Riley Poor’s Recovery Blog

Hey everyone,  Riley here.  Found a 20min window in my day that I can use to check in with all you guys. These days for me attitude is everything I can not explain to you the importance of me keeping a good strong head on my shoulders but I would be lying to you if I told you that’s been an easy task. I have definitely made some major steps forward with my recovery but it hasn’t come easily or without a fair amount of bumps in the road.

After arriving at Craig our first hurdle was the pneumonia that was living inside of my lungs. Let me tell you, when you go through an experience like that you really learn to appreciate your lungs something I had majorly taken for granted up to that point. My next hurdle regarding my respiratory system was to get off the ventilator, which had been breathing for me since my accident.  I am happy to report I was able to attack that goal on my terms and I am now officially breathing on my own will 24/7 but not without the assistants of supplmental oxygen. The next major hurdle I came to at Craig started as a blood clot we found during an ultra sound in my lower right leg. By my next ultra sound a few days later we learned that it had rapidly spread up my right leg and in addition the clots had also formed in my left leg from ankle to thigh. This meant a few things firstly I went on a constant stream of blood thinners that I will likely have to stay on for 6 months to a year. Secondly my legs had to be immobilized both in therapies and in bed. A few days after learning about the clots my legs ballooned in size growing to proportions that scared the crap out of me after another slew of tests the doctors confirmed that I was not bleeding out which is a huge risk from the blood thinners but in fact I had edema which is the pooling of fluids in the skins tissues. Over the next few days I put on a about 40 pounds of water weight which once again complicated my therapies. I am once again happy to report that we have gotten that issue somewhat under control and although I still have clotting and edema in my legs I look a whole lot less like the marshmallow man. My next hurdle seems to be getting my blood counts under control, which is something I have been battling all along. I already had a blood transfusion and iron IV drips both of which can really take a toll on your system, as I found out yesterday. I was completely wiped out by a test dose of iron.

I guess in saying all this I just mean to relay to those of you who care that even though my spirits are high on a daily basis this hasn’t been nor will not be a walk in the park. Please keep your positive energy flowing my way as it’s truly the most powerful medicine that I can use to heal.

The last month of my life could never have been expected or prepared for by any of the parties involved. The exhaustion brought by the last month’s events have brought to both me, my family, and the love of my life Katrina has been significant, and we are all in need of a little rest and relaxation. Yesterday, I made a huge step by going off the ventilator and now I can proudly say that each breath I take throughout the day is by my own will and strength. An added bonus is that I have my voice back and can now communicate much better with the caregivers that surround me. Even more importantly, it means that I don’t necessarily need the watchful loving eyes of my girlfriend and my mother through all hours of the day and night. Hopefully the next week will bring both my family, my love, and myself a healthy dose of that much needed rest.

As far as my recovery goes, I couldn’t be happier – I make great progress every day and I wake up each morning looking forward to what the day will bring. Throughout all of this, I have realized how important meditation will be and I’ve been able to develop some pretty effective ways of going inward. From now on, I will be the author of this blog as I feel it’s important these messages and updates come from me. I want to say a huge thanks to my father and all the other contributors for keeping my community involved and up to date over the last month.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for their overwhelming support and contributions to my recovery fund, and want everyone to know that once I am able to communicate with the technology at my finger tips you will all receive a much more personalized update.

love riley

Greg Hydle recently filmed this video message from Riley – shot from his room at the Craig Hospital in Denver (where he’s been doing a great deal of healing, and forging forward with a great deal of progress). As you will see, his spirit is as strong as ever and he remains determined to come back from his injury an even stronger man.

A reminder that Riley wants to see you all, but to please email Katrina at bobknits@gmail.com to schedule a time during the weekend to stop by.

I want to start by sending a huge thank you to everyone for their support; as always there are to many to thank without putting my lip reader through too much hell. But I need to say thank you to Katrina–she is truly calling the shots and all my progress over the last week is because of her proactively getting me to Craig as soon as possible. I also want to thank Katrina’s sister and brother in law for their amazing support. I want to send a huge thank you to Trent, Jamie and Cjay for their amazing rally, and to the community of Crested Butte as well.  I can not voice how gracious I am and how lucky I was to grow up in that beautiful town. I also want to thank my parents for their energy–it gives me strength every day. I want to send a huge thank you to the sponsors of our film project, especially Nike. I can never say enough how lucky I am to work with all of you. The people at Craig have been amazing and there is not a better place in the world I could be. I need to cut this short so I can go off the ventilator for a half an hour.

Travis, I think about you every day… and to my Nike crew that is currently on our team trip I will be with you guys every day. I once again apologize to all the visitors that we have had to turn away. I promise as soon as my body gets into a regular program we all will share conversations and laughs again soon. I love all of you…

Riley

(translated by Tinka aka Katrina, not an english major (lip reader))