Friday, November 30, 2007

Update On Rich


It sure has been a busy week and all of our thoughts are still with Rich and his family. So far doctors have confirmed that he is not suffering from decompression sickness. He actually had a bi-lateral dissection of his internal carotid neck arteries which in turn caused a stroke. The cause is still unknown, but some form of pressure/trauma caused a tear in both arteries in his neck, which continued to tear and eventually clot, causing the stroke. Rich remains in the ICU at UCLA where everyone is anxiously waiting for him to wake up. When he first arrived on Sunday, he was being uncooperative, so they sedated him. His last sedation was on Tuesday and now they are waiting for him to wake up. No one can determine the extent of his injuries until he is awake. Rich is also fighting pneumonia and a ruptured ear drum. He has a long road ahead of him, but he is a fighter. Let’s all hope that he wakes up soon. I will continue to post updates whenever I receive new information

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Peace Dive Trip






Over the weekend, I went on my annual lobster diving trip. What started out so great ended so bad. I boarded the boat Friday night and got all set-up for a long ride out to our first dive site near San Miguel Island. The total motor time was about 7 hrs as it was 65 miles from shore. Things started off great. The water was calm with perfect visibility which is rare in these parts. We dove off a pinnacle that was in the middle of the ocean with no land near. The dive site started about 70ft below dropping to a max of 180ft. Marcus, Julie and I stayed in the 70-90ft range and found tons of big scallops, beautiful coral, and anemones. We all filled up our game bags with scallops. I got 8 - not a bad start when the daily limit is 10 and they were big.
Things started to change when we were back on the boat. About 10 minutes after we surfaced there was a distressed diver that popped up about 100ft from the boat. The dive master assisted the diver getting back on the boat. It was Rich Christensen, one of the owners of the dive shop and the most experienced diver on the boat. When he got on the boat he said he couldn't get any air off his rebreather or his sling bottle which forced him to come to the surface from 108ft in less than a minute. We were all a little concerned, but he demanded that everything was okay and he had been fighting a cold.
After this, things went back to normal with all dive efforts going for the coveted prize of lobster. I was the first one on the boat to bag one. It was on the second dive and my first grab of the year, not a bad start, but that was the only one I ended up with. These bugs are fast! Marcus cleaned up with six and a few others were also lucky. The water was really cold on this trip at about 54 degrees and I was freezing in my wetsuit. I wish I had my dry suit, but I am afraid of ripping the wrist seals reaching under rocks for lobsters. Next year I am wearing my dry suit no matter what. I am becoming a pussy in my old age, the cold water never bothered me in the past.
The following morning started off like any other day on the boat - wake up, throw down a quick bite to eat, then jump in the water. We had moved to Santa Cruz Island over night to get us closer to Ventura to make the ride home quicker. We were still 30 miles and a 3hr boat ride away. After the first dive is when things went bad. As we got out of the water Rich was in the galley and his condition was deteriorating fast. He was uncoordinated and was was loosing basic motor skills like writing and talking. He was really off balanced and had a hard time walking. The boat Captain Kevin told Marcus he had to make a decision fast and talk Rich in to letting us get him help from the Coast Guard, which he had previously refused. Finally, he agreed. After a call to the Coast Guard they had Rich on 100% oxygen and were waiting for the USCG response. Within a few minutes they said they were sending a helicopter out to do a boat rescue. At this time we had to pack all of our gear to get ready for the helicopter. As everything was secured, we all had to huddle in the galley while they loaded Rich in a basket and raised him into the helicopter. We couldn't see anything due to no windows facing the back of the boat, but what they did was drop a basket with one of their divers, got Rich loaded, then loaded him in the chopper, and then off they went. We were told they were taking him to the Catalina Hyperbaric chamber; however they ended up bringing him to the UCLA Medical Center because they thought they could help him better based on his symptoms.
After the boat arrived in the harbor the USCG was waiting for us so they could interview the people involved in the dive and also the crew. It took about 2 hours until they were done and they took Rich's gear to inspect it. They needed to check if it was working correctly. Marcus and Julie stayed in L.A. to go see Rich and help coordinate his wife Mavy and dad getting out there. Since he arrived in UCLA he has had several treatments in the hyperbaric chamber and they had to sedate him because he kept ripping out his IVs. We are not sure on the outcome until he wakes up in about 4 days according to the medical staff. Based on the CT scan, they know he suffered a stroke; however long term effects cannot be determined until he wakes up later in the week. Please keep Rich and his family in your thoughts and hope all goes well for a quick recovery.

Magic Mountain Day 2






After we had so much fun at Magic Mountain, we had to go a 2ND day. The park was a little busier on Friday but we still had a ton of fun the rides are crazy. After a fun filled day we headed to Ventura so I can get on the boat for a weekend of diving. We went to dinner with some friends Brad, Chris and Grant from San Jose that were going on the Peace boat with me. Danielle and her parents drove home on Saturday while I stayed behind.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Turkey Day at Magic Mountain




Today Danielle, her parents, and I spent the day riding roller coasters at Magic Mountain (after a five hour drive there). If you have never been there it's a must for thrill seekers. The rides are the best, you just have to make sure you can keep down your lunch. We went on a ton of coasters and we are going back tomorrow for more. Late tomorrow night I am getting on the Peace Boat for two days of Lobster diving. Wish me luck. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Jt Holmes Ski Base Jumping

This is Jt Holmes a Porters skier from Tahoe.

Skiing Off the Silver Legacy What?





Shane McConkey, JT Holmes and a few others skied a ramp off the Silver Legacy to a base jump. It was crazy the winds were really gusty so they had to time it perfect. One of the skiers got his ski tangled in his lines and landed hard on one leg, he ended up tearing his MCL ouch. This was a promo for the Warren Miller movie they played last night. This guys are skiing off 5000ft cliffs the parachuting down it's pretty crazy to watch.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Boreal's Open




Boreal opened on Monday but it's not pretty. There is a patch of snow about the size of a football field with a few rails and boxes. We need some snow bad for Porters business and water it's not starting off well.

Monday, November 12, 2007

4 In the net pizza you get





Tonight my brother took me to the Sharks game. They played the Phoenix Coyotes and killed them 5 - 0. We started off the night at one of my favorite places Cluck U Chicken I spent a ton of nights eating there when I was younger. Then off to the game, John had some free tickets from his boss, the seats were great for free. This is one thing I miss from living in Reno, there is no professional sports. Again I want to thank John for taking me to the game. Danielle is jealous, but she couldn't take the day off of work tomorrow.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

We Tried


We attempted to go ride are dirt bikes today, but 10 minutes after this pic it begin to rain as we were loading the bikes. We settled on reorganizing the garage. Definitely not as fun. Will try again next weekend.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Back to Work...


I just wanted to do a post and let everyone know that I am doing much better after my accident. The cabinet door is lucky I didn't take a hammer to it.
Thank you to Jason for taking excellent care of me and being sure to wake me up every two hours!
The doctor has released me to drive and watch TV. Yeah! The students all spread rumors about me at school - how I was speaking Gibberish just before I went to Urgent Care, which could possibly be true. Anyway, my headache has subsided and although I am still a little loopy, for the most part I am back to normal. I mean, I am blond and all, so what is normal? Thank you for all of your thoughts and mean messages about how head injuries are nothing to fool around with. :-) Enjoy a pic of my CAT Scan...

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Danielle is seeing stars


Danielle is seeing stars and not the one's from Hollywood. Yesterday at four Danielle was getting some almonds out of the cabinet when she drooped a few, she bent over to pick them up and whacked her head on the way up. She hit it right on the corner cutting her head and knocking here out for the count. I received a call at work from a dazed and confused Danielle, I rushed home,when I arrived her hair was full of blood, I couldn't see the cut due to all the blood so I had her jump in the shower, to wash her hair. After the shower the cut didn't look to bad. We decided to have her rest and see how she felt in the morning, I woke her every two hours to make sure she was doing okay. She got through the night with no problems, and decided to go to work. After two periods she started feeling nauseated and lost her breakfast, She got a sub to take over but it took two periods, when she was relived she went to urgent care, the doctor held her hostage and wouldn't let here leave until she had someone accompany her. I left worked and brought her to get a CatScan. During her test my aunt Ginger helped me shuttle the second car home. After the test the doctors said everything looked good and just wanted her to rest for the next two days with minimal stimulation. It was a little nerve racking but she is okay. Sorry for the drawn out version of the story.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Yard Work

That's all my weekend consist of. Saturday we went to Danielle's Grandma Sylvia's and helped here cut some bushes and get the yard ready for the winter. On Sunday we did the same at our house. There isn't much time left to get the house winterized. Hopefully we'll get outside to play next week.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Trick or Treat






Last night we stayed home and handed out candy to all the kids. I wanted to show off our pumpkins, mine is the cat in the window and the other two are Danielle's. Every year we carve pumpkins at my Aunt Ginger and Janet's house It's always a lot of fun.