Worthington Family

We officially have a teenager!

The day before her birthday was Sunday. We went to Julane's and had pad thai and celebrated Sari's birthday along with Lydia and Candace's birthdays. Sari loves pad thai so that was good! Monday morning Sari opened her presents at 6:45am because she didn't want to wait until after school! I picked Sari up from school and took her to Subway. We had peach cream dessert for her cake that night. Ian had been sick throwing up on Sunday and Monday. Our neighbor's, Justin and Stephanie Mecham moved at the end of this week. They were good neighbors and I really loved living by Stephanie. We served in several callings together, mostly as primary teachers and activity day leaders.

On September 1st, Kirk was mountain biking with his family in Big Sky Montana. His fellow bikers were up ahead waiting for him when a group of bikers came down the trail and informed them that someone had been in a serious bike accident. They found he had crashed and seriously injured his head and face. He was airlifted to Billings and is now on a journey of hopeful healing. Currently Kirk is in Denver at Craig Hospital, a world-renown neuro rehabilitation center and is making steps of progress every day.

One of Marlayne's first posts on Kirk's online journal:

Journal entry by Marlayne Worthington — Sep 13, 2018

Hi family and friends. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we have received these last 12 days. I knew I was married to a wonderful man, but as I have sat in his hospital room for many days and listened to all the visitors tell me about the impact he had on their lives I have a new appreciation for him and realize I have been so blessed to have him in my life. He is such a great husband and father.

Here is a quick run down on his injuries and an update on his current condition:

He suffered a pretty serious traumatic brain injury with a blow to the right frontal lobe of his head.
They removed a portion of his skull to alleviate the pressure caused from bleeding and swelling. He had spinal fluid leaking out of his nose because there was a tear in the dura (the sac around the brain.) They put in a lumbar drain in his back to help it drain so it could hopefully heal itself. Just yesterday they clamped the drain to test if it had healed, and it had. This is a huge blessing as the surgery to fix it is a pretty major, complicated surgery.

He broke his hand in two spots (boxers fracture) but they got it set well and believe it will not require surgery.

This afternoon he will be having surgery to fix several issues with his face. His upper jaw is not really connected to anything right now, so they are going to get it aligned with the bottom jaw and set it. They are going to be fixing his cheek bones. I'm not sure how much above that they will be doing as they want to be careful to not disrupt the brain for now.

His lungs are bruised, but he is pretty much breathing on his own. He has a tracheotomy and is hooked up to a ventilator, but is doing all the breathing on his own. He also has a tube going directly into his stomach to feed him. All other internal organs are fine and working normally.

He has skull fractures next to both ears, and are unsure about his hearing.

He is now completely off sedation and pain killers but is still not waking up. Right now this is our biggest concern. He is in a coma and the longer he goes without waking up, the worse the prognosis. He responds to pain stimuli, but it requires quite a bit to make him move. He will occasionally move his arms or legs, but there is no "purposeful movement." He also has started kind of opening his eyes. They will open half way for a few minutes, then he will close them again. Sometimes it seems he might track light for a second, but we aren't really sure.

That is all the medical side of his condition. I would now like to share the other side of what is going on.

We have been given the knowledge and assurance time and time again that things are going to be ok. I think that means he is going to wake up and eventually regain full function. Many of those close to him have felt that. I recognize that our Heavenly Father is the one in charge, and it is His plan, and that whatever that plan is is what is going to truly be best for Kirk and all of us who love him. We are clinging to our faith with all that we have. At times those feelings of fear and doubt creep in, and it starts to feel like the world is caving in on me. It is at those times that I pray for added strength, and almost immediately every time I feel peace and comfort, and that physical pain that I feel from sadness and grief is replaced once again with hope. I receive strength from those around me, from the words of prophets, from the scriptures, and from the promises of blessings I and Kirk have received from family and friends and even at the hands of one of His apostles. I know those feelings of comfort and peace are also a gift that comes from the prayers of friends and family on my behalf. I know that it is because of our Savior and the suffering he did for me that that pain is literally able to replaced once again with peace and hope and love. I know there are things we are supposed to be learning through this trial, and that trials such as this are the only way that some lessons can be learned. I am looking for those lessons along the way that the Lord wants me to learn. I have learned so much already.

We have seen miracles and tender mercies all along our journey. The evidence of Heavenly Father's awareness and love of Kirk and our family is everywhere we turn. We have seen it in mere "coincidences" of the right people being in the right place at the right time. We have felt it as people reach out to help in ways that I would never have even thought of. I know that you who live far away keep asking what you can do to help. Please know that our biological family, ward family, and even stake family are taking extremely good care of us. My house is clean, the car is spotless, I won't have to cook for months, Huddy has playdates every single day, the lawn is mowed and there are many who are contributing money on our behalf to help alleviate some of the financial burden. The list is almost endless. I know that Kirk is aware of this and so grateful to all of you for taking care of his wife and kids for him. I can't even begin to thank everyone for their generosity and kindness and I feel bad that I won't ever really even know all those to thank. Please know how grateful and even undeserving I feel for all you have done for us. It is more than I can even begin to comprehend.

I know everyone is also concerned about how the kids are doing. Overall I would say they are doing really well. My older kids have been a huge support. They have taken overnight shifts at the hospital so I could go home and sleep. They have spent long hours up at the hospital by Kirk's side. They too remain full of hope and optimism, and often are the ones to build me back up after my doubt sneaks back in. Makelle and Brennon leave to go back to school in Idaho today. Dallin is on his mission in Seattle. We send him updates almost daily to keep him in the loop. The mission President reported to me yesterday that he is doing as well as can be expected. They are keeping a close eye on him. The other kids are just in school and I am trying to keep them busy doing all the normal things. They come say hi to their dad each evening for a bit. They seem to be doing well.

That's it for now. Please continue praying for him. The power of prayer is real. We are planning on more miracles, more healing, and are just waiting for him to wake up. We love you all, and can feel your love and support.

Here we are now on May 21st. Kirk is scheduled to come home on the 29th, only 8 days! He still has a long way to go. He is eating on his own now - no feeding tube, but he still has a trach. They think it will take another couple months to be able to get rid of that. He is still very dependent on others for most things. Marlayne is going to need a lot of support at home in the coming months. At this point Kirk's short term memory is only about 2-3 minutes. At the end of November he had a pretty big stroke that really set his progress back. Every week has been a big fight for his life and then to be able to make progress back to independence. They went to Craig in Denver at the end of October so their kids have been without their parents pretty much the entire school year. Right now Brennon is staying at home with them, but before that Julane had the younger boys, while Ashyln and Cade stayed at home together. A lot of us helped take care of Hudson. He's been at our house about two days a week this year. Ian has loved having him here. It is incredible to see the amount of strenth and faith Marlayne and their children have. We continue to pray and hope for the best recovery possible for Kirk.