Copeland Family Fire

Whitney (7:42am PST, Wednesday, 3/30/22) Caught up on some reading last night. Pepper is a HUGE keeper of the lost cities fan. I lost a bet and now I get to read them out loud with her. The whole 9 book series! I’m so lucky to get this experience with her. She’s off to surgery #31 this morning. Covering what’s left on the front of her body. Go pepper go!! The Dr. mentioned we are potentially looking at only 2 more surgeries during our hospital stay, after today.

Whitney (7pm PST, Monday, 3/28/22) This week has been an emotional roller coaster, weaning off meds, starting new ones, making for one emotional girl. With the lack of surgeries and procedures she has been hitting OT hard this week.  The plastic surgeon removed the last bandage from her face and decided it looks so good she wanted to wait until this week to decide if she needed grafts! We haven’t heard an update from Plastics yet but as of right now it’s looking really good that she may not have to have her face grafted. The last synthetic material they put on her face was actually from umbilical cord. That is just so cool! Full of stem cells and nutrients, creating the perfect wound bed for new skin to grow.  Pepper continues to work hard and some days are better than others, and  today was a good day. Today she’s walked into the hall and back, stood at bedside while we changed her diaper, sat on the edge of her bed for an hour and a half, and while sitting has fed herself a bag of po

Whitney (3:00pm PST, Friday 3/18/22) The long awaited Pepper update! Surgery #31 this morning. Her left shoulder was re-grafted, because of the previous infection that graft did not take. They also did a large portion around her left knee. They took skin from her stomach for these areas this time. All cadaver skin was removed, and replaced with a skin substitute.  Her face’s healing has slowed significantly. So they have decided to graft it, today it was scrubbed and a skin substitute placed to prepare for a graft hopefully end of next week, along with the rest of her legs. If all goes as planned, Pepper should be 100% covered in her own skin grafts by the end of next week. This is HUGE.  Her left eye was opened on Wednesday and her right was opened today during surgery. It was so good to see those big blue eyes this morning. Her spirit is doing ok. She’s quiet and a little reserved, but overall when not in pain, in good spirits. They left her arms and hands (other than left shoulder)

 Kyle (6:10pm PST, Wednesday, 3/16/22) Krew and Emree cuddling asleep. The innocence and love of children seems to heal all wounds. A child's laugh is contagious and brightens every heart around. Looking at these two loving one another.. all I can say is I love them. Deeply. I am a Dad and I enjoy it immensely. I'm extraordinarily grateful God granted me the ability to run through fire to rescue Pepper and Krew. I acknowledge it could have been…. well, much worse. Whitney, Kyle, Pepper, Kade, Emree, Krew, and Hazel. I'm grateful we are all alive. I want to extend love to all of you who are going through tragedy... keep your heart in the light. I am grateful for my wife who is willing and able to take on enormous stress and responsibility while also being able to nurture and love her family with grace. It's true, moms just make everything feel better and we all know it. I can run through flames, but don't ask me to do what she is doing. it's incredible and divine

Whitney (11:00pm PST, Friday 3/11/22) Our sweet girl is having a difficult day/evening. Surprise surgery #30 this morning, the plastics team wanted to work on her eyes. They aren’t closing all the way when she falls asleep. We originally thought they were just doing 1 eye, but came back with both sewn shut. She was angry. Very angry. Calm now, lots of pain and anxiety, but resting. This was the same surgery Kyle had done, the gauze will come off and she will be able to see in 3-5 days. Extra prayers on her behalf!

Whitney (9:16pm, Friday 3/11/22) I was driving to the hospital to be with Pepper this morning and I couldn’t help but feel like a weary traveler. Tired, used up, emotionally spent, and feelings of sadness as I left 3 children to be with the other. That’s hard for me. From the very beginning I just wanted to gather all my chicks like a mother hen and keep them safely under my wing and protect them all. Providing the unique nurturing abilities that have grown with me the last 12 years of being a mother.  When I was little, still in grade school and the question would arise, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I always answered with a straightforward answer. A mom! I was once told that wasn’t a real answer and that I must pick something else.  I always stuck with my original answer, a mom!  Little did I know that it would be one of the hardest  most challenging roles I would ever willingly carry out. Exhaustion has taken on a whole new level I didn’t think possible. My worry odomet

Whitney (8:35am PST, Wednesday 3/9/22) The love between these two is so real! Pepper was over the moon excited to have Kade spend time with her. He was so sweet feeding her lunch, laughing about old memories, talking about their obsession with Harry Potter (Kade is on book 5), and playing a trivia game. Laughter and smiles are good to the soul. I love that they love each other. Pepper has surgery #29 this morning. Her nerves and anxiety are ever increasing with each procedure. Please pray for her peace and comfort.

Whitney (4:30pm, PST, Monday 3/7/22) Life has taken on such a new level of busy! 6-8 appointments a week for Kyle & Krew. A procedure or surgery everyday at the hospital for Pepper. Busy busy!!  This last Friday was so great meeting the flight crews that helped save our family. Pepper also had the opportunity to meet 2 out of the 3 crew members that got her safely here. It was so special and I will never forget some of the special things said. One member of Peppers’s flight Crew: “I remember how beautiful your eyes were that night, it was one of the first things I noticed. I’m so grateful that I get to look at those beautiful eyes today!”  Krew has really leapt forward since his siblings are now home. It has given him an excuse to forget about his sore body and just play! OT & PT two times each a week. Going well! His compression garments for his arms have been ordered! Prosthetics are still in the early process of being prescribed. We are excited to get those on him and help h

Kyle (10:19pm PST, Thursday 3/3/22) Pepper slowly came out of her paralysis yesterday and had her breathing tube removed this morning. Her grafts look great! Her body seems to be accepting them well. She's currently on A LOT of medications to control infection and allow her to be as comfortable as safely possible. She is showing signs of withdrawal from the drugs she was on during paralysis, but that will work it’s way out within the day.  I'm sitting next to her now and she's watching a show waiting for her Olive Garden dinner to arrive. Whitney and I are going to have a HUGE dinner with her. She hasn't eaten in 5 days and can’t wait!  Krew's hands are tight, but we're massaging them. We were able to get him into a prosthetics doctor who will create splints to slowly correct them over time. Pray for his hands. He needs a little miracle.  Kade and Emree joined us on Monday, it felt incredible to be reunited. We made sure to have a few family activities lined up