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| lilmac (Aaron) |
One of our members, "lilmac" (real name is Aaron), was involved in a severe accident in Jacksonville on March 26, 2005 that resulted in his jeep rolling, him being ejected and the jeep rolling on top of him. Lilmac is fighting through this as any Marine would but has suffered head trauma with internal bleeding.
Many of us want to help him and his family in any way we can. If you would like to offer a monetary contribution to his recovery simply click the PayPal link above and a secure donation will be accepted and sent directly to his family.
Original Post about the accident
HE IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, scroll down to see the latest!
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:44 pm by BLHTAZ (Brent)
lilmac Update
I just got off of the phone with James. Aaron's surgery yesterday was a very short lived success, as he is back in surgery today. There is a large blood clot in his brain and the internal brain pressure has exceeded 40. Normal is in the low to mid teens. They are removing a section of his skull today to try to relieve the pressure, but if you have ever experienced anything like this, you know that this is a last effort to save him.
I have had several people asking about sending cards or other forms of "get well" wishes. They ask right now that we not send anything until things stabilize a bit more. They don't want to deal with a flood of cards, flowers etc...
Aaron has NO insurance coverage, so what we are doing is more appreciated than any gift or card. Please keep spreading the word about this and hopefully we can help make a difference in the burden on the family. They were nearly in tears of joy to hear that we had already started working on financial assistance for them.
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:47 pm by jimithing27 (James, Aaron's brother)
Update on lilmac's condition
Surgery went well... As stated by the doctor... He had a fairly large section of the right side of the skull removed and tucked away in his abdomen.... His pressure in the brain dropped to around 11-12 after surgery and has been floating around the 14-24 range since.... Now it is going to be a wait and see situation... the surgeon is very optimistic as are we.... there have just been to many miracles and signs from god along this ride for us to think any less... you guys have been one of the biggest signs and blessings we have recieved..... I cannot begin to tell you how appreciative and grateful and suprised my family was when I told them about what you all have been doing.....
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:21 pm by BLHTAZ (Brent)
lilmac Update (Good News!!)
Just got off the phone with James. Aaron is still in critical condition, but is now stable. His brain pressure is holding between 17 - 22, which is still a little high, but not far from good. He is being kept in an induced coma as they do not want any brain activity for now. This is expected to be continued for at least 3 days right now.
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:55 pm by jimithing27 (James, Aaron's brother)
Update on lilmac's condition
Aaron is doing good for a third straight day... No downs again....
Pressures are staying around the 8-10 range when they are not doing anything to him.... and his temp is holding just under 100......
They are going to do a tracheostomy this week to get the ventilator out of his voicebox... And it is supposed to reduce the risk of further infection....
They plan on keeping him in a coma and paralyzed for another 10 to 14 days if all goes well..... They told us today to expect him to be in the hospital for at least the next month..... They are not going to put his skull back in for at least 2 weeks ... Again that is if all continues to improve....
Infections are the thing they say we have to worry about right now.... There were a list of possible things that are at risk.... I can't even remember them all... But I will just pray for NO infections.....
Thank you all again so much for your prayers, support and words off wisdom... Positive stories about people you know that have been thru this type of thing are giving us a great deal of hope.....
God Bless
Jimi
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:39 pm by jimithing27 (James, Aaron's brother)
UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay what a day we have had..... And a good one it was.... They apparently took him off the paralytic drug (norcuron) yesterday because of the progress he has had with the brain pressures.... Well this morning when my mom was in there with him he tried to open his eye and as the day went on and I got there this afternoon he was "waking" up though it was only for about 2 to 3 seconds at a time.... and 10 to 15 minutes in between those occurences..... He is responding to us in those waking moments by trying to open his eyes (thouh a struggle it appeared to be for him) and lightly squeezing the hands and wiggling thumbs on command.... He cannot focus his eyes on us but you can see that he is trying to move the head in the direction of our faces... He has the neck and head brace on so it is more like trying to shift the body in our direction you can tell he is still HEAVILY HEAVILY sedated on Morphine and Versed because these brief moments that he seems to be with us are short and seem to take everything out of him... But hey at this point we will take whatever we get!!!!! God still wants him to rest and we can be patient!!!! I will update more tomorrow and hopefully it will include more progress!!!!!!
Thank you all again for your prayers and thoughts
Jimi and Family
ps..... When he had an awake moment I told him about all of you and your prayers and he DID squeeze my hand in acknowledgement.... He won't remember it or anything else for that matter by what the doctors say because of the Versed which is an amnesiac drug but rest assured I will tell him every chance I get about you all......
Anyone see the movie "50 first dates" 
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:05 pm by jimithing27 (James, Aaron's brother)
This is the EMail post that my Mom sent to all of the Family and friends that she is keeping posted
"Good evening, and God Bless you all for your continued support and
prayers.
Aaron had a "rough" morning, he was very uncomfortable, but was also
alert. They have reduced the Morphine and Versed to 3 ml/hour, so is
feeling some pain now. However, as I said, he was pretty alert.
He has improved a bit more today, and the staff is now calling him
their "Miracle patient". They did not expect him to be "this far,
this fast", and are celebrating his progress.
I have explained the prayers he has been receiving and they all agree
that we have had some pretty major miracles here.
His helmet came in today, so they were able to move him to a chair for
about 4 hours. According to his nurse, it was a pretty miserable 4
hours for him, since the helmet won't fit over his "J collar", and as
a result kept moving down over his forehead and was very
uncomfortable. But, he did get 4 hours in the chair, out of his bed.
He was alert enough today that she gave him a little slack on his
restraints, so he could actually reach up, with a bit of help, to
scratch his nose. She was keeping a close watch on him, and would
tighten them up when he dozed off, to prevent from attempting to pull
his vent tube when not alert enough to know that would be a very bad
thing to do.
Now that he is awake, he can receive cards, but no flowers or "live"
things, since that brings bugs into the SICU. Bugs = not good.
If you want to send a card, the address of the hospital is
Patient: Aaron McClung
Shands Hospital
655 West 8th Street
Jacksonville, FL 32209
Or you can use our home address (or if in the area drop it at the
house and we will bring it in to him):
6238 George Hodges Rd.
Macclenny, FL 32063
At the afternoon visit, I took my laptop in, and set up a Word table
with large alphabet letters, thinking we could try and see if he could
use the mouse to navigate to the letters to try and spell out things
he has been trying to tell us. Well, he skipped the mouse, and his
nurse and I held the laptop at an angle so he could use the keyboard.
He "typed his first words" to us:
First was
Water
I explained he could not have water.
Next he typed "frozen juice".
I explained he could not have anything orally.
He then typed "bull".
I then explained aspiration pneumonia and the risk if he had anything
orally.
He typed ok and was done "talking".
However, it was wonderful!!!!
He can still read and recognize letters and be able to spell words
out, something we could not be sure of.
His doctor gave me a big smile and told me today that Aaron "has a big
day tomorrow", but would not elaborate. I asked if they were going to
take the vent out, with a smile he responded, "I didn't say that, but
he has a big day tomorrow". I hope that means they're removing the
vent, but I suspect it will be based on how he does tonight when the
reduce the vent pressures down another notch, and how his blood gases
come out after doing so. His nurse tonight said that they have
written a consult for the speech therapist, so........
Tonight he was really wiped out, and not very responsive. He wouldn't
really open his eyes, I think it was just too much work after his day
today. He would nod ever so slightly when we asked him if he could
hear us, and he squeezed my hand during prayers. I think his head was
hurting. Can't imagine why.
All in all, a GOOD day, another blessing from God.
Again, thank you all for your prayers and support, and may God bless
each and every one of you.
Love,
Deb"
Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:49 pm by jimithing27 (James, Aaron's brother)
Another update from My Mom....... This is the email that she is sending to all of her list of ppl to update............
Good evening to all, and a wonderful evening it is.
Blessings upon blessings the last two days.
Yesterday, Aaron's nurses put him on the "trust thing", since he was
awake enough to be reasonably alert after they had again scaled down
his medications. The trust thing was "if he promised not to pull any
of the tubes out, he could have his freedom and they would take his
restraints off." He has been a really "good" patient for them. So,
all day yesterday and last night, he was able to be in bed without any
restraints.
He was still very unhappy, since he still could not have any water. He
has had a one track mind for several days now, with every
communication tracking on "water", and not liking the answer "no".
He wrote messages to his nurse, asking for "a large cup of ice water
or lemonade PLEASE", I felt so bad for him, but kept telling him only
a day or so now......
Well, this morning, at about 8:50 according to his nurse, he blew the
trust thing. Oh, he didn't try to pull any of his tubes, but he did
decide he was going to use the facilities.
So, while his nurse was tied up in another room on an emergency, he
climbed out of bed. Now folks, the rails were up, so he had to climb
over them to get out. By the Grace of God, someone walked by his room
at that point and saw him. Standing by his bed, without his helmet,
"dragging his ventilator and tubes behind him", heading towards the
toilet. His nurse was not amused. When I came in at 9:00, I saw he
was back in the restraints, although loosely. His nurse explained
what had happened 10 minutes earlier, and commented "well, we know he
can walk".
Later this morning, they took out the ventilator tubes, and he was
totally on his own for breathing. And, he still wanted water, but
could not have it until "cleared" by the doctors. We were told that
would probably be tomorrow. At 4:00, he was doing even better, and
was being given ice chips. His new favorite vocabulary words were
"ice chips please". He was looking even better than this morning,
and apparently he and Monica had reached a new agreement, since the
restraints were off again.
He was trying to talk to us, but with the vent just being out today
and still coughing, it was hard to understand. Plus, he can't talk
very loud. But, the words "ice chips please" get very easy to make
out after the first few times...
We were told that he had a stroll around the halls of the unit today,
with his entourage from physical therapy there to make sure he didn't
fall and to drag his IV pole around with him. Since it was the first
time he had been up "officially", they had him use a walker, but they
don't think that's going to be needed too much longer either.
When we went in at 8:00 pm, he was laying in the bed with a smile like
the cat that got the canary, with one hand behind his head and the
other holding a cup of water with a straw in it. He had been cleared
for sips of water, "as tolerated". His feeding and gastric tubes had
been removed, and for the first time in 20 days, we could see his
whole face, and it looked GOOD. At about 8:30, his night nurse
brought in apple juice, with the words that the doctor had cleared him
to "progress as tolerated". They're going to let him have juices and
such tonight, a liquid breakfast and if he tolerates that well, he'll
get to eat real food tomorrow.
All in all, it has been a VERY good week. The staff is calling him
their miracle patient, and are totally amazed at his progress.
Everyone agrees, including the medical staff, that we have had
miracles here. We cannot thank you enough for your prayers, they are
truly being heard and Aaron is on track to come back to us healthy and
whole, on a pace that has everyone amazed.
Thank you again so much, and God BLESS every one of you.
Deb
Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:04 am by lilmac
I'm alive and out of the hospital.
 
Thank you everyone around the world for all of your support. I am making it now, still not clear for work or driving, but I am at home now. God bless everyone and kep me in your prayers, it's not over yet. Thank you again...
Aaron
(Lilmac)
   
Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:37 pm by jimithing27 (Aaron's Brother)
Email update that Mom sent everyone......
~~~~Good evening and God Bless you all.
Aaron had his cranioplasty today, and all went very well. It took a
bit longer than the surgeon expected, but I figure that was because
his head is so hard, it was a bit more work to put the screws in.
We were able to see him in recovery, and he is alert and doing very
well. A bit uncomfortable, but as of the 8:00 pm visit, he still did
not want any pain medication. He will have to stay in recovery
tonight, since they don't have a bed in the SICU for him, but the plan
is that hopefully he will be able to come home tomorrow. If not,
they'll put him in a room on the regular floor.
He had the nurses cracking up, his sense of humor was just wicked this
evening. When they let me in the first time, his nurse Kelly was
telling me how well he was doing. Kelly was also one of his nurses in
SICU when he was there, and when she "recognized" him, went ahead and
let me in to see him for a few minutes "off hours".
As she was telling me how well he was doing, he just looked at me for
a minute with a totally blank look on his face, then started to look
just a little confused. He then blurted out "who ARE you?". Poor
Kelly was stunned for a minute, after all, he was doing so well and
didn't recognize his MOTHER? Even SHE recognized me when I walked in.
After a few seconds, he started laughing and said "just kidding", and
the "game was on". He's been cracking on anyone he could, including
his neurosurgeon.
So, this means he is DOING GREAT!!!!!!!
He should be cleared by the doctor in about 3 weeks physically, and
according to the neuropsychologist at Brooks, should try to return to
work, initially part time for a few weeks, as soon as possible after
that.
Again, thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and support over the
last 2 months, I can't thank you all enough. God truly works
miracles, and it was your prayers that helped get this one.
God Bless you all.
Love,
Deb Milner
Good evening and God Bless you all.
Tue Jun 28, 2005 10:15 am by jimithing27 (Aaron's Brother)
Second Chance given to it's new owner....
Well now that I am rested from the weekend and the site is running at better than a snails crawl.... I am ready to post the details....
For any that had not figured it out yet "Project Second" chance was a covert behind the scenes build that was the brainchild of a few guys at the Campout .... YellowXJ (travis) was the one who donated the XJ carcass that was used... And I think was his original idea.... I was contacted a few days after the campout about this idea and to see if there there were any good parts left on Aaron's (Lilmac) Wrecked YJ...... What was needed to get the XJ running was an engine and transfer case among other things.... Well the Engine that was in Aarons YJ was still in oerfect condition and was just rebuilt recently.... A few weeks later they came to take Lilmacs YJ away and down to Ocala for the "fake" selling price of $1500.. ( I told Aaron that they needed the motor for Carmines daughters Jeep and they gave me the "$$$" that I would give to him when he was better...... ) The "Second Chance" project was announced to get some help in building and parts donations..... We had 2 build weekends in Ocala where there were about 12 people each weekend coming from as far away a Maine and Panama City to help with the build....
Parts were Donated or Heavily discounted for this poroject my numerous Supply houses and members from the board generously donated their own $$$ and parts out of their own pocket to get what was needed to fund the build.... Also Lilmacs Jeep was stripped almost bare of all salvagable parts and they were sold off to gain funds for the new build....
A project that has had about 150 hours of sweat and beer put into it and in the end worth every bit of it.....
The look on his face when I drove it up into the yard where everyone was at was priceless... .... He had NO IDEA what was going on... ..(As I had left the picninc with Frank in his truck to get Aarons $$$ for the YJ from the ATM and came back in the XJ) Complete and total confusion on his face.... I drove it up and pulled the key out and tossed it to him and said here's your money!!!
He did not know what to do or say....
Now for any that I did not get to tell this.... WHen I took him for the ride in it, is when he started to really lose it... He was hopping up and down in the seat like a little kid that just got his first bike... saying "I can't believe this" , "I can't believe this"....... It was awesome.......!!!! And such a good feeling after all the hard work that so many people put into it......
I just can't believe that we were able to keep it a secret!!!!!
Thank you everyone for being a part and letting me be a part of this build!!!!!
What Project Second Chance started from.
Plaque with all those who donated time/materials listed.
Finished Project presented to Aaron (lilmac).
Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:56 pm by lilmac (Aaron)
I can not begin to describe how grateful I am. You are all truly wonderful. Thank you everyone who had something to do with this no matter what your role was. I'm still feeling the shock from what has happened. It is great to know that I really have some great friends out there. Thank you again, everyone.
Aaron
4 Wheel Parts Magazine spread on our Second Chance Jeeper!
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