Aaron made it to NZ
Aaron safely made the trip to New Zealand. He flew via a private air ambulance, with a full medical staff, from Colorado Springs to LAX, then boarded a commercial flight to New Zealand. Aaron was on a commercial stretcher (very similar to a hospital bed) and accompanied by family and a trauma nurse for the long flight to NZ. Upon arrival in NZ, he spent some time in the ER, then was placed in Rehab Plus, which is the specialist rehab unit.
The medical team has done numerous tests on his vocal chords with diagnosis and treatment to follow. The results of these will also result in a specialist program within the Speech & Language therapists’ program. Aaron has an appointment mid next week with an Orthopaedic doctor who is a specialist on pelvic injuries. The PT team have spent 2 sessions assessing him so that they can put together a specialist program especially for him. There is a hydrotherapy pool which he will be able to use once his feeding tube comes out – although we won’t know when that will be. On top of this, the team of PTs and doctors at Rehab Plus are doing sensory tests and nerve tests to work out what is going on with his tingling and numbness in his left leg and arm. Aaron is really happy so far with the expertise and thoroughness of the therapists, testing and treatment.
We would like to thank Air Ambulance Worldwide & their med team, Air New Zealand, and the LAX ambulance crew for an extremely safe and professional medical transfer. A special thanks to Megan and Raye, who took on the daunting task of on-flight Aaron aides.
Once again, we would also like to convey our utmost gratitude to all of you who have been a part of the Clarkie recovery. We cannot begin to convey how difficult the past 9 weeks have been for all of us. Knowing we have such a strong network of support behind us enables us to make it through each day.
Aaron deeply misses all of his US friends and he would love to hear from you. I will be posting a mailing address for him shortly…send him a little holiday cheer.
Take care
- Tedi and Scott
