, so try not to worry too much about the ups and downs of your new "training plan." Rehabbing is not as fun as event training, but we know you will take it just as seriously and will continue down your path to success. We look forward to hearing from you personally when you clear each new hurdle.

Aggiecatcher -- Rocklin, CA

DEANNA - MONDAY, AUGUST 27
Hi Folks,
Brent & I watched Dee Dee work through occupational therapy. She played catch with the OT and dad -- catching, turning, throwing; catching, turning, throwing -- quickly; harder! Woah -- almost knocked the OT down! Then the physical therapist put a walker in front of her and she stood up for the first time! Ow, ow! Stiff leg muscels! Then up to the chair for a while.


[email protected] wrote:

Deanna's back. Talking about anything and everything. I may step back a little bit on the daily updates, because besides subjects Deanna, her family, and I talk about, there's not much else to update on. This is
probably a very good thing that I don't have to tell everyone about how
much they lowered her sedative or how her blood pressure is doing.
Anything major will definitely be sent out.
Deanna is just in a regular hospital bed, waiting for her kidneys to kick back in. As soon as this happens, she's into rehab and on her way. The renal doctor still seems very optimistic that it could be within a week. This would be great for Deanna because she said that the dialysis really wears her out and it's like the most boring thing ever. She now has her laptop and some movies, so hopefully the four hours goes by much more quickly.
As her dexterity continues to improve and her fine motor skills increase, she may be the one writing these updates pretty soon. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers, especially the kidneys!
-Chris
PS. JUST NOW! The kidney doctor came in and said, "No dialysis today, maybe never!" clc

That is just fantastic news. Awesome.

Deanna,
Glad you are feeling better... you are in my thoughts and prayers! Glad you can get online!!

I've been following this story and praying for a while now but this is my first time to actually post.  It's just amazing to read all the new good news!  Deanna really does sound like an amazing woman!  So glad to hear things are going well.  I'll continue to keep you all in my prayers.

Yeah!!  No more dialysis!!

Yippee!!!!