Thursday

As of right now, there are several set-backs that are not enabling Ron to pursue his therapy at Shepherd's to the fullest extent. He is doing the best he can both mentally and physically at this time. The Powell family ask that you continue to keep Ron in your thoughts and prayers daily.

Wednesday

Just to let everyone know, Ron is doing much better today. He is back in the saddle and continuing his therapy the best he can at this point. He is feeling well and in good spirits with all things considered. Keep Ron and the Powell's in your thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday Update

Here is the latest news on Ron. Overall, Ron is still doing really well. Although he still has the blood infection, he is still on the path to recovery. Ron received 2 units of blood today which seem to help his body. Currently Ron and his family are awaiting the results from the doctors regarding his blood infection. Ron has asked that everyone continue to pray for him for a full recovery. He also wanted to thank everyone for previous prayers, gifts, visits, and cards. The Powell's truly appreciate everything that has been done thus far.

Ron's Address for Gifts & Cards

Here is Ron's address at Shepherd's for all gifts and cards that you wish to send.


Shepherd's Center
2020 Peachtree Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30309-1465

DALE R. POWELL JR.
ROOM # 318

Monday Update

Over the weekend, Ron was told by his doctors at Shepherd's that he has a serious blood infection. With treatment this can be cured; However, your prayers are needed more now than ever. Please continue to keep Ron and the Powell family in your thoughts and prayers. We know what the power of prayer can do, we have already seen it in action.

Friday Update!

On this Friday, prayers have been answered for Ron and the Powell Family. Ron was told today that his spinal cord was NOT severed. He may get feeling back within 3-12 months; However, this is not a guarantee at this time. If you know Ron, you know he will get that feeling back and more...his competitive heart and God's hand will hopefully make this happen.

He is still in a lot of pain, but is doing a lot better today. There is also a fact that he can be home by August 25th if rehabilitation goes according to plan. At this time, he will have to return to Shepherd's for therapy sessions. Please continue to keep the Powell's in your thoughts and especially your prayers!

Attention Friends

With all the extensive rehabilitation that Ron is undergoing in his "Boot Camp" at Shepherd's, it has been requested that we give him more time to heal before any more visitors. While the Powell's greatly appreciate the support from visitors, Ron needs another week or 2 before he sees anyone else.

We must all respect his wishes to ensure that a speedy return to Thomasville is on it's way. Once again, your thoughts, prayers, wishes, cards, phone calls, and support is greatly appreciated by the Powell Family.

Sunday Update

Over the last 3 days, Ron has shown much improvement. Ron is up and sitting in a wheelchair and going through therapy. With this said, Ron is still in a lot of pain. With all the other injuries sustained in the accident (i.e. Ribs, lungs), it makes therapy difficult and painful for him at this time. As always, please keep Ron in your thoughts and prayers as he battles through this. Ron as well as the Powell family thank you each and everyone of you for your support during this time. More updates will be coming to you this week. God Bless.

Updates...

More updates will be available tomorrow!

Prayer Beeper

Ron now has a prayer beeper. When you pray for Ron please dial this number and it will beep and let Ron know you prayed for him. Thank you for the love, support, and prayers!

the number is:
(229) 504-0051

Visitation at Shepherd's

We would like to give Ron at least two weeks to get used to everything up here in Atlanta. We will post on the blog when he is able to accept visitors. We will also post where Ron is located and the visiting hours, due to limited visiting hours at Shepherd's.

Once again thank you for all the good thoughts and prayers!

The trip to Atlanta is complete!

The travel from Augusta to Atlanta is complete. Ron traveled by ambulance to Shepherd's Spinal Clinic at 11:30 a.m. It was a hard ride over for him with the bouncing of the ambulance, but the ride is complete. Ron is in GREAT spirits as he starts therapy tomorrow. Ron is currently getting measured for a wheelchair in which, he will get his tomorrow to begin a road of recovery. Ron will have visiting hours daily as well as on the weekends once therapy begins. These hours are enforced, but give plenty of time with family and friends. Ron will have his own room! Ron knows this is just one minor step toward a full recovery and back in Thomasville. Please keep the Powell's in your thoughts and prayers still!

Ron is Moving to ATLANTA!

Guess what!!! Ron is getting to be transported to Atlanta-Tomorrow!!!!!!!!! (Thursday Morning). He will be ready to go 8:15 am arrive in Atlanta at Shepherds Clinic around noon if not earlier, depending on the exact time he leaves Augusta. Ron is so very happy about this move, he cannot wait! He is ready to get started and get back home (and back to work!).

Monday-Tuesday

On Monday there was really no change @ MCG. Ron overall is sleeping really well and recovering from his surgery on Saturday and also his small surgery on Monday which was to put a balloon in his leg to reduce the likelihood of a blood-clot. They are slowly taking him off the high doses of pain meds and reducing those. He is sitting upright in his bed and is patiently waiting to be transported to his own room at MCG. Once again, he will approximately be at MCG for another week and a half before being transported to Shepherd's in Atlanta.

Sunday

So far today has been good. Ron's surgery went very well yesterday. The doctors and nursing staff did a excellent job at updating the family post Ron's surgery. He is actually sitting up-right in his bed, but is still in ICU. Hopefully, they will have him in his own room by the middle of the week. He is currently enjoying chocolate milkshakes and chocolate pudding! Things are looking brighter this Sunday, and with the continuance of answered prayers we all will make is through this.

Sunday July 12, 2009

He has had a great recovery so far. He is able to sit up and eat right now which is a blessing. thank you so so much for your thoughts and prayers. This is going to be a long road ahead for Ron and his family so wth the support of family and friends, we know he will get back to Thomasville with no problem!

Praise the Lord!!

Surgery was a success. There was no blood loss, he was given absolutley NO blood, which is awesome. He is in his recovery room right now with Rosemary, Tammy, and Dale. They should have sitting upright tomorrow afternoon.

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!

(Thanks for all the prayers and support that have been sent up for Ron and his family and friends this past week. Please continue to pray for Ron and his family as this will be a tough road ahead. )

Surgery is Finished!

4:30: The surgery just got over and he will be back in his room in about 30 minutes. At that point we will be able to let you know what the doctor says.

SAY A PRAYER!

10:50: Ron has been taken back to start surgery!!! please say a prayer for the rest of the day!

Saturday Morning-Surgery Day!

7:50 am: We are sitting here waiting for Tammy, Rosemary, and Dale to come back out and let us know that he is on his way to surgery. We will update you when it begins.



9:20 am: Ron just got back from a CT Scan so now we are waiting for the doctors to read the results from that and then wait for him to go back to surgery.

Spinal Cord

Above is a picture of your spinal cord. I am going to list Ron's injuries to his spinal cord below.

C=Cervical Vertebrae

T=Thoracic Vertebrae

L=Lumbar Vertebrae

-C 6 & 7 are fractured.

-T 1 & 2 are fractured.

-T 8 & 10 have a body fracture. (The body fracture is where the body is out of line with the spinal column.)

-T 8, 9, & 10 are fractured.

-Between T 12 and L 1 the spinal cord was completly dislocated. (The spine is severed.)

-L 1 is shattered.

-L 2, 3, & 4 are fractured.

Here is a picture of the Ribs in your body.

In Ron's body on the right side; Ribs 2, 3, 5, and 9 are broken.

In Ron's body on the left side; Ribs 2 thru 10 are broken.

Surgery Update!!!!!!

Surgery has been moved to Saturday morning at 7:30am!!! please please please keep praying. He has had a great day (remembering everyone as well has being stable). Once again thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Just keep them coming!

Surgery

Right now Ron is prepped and ready to go into surgery, we are still waiting on the doctors to get finished with the other patients. Right now he is scheduled for 2:30 but it does not look like he will make that time. But it most likely will be today. So keep back checking and i will update it when it starts. At that time we would like everyone to say a prayer for Ron and for a miracle!

Friday's Update

Praise God once again Ron rested well last night, as a matter of fact he rested better last night than he did Wednesday night. He was able to leave the oxygen off all night because his oxygen levels were much better and we anticipate that surgery will take place mid-day. We will be sending emails and text out when the surgery begins so we can all join together in prayer.

Thursday's Update

Ron had his best night of rest thus far. All vital signs still looking good and surgery is still a go for Friday. Dale, Rosemary,Tammy, Sally, and Daisey are all doing good. They are very thankful for every one's prayers and support. If there are any changes during the day we will update immediately. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, if it gets too late, the doctors do not want to do it, so possibly Saturday morning. But as of right now, its tomorrow afternoon!!!Pray, Pray, Pray!!!

Care Pages

We will continue to use the care page website, we found out that you were able to leave comments on there. From here on out we will update both pages. I have heard that with Care Pages you are able to get online at work and with the blog, most filters stop it. Thanks!

surgery is moved to Friday!

Ron had a fair night and the neurosurgeon came by and said that his hemoglobin and blood platelets were too low to have surgery so they are going to post pone the surgery to Friday. It is a good thing because he is still not in the best state to have surgery. Tammy, Rosemary and Dale are all very happy with this decision. I will post something else later on this afternoon to update you all on how today is. Thanks for checking up!!

Tuesday's Update.

Tuesday: So tomorrow is the big day so keep those prayers up!! Last night he had a hard night..he was struggling with breathing and fighting to take his oxygen away from his nose as well as not knowing who some people were (or where he was). As of this morning, he is doing better but they are having to pump alot of blood into his body, so just remember that this is going to be a very hard time with lots of road bumps on the road to recovery. But we all know Ron, he is a fighter and will get through this especially with the love and support of his family and friends! Thank you to everyone for checking up on him today, if something changes i will post something asap.

Hi, this is going to be a page of updates on Ron Powell. He was in a accident Friday night while racing. During the 4th lap he wrecked and while getting out of his cart and walking away he was struck by another go cart. As of right now, we are waiting for the doctors to get Ron stable and let us know when he can have surgery. As of right now it seems that it will be Tuesday or later. We will let yall know asap! It is very sad and unfortunate, but please pray, and continue to pray for him and for the family. God is going to do great things in the road ahead!
Everyday someone is going to log on and continue the updates below.

Friday: Around 8pm he was racing at Burke County Racing Speedway and doing great he had come from 10th to 5th in four laps, then the worst of worst happened. He got into a wreck and was rushed to the hospital. At that point they called Tammy (Sally and Daisey were with her), Dale and Rosemary, whom were all in Thomasville and informed them on what happened. They then rushed to Augusta, GA to get to Ron as quickly as they could. All everyone knew was that he was in a wreck and needed to get here. They would not tell them anything over the phone.

Saturday: Saturday was a very long day for Ron and family. He was rushed into the trauma department Saturday morning around 1:00 am. Later that morning around 6:00am they finally got him stable and were able to run ct scans and mri's on him...later on that day we discovered some news that is going to change his life forever. He had a little bleeding on the brain, both lungs collapsed, his ribs are broken, he has 3 vertabrates fractured in his neck, in his lower back the spinal cord severed which led to him being paralyzed from the waist down. Doctor Deustch from Thomasville, GA. (a great doctor and great friend to the powell's) drove up to Augsta to look at everything and really inform Ron and the family what was happening and what is going to happen. Thats when we got the greatest news, he is going to make it through this, nothing seems life threatning,the only thing is that he is not going to be able to walk. At that point, we didnt care, and we still dont care. We are so thankful that he is still here with us today. He is a miracle from God.

Sunday: The morning started off great. He seemed to be improving. His color looked good and he was talking and smiling. There were many of family and friends who came to see Ron and actually got to go back and see him in the trauma department. He was and is so greatful for that. Also, that morning he had gotten his first bath since the wreck. After his bath he started itching as well as started to get dellusional. They ran a few test on him and we are still waiting to hear from them. We will update you tomorrow!

Monday: Last night we had a little trouble with Ron. He went into a state of not knowing people and trying to fight to get his oxygen tube out etc. so today they are running EEG's to see if they can rule out seizures. The doctors just recently met with ron and they said that he will have his surgery Wednesday at 10 am (at MCG in Augusta) to repair his spinal cord which is great becasue that means that the doctors have finally been able to get Ron stable! Also, another exciting thing happened today, he was able to eat a little bit (pudding and apple sauce)as well as able to drink some water! Yay!! Pray, Pray, Pray!!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE TO RON POWELL AND THE FAMILY. WE ASK ALL OF YALL TO CONTINUE PRAYING. ALSO, THANK ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE DROVE TO AUGSTA TO VISIT AS WELL AS THOSE WHO HAVE CALLED AND CHECKED IN ON RON! SHOWS WHAT GREAT FRIENDS HE HAS!