Update on Chuck's son
As everyone is now aware, Chuck’s son, Chuckie Gardner, 24 years old, fell 3 stories while working on Thursday afternoon, Oct 25, 2007. While his injuries were not life threatening, he suffered major injuries and to this day has a very long road ahead of him.
Chuckie shattered his right elbow and sustained compound fractures of both bones in the right arm. He has undergone numerous surgeries and the doctors are still unclear as to how much motion he will ever regain in the right arm.
He also sustained a comminuted fracture of his left wrist, which required surgery for a plate to be installed. He also had external fixation devices in this wrist for several months. This wrist is responding to physical therapy but will surely be laden with arthritis.
Chuckie also has a fractured pelvis and sacrum. He was in traction for this particular injury and was totally unable to walk for over 12 weeks.
His physical therapy rehabilitation will be long & extensive and the doctor has told us he will never work construction again. He also told us that sedentary work would probably be the only work he would be able to do. He will be in therapy for approximately 6 - 12 months.
To top this off, there was not any workers compensation insurance. Go figure !!!!
With strong mental attitudes, the support of our family & friends, and a lot of hard work, Chuckie works every day to prove the doctors wrong.. He is young and determined.
Thank you to everyone that participated in the numerous fund raisers. There simply are not words to describe how touched we were by the outpouring of love and concern. We hope everyone had a blast during the Pro-Am events, in spite of the reason. We cannot thank the Professional Bowlers & Race Drivers enough for the time they donated to these events. They truly are an awesome bunch of gentleman and we will never forget their generosity. Thank you to Howard Davis of Strikers and George Pappas of Victory Lanes for donating your facilities for these events. And to all the volunteers, you are angels without wings. Vicki, our daughter, the queen of the silent auction, we couldn’t have done it without your knowledge and help.
Chuckie will continue to post updates on his condition. Please feel free to e-mail him directly. He has plenty of time on his hands !!! You can also keep posting well wishes. He loves reading them.
God Bless all of you.
Chuck & Deborah
Please take a moment to send Chuckie your best, by signing the "Get Well Soon" page.
Read the Get Well Wishes here
click for newest updates
 
Mon 10/29/07 - Chuckie was in surgery for 6 1/2 hours today on his right arm. They were only able to work on one side of one of the bones. They inserted a 14 inch plate that runs from the top of the wrist to the bottom of where the elbow should be. Due to severe swelling they had to stop the surgery. The swelling also did not allow them to actually close the wound. A follow up procedure will be performed in the next few days, which could be anywhere from 3 - 10 days, depending on the swelling.
Originally, the left wrist was going to wait until the right arm surgeries had been finished. As the right arm is now going to take longer than anticipated, they are looking for a hand & wrist specialist. The surgeon performing the work on the right arm says the left hand is another complicated case and he prefers someone specializing in hands do the work.
The surgeon told us this was the worst arm trauma he had ever seen.
Chuck & Deb
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Tues 10/30 1:13 pm EST - Last night was rather rough following the surgery. Chuckie began to lose sensation in his fingers, which obviously is not a good sign. The medical staff was right on top of things and the doctor was there twice during the night. The surgeon wants to do everything he can to NOT go back into the arm today because of the extensive procedures yesterday. They have repositioned the arm and types of bandages. He actually was able to feel a little bit afterwards.
He is sedated and sleeping at the moment.
Chuck & Deb
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10/30/07 - The out-pouring of love coming from everyone is almost overwhelming to us. We are truly blessed to have such a magnitude of people surrounding us. We welcome your cards, letters and calls. It truly helps build our strength, in which we in turn can transfer to Chuckie.
For those of you that have already started fund raising, there is a special place in heaven for you. The fact that you would take your precious time to begin these efforts on your own is amazing to us.
We have received several inquiries about setting up an account for donations to help with the rehabilitation expenses.
An account is being established at RBC Centura Bank under "Chuckie Gardner Fundraising". Anyone will be able to make deposits into this account at any branch office. This should be available later this afternoon.
Checks may also be sent to a Merrill Lynch account. Checks should be made payable to Merrill Lynch c/o Chuckie Gardner and mailed to:
Brad Ellis, Financial Advisor
c/o Merrill Lynch
4500 Cameron Valley Pkwy #400
Charlotte, NC 28211
A Paypal account is being established for credit cards and should be available in a few days.
Please use the "Get Well Soon" page to post all of your prayers for Chuckie, as well as using it as an update on special events you are holding.
Thank you so much for everything.
Chuck & Deborah Gardner
Mike & Tammy Slagle (mom & step dad)
Vicki Elliott (sister)
Lisa Evans (girlfriend)
Chuckie's entire family
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Tues 10/30 6:34 pm EST - Address of hospital: Broward General
1600 South Andrews Avenue
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33316
remember his given name is: James C Gardner II.
They cannot identify him by Chuckie.
Chuck & Deb
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Tues 10/30 9 pm EST - The surgeon visited with Chuckie a couple of hours ago. Some of the sensation is back in his fingers, which an absolute sign that your prayers are working. This buys him a few days to let the right arm recuperate from yesterdays surgery. Hopefully the swelling will subside and then they will proceed with trying to fix the other bone with another plate.
The hand specialist should be performing the surgery on the left hand in the next few days as well.
We have been taking turns staying with him at night. Tonight his girlfriend Lisa has duty. Chuckie has a morphine pump for pain, but he is unable to push the button himself. This includes the button to call for the nurse. He also can't reach for a drink or even slightly maneuver himself into a different position in bed. We found out today that the nursing staff isn't allowed to push the button for the morphine pump for him.
We hope to have a good night. Chuckie was given some Valium earlier, so perhaps he can get some rest tonight as well.
Chuck & Deb
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Wed 10/31/07 2:28 PM - Chuckie actually had a pretty good night. He is getting a bit of sensation in his fingers on the right hand today. His color is better and his blood pressure has come down some. He has been experiencing hot flashes worse than any I have ever had. He looks like Tarzan now with basically only a loin cloth over his hips. The hospital gown is outta there!!! He has it so cold in the room that when one of us stays the night with him we have 2 or 3 blankets up over our heads. No word yet on the next round of surgery on either the left or right arms. We will keep you posted. Thanks for all the well wishes, cards & phone calls. We are keeping up our strength through all of you.
Deb
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Wed 10/31/07 10 PM EST - Don't ever stop believing in the power of prayer. Chuckie had a good day today. There is some feeling in the fingers of his right hand. His color has returned & his blood pressure is coming down. The surgeon seemed pleased with everything today. The hand specialist should be seeing Chuckie tomorrow. It now looks like one of the surgeries, either right arm or left hand, will take place on Friday and the other on Saturday. They are playing everything by ear. Chuckie's spirits were good. He was moved to a private room today. We needed more room for the flowers!!!!
Chuck & Deb
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Fri 11/2/07 9 AM EST - Well, no surgeries yesterday, but we are on for the right arm at 12:30 today. The surgeon is bringing his partner along for the ride. He said he needs an extra pair of hands in there. We can expect the surgery to be anywhere from 4 - 7 hours. Hopefully, the left hand will be done tomorrow. Last night was a little uncomfortable. He seems to be in quite a bit of pain and a little irritable. Some of this may be a little apprehension. Lisa gave him a little sponge bath last night from the waist down and powdered him up. Keep your fingers crossed and we will let you know how it goes today.
Chuck & Deb
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Fri 11/2/07 noon - The surgeon just got called into a trauma, so our surgery is now postponed. They are hoping to still get it in before 8 pm tonight, but we are just on hold for now. Bummer !
Chuck & Deb
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Fri 11/2/07 4 PM EST - Well, the surgery has been cancelled for today. We are back on track for 8 am tomorrow (Saturday) morning. This is for the right arm. No word on anything for the left hand/wrist yet. This will be sometime next week. Chuckie is resting comfortably (as much as can be expected) at the moment. His friend Adam brought him a DVD player and about 50 movies, so he is watching a movie, The Italian Job. As soon as the surgery was cancelled he wanted to eat !!! That's a good sign. They said it would take about 2 hours to get food delivered, so McDonald's it was. A Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken Wrap, a NutriGrain bar and a bottle of gatorade later, he was snoring. It is cool watching Chuck do some nursing. He has learned how to move him, how to powder back, check his fingers & toes for feeling. As long as it doesn't involve bodily fluids, he will be fine. Bodily fluids is Chuck's invitation to exit the room. We will post again as soon as we know the surgery is taking place in the morning for certain.
On another note, we know Brad Ceraolo has a bowling tourney in the works as a benefit fundraiser in Mooresville, NC. As soon as all the details are available to us, we will post it on our web site as well.
Chuck & Deb
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Sat 11/3/07 11:45 am EST - Surgery is over and Chuckie is in recovery. We had the opportunity to talk to both surgeons and they were very please with how things went. Both the radius and ulna have stainless steel plates holding them together. The plate in the radius is about 7 inches long and is positioned pretty much in the middle of the forearm. The plate in the ulna runs from the wrist up around the elbow. It is held together by an unbelievable number of screws. The doctor showed us the post-op x-rays. All wounds were closed. There was an area in the elbow that may need additional surgery later, but only if the elbow moves around too much. While under anesthesia he had full movement of both the wrist and elbow. The doctor expects he will have some stiffness and decreased range of motion in the elbow when it is all said and done. He will be in a splint on this arm for about 2 weeks, at a 90 degree angle and then start some minimal therapy. This is such wonderful news from where we were on Tuesday. They will be watching the sensation and coloration of the hand & fingers over the next several days. The hand specialist they wish to use does not have priviliges at this hospital, so he will probably be moved to another hospital on Tues or Wed. This way the left hand/wrist can be repaired. So.....things are progressing and progressing well. Chuckie is still in recovery, so we haven't seen him yet. We are expecting him to be in quite a bit of pain the rest of the day and tonight, but that is what the medicine is for.  We will post another update later this evening. We found a picture on the internet of a similar plate in the ulna & elbow. We will try to get it posted on here so you can get a general idea of what it looks like. The picture doesn't have as many screws or isn't as long as Chuckie's arm does, but it will help to understand the severity.
Chuck & Deb
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Sat 11/3 7:45 pm EST - Chuckie continues to rest, sleeping intermittently. He doesn't have an appettite yet, but he has been plenty thirsty. His blood pressure has been up and down like a roller coaster, but so have the pain limits. He is still hooked up to the morphine, so all it takes is a little push of the button. The elbow has been very achy, but will a few minor adjustments to position, we seem to be able to reduce the discomfort. We keep moving his hips slightly to the left or right to keep his butt from going numb. They have left the traction off, so we are assuming the pelvis x-ray must have been good. We really haven't heard a final report yet. We have his compression socks off right now, just to give him a break. We gave him a little foot massage and now Lisa is going to put some powder on his feet & legs before we put them back on. He really wants Lisa to stay with him tonight, so we will here until they kick us out and then on cell phone stand-by. The hotel is just around the corner, so we can be back really quick if need be. We'll touch base back in the morning.
Chuck & Deb
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Sun 11/4/07 - Noon EST - Chuckie had a pretty uncomfortable night, probably to be expected right after surgery. He feels lots of pressure in the right elbow, so trying to get the arm positioned to relieve this pressure is difficult. We have been using lots of pillows to help elevate and position the whole right side. Obviously the pressure points from lying on his back get sore also. Chuckie did eat some pancakes this morning and then asked for a Caramel Frappacino from StarBucks. His mood was a little irritable and frustrated this morning. He is just ready to get the next surgery out of the way and start on the road to healing. He is so lucky to have so many people that love and care about him. The bowling community has been absolutely wonderful in the planning of fundraisers to help with his rehab. Being involved with charitable organizations has always been important to us and now we see the saying "what goes around comes around" is really true.
Deb & Chuck
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Sun Nov 5 11 PM EST - The surgeon stopped by to see late this evening. He is now hoping the left hand surgery will be done right in the hospital he is currently in. If so, it could be on Tues or Wed of this week. His goal is to get it done pretty quickly and look at discharging Chuckie over the week-end sometime. This is completely at the other end of the spectrum from what he told us on Tuesday of last week. But, this obviously means Chuckie on on the road to recovery. He will be going on with a hospital bed and wheelchair because he still cannot be weight-bearing for a total of 12 weeks. We are quite sure how he is to get from the bed to the wheelchair without the use of his right arm and neither leg, but we are anticipating them showing us how to accomplish this feat. Chuckie was a bit cranky on Sunday. He really doesn't like to have people doing everything for him. Pretty independent guy. I wonder where he gets that from???
Chuck & Deb
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Mon Nov 5 10 AM EST - Not a good night for sleeping again, but what an appetite this morning!!! No news yet on surgery. Will keep you posted !!!
Chuck & Deb
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Mon 11/5/07 4:45 PM EST - Chuck just called me with great news. The left hand surgery is being done tomorrow in the hospital where he is currently. It will have 4 adjustable rods through the hand & wrist. Also the physical therapist was there today and actually sat him up directly in the bed with his feet dangling over the bed. Chuckie actually got a head rush and then a case of the giggles. They are going to try to get him completely out of the bed into a wheelchair tomorrow. All of a sudden things are progressing pretty fast. HORRAY !!!!
Chuck & Deb
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Tues 11/6/07 4:30 PM EST - The surgery has still not been performed. The trauma unit has been extremely busy today with unscheduled surgeries, so Chuckie is on the back burner. They are still hoping to get it in this evening.
Chuck & Deb
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Tues Nov 6 10:00 PM EST - The hand surgeon just came out to talk to Chuck. He said the left hand & wrist were one of the worst injuries he has ever seen. It was certainly more damaged than the x-rays showed. He was unable to insert any screws due to the shattered pieces, instead he utilized wire to hold the pieces together. He did insert the external fixators, which will need to be in place for 6 - 8 weeks. The doctor predicts he will experience a decreased range of motion and will be a definite candidate for arthritis. His physical therapy will be crucial. Chuckie is still in recovery at the moment.
Chuck & Deb
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Wed Nov 7 8:00 AM EST - Lots & lots of pain last night. Chuckie was in more pain with this left hand/wrist than he was with the right arm surgery. He kept telling his dad that it felt as bad as when he fell. The staff said they had to limit the pain meds because of the amount of anesthesia in his system. Chuck finally left the hospital around 2:30 this morning but was back already. Lisa spent the night with Chuckie. The doctor should be in to see him this morning.
Chuck & Deb
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Thurs Nov 8 4 PM EST - Unbelievable but they are actually discharging Chuckie today. Just out of the blue. We are pretty nervous about this, as Chuckie is. He has still been on a morphine drip for pain and now all of a sudden he will not have this available. They delivered a hospital bed, a wheel chair and a portable toilet and I guess we are supposed to figure the rest out. We still aren't sure how he will be maneuvered from the hospital bed to the wheelchair or to the toilet, as he can't be weight bearing and he certainly can't help with his arms. It's not like he is a small man. He is at least 6'2" and around 250 lbs. He is being transported by ambulance, but we aren't sure about getting him back for his follow-up visit with the doctor next week. We'll see how the transport goes and keep you informed.
Chuck & Deb
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Fri Nov 9 11 am EST - I don't think anyone got much sleep last night, including Chuckie. He is at his mom's house, instead of his apartment, because he really needs someone with him 24/7. Chuck stayed with him all day until very late last night and Lisa spent the night. She even brought his baby kitty to visit with him. Chuckie was pretty miserable after the day's activities. Everything seemed to hurt. His hands were sore from the therapy on his fingers, his left hand & wrist were throbbing and then he started having pain in his leg and arch of his foot. Because the arch of the foot was red and very hot to the touch, Chuck called the doctor. The doctor told him they needed to watch him carefully, because this could be a blood clot. Wonderful !!!! Perhaps they should have given the warning signs of this before sending him home. Chuckie has been getting blood thinner injections to hopefully ward off this problem, but it obviously isn't fool-proof. A nurse will be coming today to give him another injection for this. This morning both the redness & fever in the foot appear to be gone. Chuck is on his way back over there now. It is going to take a few days to get into a routine. The pain should be subsiding each day.
Chuck & Deb
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Sun Nov 11 7 PM - Chuckie is starting to settle in a little at home. The therapist has shown he and his mom how to work his hands. His fingers are getting better and he is working hard at it. It is amazing how fast the muscles in his legs have weakened. His legs even look smaller. He actually maneuvered his way up and into a recliner to watch the NASCAR race. His uncle made a ramp for the front door so he can be wheeled outside in the wheelchair. A change of scenery can't be all bad.
Chuck & Deb
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Tues Nov 13 - Chuckie has a doctors appt on Tues Nov 20 to get the staples and stitches out of his right arm. We anticipate the arm will no longer be splinted and they will start therapy on this arm as well. This will make it so much easier for him. Depending on how much mobility is in the elbow, he may be able to feed himself, brush his teeth and who knows what else. He really hates being so totally dependent on someone for absolutely everything. Chuck is flying back down to FL on Sunday night so he can take him to the doctor. Today they wheeled him outside and were able to get him in the car for a little ride. He is amazed at how something so trivial meant so much to him. Like they say, you don't know what you have until you lose it. We think we all have a much greater appreciation for the little things in life now. Chuckie still isn't sleeping much at night. About 4 more at a time maximum. He really wants to do away with the hospital bed after his doctors appt. We will see what the doctors say first.
Chuck & Deb
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Wed Nov 14 - 10 AM EST - Last night Chuckie tried to sleep in a regular bed. At first he thought it felt better but he still didn’t sleep very well. His temper showed a little with feeling so helpless. He was pretty upset that he can’t do anything for himself. Chuck keeps reassuring him that after his doctors appt on Tuesday, he should be able to do a few more things and not be so reliant on someone for every little thing. This is where the mental game is going to play such a big part in his recovery. Please keep those cards & notes of encouragement coming !!!!
Chuck & Deb
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Thurs Nov 15 8 AM EST - Chuckie had a really good day yesterday. He was in good spirits last night, sitting up in a recliner. We were telling him about the fund raising activities going on for him and he became pretty emotional. He cannot fathom so many people, that do not know him, taking time from their own lives to help him. For those of you that have missed it on the home page, there is an Adult/Youth 9 Pin No Tap Benefit on Thanksgiving Week-end at Strikers in Rock Hill, SC & then a Bowl with the Dennys PBA Pros event at Strikers on Dec 16. Brad Ceralo is also hosting a tournament and PBA Bowl with the Pros event on Dec 9 in Morresville, NC. His event details will be posted in the next day or two and will likely include NASCAR drivers as well as Denny's PBA Tour Players. Just check out the home page, for the link. It is just under the section of "Update on Chuck's Son".
Chuck & Deb Gardner
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Mon Nov 19 - Chuck is back in FL for Chuckie's doctor appt tomorrow. We got Chuckie a laptop for his birthday, which is Nov 24. Now he can hunt & peck his way to posting his own updates. I think typing may be a bit of a challenge, but even if it takes him an hour, it's not like he can go anywhere !!! Chuckie now has his own Bowling Solutions e-mail address, so you can send him a note directly. Again, don't panic if it takes him a while to respond. His e-mail address is: babyg@bowlingsolutions.com Send him a birthday wish !!!!
Chuck & Deb
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Wed., Nov 21 - First I want to thank everybody for all there love and support! It has really been a blessing and very motivating to hear how many people care.On Tuesday, I made my first trip back to the surgeon since being released from the hospital. He took x-rays of my left wrist my right arm and also my pelvis and back.He said that everything is healing properly. He was also able to remove the splint, stitches and staples from my right arm. (Only after taking a twenty minute break to stop me from passing out, he might not admit it but Daddy G had to take a seat also.) After removal of the splint my right arm is very stiff and painful. (but very glad to see my arm)Today, Wednesday, I went to visit the physical therapist for the first time. It was a nice facility and the therapist gave us a lot of optomism that in due time I will have a good range of motion. My first session is next Wednesday at 9:30, I am eager to get the rehabilitation under way.Thank you again for all your support!One second is all it takes to change your life, be thankful for everything you have and everyone you love.Happy Thanksgiving!! Love Baby G and family!
Baby G himself
 
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Fri., Nov 30 - My first week of therapy, it went really well. The therapist was very informational and helpful. He started really slow, doing some slight movements (after he applied some heat to my arm to loosen the muscles). He worked my right arm, for a long time. Working with my fingers, and some small stretches. The therapy sessions are very long, my first session lasted about 4 hours. He is hoping to see me 3 times a week, to work on both my right and left arms. Some very small acheivements were made, such as; my right wrist and elbow are slightly more mobile than before. After my second session my arms were very sore and I have been experiencing some cramping and tingling sensations, both normal, but annoying. My next appointments are next Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hopefully the after effects won't be as harsh. Thank you for all your continued support I will keep you updated on how my therapy progresses.
Baby G himself
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Mon Dec 10 - As there were 2 major events planned for me, I decided I wanted to be there for both of them. My girlfriend, Lisa, loaded me up and off to Charlotte, NC we headed. We obviously could not make the entire trip in one drive, so we broke the trip up, but made it to my parents home. It felt good to get out of the vehicle. I was not prepared for what the next 2 week-ends would bring.On Sunday, Dec 9 - A Pro -Am tournament was held for my benefit at Victory Lanes in Mooresville, NC. With Norm Duke on the mic, this was an experience I will remember forever. It was such an honor to be surrounded by both pro-bowlers, and race car drivers. Norm was great, keeping the crowd interested & energized. They started the day with introducing the all of the celebrities & having them draw for their lane assignments. There were 18 lanes full of participants. Del Warren from Kegel Training Center gave a touching speech about how he was the first to hold me, as a baby, when I arrived home from the hospital. He and my dad have been friends for many, many years.From the moment they turned on the lanes for practice everyone was very excited. All of the pro-bowlers and drivers mingled with the crowd. During their games the pros snuck in a few trick shots, and we also realized why the drivers are drivers and not bowlers. After each game they had each pro-bowler skip a pair to the right and each driver skip a pair to the left. Norm thought that having the drivers move left would be better so they wouldn't get confused "because they only make left turns".After the second game everyone gathered around to watch the pro-bowlers make their trick shots. Sean Rash had my Mother Deborah Gardner sit on a chair down the middle of the lane, to throw a bowling over her head. Needless to say, he never threw the ball, just scared her a little. After she got off the lanes he did make his shot over the chair to hit the pins down the lane. Norm performed his famous towel shot, and many of the pros shared their trick shots as well. Even some of the children had the chance to try their hands at trick shots.Then it was back to bowling, and I had a chance to go down into the bowling circle and thank everyone. It was almost time for the silent auction to close. You should of seen some of the stuff, two bowling balls autographed by all of the celebrities at the event. There was a lot of sheet metal and hoods from Nascar drivers such as; Casey Kane and Ryan Newman. There was golfing for four at a prestigious gold course, and so much more.We had a surprise visitor stop in from Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The man himself, Ray Evernham, came in to sign some autographs and pose for photographs. The crowd was very excited to see him come to the event. He spent about 20 minutes just talking to me. It was amazing.Toward the end of my event Mike Machuga decided to use me for one his famous trick shots. He rolled me out on to the middle of the lane and raised the leg supports to make sure his ball would make it under my wheel-chair (or so everyone thought)he then stepped up to the lane and went to make his shot. Instead of letting go of the ball, he threw himself down the lane with the ball sliding himself all the way up to my chair. It was a great way to the end the event. Mike did this on TV one time and it is referred to the "Machuga flop".After this event I would like to thank all of the pro-bowlers, drivers and for all the others who bowled, for donating their time to participate in my event. It really means alot to me to see how much support I received. I would also like to thank all of the people that were behind the scenes, such as the volunteers and many more.I would also like to thank my family (My Dad, Mom, and Sister) for everything, for all of their support and help. I love them all very much and they have worked so hard for me to make my event special to me and everyone who participated.
Baby G himself
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Tuesday, Dec 18 - I can not even put it in words what this last week in my life has been like! First of all, on Saturday evening we had the honor of taking a tour of Joe Gibbs Racing. A friend of my parents works for JGR and his boss took my family and several of the PRO Bowlers on a special tour. We were there for 2 1/2 hours and learned so many amazing things about the behind the scenes workings of a Nascar Race Team. It was so unbelievable for everyone to be inside the shops, the haulers, the cars, etc. I couldn't get into all the spots with the wheelchair, but I did see some of the pictures.We had the second event for me on December 16th at Strikers Family Fun Center in Rock Hill, SC and wow what a turn out. When I walked in the door I could not believe the amount of people. It was a full house. Lanes 1 through 40 had bowlers and spectators were all over the place just to see the pro bowlers and take in some of the excitement! The day got started by some announcements by none other than my father Chuck Gardner or as I like to call him "Daddy G"! Then I was presented a check for $3,100 dollars that was raised by the junior bowlers. Even though all of the kids from the league did a great job, the top money raisers got to stand on the approach in front of a full house of people and present me with the check!! They were all a little nervous but I think that they enjoyed it. For the second time this week I was handed the microphone to make a speech, that I had no clue I was going to make, and did my best to stumble through it. Hopefully it sounded okay.Next Daddy G turned the microphone over to Dale Niemala and Guppy Troop for the opening introductions. They had a story about almost every bowler. After all of the introductions were done the players reported to their assigned lanes. You could just feel the excitement in the air. The official PBA photographer, Dale Eagle, was going from lane to lane and making the fun happen with his crazy hat and camera. Once everything got rolling I was able to go around and meet some of the pros and also try to thank everyone who showed up to bowl and give their support. I have never been around such a nice group of people. Thank you all for coming. People were coming up to me all day to say hello and let me know that the were praying for me to get better as fast as possible. It really meant a lot to hear every ones good wishes and support. Once again the bowlers did not disappoint with keeping everyone involved. They are so down to earth everyone was able to talk with them and they signed autographs until their hands cramped up!! After the second game they stopped every one from bowling and had all of the pros come to the middle of the house to put on a little show with some trick shots. We got to see a couple attempts at the flying eagle, there were several 7 10 splits made with multiple balls and several bowlers at the same time. And wow we got to see a first time attempt of a trick shot performed by Mika Koivuniemi but designed by Doug Kent, lets just say it involved ten extra pins, four extra bowling balls, a chair and Danny Wiseman. Sounds cool right? Well it was better than cool it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in a bowling center. I have it on video and I’m going to try to get it on this website for you to see along with a bunch of pictures from both events. After the trick shots were over I found my way over to the silent auction area to see all of the great stuff! (but mainly to bother my hard working sister Vicki :) Man, if you are a fan of bowling and you did not come boy did you miss out on some great stuff there was autographed stuff every where. Daddy G was on the microphone giving away autographed bowling balls and shirts, there was so much stuff, just by having a single raffle ticket you had a great chance of winning. As the day was coming to an end I was able to stop most of the pros and snap a picture with them! Of course so was everyone else. All of the pros hung out for about an hour after the bowling was finished to sign some more autographs with their already crippled hands! This event was amazing!! I still can not believe how many people showed up to support me and my family. We will never be able to tell you in words what this meant to all of us! You are a part of our family now and I sincerely hope that some how, if it is ever possible, that I would be able to help you the way that you have helped me. God bless you all and thank you again. Without you none of this would have been possible!!!
Baby G himself
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Thurs., Dec 20 - Yesterday I went to see my therapist in the morning and my doctor in the evening. What a day!! The therapist was really happy with the progress that I made while I was on vacation. I was nervous about taking the time off from therapy to travel but it seems to have not caused a problem. My therapy went well and we even incorporated some new range of motion exercises with house hold items so I can do even more work at home. Later that day I went to the doctors office. When I got there the first thing that they did was take all new x rays!! Sweet I was looking forward to seeing how everything was healing. After the x rays where done the doctor told me that the wire/pins (not the external device holding my wrist still) in my left arm were ready to come out. Not many people got to see them but they were like pieces of wire coming out of my wrist area, they ran almost to the other side of my arm to help keep the bones in place. Hopefully soon I will have some x rays posted on the web site to help you better understand. Anyway we removed those and the stitches from the left arm!!! I don’t know how many of you have ever had pins like these but it will make you a little nervous when the doctor comes in the room holding a pair of pliers and tells you to set your arm on the table!! Turns out it doesn’t hurt all that bad. And finally I have some rather good news to tell you. The doctor is going to schedule my hopefully last surgery for about 3 weeks from now. This will be to remove the external device on the left arm that most every one has seen lately. I say hopefully my last surgery because there is a piece of bone in my right arm that has actually chipped off from one of the areas where they had to piece it together. It is not a problem at the moment but if it tries to heal it could heal to both bones in the arm and cause me some mobility problems. If that happens then they would have to go in and pull that bone chip out. Lets hope it doesn’t. Okay back to the good news. In 3 more weeks the doctor has decided to let me start to walk!!!! I absolutely can't wait. It will probably take a little therapy just to rebuild the leg muscles!!! The doctor seems to think that the hip will be fine so I’m super excited to get rid of this wheelchair!!! Thank you for all of your continued support I will do my best to keep you posted with any more news thanks again!
Baby G Himself
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It is Christmas Day and we wanted to take a few minutes to address everyone that has been such a huge help to us during the last 2 months. Sometimes as we all get caught up in the day to day activities of life in general, we lose sight of what really matters. We certainly have been guilty of this, especially as we have been so intent on planning for the future. We have had the opportunity to reflect on just how important family and friends really are. While we still believe in planning ahead, we also realize now that it is equally as important to live for today and enjoy life. You just never know what tomorrow brings and how long you have to make sure those people around you know how much they mean to you. Each of you have played a very important role in helping us during this difficult time. While your contribution of either time, donations or simply well-wishes & prayers, may seem insignificant to you, it has helped us tremendously. The outreach from our extended bowling family has been phenomenal. We really are firm believers of "what goes around, comes around". We are supporters of national charities such as the American Heart Association, March of Dimes & St Judes Childrens Hospital. We also support the Charlotte Rescue Mission and the Harvest Food Bank. Each year we try to assist a family in need during the holidays, and we are currently packing up our car to deliver Christmas to a local family. The mother has brain cancer and Hospice has been called in. She will leave behind a husband and 2 boys ages 10 & 7. While we can't bring them the one thing they really need, which is health, we hope to make their Christmas a little brighter. Again a firm reminder to us of how short life really is. Words will never be able to express our thanks to you personally. We hope you really know the appreciation we feel, from the bottom of our hearts. May God Bless each of you and your families and may you experience a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful 2008.
Chuck & Deb
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Mon., Dec 31 - Hey, I hope everyones holidays are going well. Mine have been great. It’s just been a bonus for me to be here in general. I was just thinking that even though not much has changed in the last couple of weeks that I should write a little something to let you all know how I’m doing. I have been going to therapy four times a week the last couple of weeks. As expected things are moving slow. My therapist is taking my x-rays to a Doctor that he works with a lot to get a second opinion on how much mobility we should be expecting out of my right arm. When he gives me back the x-rays I will try to put them on the website. It is really unbelievable how much hardware is in my right arm. (I was the talk of the therapy office. All of the therapists wanted to check out the x-rays). Not exactly the best thing to be popular for but I’ll take it, I guess. I still have very little mobility in the elbow of the right arm. I’m doing every thing I can at home to try to help the therapist. One of the things I do at home is strap a 2.5 lbs ankle weight to my right wrist and then just let it hang from the side of the chair in an effort to stretch out the elbow. But it doesn’t move YET. I can promise I won't stop trying until it does that is for sure. Something that I thought was odd was that I was having a lot of pain in the right wrist one morning. I was in pain for about two hours and it scared me a little because I did not injury that wrist. I spoke with the therapist about it that day and turns out that you have a tendon in your wrist that can be easily injured even with a small fall. So if the pain persists I might have to go in for a small surgery to repair. That is no big deal. In and out in one day. Something like that is easy after all the stuff I’ve been though the last two months. Well I think that is about it for now I hope that every one is having a wonderful holiday. Try not to lose sight of what the holidays are really about. Make as many memories as possible because some day all we will have left of the ones we loved are the memories we shared!!! Thank you all for your support and continued prayers and God bless.
Baby G himself
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Jan 15, 2008 - Well I finally had a chance to sit down and try to let everyone know what’s been going on in my life as of lately. Like I just have so much to do !!!! Last Monday I went back into surgery to have the external fixation devices removed from my left wrist. I was at the hospital for about four hours. The doctor put me to sleep, which was nice for me as it is the best sleep I have had in a while!! The actual amount of time for the surgery was only about ten minutes or so. While I was under, the doctors decided that it would be a good time to straighten out my right arm. There had not been much improvement since the last time he saw me. He pulled on my right arm and he told me it made two loud popping noises. This was the scar tissue and tendons that needed to break and stretch. Well it made a pretty big significant difference. My therapist decided to measure the degree of bend in my right elbow and I had gained 20 degrees of extension. When I woke up I could tell that it looked a lot straighter. I was very excited, as my arm had been in one position for such a long time. It felt good to have it in a different position even though it was a little sore. Also on that day the doctor told me something that I had been waiting for two and a half months to hear. He told me that I could walk again!! Probably the best thing I have ever heard a doctor say to me. I waited until I got home that night to be safe, but then I started taking some baby steps around the house. Wow did it feel good to walk again. I’m allowed to walk as long as there is not any pain in the side of my pelvis, which I haven’t had any problems yet. I started therapy on the left wrist about two days after the surgery and its going pretty well. It flared up on me the other day but it will go away with a little time and ice. Therapy is going good. I’m there pretty much every day and for almost three hours each time. Now that I’m working both arms it takes a little longer than before. To help keep the right arm moving in the right direction the doctor order me a brace to bed at night. The brace is spring loaded so it puts tension on the arm in the hope to help get some more extension out of that arm. I hope that soon I will be able to notice a bigger difference in everything, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and I will be keeping you posted as some of the more interesting things happen to me down this long path to recovery. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. You can’t even imagine what it means to me. Thank you again.
Baby G himself
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2/25/08
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- Hey everyone!! Sorry it has been so long since my last update! Not sure why I don't take the time to write, other than not all that much has changed to be honest. I still go to therapy 4 times a week. It takes about 3 hours for me to go in and complete the session. The therapist has gotten a lot more aggressive lately. He used to watch my eyes very closely while he was stretching me so he could see when I was in pain or not! But we haven’t been seeing any real results, so I decided to start wearing a hat and when he goes to stretch my right arm I just put my head down so he can't look at me. That way he will pull as hard as he can or until the muscles in my arm start to shake! I guess when the muscles start to shake that means he is going as far as the tendons will let him go. They gave me a special brace to wear to sleep. It is kind of hard to actually sleep with this thing on, but it is what I have to do if I want to get better, so I do it! What the brace consists of is basically two rods that run down the inside and outside of my right arm with two huge Velcro straps, one by my wrist and one around the bicep area. The brace is spring loaded so as I sleep the brace is holding my arm in a constant stretch all night long. To say the least when I wake up in the morning it is a little sore! Other than that I really have nothing much to report. I will try to keep them coming in a more timely fashion, so I don't catch the evil eyes of my parents!!! Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!!
2/25/08
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3/24/08 - I hope everyone had a great Easter! I wanted to take a minute and let you know how I’m doing and what I’ve been up to. I’m still going to therapy 3 scheduled times a week, I also do therapy on my own at home at least 3 times a day! It is really tuff to get past these kind of injuries when there is so much damage in a small area like my right arm. A lot of the tendons between the wrist and elbow and even a little past the elbow are very tight and hard to stretch out! My elbow area stays pretty much sore and even tender to the touch all the time especially after one of my hour and a half long stretching sessions with my therapist. What I’m hoping to happen in the near future is that they will allow me another brace that can wear at night to sleep in. It will do the opposite of what my original brace does. If you haven’t read some of the other updates, right now I wear a brace to sleep in that puts pressure on my arm to try to extend it at the elbow. If I get the new one it will apply pressure to cause me to flex at the elbow towards my face. I will have to wear them on alternating nights to try to get the most out of both braces! Thanks to all of you who continue to read my updates and thank you for your continued support it means a lot to know that there are still people out there rooting for me to get better!
Baby G
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04/09/08 - Hi every one, I hope that every body is doing well!I just wanted to take a minute and let you all know what is going on lately with me. This past Monday I had another follow up appointment with my surgeon! He was not very happy with the limited range of motion in my right arm. My therapist sent a letter with me, for the surgeon, to let him know how hard I have been working, so there would not be any question as to whether or not I have been doing my part to regain my motion. The letter also consisted of some problem areas where I have had some pain. So we took some x-rays to see what might be going on in the elbow area. After the x-rays he pointed out a shady area around the elbow which he said was some sort of growth. I honestly can not remember the exact term. The issue is that it is putting pressure on the ulner nerve, which is the possible the cause of some of my pain and numbness in my right hand. The other pain area is from the triceps tendon, because of severity of damage caused in that area. The surgeon prescribed some anti inflammatory and vitamin B pills to help with the growth and possible tendinitis. When I was all done with the surgeon he told me that he wanted to see me in three months!! This struck me as odd because I would think he would want to see me on a more regular basis! Plus the prescriptions only last for one month so this makes no sense to me and it all most makes me think that he has given up on me regaining motion in my elbow! So I have been contemplating the idea of getting a second opinion from a highly recommended doctor plus he is local, which would be nice for me because it is hard to get a hold of my current doctor and he is an hour away. But for the mean time I will continue going to therapy five days a week and trying to get this arm moving again! Hope fully I will be able to get my second opinion soon and when I do, there will be another update to let every one know what he says. Thanks you taking your time to read this! Keep your fingers crossed for some good news from the second opinion!!
Baby G
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4/30/08 - Well I’ve just gotten home from my second opinion and I thought that I would take a minute to let every one know what he said! So pretty much it's not looking very good! There is a lot of build up of scar tissue and calcium deposits around the elbow! And due to the trauma to the arm and the severity of the injury there is not an easy fix! In fact the majority of my options are not really anything that I would even consider doing ! Because of many reasons some are clear others are not. Just my feelings on the certain surgeries! So I will list some of my options for you, 1. I can have what is called a total reconstruction, this would require them drilling a hole thru my elbow and inserting a rod. On each end of the rod a big round plate which is attached to basically a brace! The rod and brace would hold my arm still while the surgeon would take apart everything that is attached to my elbow tendons, muscles, etc. and then put it all back! After this I would have to have radiation treatments and possibly another year to two years of therapy! 2. A elbow replacement which is not a good idea because of my age! Artificial joints can last anywhere from six months to six years and that is if you don’t use it a lot, considering I’m not planning on lying in bed for the next twenty years this probably is not a good option! 3. They can go in and fuse my elbow together which I think is self explanatory. I would have no movement at all in the elbow! 4. This option requires that I leave the elbow the way that it is! Considering I do not have any rotation of my palm, like when you reach out to get change from a cashier. My arm won't rotate that way to collect it. So basically they would take the top bone in my forearm and cut it in half and insert some sort of device that would allow my palm to rotate from facing the floor to facing the sky! But you tell me this just sounds really weird that your arm would rotate in the middle rather than at the elbow! (nasty) 5. And lastly considering that I have been functioning rather well with my arm the way it is I could just leave it alone and learn to live with it! The new doctor also had me suspend my therapy for the next two weeks! During this time I will be getting a cat scan on my elbow and an MRI on my right wrist because he thinks that something in the wrist area is not sitting the way it should! After the tests are done he will sit down with me and discuss what the reality of the surgeries are and how effective they may be and or how risky they may be! So when I get any more news I will let you know as soon as I can! I hope every one is doing well and thanks for thinking enough of me to read these updates!!!
Baby G
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