Copeland Family Fire

Whitney (11:07am PST, Friday 5/27/22) Eye check up for the boys! The Dr. was surprised at how well Krew’s eyes look after such trauma. Prescribed an ointment at night to keep his eyes lubricated until his upcoming eye surgery is scheduled. It will help with any redness & dryness.  Kyle’s eye site is looking about the same. Good in the right eye, ok in the left. There is a lot of scar tissue in his left eye, that most likely will never go away. The best news is the surgery has significantly reduced the watering and sensitivity he was experiencing. He is able to open his eyes during the day a lot more now! Still not driving or going into the sunlight much. He will continue steroids in both eyes.  Second round of Laser this morning. Making that Surgery #12 for Krew. He’s in recovery now. He was a crazy boy this morning in the pre-op making all the nurses giggle and smile!

Whitney (4:25 pm PST, Tuesday, 5/24/22) The anticipation of Pepper’s dressing change this morning was very similar to that of Christmas Eve.  Before the beginning of her dressing change I uttered a simple but direct prayer. I didn’t need to hear the Dr. say it. Once I saw with my own eyes I knew, our prayers had been answered. The grafts look amazing! All the grafts have taken up to this point. They all are adhering well and look healthy. The next few days are crucial. Pepper will have sedated dressing changes everyday for the rest of the week.  All 4 antibiotics have been discontinued at this point. Her appetite is slowly returning. She has no restrictions when it comes to getting up and stretching with occupational therapy. No more bed rest!!  On top of all of this, Pepper received a author signed copy to her favorite book series last night. Keeper of the lost cities. It was amazing to see her face light up! @shannonmessanger Thank you for your special thoughts and hear...

Whitney (3:00 PM PST, Tuesday, 5/24/22) Krew did fantastic getting his cast off! “Ew I have a stinky arm”. Haha  He was a bit disappointed when they took it off and he couldn’t move his fingers right away. He was concerned that his fingers were broken, “I can’t grab things”. We cried a little, but by the end of the night he was in the tub moving about.  Dressing changes on his left wrist 2x/day for the next week or so. Until the graft site heals.  Krew is scheduled for Laser surgery #2 on Friday. It is same day and he will be in and out in about an hour. The laser treatments help with scarring and reduce itching and pain.  They will be doing both arms and right hand.  He will have another release done (same as left) on his right hand and one of his eyes sometime in June. He is doing well.

 Whitney (7:23 am PST, Friday, 5/20/22) Surgery #41 in the books yesterday morning. The Dr. was very pleased with how everything is looking. Cadaver skin was placed on all open areas on Sunday. Bacteria counts are down. We have a window.  This morning Pepper will have all open areas covered with her own skin, again. The 3 antibiotics she has been on for 10 days will continue this week to keep the bacteria away.  The resident (working with the burn team) found me in the cafeteria and said, we are rooting for Pepper. We are all going to be in there listening to “This is what we came for” (Calvin Harris) on repeat until the surgery is done. This made my heart happy.  Please join our family in lifting up extra prayers for Pepper this morning.

Whitney (2:20 pm PST, Friday, 5/13/22) Our sweet girl. We have had a glimpse of her in the last couple of weeks. She was free from intense pain, off all her opioids, regaining strength, surgeries were a week apart (or more) and she’s really been looking so forward to the future, even making plans on how to decorate her room.  Then the damn phone rang. I am very much in the loop of all of her care, sometimes I even get to share my opinion with the drs. They humor me. The voice that came over the line was filled with sadness and disappointment. “The bacteria is back, and it’s not looking great”. We decided to hit it hard and fast. 2 antibiotics through the IV, administered slowly for a longer window of coverage. New topical antibiotics for both bacterial and fungal infections. Surgery every other day with bedside changes being done in between.  Pepper has been crabby. She has been in so much pain lately. She has been claustrophobic in her dressings, causing her bouts of anxiety....

Whitney (8:37am PST, Thursday 5/12/22) Krew did amazing during his 12th surgery that lasted 6 hours. We think he is so incredible!  The Plastic surgeon ended up doing more work than originally anticipated. What started out to be just a chin and mouth release turned into a full release on almost his whole face. We are so happy with the results! Krew was having difficulty breathing, we were having to put something we found on Amazon up his nose, it’s a snoring device that holds the nostrils open. He no longer needs them, he can breathe great on his own but we will continue to use them for precaution.  He also was having difficulty opening his mouth. His speech is better, his smile is back, and he can now take larger bites. It got to the point that he was only drinking smoothies because eating was very difficult, and more like a chore.  The plastic surgeon mentioned yesterday at his follow up appointment that if we had waited a little longer maybe even two weeks, it could ha...

Whitney (6:30 am PST, Friday, 5/6/22) Krew and Dad are heading to surgery.  Krew is getting a “release” on his left hand and chin, which will help him regain most of his range of motion in his left wrist and help his mouth open wider, it’s currently very small… a starburst is about the biggest bite his mouth can handle. Getting his hands working properly is a priority and today’s surgery will be a leap forward in getting his hands firmly on the path of rehabilitation. Kyle is getting eyelid surgery for both eyes, which will include grafts and release incisions around each eyelid. His eyelids will be sewn shut for 5 days to allow the grafts to take and heal properly. Currently, his eyes never shut fully and they water constantly. Prayers appreciated busy upcoming weekend. We are so grateful for family members that are here to help. Here they both are, patiently waiting in pre-op. 

Whitney (12:00pm PST, Wednesday, 5/4/22) Krew graduated PT! After being discharged from the hospital, Krew was not interested in being independent much at all. He struggled to walk and hated standing up. After about 8 weeks of PT he’s now running, wrestling, and jumping on everything. He’s checked all the boxes for PT. He will continue with Occupational therapy (hands).

Whitney (8:27am PST, Tuesday, 5/3/22) Pepper, living her best life!  She’s doing well, the doctors are very happy with where her wounds are at. The shower last week revealed about 75% of the grafts took from her last big surgery. Leaving her with only 3% of her body with remaining burns.  She is walking without a walker, and going outside to “warm” up. She is loving sitting up in what the nurses call the Cadillac chair. It has a tray that she can eat on, color on, allowing her hands to be working on something almost all the time!  Morning shower or dressing change every morning this week to watch her wounds daily. If it’s too dry she’ll go to the shower room, if it’s too wet she does a dressing change at the bed. Every day the doctor comes in and checks and decides what the next morning will bring. Sedation still proves to be difficult to recover from, but by 1pm every day she’s doing pretty good.

Whitney (7:40am PST, Friday, 4/29/22) Little Krew man is off to surgery #11. He is starting a series of laser treatments to hopefully break down some of the thick scarring that can occur with pediatric burns. Kids heal much faster than adults, but then don’t “stop” healing causing the scars to thicken.  We left our home at 5am. Krew asked, “why does this Dr. want to see me in the dark?” He was very pleasant this morning. Getting even more people to adore him.  The Dr. said not to expect much visual change until 3-4 rounds of the treatment. This treatment will also help to reduce pain and itching. Krew wakes up most nights crying that he’s so itchy. This is after layers of lotion and anti-itching medication.  These treatments aren’t covered by surgery, because they are “cosmetic”. I just can’t tell you how unfortunate that is.  Todays treatment will be on his shoulders and forearms stopping at the wrist. Depending on how well it goes on his arms will determine if we s...

Whitney (9:30am PST, Thursday, 4/28/22) Both eyes are open and the graft on her forehead is looking great! We are so happy with how it turned out. The week of bedrest proved to be challenging for Pepper. Her spirits were a little low and she was feeling a bit sad this week. But as soon as she was able to get back up she was back at it! We had a lovely conversation last night about body image and some of the changes she will be experiencing. She is very accepting, and she knows I mean really knows beauty comes from within. She is just wise beyond her years! We are headed into the shower this morning, we would love any last minute good vibes and prayers for Pepper. They will be taking off everything on her body to see how the grafts took and make sure there’s no infection.

Whitney Copeland (8:15am PST, Tuesday, 4/26/22) We are continually bombarded by helping hands, happy smiles, encouraging words and open hearts. It’s sometimes so overwhelming. But in the best way. Like a full to the brim after thanksgiving dinner feeling. So I’m needing to open up and publicly share my thanks. Our thanks. Some of these won’t make since you any of you, but writing them down will help me to never forget the cherished moments I’ve shared with other humans. Most complete strangers. This long list is a summary of all the people who have loved on us.  To the ER Dr. who held my face in his hands and told me to prepare myself before I saw my hurt family members in the ER in St. George. He put his arm around me and walked to each room from bedside to bedside with me. I don’t know your name. But I love you.  To the beautiful life flight woman who re-assured me that Pepper was her entire world for the next 2 hours that she was going to be life flighted to UMC. I believed...

Whitney (12:19pm PST, Friday, 4/22/22) Pepper is doing well! The surgery was so long, it lasted 6.5 hours. She had 2 doctors working on her at once. The eye brow release surgery was done to her right eye. It will be sewn shut for 5 days (Tuesday). Her forehead was grafted and had a bolster to hold the graft on also for 5 days.  Her chest/neck area has been grafted along with her left shoulder and upper arm. She also had a small area on her right hip that was grafted. The area on her legs was too deep as anticipated. Integra (derived from shark cartilage) was placed on both areas on the shin. It is an integrative skin substitute and the hope is it will allow the skin to fill in and heal on its own. Her back was sprayed with re-cell. Essentially, her own skin in a spray can.  All of the grafts were meticulously sewn on. In the past they have been stapled. The Dr. That was on yesterday wanted to sew them this time to ensure the grafts success.   Pepper won’t have a seda...

Whitney (6:47pm PST, Wednesday 4/20/22) Surgery #35 tomorrow.  Plastics: graft to her forehead, cheek and an eyebrow release surgery. The reverse of the one she’s already had, to the top eyelid, (same Kyle will have on May 6th). As of right now planned for right eye, but we are staying open to the possibility that it may be both. They will decide during surgery. We try to learn from our past. Burn: all cadaver skin will come off. From what we saw during the shower today, her right chest/neck and left shoulder look ready to graft. The legs need more time to fill in the deep wounds that were left when the infection was cut out. Most likely a skin substitute will be added to the legs tomorrow, grafts when ready.  Tonight we watch The Man from Snowy River and eat root beer floats!

Addey Kerr (Pepper's aunt, 10:00am MST, Easter Sunday, 4/17/22) A few weeks ago, I sat at my kitchen table finishing some homework. As I finished my assignments I began to scroll through my google photos. The pictures first made me laugh and then I came across one that made my heart hurt and I felt emotions stir inside of me. I do not feel anger often but that's what I identified this feeling as. It filled my chest with lots of pressure and tears began to fill my eyes. It was a beautiful photograph of me and my sweet niece Pepper. It had been taken about a year ago and I felt this anger because it took me a minute to recognize her as my Pepper. I hated that I recognized her face covered in scars and open wounds more than I did without now. I didn’t even know who I was angry with as I sat and sobbed. I wasn’t mad at God or at anyone in particular I was just mad that this was our situation. In my frustration and through my tears, I began to pray. I asked God why, why this happene...

 Whitney (6:28pm PST, Sunday, 4/17/22) Reunited after 111 days of being apart. Happy Easter! We feel so blessed.

Whitney (10:39pm PST, Tuesday 4/12/22) More bacteria. More scrubbing. More antibiotics. More debridement. More pain. More set backs. Pepper continues to push forward.  The burn team is wanting to stay ahead of the bacteria. The grafts that are on her body are fragile, and the bacteria can go from the inside and work it’s way to the surface. Making the current grafts on her body at risk. We are in graft survival mode. Pepper will have a shower, surgery, or sedated dressing change everyday for about a week. At this point she has less than 5% of area to cover.  We are doing our best to keep her spirits up and keep her moving. Surgery and shower days are the hardest, it takes a few hours to get her warmed back up, comfortable, and weaned off of the anesthesia, which can make her very emotional. Her appetite is still good, and we still take daily orders and enjoy hearing what she’s craving.  More time. More memories. More movies. More reading. More cuddle time. More of Pepper...

Whitney (8:00 AM PST, Friday, 4/8/22) Surgery #33 this morning. We had a great night last night. Pepper wasn’t feeling up to walking when OT came around at 2pm. But made a deal with herself to get up before she went to bed. So at 8pm she got up and walked to the scale and back to her bed. About 40ft total. So proud of her, because when 8pm rolled around she didn’t want to walk at that time either. After, we watched The Help and had root beer floats.  Making memories with my girl. Doesn’t she look beautiful in pink?! Edit: the spot on her forehead is a deep purple. It is a solution that disinfects and forms a “clean scab” to promote healing. It will be addressed in todays surgery.

Whitney (6:07pm PST, Monday, 4/4/22) We stretch chin, neck, arms, hands, fingers, legs & feet everyday. Working hard not to contract. This will be a full time job when she comes home, adding to our need to rub Krew.  Grafts tentatively penciled in for her forehead maybe later this week. No plan as of yet for the next burn surgery.  The graft on her right breast/neck didn’t take again, for the second time. It is also growing bacteria. As a result she has a fever this afternoon.  When they opened her dressings yesterday (day 4 after surgery) the grafts looked very wet and the Dr. was not pleased. Some of the grafts on her legs took ok. One on her left shin isn’t looking very good. They took a sample of that area on her shin today to check for bacteria.  She has a really bad tummy ache today and diarrhea, nauseous and no appetite. I think she may have a tummy bug.  A good friend we made on the unit with a similar injury was discharged today. We are so happy for...

Whitney (1:53pm PST, Sunday, 4/3/22) I put some before and after pictures together. Kyle & I never got to see the bus after the accident. It was rolled away to a junk yard. Just a pile of junk. No story. No memory. No feelings. I wish I could see it one more time. Grab the license plate or scrap a piece of salvaged something. Just for memory. Just to touch. Something tangible to put to our dreams.  Kyle & I cried hard last night. Ugly raw crying. We just held each other and sobbed. We miss our bus. We miss our son’s face. We miss being together. We miss Pepper’s contagious spirit. We miss it all. Everything.  I personally have to look at previous pictures of Krew. I can’t remember him. It’s cruel. I have to stop doing it, but I can’t. There’s this video, taken just a few days before the fire. The kids are all wrestling their dad on the floor of the bus. The laughing, the giggles and the happy faces in the video just make my heart swell.  There is a plan. Right? We...

Whitney (4:40pm PST, Saturday, 4/2/22) Kyle received his compression gloves and he really likes them! He kept hitting his knuckles on various things and large sores would appear, taking days to heal.  Krew got his new blue face mask and vest that cover  both arms all the way down to fingertip. It has silicone on the inside which makes it very difficult to put on and take off. He needs to have lotion spread across his body before we can slide them on. He tolerated ok the first day, but in the middle of the night woke up in a panic. He kept asking Kyle to make his bed bigger and to get him out. He was claustrophobic and it was just so sad. So we decided to coax him in and took off both for the night. Day 2 & 3 he wore the vest the entire day. We slid it off to take a bath and he said, “eww that shirt stinks” ha! It sure makes his little body sweat but the compression it gave him was great!  It takes about 20 minutes to get the full gig on.  Kyle & Krew have ano...

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 herse...

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 s...

 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...