We Have Teeth!

After about 25 hours spent in the doctor's office last week, Shea finally has some temporary teeth! They are shorter and smaller than her real teeth, but for now, it is the best they can do. Because her jaw is broken, Shea's teeth have moved forward leaving very little space to place the temporaries. Nothing can touch her gums, so they put the three teeth in a clear retainer -- like Invisalign -- and she wears the retainer along with her teeth. The doctor gave Shea a mirror to see her teeth for the first time, and she said, "Dr. Mils, I can't believe I'm so excited to have dentures!"

We have to tell all of you about Shea's adventures this week. There is never a dull moment, and we have laughed more this week than we have in months. Dr. Mills has taken great interest in Shea's story. Each day he asked her more questions, and many of the doctors and nurses gathered around to hear her tell about it. On Thursday, Dr. Mills said, "Shea, would you mind if I interviewed you and we videotaped it?" She said, "sure" and never thought much more about it. On Friday afternoon as Shea was in the dentist's chair, a camera crew, with camera and lights approached Dr. Mills and asked him where to set things up. Shea started laughing and couldn't believe he had gone to such great lengths to do this as he is a very busy doctor. She was hoping that she could wear her new teeth for the interview, but, oh no, they weren't ready yet! Dr. Mills wanted Shea to lisp her way through it!

While we were at the office a beautiful woman came in to have work done on her teeth. She had obviously had some cosmetic enhancements and was sharing with Dr. Mills that she wasn't satisfied with her teeth and wanted them perfect. He said to her, "Come with me. I want you to meet someone." So he took her to Shea's room and introduced her to the woman. He asked Shea to show her "before" picture and tell a little about her story and how she was coping. It was a great opportunity for Shea to share her testimony and God's miraculous work in her life. Dr. Mills later explained to Shea how thrilled he was to show this woman, constantly concerned about her outward appearance, that real beauty is from within.

We left the office at closing time again on Friday! The staff told Shea that they will miss their "Ray of Sunshine" next week as we don't have an appointment there. It wasn't a typical quiet, dignified office atmosphere last week, thanks to Shea!

Saturday was more of a down day for Shea. She wanted to go to Starbucks, shop and get out of the house. We were unable to take her, so she found her car keys and decided to drive herself. We reminded her that she has not been released by her doctor and cannot drive until she takes a driving course. Shea was upset. "I never did have a brain injury. . . I finished the brain rehab . . . why do I have to keep proving myself to them?" She spent time crying and questioning, but after awhile Steve sat on her bed with her and encouraged her. So many others at Shepherd Center are much worse off. Shea has the hope of one day driving, working and getting on with her life, and many of them do not. This is a time of testing, and honestly, Shea is tired of being tested. So we're letting all of you in on the good and the bad times to show you that although Shea is trusting God with her future, she's real and has her tough times as well.

Tonight our family spent a quiet evening together. We drank coffee and played "Apples to Apples." Shea is the least competitive, yet she always wins! We're grateful that even in the midst of trying times we are blessed abundantly. Bill and Anna came over to show Shea their new puppy. We sat around our kitchen table, and they shared story after story about Mike and his crazy antics. We laughed at the memories yet our hearts were saddened again for our loss. They're always a big encouragement to Shea -- just like family. So much that Shea even takes her teeth out in front of them!

Love and thanks,

The Hickoks

Toothless Wonder

It's been another busy week for Shea. On Monday Dr. Nunn removed the plastic plate and all the metal from her mouth. It has been uncomfortable for Shea, but she has been a great sport in spite of what she is enduring. The plastic plate had its main purpose but cosmetically it held her lips out as her teeth normally would. Now her top lip curls in quite a bit as there are three teeth missing, and her speech is definitely affected. Shea calls herself the "toothleth wonder"!

Dr. Nunn also shared with us that Shea will definitely need three more surgeries. The first surgery will be the restoration of the left eye orbit and cheek bone. He will graft bone from her skull to replace the missing bone in the cheek bone. At the same time Dr. Nunn and Dr. McKay will graft bone from Shea's hip to replace the missing bone above the front teeth. Some time later she will undergo a second surgery where her lower jaw will need to be rebroken and extended. Fixing her nose will be the last operation and hopefully the least invasive.

On Tuesday we spent 3 1/2 hours with Dr. Mills. He is very thorough and, as we said in the previous post, he is moving her along very quickly as he is leaving the country soon. Today our appointment was at 10:00, and we left with the staff at 6:00 tonight! We are going back again tomorrow. There was a cancellation today so they were able to spend the whole day working with Shea. Dr. Mills took lots of pictures, molds and even began working on a temporary bridge. Her jaw is completely messed up -- how else can we say it? Only two teeth in the back meet, and one tooth needs to be extracted while the other needs a root canal. So for lunch Shea had mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and stuffing from Boston Market! She's craving a good salad, but it will be quite awhile before she can chew. Shea needs to get braces again, so soon we'll need to find an orthodontist. She has had braces before but is pretty upbeat about getting braces along with Luke very soon!

Her temporary bridge doesn't really look like her real teeth but after having no teeth in front at all, Shea's thrilled with them. We don't know quite when she can wear the bridge yet as her gums are still healing, and the bridge cannot touch the gums as it will irritate and impede healing. Dr Mills reminded Shea that this will be a long journey, and she was able to share with him from the Psalms --"We make our plans, but God orders our steps." Though Shea has her down times, she recognizes God's faithfulness and continued provision for her during this process.

Is there a more creative way to say "thank you" to all of you for your faithfulness in encouraging and praying for Shea? We wish you could hear her expressions as she reads your comments. Oftentimes your words are just the boost she needs in the midst of a tough day, and it's amazing the difference it makes in her outlook on the coming months. Some are heartfelt and others are funny. She loves them all.

We love you too,

The Hickoks

3 in 1 Day

Today was Shea's appointment with plastic surgeons Dr. McKay and Dr. Nunn. Dr. Nunn saw Shea first and his whole analysis of Shea's situation seemed pretty grim. He told her that they may not be able to make her look like she did before the accident. He could see that Shea's face is not symmetrical and her left eye is lower, but he reminded us that she still has a lot of swelling and sometimes it takes six months for it to go down. He did notice that her jaw is off -- her bottom jaw goes off to the right a little. Shea said that she's fine with it cosmetically, but if her jaw is off at all, it could cause trouble for her in the future. Dr. Nunn gave a few different scenarios as to how we could avoid invasive surgery as there are always risks. She could look worse, there could be nerve damage, etc. He told Shea that she would have to make the decision. She got a little teary-eyed and Dr. Nunn said, "I'm sorry, sweetie, but you want me to tell you the truth, don't you?" He hadn't seen the CT scan yet as they were having trouble pulling it up on the computer.

A little later Dr. McKay walked in. He and Dr. Nunn left to view the CT scan. They took us in and showed us the difference in her left eye orbit and her right. Big difference. It was very obvious to them both that Shea would need the surgery. The hard thing for Shea to hear is that the only way for them to adequately get to that area is for them to make an incision at the top of her head down to her ear -- like a headband. Any girl hates to hear that they're going to mess up your hair! The good news is . . . they don't have to shave her head as they did years ago. She will have a long scar, but over time it will be unnoticeable. In order to repair the cheek bone they will probably take bone from Shea's skull, and at the same surgery they will graft bone from her hip to make the bone above her front teeth.

This Monday Dr. Nunn will sedate Shea and remove all the metal from her mouth. She has metal bands around each tooth and also a plastic plate that will be removed. When Shea asked when she could get temporary teeth, Dr. Nunn said, "Let me see what I can do." He came back and told us about Dr. Edward Mills, an excellent dental surgeon who has many well-known stars who come to him -- he named a number of them to us. The only problem is, he's very busy and it could be a long wait before he could see Shea. Dr. Nunn gave us his number and said he would call him right away and we should call him today as well. On our way home, Dr. Nunn's office called us and told us to call Dr. Mills' office right away -- we were instructed to ask to talk to Dr. Mills personally. After a few tries we got him on the phone, and he was very pleasant. He told us that Dr. Nunn said to take very good care of these people. "Can you come in right now?" We were almost home. "Sure we can." We turned around and went to his office in Roswell. As we were filling out the paperwork, Dr. Mills came from behind the desk and looked at Shea. "Are you Shea?" Shea nodded and smiled slightly. He stared at her for quite awhile. After hearing about all her injuries from Dr. Nunn he was expecting to see a girl with an extremely mangled appearance. "You're a miracle, you know that?"

After viewing Shea's x-rays and seeing all the plates and screws in her face, Dr. Mills just shook his head. He called in his colleagues and said, "Look at these x-rays and then look at her. It's incredible!" They all looked at the x-rays and then at Shea. "Shea, this kind of thing just doesn't happen. You have no soft tissue scarring." We smiled and agreed. Dr. Mills asked if we had any documentation of all the doctors Shea had seen in the last three months. We told him about the blog, and he pulled it up on his computer. He sat and read away - like he was reading a good novel! We were in his office for 2 1/2 hours! He asked Shea more and more questions, and Shea told him that she appreciated the fact that he saw her so quickly, but that we didn't ask for any special treatment -- she was just surprised that he would take so much time with her. He smiled and said, "I like you -- let me give you a hug! He did and kissed Shea on the cheek! He is a very busy doctor and does a lot of teaching overseas. He's leaving in March for Japan and the Dominican Republic, so he's going to do his best to work Shea in and get her case moving along quickly.

The reason we're amazed is that we never once asked if they could give us special treatment and hurry the process. We just showed up for our appointment and got the very best of care. Thank you for your prayers as we see that God is in all the details and desires the very best for Shea.

So from the time we left the house this morning until we got home tonight, it was nine hours! Three doctors in one day! It has been a long day but a lot was accomplished.

God bless all of you, and we can't thank you enough for your prayers.

Steve and Susan

A Valentine for Heaven

It's been a week since we last posted on the blog, and that's a good sign. Three months ago there was something to report every day, but now things have slowed down, and the visible healing isn't noticed daily either.

The day after Shea's birthday, Mike's headstone was finally placed on his grave. Bill (Mike's dad) and Shea went together to see it for the first time. As she walked out the door, she took a bouquet of flowers someone had sent for her birthday and scooped up a handful of hearts that were still scattered on her birthday table from the night before. The reality of seeing Michael Evans Jones on a tombstone was more than she could take. Shea always tries to be strong for everyone, but this was most difficult. She scattered the flowers and hearts across the headstone and left a picture of the two of them as well.

Physical Therapy started up again last week. Shea's mobililty in her knee is better, but there is still more therapy to be had. We see Dr. McKay, the plastic surgeon along with the dental surgeon this Thursday, so it wil be good to know exactly what will need to be done since they will have the results of the CT scan.

The good news? There is even more movement around Shea's left eye!!! She can squeeze it shut, not as tightly as her right eye, but it's coming along. Shea can raise her eyebrow too! -- not as fully as the right eye, but there is definite improvement. Thank you for your continued prayers and words of encouragement that carry her through the quiet days.

Steve and I were in Shea's room tonight, and we noticed a beautiful handmade card that said, "Happy Valentine's, Mike." "You can read it if you want," she said, and so we did. She talked about all the fun times they had together, what he must be doing in heaven and what they had planned for Valentine's Day tomorrow. It will be a lonely one instead, but Shea isn't one for wanting sympathy -- we're proud of the fact that she is facing all the sadness and pain, and we'll do our best to make her day the best we can.

Much love,

The Hickoks

IT'S SHEA DAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETIE!

It's midmorning and February 7th is exceptionally special for our family today. Shea is nineteen! We quietly covered her doorway with streamers and then brought her breakfast in bed! She has always loved her birthday and had been awake for an hour waiting for us to come in!! We sang, she blew out the candles on her pancakes and, once again, that moment of joy -- she's here, she's back to celebrate the day God blessed us with our baby girl. Actually, at midnight Shea came to all our rooms and screamed, "It's my birthday!!"

Thank you for all the great comments from our last post. It seems that God gave all of you just the right words and scriptures to uplift Shea and all of us. I remember when we were in the Emergency Room praying for Shea's life, Isaiah 43 repeated over and over in our minds --

"Don't be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross the rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. This is because I, the LORD, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior . . .you are precious to me, because I give your honor and love you . . .Don't be afraid because I am with you."

Some of you have asked some questions -- some have even asked about our dog!! So we're going to answer as many as we can remember, and if you're not the least bit interested in our dog, Cali, then feel free to skip that paragraph!

Shea's trach -- When Shea left Shepherd Center, Dr. Kaelin examined the hole in Shea's neck and said that instead of it healing in less that a week, which is normal, hers would maybe take three weeks. It actually took over a month to heal. The bandages are off now and the scar is very small. Shea is pleased with how it looks. She said that having that scar will always be a reminder to her each day of God's grace in giving her back her life.

What can Shea eat? -- Shea started off with very thin liquids and then moved to thicker liquids. Even after her mouth was unwired, she could still barely open it. It still doesn't open all the way, but soft foods like mashed potatoes, puddings, ice cream, pancakes, canned mandarin oranges and bananas are her staple foods right now. She's craving salads but can't chew hard things as she has a plastic plate that covers her top teeth. I did try to blend a vegetable drink for her, but that was not a hot recipe to be repeated! Someone wanted to send us soup recipes, and we definitely welcome that! Our email address is shickok@charter.net and our home address is 3041 Woodward Park Way, Suwanee, GA 30024

Shea getting counseling -- Shea has received counseling, and we do want to continue that. Even though she has left Shepherd Pathways she is stil being monitored by them for the next year. Luke has received some counseling, (and Jess as well). Some have sent us info on counselors specializing in grief and trauma, and that has been helpful. If any of you in the Atlanta area have first-hand experience with such counselors, we welcome the referrals.

Will Shea write on the blog? -- Someday she will, but she's experiencing some anxiety, and sometimes, even the smallest suggestions are overwhelming to her. She is journaling, as some of you have suggested, and we may ask her if we can share some of her entries.

Why won't Shea call or see us? -- The swelling in Shea's face is down considerably, but even after almost ten weeks, her face isn't back to normal. That isn't what bothers her as much as her missing three front teeth. Her top lip rolls into her mouth since there aren't teeth there to hold it out. When she smiles, it's the best! We are so used to seeing her without teeth, but others are not. Shea may get temporary teeth in the next few weeks, and that will change things drastically for her. Her biggest concern is feeling "up" for people and the pressure right now is too much. She's afraid to contact some of you and not others as that would show favoritism, but too many people overwhelm her more than you can imagine. For example, our family has always been rather loud -- we all talk at the same time -- if you know Steve, just imagine how wild it gets around here. That's all Shea has ever known, but for now, she prefers it very quiet with little stimulation, and we're trying our best to keep it down!

Ok, Cali, (short for California) our dog! -- At the end of October, Cali, our 3-year-old brindle Boxer joined our family. We are her fifth owners, and sadly, she was abused somewhere along the line. We had Cali for three weeks, and then the accident happened. Our great friends, the Kucala's, took her home with them for six weeks while we were in Macon and loved her like she was their very own. Cali and Jess are the best of friends, but it's amazing to see how Cali has warmed up to Shea right now more than any of us. We call her Cali Cat because she curls up into a ball, (all fifty pounds of her!) sits on Shea's lap and follows her around the house. We were gone for a couple hours one night and Shea spent some time alone crying. Pretty soon Cali was on her bed licking her face, trying her dog best to make her feel better. For some reason, everyone loves this dog!

Time to make a birthday cake and get ready for a party. Mike's family and all the guys in the band are coming over tonight for soft foods! We rejoice that our sweet girl is here to celebrate yet another year. By God's grace, her life was spared, and we will celebrate it especially big today with lots of balloons and streamers. If you know Shea, too much is never too much -- we're gonna glitter it up!

Much love,

The Hickoks

Weekend Update

Once again, it has been awhile since we last posted any news. We did write a pretty lengthy one a couple days ago but lost it as I was typing the last line. This may be short, but we'll let you know what's been going on this past week.

Shea has had more down times and, though it's expected, it's still hard to see her struggle. She's also having trouble sleeping as she awakens in the night, thinks about all that has happened, and then can't get back to sleep. The same is true with Luke and most likely all the kids involved in the accident, but we're praying that with time, things will begin to get better.

The other night Shea was sitting on her bed - down and discouraged. I asked her if she could talk to anyone right now, who would it be? She said, "Kyle and Blair." They were both in the accident and Kyle is Mike's brother and Blair was Mike's roommate. I suggested that she call them, but Shea just shook her head. About ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and who do you suppose stopped by from Kennesaw University? Kyle and Blair!! They came up to Shea's room and shared their hearts and their struggles with their mutual loss. Her countenance changed when they left. What an encouragement. Talk about God answering unprayed prayers!

Today Shea did the face test again for us, and we are amazed at the changes in the last few days. She continues to get more movement around her left eye, and the lower lid has moved up and doesn't appear to droop as much anymore. Thank you for your "earnest prayers" as we see improvement and blessing over and over.

We'll write again soon.

Love,

The Hickoks