full story.

My dad just posted the full story of what happened with Michelle. if you want to follow what's going on, the blog address is michellejackman.blogspot.com
the story, in my dad's words goes like this:
there were 5 bikes with 2 riders each. We started out from Pocatello at about 10AM. We headed to Idaho Falls, on to Swan Valley to Alpine, Wyoming. We stopped for a while in Alpine to stretch our legs, and rest up. After talking a bit we decided that we would head 0n and have lunch in Soda Springs. So we headed on again. After a great ride we all saw the most horrible thing in the world. Michelle's bike rapidly headed off the shoulder and into a steep embankment. The frame bottomed out and it flipped end over end. Raquel was thrown through the air, (later walked off over 75 feet). The bike rolled over with Michelle still on and the bike rolled over her. She was then flipped off and landed about 45 feet away. Liz and I were stopped and off my bike as quick as we could. Both were unconscious when we arrived at them. Raquel regained consciousness shortly after Liz arrived at her side. Michelle needed to be log rolled on to her side as she was bleeding into her mouth and nose. We quickly found that there was no cell service where we were. Helmut Head headed off in one direction and Pockets in another. They both finally found cell service and called for help. Other people kept stopping and offering help. Some left blankets and pillows...other's raced off to find help. An EMT arrived in his own vehicle. He went to Raquel and started getting her ready for transport after calling and verifying the ambulances were on their way. They both finally arrived. They scooped and ran with Raquel and Liz. They were out of there in about 10 minutes after arrival. She had a badly fractured ankle that they kept radioing ahead that it was "severed". Liz rode with her in the ambulance. They had a difficult time getting Michelle stabilized on the backboard. Once they had her secured we got into the ambulance. They spent about 5 minutes getting her vitals. They finally got the call from the helicopter and that it was 20 minutes out. We had to move 3 miles up the road to meet them. I was sitting at the head of the gurney helping to bag her while they worked on her. She was still unconscious. We arrived at the landing site. Another 15 minute wait. The copter finally arrived and I had to get out. As I was waiting the other riders from our group caught up to us. Stan and Laurie, Tim and Shannon, Marty and Jen all waited with me as the flight crew worked on Michelle. Turns out that the nurses were some of the best that could have been there for Michelle. One was also a paramedic and the other had worked in a head trauma unit for several years. The pilot was ex military and his daughter was part of the CMA in Idaho Falls. I was told that they had a small temp helicopter and there wouldn't be room for me to ride with them. I tried several times, but they just didn't have the room. One of the EMTs that got us there offered to drive me to Idaho Falls. She said she saw the look in my eyes and knew that I was headed to my bike to drive back to IF. She said she didn't want to pick up another motorcycle accident that night so she was going to drive me. It took almost an hour until I had cell service. I was able to call Her mother and my parents to let them know what happened.

When we finally arrived to Idaho Falls, I just knew that this was going to be worse than I imagined. I had texted several friends from the Idaho Falls area and I knew a couple of people were already there waiting. I also called the Radiologist on call to discuss her imaging. She was not registered under her name so it took us a bit to figure out which trauma patient she was. When he figured out which it was he was suddenly quite. I felt chills as I expected him to tell me that she had not made it. She was still there but in bad shape. She had a fx of C2 that was stable, however there were several small fragments from the fx that concerned him with regards to possibly compromising her vertebral artery. They were planning an angiogram to find out. Other than those fragments where they shouldn’t be, this appears to be stable. She had a small fx of a bone between her orbital socket and her sinus. She also had a left rib fx with lung contusions, (bruises).
She also has an unstable T8 fx. This one scared me since it could be bad enough to cause some paralysis. She also was not moving her legs with stimulation. Oh well, We will handle what ever comes up. Then, there is her head trauma. She smacked her head pretty hard. She was wearing a helmet, but still hit her head pretty hard. She has a monitor/catheter placed through her skull into her brain. It is an ICP monitor to measure InterCranial Pressures. Normal is 5-9. She is running between 12-20. This sounds scary, but for a tramatic brain injury, this is NOT bad. For the most part she can regulate it, but to start off she needed help of drugs and by draining off excess fluid. She is hooked to seveal monitors and a venthilator. They run several tests on her through out the day. In the early morning they come to draw labs and take x-rays. I'm sure that soon this will drive Michelle nuts. Right now she does get to sleep through them.
She is tenatively scheduled for surgery on her spine. Dr. Cache is her surgeon. He will be doing an anterior approach which means that he will be removing a rib, spreading the other's apart and then operating on her spine from the front. This actually is easier on the patients than a posterior approach. I discussed these options with several surgeons from different specialties and they all agreed this is the best 0ption for her. (Personally, I just think they are afraid they will mess up her tattoo and have to deal with a crazed biker chick named "Headshot").
They would like to be able to remove her ICP monitor from her head before they do surgery on her spine, but it is not necessary. We will see where that ends up.
We have definitely been blessed through this ordeal. People have stepped up to help us out in ways that amaze me. The POW*MIA group have all been incredible to check on her and send their love from emails to addressing her accident at the board and general meeting. Hustler spent the weekend playing Mr. Mom to Roni so she could hang out with his daughter. Dinners have been provided in both Idaho Falls and Pocatello by co-workers. Carla and Steve Theuson have loaned us their 5th wheel so we have a place to sleep in IF. Our neighbor Isaac DelaCruz has been dying to mow our lawn and Kody just barely beat him to it. (Much to Kody's dismay.) Eilene Horne and Lisa Chase from Mountain View are convinced that I am going to waste away from lack of eating....obviously Mountain View does not hire for their visual equity! Both hospitals that we work at are filled with people that care about us and our family. Rev from the POW*MIA and CMA as well as the entire Pharmacy at MVH have been doing their part to make sure I keep my eyes on the positive lessons that I need. Judy has stepped in to keep the kids' lives happening from school to softball to concerts to getting to IF to see Mom. Dugan set up this BLOG so I can get the information out to you all. I appreciate everyone's help and please know that if I didn't mention you personally here I certainly did to God when I was thanking him for all that you have done.
I have definitely paraphrased, and I will have more details as they come up. I just wanted you to have a place to go to find out what is happening with our girl. You can also check her cell phone for daily recorded updates on her c0ndition.

Prayers and tragedies

Greetings POW*MIA Family,
As many of you know we had one of our own go down on a ride. Michelle Jackman aka Headshot and her cousin Rachel are in the hospital in Idaho Falls. They were life flighted there after the accident. Both are making positive gains in their recoveries.
Michelle is MOVING HER LEGS. They have to wait for swelling to come down before they take her to surgery to repair her damages, which could take awhile, but the swelling is going down.
Rachel has had surgery on her right ankle and we are all praying for the best.
Casey thanks everyone for the outpouring of love, prayers, and concerns.
I will update on their conditions as I know more.

So some of you may be wondering some things now. For example..."What is POW*MIA?" "Who are Michelle and Rachel?" "Why is Tiffany posting this on her blog?" and of course "is there any ice cream in my freezer?"

Well, I don't know if there is any ice cream in your freezer, but I can answer the rest of your questions. POW*MIA is a group for the Prisoners Of War and Missing In Action soldiers from all wars past and present. The group is not made up of these soldiers, but of people who fervently support them and will not let their sacrifice be forgotten. The majority of them have motorcycles, and they often go on rides together.
Michelle is my step mom. She is the woman who would listen to me read books no matter how many times she had heard it. She watched movies with me late at night when I couldn't sleep. She was always there with words of encouragement and compliments for how I had dealt with my life. and when I did something stupid or wrong, she was there to swat my butt, and ask me how I was going to fix it. I appreciate that more than the others.
Rachel is actually my Aunt Raquel. I don't know her nearly as well, nor am I as close to her...but she is very much like what I want to be in a lot of ways. She is patient, caring, strong, and she cooks and sews like none other.
I am putting this up because these amazing women need prayers.
This was sent to me on Tuesday by an old friend. Sadly, since then there has been no more significant progress. Michelle is in a coma, and the swelling has actually stopped going down as of Tuesday night. The man next to Michelle in the ICU died, and the commotion was too upsetting for her. She has stabilized back to where she was before his death, but that is it. The doctors want to operate and drain the excess fluid in her head instead of waiting for it to go down naturally, but they don't know if it's safe to perform the procedure yet.
She has a broken rib, and 2 fractured vertebrae, one of which needs surgery to heal properly. That is the surgery referred to in the letter above.
I just need people to pray for her. Please everyone who reads this pray for her, ask your family to pray for her. it would mean the world to me. I can't imagine what I would do if she doesn't pull through this. She hasn't been active in the church since she was 16, and I need another chance to convince her and my dad that we deserve an eternal family. Eternity without them would not be paradise to me. Please pray for me to get my second chance to convince them of this.