I WAS HIT BY A CAR the evening of Friday November 16, 2007 while crossing the street on my way to the 2nd Annual Caribbean Family Night that I had helped to found the prior year at Matt Dishman Community Center in Northeast Portland.
I suffered severe trauma-related injuries to my lower right leg and underwent surgery at OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University hospital)November 26, 2007. I continued to have complications with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolisms (PE) travelling to my lungs and heart so because of the need for continued skilled nursing as well as an intensive physical therapy program was transferred from OHSU to Crestview, a skilled nursing and rehabiliation facility on Wednesday, December 6 2007.
Due to an unfortunate series of mishaps, I transferred from Crestview to home health care on January 12, 2008 and am hoping to remain at home until I readmit to OHSU (POSTPONED from 2/14 to 2/21 to 2/28 and now PERHAPS INDEFINITELY!!) for my next surgical procedure, which if all goes well will be to bend my knee under anesthesia to help reach a fuller range of motion than my current (now 70 as of 3/9!!) degrees.
I am doing intensive daily physical and occupational therapy regimens and working with a team of doctors to stabilize my medical condition. If all goes well I am expected to make about an 85% recovery, gradually returning to work and other activities over the next 8-12 months. As of March 9 I ditched the wheelchair and am learning to improve my walking, stairclimbing, and still trying to ride a bike and am hoping to go back to part-time desk work in the next few weeks around my training and therapy schedules. And mow my lawn next month.
See my blog above for further accident details and periodic updates as I discover what it is like to live temporarily on one leg using wheelchair and walker for mobility, and in a nursing home (this is apparently the only kind of place that offers skilled nursing care and physical therapy) where I was the youngest patient by several decades!!! My first two two roommates (and the one that was only here for 5 hours before having a heart attack and leaving as quickly as she came) were in their 70's and 80's....and my final roommate was 101! Its been interesting!!
Your entire life can change in 13 short minutes, or at least it did for me. I called a friend from the bus as I was approaching my stop to tell her I had gotten off work and would be meeting her at Dishman in just a few minutes. The next call I made, just 13 short minutes later, was to my mother to tell her I'd been hit by a car and was at the hospital emergency room being checked in and waiting to be seen. Life can change quickly so enjoy every minute to the fullest!!
I AM CURRENTLY AT:
HOME!!!!
Hopefully indefinitely
visting hours: by arrangement, but I prefer to visit you and get out of the house now that I can!!
calls/texts: call or text me on my cell
MANY OF YOU have asked what you can do to help my family and me through this difficult time. So far the outpouring of community support from friends, family and even strangers has been so touching, and even at my loneliest hour (and there are many!!) I give daily thanks to be in the midst of so many caring people and feel so blessed. They say it takes an entire village to raise a child, it also takes one to help heal when broken! Thank you all so very much for your continued love and support!!
CONTRIBUTIONS:
Your contributions greatly help to defray the burden of medical and living expenses until I can get back to work, or at least hopefully get my insurance claim opened and (its been FOUR months and NADA but don't worry I have a good lawyer!).
Donations in any amount are appreciated and may be made at any Bank of America branch to:
Kerri Hill de Cantero Living Assistance Fund
(ask to make a community fund donation then give my name)
(all contributions remain anonymous unless I am notified of them directly by you)
or visit my recuperation wishlist at Amazon.com
OTHER WAYS TO HELP:
Visits, cards & flowers always cheer me up!
Home/dog care
Rides to medical appointments/errands
Smuggling in non-institutional healthy (and occasionally not-so-healthy) food and meals
Laundry
Small jobs I can do from hospital/home until I am able to return to my regular work
I AM STRONG! I CAN DO IT!!!!
MORE ABOUT ME...
I first saw the light of this world on a snowy, stormy Friday, March 21 at 9:41pm after nearly twenty-five hours of labor, born all of 20 1/2 inches, 7 lbs 14 oz. And a honeymoon baby, coming just nine months and 18 days after the simple wedding ceremony of my parents Howard Niles Hill III and Carol Brigham Hill Latta. I arrived four days early, likely the only time in my life I have ever been early or even on time for anything.
My days as a candela began at an early age as I was the only newborn girl surrounded by boys in the hospital nursery, where I stayed for some time and quite content, also being near my mother who was working as a pediatric nurse in the same hospital while my father was finishing degrees in marine science/zoology at a nearby university.
I was the much-anticipated firstborn in my generation on both sides of my family, who's colorful multicultural ancestry includes Alsatian, Baijan, Belgian, British, Cuban, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Irish, Native American, Norwegian, and Scots-Irish. Parts of my lineage are traceable back to the 1300's and from a long line of strong and admirable predecessors, many of whom left behind oral and later written accounts to better appreciate their struggles and triumphs.
I am known to be impulsive, stubborn, inclusive, contemplative, assertive, nurturing, generous to a fault, community-minded, and look at the details as well as the big picture of whatever situation I find myself in. Living life to its fullest with enough energy and enthusiasm for a small army, I am very passionate in what I choose to do (and even sometimes what I don't!) and a neverending optimist, often looking for the rainbow even before the storm has passed. I enjoy and respect the thick of the storm and have weathered what some say is more than my share, as well as the storms of those near and dear to me.
If I am not in the middle of everything or behind the scenes helping things to run smoothly, occasionally you will find me away from the world recharging my batteries or observing from a distance.
Connecting people and things is my passion and expertise. I like to open new doors for others and help them to realize themselves and their dreams, often putting my energy/ashe into people, pets, homes, events and organizations.
My professional work often is at the forefront and anchor of what I do and I enjoy a variety of challenging and interesting roles, but these are well-balanced and blended with friends and family, community and service in an interconnection that is only managed by a carefully-kept and constantly updated calendar and a lot of planning and juggling.
Even though I have probably never been on time for anything in my life other than being born four days earlier than anticipated (I joke that I am always making up for this!), I always know what time and day it is and where I am supposed to be, but sometimes I just let the wind carry me where it feels right and where I am needed at the moment. I have but few regrets as life is as much about the journey and roads travelled as the end destination.
Over the next few chapters of what will hopefully be a long and fulfilling life, I aspire to:
Realize my soulmate and father of my children and together bring them into this world, raising them harmoniously and with an extended community of family and friends. QUIERO MI FAMILIA!!!!
Build a strong and welcoming home where the doors are never closed to anyone and there is hospitality,warmth and love and always plenty of food and good company inside;
Manifest my dream, a community center to teach and preserve culture and tradition where all can come regardless of skill or talent, nationality/ethnicity or socio-economic status
Continue to develop personally and professionally and to realize and continually renew my ambitions, be they strengths or turn out to be weaknesses in many diverse areas; and to help my community and those in need of my skills, talents and abilities to grow stronger in voice and action and relieved of poverty, discrimination, disenfranchisement, hatred and violence.
