Cooper Updates & Prayer Requests

Cooper's journey is a powerful testament to God's glory and His unfailing love. Through every surgery, setback, and moment of uncertainty, God's hand has been evident in Cooper's life. From the miraculous survival of the accident to the many small victories along the way, we have seen His awesome power at work. Despite unimaginable challenges, Cooper’s faith remains strong, inspiring all who follow his story. We are constantly reminded of God’s promises, especially in Isaiah 41:10, where He assures us not to fear because He is with us. Join us in celebrating God's mighty works and continue to lift Cooper up in prayer as we witness this incredible story of faith, healing, and divine strength unfold.

Updates taken from Cooper's mother's Facebook posts with her permission.

Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 11:58 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Lots of visitors this week to see Coops and me! It’s really been great to keep his spirits up and help the week go by faster.

They worked on transferring to the car from the wheelchair. There’s so many obstacles with the unbending knee and the left hand not taking weight. The first day of PT where they tried to practice this it didn’t work. The practice car wasn’t set up to accommodate Coopers injuries and fun fact Cooper has super long legs which has been a big issue with medical equipment.

I called Hyundai to find out how to remove my front passenger seat so he can sit in the middle seat and have room for his leg. They did figure out a different option yesterday with him going in sideways and sitting against the door, just not sure if that will work long term for all our trips back and forth to St. Louis.

We had an appt to see the skin graft doctor. It went well. Took out more sutures ( he’s had soooooo many over the last few months. They just keep coming)it always feels like an accomplishment when they take more out. We will come back next week to see them again and get a better idea if he has to have another skin graft surgery or if it’s healing enough on its own. We are praying it will heal on its own.

We are still looking at a Dec 9th discharge. We are so close but it doesn’t seem real yet. It will be so nice to be home and yet the reality is the journey will not be over. This is where the roller coaster of emotions come in. So happy and yet……..

Please pray for the new doctors we are trying to get into. So many. Things are moving in that area but still waiting to hear back about several appts

Please pray about the skin graft. We want it to heal and no more surgery on that area.

Please pray for Coopers spirits and morale, this has been and long long time.

Thank you all

Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 7:22 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Sunday was a quiet day. Family left on Saturday and Brian left for the week Sunday afternoon. I’m technology challenged and was very pleased with myself for figuring out how to use my gift cards for door dash 😂.

Cooper is still on the feeding tube, but his mouth is opening up a bit more so he’s trying to eat different things. It’s hit and miss on what works still. We are hopeful we will hear about an appt for a ENT for his jaw before we leave. As it is opening more he has discovered something seems out of place which is making chewing difficult.

PT and OT on Monday went great! He is transitioning out of bed into the wheel chair easier and they worked his hand a lot. Hoping that continues so it will get stronger. He struggles with controlling the wheel chair with his left hand, they showed him how to use the right leg to help direct him.

The wound trauma surgeon came and looked at his skin grafts and said they are healing great. They went ahead and made an appt for him to see the plastic surgeon for the next skin graft surgery on the knee BUT think he might not need it. This would be amazing if he didn’t so the knee could continue to heal from the first skin graft and then we could go straight to orthopedics for the reconstruction of the knee. As of now and until it’s fixed he will be non weight bearing on it.

We know the left hand and wrist need to be looked at and I’m not even sure which category they fit in. There’s been talk about a tendon transplant for his hand and we think there might be an issue with his wrist.

It looks like we are still being discharged Monday the 9th. Can’t even imagine what that will look like at this point. Brian is at home trying to get everything ready for Coopers arrival , getting ramps and dealing with equipment.

Monday Coopers buddies came to see him!! Spent all day, got to cheer him on in PT and help him give the nurses a hard time. They had so much fun and then about 6:30 while we were transferring him into his wheelchair the door opened up and my sweet Trevor and Hannah walked in!! They left Saturday to drive back to Tennessee so Trevor could preach Sunday at his church and then turned around and drove back here to surprise us! They didn’t want us to be alone for the week!! I just love their sweet hearts!!!

Thank you for the cards that you’ve sent to Cooper ( and me/my family) while we’ve been here. You guys are awesome!!

Please pray for continued healing!!

It’s happening!! It’s a marathon not a sprint but we see changes and he’s healing!! Thank you thank you for your prayers!!

Please pray for the transition of the discharge and equipment, insurance junk and all the things!!

When we first came here it was a rough transition. I asked for prayer that we would make connections with the nurses and staff and we have! Please lift up some of the staff here. We’ve come to care for them and their situations.

I can’t say thank you enough.

Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 10:56 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We had my parents, my sister and BIL, with all of their married kids and sweet little Paisley come visit us here at the rehab facility. They catered in pasta with bread and salad. It was a sweet time together.

Cooper has been working on speech, OT and PT over the last few days. Speech so far is more cognitive. We are doing exercises for his tight muscles and tendons in his jaw in his room, that one of the doctors from Mercy gave us. We are starting see some improvement there. Hoping to see a specialist soon to see where we go from there.

Cooper got on a bike with a seat .The pain in his hips and left leg do keep him in check , and trying to figure out what to do with the left leg while he’s trying something new can be a bit of a challenge, but they got it figured out and he did great on the bike! This worked his right knee( this was fractured, and the ankle was broken requiring surgery, now has screws) also working out his arms( left arm had 3 different breaks also causing surgery). We were so glad to see these body parts moving!

He has also had therapy on his left hand. Fine motors skill activities to get his tendon and muscles working. We don’t know yet if he will need a tendon replacement for his ring finger on the left hand. Hoping to get in with that doctor soon also.

This is a short term rehab facility so we found out the other day that we might be released Dec 9th. At first I was so shocked by this. I just saw how far we had to go that I didn’t see the positives in it. As of now he is still on a feeding tube and that’s a bit intimidating but he’s eating more and more as his mouth widens( more going on with that, but that’s for another day)so it’s possible he won’t come home with it. If he does we will adjust. The reality is, we need to come home. He needs to be around friends and family, he needs his dog and he needs to not have strangers around him 24/7. It’s taking its toll. Sept 24th seems like a whole life time ago.

We will have home health care come out to the house which will consist of a nurse and PT and of course there’s his mom!! lol. So hopefully this will be the date we get discharged. We will learn more this coming week.

Please pray for continued healing!

Please pray for his spirits. Truthfully is a roller coaster right now.

Please pray we get into to some good doctors, we need several and the holidays have made the referral process slow.

Thank you!! You all continue to amaze us!!

Tuesday, November 26, 2024 at 8:32 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Made it through the weekend. We are settled and had the first day of PT and OT. It went very well. Cooper bent his left leg more than he ever had before and lifted his right leg over and over more than he ever had before.

Getting him up and out of the bed has always been so hard and very painful. The therapist did a new technique with Coopers legs that seemed to make things a bit smoother. It was at the end of the session, Cooper was to wiped out to try to stand up, but just getting him in a sitting position seemed to go better.

Trevor and Hannah came on Monday to spend the day with us before heading to Springfield to spend some time with her family before coming back to spend more time with Cooper.

Carter and Hunter came on Sunday to spend the day with Brian and I and we got to put Cooper in the wheelchair and go for a walk.

Please pray the PT/OT sessions.

Please pray for us to make connections with our nurses and other staff.

Please pray for quick appts with the new doctors so we can get the ball rolling on the next phase of surgeries.

Please pray for morale and Coopers spirits.

Thank you friends.

Sunday, November 24, 2024 at 8:38 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Change is hard.

The facility is good.

I think the move just reminded us of how homesick we are.

Everything is different so we are learning new faces and routines. The weekends are different than the week so it’s been a bit more relaxed as far as PT scheduling goes.

I don’t think we will be here long, the doctor that spoke with us our first night again mentioned that Cooper would plateau out due to his weight baring restrictions. So he will work hard while he’s here and we will learn what we can. If we need to come back after another surgery then that’s what we will do. 

Cooper has lost a lot of weight. Over 50lbs. It’s been hard of course to eat with the jaw wires and then of course with his jaw not opening. He’s been on a feeding tube this whole time and supplementing with protein shakes and whatever else sounds good which hasn’t been much. But he’s committed to gaining that weight back. Yesterday he really did a great job forcing whatever he could down. Hopefully by the time we get back he will have gained some weight back and feel more like himself.

For his first OT session Cooper put clothes on!! He couldn’t actually put his shorts on but he’s wearing clothes and not a hospital gown for the first time in 10weeks!! I couldn’t stop staring at him. It was so normal. ❤️

Thank you for praying for our transition here. It went smoothly.

Please pray for PT and OT sessions to be productive and for Cooper to connect with the therapist.

Please pray for Cooper to be able to eat and gain weight back.

Please pray we will make connections with great doctors as we move forward with our next phase of surgeries and follow up care.

And please pray for safe travel for Coopers brother and sister in law as they travel from Tennessee today to spend some time with all of us for the Holidays.

Thank you all!

Friday, November 22, 2024 at 10:12 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Peace out room 6255!

St. Louis here we come!!

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 8:51 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Its official! We leave tomorrow (Friday) for St. Louis. Mixed emotions. Excited to get rehab started and get his body moving. So happy to have a different change of scenery, but change is also a bit scary. We know the routine here and the staff.

Brian has talked to a lady at the rehab and I spoke with her once while on the phone with the doctor. Every time it's been awesome, so there's that.

Everyone keeps asking how long will we be there. It's complicated. Cooper will need more surgeries and is still non weight baring but does need PT and OT. They will do what they can until he plateau and then we will come home until the next surgery and then head back. So our stay could be 2 weeks or 3 or 4 or whatever. We don't know. They will do the heavy hitting and then we will come back home, keep up with it till his next surgery.

After being here for 9 weeks Cooper has made some friends, that's been awesome! We've had some excellent doctors, nurses and aides who have absolutely gone above and beyond to do everything they could to make Cooper feel the best he could. I will be forever grateful.

I am forever grateful for our church Crossway Baptist Church and the way they have loved and supported us through this, our Fair Grove community and school. The local businesses Wow!! It's been incredible!! So many family and friends and strangers who have sent support and cards , food, and visit Cooper. I'll never be able to remember it all especially from the beginning when most of the 2 weeks is a blur. Thank you to ALL of you who have been faithfully praying for Cooper. Those prayers have been felt on many many levels. I never in a million years thought of the prayer chain that got started when I made that first post asking for prayer , but then all of you did, and then you asked for more prayer and again, I'm forever grateful. This has been incredibly hard, but there are many many things we can be grateful for and see where God has carried us. Admittedly sometimes we do have to look a little deeper at times, it's much easier to see what was lost, especially when the pain is taking over.

This next phase will be hard but has a great purpose. Getting Cooper up and walking again!!

I will definitely keep you posted so you can celebrate along with us all his victories.

Please continue to pray for Coopers pain.

Pray for the staff at the rehab as they prepare for him.

Pray for Coopers peace of mind, this will be hard and painful and sometimes that can get in the way of determination.

Pray that Cooper can be a light there at the new center, that he can spread Gods Glory and be the man God called him to be.

Thank you

Romans 8:18 - For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 8:55 AM Mickie Prout Roy

So many things have happened since I last updated. I was waiting to get the word official word on us leaving today…… more on that later.

Cooper stood up and got in a wheel chair 3 days ago!! He sat in the chair for a while and found it pretty comfortable. It takes quite a while to keep him from bed to chair and back to bed so that pretty much what an entire PT session looks like. OT comes at the same time and they work with his hand also. He's getting strength back in it.

2 days ago Cooper got back in the wheel chair and wheeled himself down the hall!! This was the first time in almost 7 weeks he's been able to leave the room sitting upright, NOT headed to a surgery! He did a great job and got to joke around with some of the nurses telling them he was leaving forever! That very same they allowed us to get him back in the chair and take him outside. It was a nice day and he got to sit out in the sunshine. Carter was there along with some friends and family and he made some laps enjoying his freedom.

He can make it about 40 mins in the chair. He just has to keep healing and that time will keep lengthening.

When they talked about us leaving on Tuesday they said the skin grafts needed to look good. They were going to take the dressings off on Monday and if all looked good we would leave Tuesday morning. They took the dressings off around noon and everything looked great!! Really really great! ( thank you Jesus!). He now does not have a wound vac machine attached to him for the first time in over a month!! PRAISE THE LORD!! Soooooo many reasons to be happy about that one!!

They did say he will have to have dressing changes everyday at the rehab facility in St. Louis. This concerned us as we did not know if they were equipped for this. One of the doctors called them right there, spoke with someone on speaker, she was great! Said all the right things and then some! It gave me so much peace about the move.

BUT there's always a BUT…. For some reason everyone on both sides is still waiting on final say from insurance who has been trying to get us out of here for the last 3 weeks. 🤷‍♀️and transport can't be notified until that happens. So we do not get to leave today. Not sure when it will happen and they told me it could happen in the middle of the night 😳. Cooper was pretty disappointed to find out he wasn't leaving. He's ready to start the next phase. We prayed for patience last night.

All good things to report with just a little snag!

Please be praying for the skin grafts. We want those to keep healing and stay healthy.

As always pray for pain control.

And pray for the transition to St. Louis and for the staff there as they prepare for us. This will be a different type of hard for Cooper.

One last good news! The other day they brought a therapy dog in to see Cooper. He misses our dog Cupcake , this made him smile 😃

Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 9:20 AM Mickie Prout Roy

He's had a quite few days. Yesterday he was in more pain than the day before and last night was pretty intense. He did run a low grade fever in evening. Praying that is just his body healing the skin grafts.

The knee dressing comes off sometime today. That area has not really caused him much discomfort as far as the graft is concerned. Yay!

Thigh graft dressing comes off Monday and that sucker has been a whole different ball game. They were done by 2 different doctors and 2 different ways. The knee was much small and the thigh was much larger so of course it's going to cause problems. The skin grafts healing determine when we are discharged. If all goes well we should head to St. Louis Tuesday morning!! 🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️But we shall see.

Coopers PT and OT is getting more intense!They are working on his left hand a lot more and both his legs and hips. He stood up again yesterday and was on his right leg unassisted for several seconds!! This is bitter sweet as it's so necessary to move but of course causing more of that stinking pain!! We both look forward to the day when he is past surgery pain on top of all the other pain. The mind can be tricky and it can be scary to move body parts that have just been cut open. Having to trust total strangers that its safe is tough after going through so much.

You all are so sweet to send cards of encouragement. Cooper is still receiving them from all over. To think that people will take time out of their day to go pick out a card, write something meaningful and encouraging , a lot of times for someone they don't even know has really meant a lot and has certainly inspired me to do the same for others. So thank you!!

Please be praying for Coops motivation for PT, to drive through the pain and trust not just the doctors and therapist but that God is still in control.

Please be praying for the skin grafts to be healthy and take.

Please be praying for our transition to St. Louis,

Living in the hospital has been hard enough but leaving family and friends will be harder still.

Thank you 🥰

Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 8:47 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Surgery yesterday was good! So now both the knee and the thigh are done! PTL! We will take the next several days to heal ( please heal) and then we should be discharged.

I'm not sure why I was surprised because this has been par for the course but surprised I was, yesterday we got a call from Rusk the rehab facility in Columbia, and they are now suggesting we go to the St. Louis rehabilitation institute instead of them. They think Cooper is going to need more medical attention than they provide and we are actually going to be following up the rest of his surgeries and care at Barnes for the next year. So we are now in limbo waiting to hear again, where we are going to end up. It does make sense to me that we do this but I haven't heard anything about this rehab facility , Cooper needs extensive rehab and I knew Rusk could accommodate that, I have to keep reminding myself God has not left him this whole time he will not leave him now.

Thank you all for praying so hard yesterday for the surgeries. We felt them. Cooper was in pain but he handled it well and was in good spirits all day yesterday. Please keep those prayers coming!!

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 7:44 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Surgery yesterday went well. But we didn't get done and settled in his room till midnight.

They've just come to get us ( I started this at 6:30 am) for his second surgery.

He's sore, exhausted and mentally wiped out.

Initially thought they'd have to go through his nose for anesthesia ( this was mentioned last night) this made me so nervous since he had the facial reconstruction. But when I mentioned it to the Doctor they are coming up with a different route. Everything is much trickier due to his mouth not opening yet.

To be honest I'm out of sorts this morning. I'm tired of HIM hurting and knowing he's going to be hurting more the next several days just has me already down this morning. But we were walking down the hall into the holding room and several of the staff for anesthesia were lined up for shift change. I made a joke about feeling like we were in a parade. Someone recognized Cooper, so many of them have now worked on him. I said this is his last surgery here and a lot of them started cheering. It was a good feeling to celebrate that. I have been so tired I hadn't gotten to the celebration part yet. And then while in holding God sent another angel to check in on us and before she left she prayed with us. Man we needed that.

As I left Cooper and made the walk down the hallway to surgery waiting I saw a young man who had transported Cooper 2 surgeries ago. He stands out because before he transported us he asked if he could pray over Cooper. As I walked by him this morning he asked about Cooper and reminded me that 100s are praying for him just right there at Mercy. ❤️

For now, please pray about the airway situation.

Please pray for the surgeon and for the skin grafts to take and be healthy.

Please pray for pain control. For all Cooper has been through he's been told this recovery will be painful. 😩

Thank you ❤️

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 5:33 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Well for a lot of reasons the surgery did not take place yesterday. We are shooting for today at 6pm. It will now be a 2 part surgery so today is knee graft only. No idea when the thigh will take place. Please pray this surgery happens if for no other reasons then to handle the wound vac change as it continues to clog.

We did find out that we will be headed to Columbia as soon as we are released, that will be a whole new world as Cooper will start hours of PT and OT daily to get his body healed and mobile. But first the skin grafts.

Same prayer requests as yesterday,

Please pray for the surgeons

Please pray for the skin to take and no infections.

Please pray for pain control

And pray for tolerance , yesterday was a long day for Cooper with no food or water and he's going to do it again. Pray for good spirits!

Thank you ❤️

Psalm 73:26 - 'My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.'

Monday, November 11, 2024 at 6:09 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Surgery day.

Today is the day for skin grafts on his knee and thigh. We did find out last night his knee will be a 2 part surgery. Don’t know yet about the thigh. This will eliminate the wound vacs and it can’t come quick enough. His wound vac machine alarms have been going off indicating a blockage for the last 48hrs. Since midnight a new alarm has been going off and on and I’ve had to keep squeezing his tubes throughout the night to keep it from getting blocked and stop working. I know Cooper and I both can go the rest of our lives and never see another wound vac machine again.

The skin grafts should need about a week to heal and then we will see where we go from there.

Pray for the surgeons today, pray for the skin to take, pray for infection to stay away and pray for his pain to be under control.

Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 9:34 AM Mickie Prout Roy

The last 2 days have been good. ❤️ Cooper had a wound vac change on Thursday that he was really dreading due to the amount of pain it causes. A group of people worked together and came up with a plan to reduce the pain. He made it through and we found out that his thigh wound has finally healed enough to do the skin graft surgery. That will be taking place tomorrow. He will recover from that for 5-6 days and then I think we are getting our walking papers, where we go at that time is yet to be determined.

Coops had full body x rays on Friday. Everything is healing great! He can now put enough weight on his right leg to transport himself into a wheel chair and he can start putting some weight onto his left arm also.

The only thing we are still unsure of is his jaw. His mouth still won’t open. The surgeon still hasn’t responded to any request to come see him. An on call ENT did come check him out yesterday. He gave us some stretches to do for the jaw to see if that would help.

Cooper sat up in a chair yesterday for 2 hours!!! It’s the longest time ever and was so good to see him like that. Good things are happening. I feel like we are finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel here at Mercy. We will start a new tunnel somewhere else but that still means progress.

Please pray for the skin graft surgery tomorrow. Pray for the graft to take and no infections.

Please pray for his pain control.

Please pray for his jaw to loosen and relax on its own.

Thank you all! Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 10:20 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Can we just get some mighty prayer warriors today to pray for major pain control?

Whether it be through the doctors and nurses coming up with something amazing or God intervening super naturally. Please be praying between 11:30-1pm.

Thank you

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at 8:42 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Surgery yesterday went great! He no longer has his “monkey bars”.

Unfortunately this has also now caused a lot of pain in his knee whenever his leg is shifted.

He will start PT today, the surgeon said this will be painful. Just can’t seem to get away from the pain.

It looks like we are going to be here at least another 2 weeks. Not sure what is happening after that. There’s a possibility we will be sent home until he qualifies for rehab. He has to have some weight baring limbs and right now does not. But there’s also been some talk that because of the extent of his injuries we could get in earlier so they can start working on parts of the body that need to be moved.

Next surgery will be skin grafts for the back of his thigh and knee. Just waiting on the thigh injury to heal some more and fill in before they can do it. This is where the wound vacs are.

It will be pretty calm for the next little while. Other than the wound vac changes twice a week( they are excruciating 😭) there’s nothing planned until the skin graft surgery.

Please be praying for pain control.

Pray for peace of mind.

Monday, November 4, 2024 at 8:59 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Surgery tomorrow at 6:30am to remove the x fix from Coopers left leg. We are hoping this will help with pain and enable him to sit up better.

Please pray that everything goes well with the surgery ( the wire removal from his jaw has not gone the way we thought) and that he feels good tomorrow afterwards.

The last few days have been our usual roller coaster. But I want to just concentrate on the blessings we’ve seen/had since this all started.

Cooper is with us!!! ❤️

Cooper’s brother Carter got saved as well as a friend and a few others!

He’s had amazing surgeons.

He’s had some very good nurses and some of them are becoming friends!

People from literally all over the world are praying for him!

We’ve had sweet friends, business owners , schools and strangers doing fundraisers for us.

Both Brian’s job and my real estate brokerage have blessed us with to many things to count.

The man that preached a revival the night Cooper got saved has connected with Cooper and that was so exciting for him.

Because of that connection people from all over have been sending cards of encouragement. We love to see all the city and states the cards are from.

We had a very generous blessing from the Mercy caferteria.

So many family and friends visit and lift Coopers spirit as well as our own.

And answered prayers!

I’m know I’m forgetting lots but so much to be thankful for. Sometimes you just have to block out everything else and count your blessings!

Love to you all and THANK YOU so much for your prayers. You really will never know what it means to all of us.

Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 12:03 PM Mickie Prout Roy

We had the jaw wire removal yesterday. That surgery went well. We did discover that his jaw isn’t aligned or his teeth. We aren’t sure because we weren’t able to talk to the doctor. This is making it very hard for him to try to chew anything. His teeth which did not break or crack have also shifted quite a bit so we are looking into getting that fixed as soon as we can. Just have to have a conversation with that surgeon to figure what that looks like.

His trach was also taken out. He’s glad that’s gone but it’s thrown him for a loop that it’s not stitched closed. I guess it’s normal to let those close on their own.

Unfortunately his pain has not been controlled. Yesterday he was pretty uncomfortable. I’m hoping today will be better now that we can be back on schedule.

This morning I was reading to Cooper , Mathew chapter 21. We got to a passage (18-22)where Jesus changed a fig tree. The disciples were in awe when Jesus changed the tree right in front of them. Jesus said to them you have to have faith and you can do anything thing!

Faith in Jesus! Faith that Cooper will exceed all expectations!

We believe that God will continue to show up in big ways with Coopers journey. We aren’t going to listen to limitations and text books predictions. Coops has already shown he isn’t a textbook case! Situations might not end up the way we/he wanted or expected but God is not surprised and he’s not done with Cooper! I believe this with my whole heart. The wait is hard and the story’s not shared are harder, but I believe there’s a sweet victory down the road for him. God loves Cooper.

Please pray for pain control.

Please pray for clear direction on what/where to proceed on his left leg.

Please pray for Coopers spirit.

Thank you 😊

Friday, November 1, 2024 at 5:16 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Yesterday was a good day. We also got some answers.

Cooper has surgery today ( supposed to be at 2:30pm) to get the hard wires removed from his jaw and the rest of the wires out of his mouth. We are( HE is more than anyone else) very excited about this. I’ll be happy to see him at some point start eating. He’s lost a lot of weight and nutrition is so important for his recovery. We aren’t sure when he can start eating soft foods , he will have a swallow test( I think he’ll do fine with that) and we’ve heard it will be hard to move his mouth due to the muscles and tendons not being used for so long so it will depend on that.

Trauma team came and checked his knee and thigh wounds. They were able to take the wound vac off the knee and just do a special dressing. Thigh is not ready. They are hoping knee and thigh will be ready to remove wound vacs and do final skin grafts not next week but sometime the week after.

X fix that is drilled into his ankle , shin and femur is coming out Tuesday morning( did you hear the angels sing just then!) Coops calls it his monkey bars. This is actually starting to really hurt his thigh and one of the pin sights is kind of tearing the thigh hole whenever he is shifted, so Tuesday can’t come quick enough.

We got some great news as far as surgeries that will bring some closure to some of these injuries. But some of the surgeries are just one step of several.

We also got some news that hurt our hearts a bit and we are processing and praying about how best to proceed.

Praising in the storm IS possible but boy is it hard.

Cooper has already beat so many odds. I know he will continue to show everyone what God can do.

Please pray for the surgery today. Pray for the doctors, pray for Coopers jaw and teeth. None of his teeth were broken and as far as they could tell even chipped , I’m wondering if we will need braces or something after this is done. His jaw has been shifted a lot. So we shall see.

As always continue to pray for his wounds. Infection seems to be doing well and they are talking about taking him off the IV antibiotics. I’m trying not to be nervous about that.

Please pray for his pain control. He is doing slightly better but he’s never able to make it to the end. He’s always hurting pretty bad before he gets his next dose and I know they won’t keep him on this schedule for long. Hopefully when the xfix and wound vacs are off it will help lessen his pain.

Thank you for praying and for your positive encouragements.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 10:01 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Your prayers were heard! Cooper had such a better day yesterday. 😊 Pain was advocated by his nurse and changes were made. Hoping it stays that way.

We were told Cooper will be going in for surgery on Friday to remove the hard wire in his jaw. This will actually remove the wires in his mouth. He will have some bands in and this will start his healing process to using his mouth and eating.

The only thing Cooper can talk about eating is watermelon and grapes. 🤷‍♀️ lol. We aren’t sure when that gets to happen but we will make sure he gets the best watermelon and grapes we can find!!

We should also be finding out tomorrow what the game plan is for the knee, skin grafts and x fix removal. Big day tomorrow.

We’ve had some issues with his wound vac system. So thankful for advanced technology and the people who run it. We know this system has saved his leg, but I can promise you we won’t be sorry to see it go!!

We had great nurses yesterday! Our day nurse broke Cooper out and took him into the sun. Cooper just laid there and soaked up that sweet sunshine. I felt like God was shinning his goodness down on him at that moment!

Our night nurse got his pain meds switched out and we are hoping today will be more manageable. He slept good. Day time will be a new test.

Thank you all for praying! We certainly felt and saw the goodness of those prayers.

Starting week 6 seems crazy, but here we go!

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 5:39 AM Mickie Prout Roy

I tried to update yesterday several times , each time I got interrupted and then the day wasn’t going as planned and if I’m being honest when I tried to finish the update I was having a hard time being positive.

There have been so many blessings and praises through out this entire situation , to many to count in fact.

But yesterday was to much. And ended awful.

Not enough communication. To many cooks in the kitchen and no one talking to each other. That’s how mistakes happen, that’s how patients needs get ignored.

Yesterday was 10 yrs long.

We are not moving on to the next care unit. We will stay here. The care facility decided Cooper had to many surgeries coming up over the next few weeks and didn’t want to do the back and forth. We are fine with that decision, we just wished it hadn’t been made after we had packed up all our things from the last 5 weeks and loaded them into our vehicles. 

We were told he was getting his jaw wires taken off yesterday and he was very excited for that. Imagine his disappointment when they removed only 3 wires and replaced them with tiny rubber bands so he is still wired shut just with rubber instead of wires. There was no swallow test given like we were told there would be because there was no chance he would be able to move his mouth and try to eat anything soft, not to mention there’s no way to fit anything in between the rubber bands. This is where a gross lack of communication break down happened but that has been very typical from this particular medical area.

There were several other dark spots in the day. The worst being pain. It’s just not under control. Maybe Springfield isn’t the place for him. It feels like at this point we should have a better handle on it and not chasing it.

Our male nurse was a warrior for Cooper all day and worked so hard to fix all the problems. He advocated for him on several different issues that were going wrong and we were very grateful for him.

The bright spot in the day was Coopers Bible study group coming to meet with him. The Barbershop men. It’s a large group but only a few were able to come. That brought joy to Coops heart.

Yesterday was 10yrs long. But thankfully it’s over and we will start a fresh day and pray it’s better.

Please pray for pain control.

Please pray for decisions a team of doctors are getting together to make on what to do with Coopers knee.

Please pray for the doctors and nurses here at Mercy. They don’t get people having their best day. And cranky people don’t tend to show a lot of grace and mercy when a doctor or nurse acts like a human and makes a mistake.

Thank you for praying , we still need them so much!

Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 7:31 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Coops had a good day but a rough night. Pain is not under control. There is no way to get comfortable. It’s not just one area it’s all over and in different degrees. Needing to have his legs shifted to help relieve some pain still causes pain. Touching the pillows we have stuffed all around him to prop him up or help with pressure points can start to feel like concrete. It never goes away, it just gets more manageable , but a lot of the times it’s not manageable at all and that is exhausting. Please pray for pain control. Or just for the Lord to intervene in a super natural way that is unexplainable and take away the pain. He needs relief.

The pesky infection has manifested its way into a new area on his left leg. He has an incision along his calf about 8inches long and it’s now showing a bit of infection in one area. They are adding another type of antibiotic to the one he is already on. Please pray for the infections to go away.

Thank you all.

Friday, October 25, 2024 at 7:14 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper continues to move forward with his progress!

He had another wounded vac change yesterday, the doctor said his leg is looking really good. He thinks they will leave the wound vac on for 2 more weeks before doing the skin graft transfer.

He will get his jaw wires off Monday!! Woot woot!! That information put some sparkle in his eyes! They take the wires off, put rubber bands in for a week or 2, then he’ll have an out patient surgery to remove some hard wire from the bone in his mouth. I’m not really clear on when he can actually start eating real food. He’ll have to have some speech therapy and pass a swallow test.

They told us we will be moving on to the acute care center on Monday. So we will be graduating from Mercy! 😂 They estimate we will be at our next place about a month before we go on to the rehab center. Cooper still has some surgeries in the works so he will do those as an out patient.

He had an MRI on his left leg yesterday. That was interesting with all the metal in his body especially the X Fix in the leg. We don’t have the results of that yet. This will determine how to treat the knee going forward.

He’s still on the IV antibiotics and they told me yesterday he will be for 2 more weeks. But they seem to be working!!

I think the next month or so will probably be pretty boring for him. Hes at a place where he’s very alert and aware but can’t doing anything but lay in a bed. He only has the use of one arm and his vision isn’t back to normal yet. He can’t even sit up in a real sitting position and isn’t at a point of being able to do real physical therapy.

Please pray for a super natural feeling of calm and peace , as his body continues to take its time healing the way it needs to.

As always just keep praying for continued healing of his body , and spirit.

Please pray for the doctors as they are determining the best course of action on how to move forward on his knee.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 8:06 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper had a good day yesterday 😊

He had PT for the first time in his left arm that was broken in 3 places and his hand. They took the split off also. Because his hand was sewn in place his shoulder developed frozen shoulder, I was really worried about how that PT session would go. I texted a group some people asking them to pray when it started. Not only did the therapist say it went well but Cooper said it went well and that it actually felt good to stretch his shoulder. He lifted his arm several times on his own! 🙌🏻

They took the huge bandaged off his right ankle and all the staples. It’s been covered up since surgery. All looks well and it’s healing great. They put it in a splint, we did end up having to take that off in the night as it was causing him quite a bit of pain, I think we will need to talk about working his was up to full time wear on it.

His left leg continues to provide him his biggest source of discomfort. The wound vacs are causing issues with him laying down and his tailbone is very tender now. Finding comfort laying down 24/7 is becoming an issue. With that said, the wound vacs seem to be working and the areas look good. He will stay on the IV antibiotics for 2 more weeks.

There was some talk that maybe his jaw wires would come out in a week. That would be amazing.

I’m so happy that I get to say all these positive reports 4 weeks later. On this day 4 weeks ago the day looked much different. It some ways I feel like we’ve been here forever and yet when I look at how far he’s come it doesn’t seem like that long at all. Thank you Lord

Please be praying for his pain control.

Please pray for his spirit

Please pray for the tissue to continue to heal

Coops continues to invite people to church. It makes me chuckle when doctors , nurses, aids, it doesn’t matter, walk in doing their thing and I hear him say, “ so do you attend church any where?”

After hearing him do this exact situation yesterday, I told him he was an inspiration to me!! I just love him so much ❤️

Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 6:35 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Yesterday was a hard day.

It made me realize how many choices were taken away from Cooper on September 24th.

How many realities he has to deal with, a new future he didn’t get to choose that he has to except.

As his family , from the beginning , we have been dealing with all the trauma of the wreck and the surgeries, the fear that came with the unknowns that were happening. In the beginning Cooper got to be unaware of the danger he was in. Even when he became more awake I was able to shield him for a while and let him process bit by bit what all was happening. But now I can’t do that. Bandages are coming off. Doctors are having conversations TO him, long term plans are being made. And so reality is crashing all around.

It’s very easy for us to see the carnage of the wreck( I finally looked at the photo of the car 😭) and see the miracle that Cooper is today. It’s easy for us to have seen the damage that was done to his body when those hero’s brought him to the hospital and worked on him for hours saving his life and we see the beauty he is now. But Cooper only remembers being with his buddy’s at a pastors convention and then waking up at the hospital to his new reality. His whole world changed in an instant.

As he heals, this new reality will start to reveal more of itself to him over the next few weeks.

I know he feels like God will use this accident for his Glory, we have already seen it happen, but there is still so much hurt, pain and adjustment that Cooper has to get through. Yesterday was hard. For Cooper, it was just the beginning.

Monday, October 21, 2024 at 5:14 AM Mickie Prout Roy

We had a blessed uneventful Sunday. Cooper spent the day healing, watched church services on the I Pad, took several naps, had some visitors and full body x rays.

We do not have the results of the X-rays yet but his arm, right leg/ankle and hip/pelves surgery’s are all 1-2 weeks old so they needed to check progress of the bones.

They might take the wrappings off his hand today. If not today then for sure tomorrow. There will be a lot to process for Cooper I’m sure. Please be praying for his transition with that. And as always for the skin graft to be healthy.

As always keep praying for that thigh and knee wound. Pray the wound vacs are doing their jobs and infection is going away. He ran a low grade fever after surgery for a few hours and then it went away so that was awesome!

Coopers older brother Trevor lives in Tennessee, him and his wife Hannah flew in the night of the accident. Hannah had to go back last week but Trevor leaves to go back today. It’s going to be rough for Trevor to leave his brother here. It was hard for him to send his wife back home and he has a lot of school to catch back up on. Please be praying for Trevor over the next few days as he adjust to not being here. I know it’s going to be hard on his heart.

You all are amazing. Your cards, support, and love you shown us has known no bounds. Thank you !

Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 6:17 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper went into surgery shortly after I sent in his update yesterday. Other than it taking a lot longer than expected it went very well. He can’t really move his arm( it’s been stuck in the same place for 3 weeks and is broken in 3 places ) but he still felt the freedom of not having it propped up on the beach ball and pulling on his stomach. ?

They were able to put wound vacs in both his knee and thigh wounds. To be honest even though it’s been explained very well, my brain still does not fully understand why this is a good thing, but everyone is happy that his tissue was in good enough shape to to be able to do that so that means I am also. ?

His leg continues to be his biggest source of pain and discomfort. Even after his ankle surgery he has never mentioned it. It’s always the leg. His hand has given him some discomfort but it’s always joining the leg. ?

Please pray for pain control ?

Please be praying for continued healing of all the tissues and skin grafts and upcoming skin grafts. The doctor said his nutrition is such a big deal in his healing. You can only get so many calories on a feeding tube and his body burns a lot healing all his injuries. The doctor mentioned that although Cooper is healing , it’s just not at a very fast rate. I theorized yesterday after that conversation that maybe since Cooper took such good care of himself and purposely took in a lot of calories to feed his workouts that maybe that was hurting his body more now since it came to a screeching halt. 🤷‍♀️ ?

Please be praying for his jaw. We are now hoping to get those wires off soon. I’m concerned about his teeth. Surprisedly they said none of his teeth were damaged( crazy!!) but now they’ve been wired for so long I’m worried about cavities and all the other things that come with bad oral care. We have a bit longer before the wires come off. These things can be fixed but it’s also more procedures and we would not be able to get to a dentist for a long time. ?

Well praise the Lord for a great surgery and we get to check another item off the list!!! ?

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy some time in the house of the Lord. ?

Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 6:17 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Today we have the hand surgery. Originally they told us we could go in the afternoon, last night they said we could go as early as 6am. They are currently doing his bath but we know it won’t be 6, they would have gotten him earlier.

Please be praying for the surgeon and for the success of the surgery. We seem to be having issues with skin grafts wanting to take.

Yesterday we were told that Coopers knee now had the same infection in it that his thigh had. That of course was alarming. But the doctor said he goes off sight and the skin still looks good. There is talk about putting a wound vac in the thigh and knee today while they have him under for the hand. This will help with drainage.

Yesterday Brian and I went and toured the acute care center that Cooper will be in next, maybe as early as next week. We spoke with their wound care nurse which gave us a lot of peace. He would be there but still have to have surgeries as an out patient and honestly that feels weird to us. It’s a lot of adjustments. This is where he would stay until he’s healed enough for rehab.

His left eye is opening up a lot now and he’s seeing really well. He’s been able to use his phone with his good hand and text friends. I know this gives him a sense of freedom and feeling of normalcy.

Cooper gave his life to Christ at a revival a few years back when a man by the name of Tim Lee came to speak. Tim lost both his legs when he walked through a minefield in the Vietnam war but shared a story about his granddaughter that really spoke to Cooper. Through a chain of people Tim was contacted He called Cooper. They were able to speak , Tim prayed with Cooper and as some of you have probably already seen ( I do not know details of the wreck and have only accidentally seen a pic for a split second of the car, I protect myself from any of it for now ) Tim has now shared Coopers story. It was a sweet moment for Cooper to get to speak with Tim.

Please pray today and throughout the days for the surgery and the skin grafts to heal. For the infections to keep responding to the antibiotics( Cooper hasn’t had a fever in over 24hrs!!)

Please pray for US as we start to make decisions

On where we go from here as insurances starts to squawk at us about THIER opinions. We were sent to Mercy because it was the closest ER, but we are Cox network. As time starts to go by we will eventually have to start changing surgeons and that in self is hard as we’ve come to know and trust these doctors.

As always, thank you!!

Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 6:47 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper has an infection in his thigh. This injury covers the entire back of his thigh from knee to bum. The injury is currently open still. They closed it in more the last surgery but were not able to close it completely due to the size. It needs skin. A few days ago we found out it had an infection. 2 day ago they called in an infectious disease doctor to weigh in on what's going on because Cooper continues to run a fever. They ran some test. Several came back negative. One came back positive. They switched out the antibiotic they were crushing up to put in his feeding tube and now he's on IV antibiotics. As of yesterday the infectious disease doctor said he will probably be on that a few weeks. Since starting the new antibiotics his fever has been very low grade or gone. Progress!! Skin for thigh wound and knee wound is looking good.

We are scheduled for hand surgery Saturday. The hand has been unique. Coops lost part of his left hand in the accident. In an effort to save the rest of it they needed to created good blood flow. The doctor created a flap of skin from Coopers stomach, and attached it to the injured part of his hand. This created a live skin graft that was constantly feeding healthy blood to the damaged hand. So his hand has been attached to his stomach this last several weeks. To say things created challenges in an already challenging situation is an understatement. His hand had to be positioned a certain way this entire time to not cut off blood flow to the skin graft. It's been propped up with an inflated beach ball , and/or pillow to keep it in position. Every time he was moved, shifted, went to surgery, bathroom, bathed, dressing changed any movement, we had to monitor and reposition the hand to keep that blood flow good. We are ALL very excited to have this surgery on Saturday, Cooper most of all. But it of course is not without risk. We could have done all of this and the graft not take. Please be praying so hard that the surgery and the graft are successful.

We are looking at 2 weeks to get his jaw wires out. He was very excited to hear that.

There are so many positives that are happening. Cooper IS healing. 3 weeks ago looks like a whole different universe from what we live in today. But we have a few more scary unknowns to get through.

Please be praying for his infection to keep responding to the medication.

Please be praying for the thigh, knee and hand skin grafts to be healthy and live.

Please pray for the surgery on Saturday, Cooper and the surgeons.

Cooper got to go outside again yesterday!! ☀️

Thank you all for your continued support of Cooper and our family.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 6:49 AM Mickie Prout Roy

I had a feeling the other day when I made my last update that things would be a bit chaotic thats why I said I might not update for a bit. At my last update Cooper had to have another surgery because his knee muscle had died. They took it out and we were all in big prayer over the tissue staying healthy. The next day the dr came in, checked it said it looked good. I couldn’t celebrate. I’ve learned to be very cautious with the good news, I of course was SO thankful though. . An hour later we got news that Cooper had infection in his thigh wound from the culture they had taken from that surgery 1 day BEFORE the knee emergency. So that’s where we are now. Still praying for the knee tissue to survive and so far at each check it is looking good. Haven’t had the morning check so it actually hurts my stomach to say its looking good. And hitting his thigh infection hard with antibiotics and both areas with lots of dresssing changes. His hand is looking good and there is talk about doing surgery on it Saturday. Not sure what the status on his jaw is but he’s talking better even with the wires so I’m assuming there will be talk about removing the wires soon also. Please be praying for that infection to respond to the antibiotics and to leave all of his body once and for all. Please be praying for his tissue to remain healthy. Thank you all

Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 10:57 AM Mickie Prout Roy

I feel like I need to update again since the last 24hrs I was asking for more prayer. The muscle and tissue on Coopers knee reconstruction had decided to fail. Literally over night. One day it was great, the next day it was dying. They had to remove the muscle. It’s complicated. Today the new area looks good. The dr said it’s a day by day situation. Today we have victory. Tomorrow they will put a wound vac back in from when his thigh and hip tissue was failing 2 days ago. They are working hard to do everything they can. I know you all are lifting Cooper up, please don’t stop. Please please don’t stop. I probably won’t update for a bit as hopefully we will just be praying and waiting for healing to take place. Thank you all

Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 5:16 AM Mickie Prout Roy

We still need your prayers in a big way. Cooper had an unexpected surgery on his leg last night. Today will tell us a lot. Please continue to pray for his leg, the tissue and muscle to heal and be healthy.

Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 3:13 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Urgent prayer request: We need prayer right now for Coopers left leg. He's going back in for surgery. Please please please

Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 6:27 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Coops had his ankle surgery yesterday. I actually said to him this will be easy peasy compared to what you’ve been through. I was wrong.

The ankle surgery itself went great. More screws and plates but he should heal nicely. While they had him under they decided to take off his dressings around his thigh and knee injuries on his left leg. Things didn’t look good. Another doctor was called in, another surgery form was signed. They opened everything up looking for infection , it ended up looking good inside , they did take some cultures to send off and put him back together but he isn’t healing quite like they want him to on the outside. Some new protocol were put in place.

We had some scary moments again waiting to see what the outcome was going to be. Wondering how they would want to deal with it.

Coopers had some trouble keeping his pain under control. That’s causing his heart rate to run high. Still this morning. His fever is back and it’s high.

There are SO many factors going on here. So many puzzle pieces being stitched together and difficult situations in his healing process because of the amount of his injuries , some that I haven’t shared on here. Quite frankly it’s just overwhelming.

I feel like I could probably go on a bit more than I should at this point so I’ll just close on a happy note. Coopers brother Carter is in his senior year of football. They played last night. I wasn’t going to go but at the last minute and with Cooper pushing me out the door I went. So good to see my sweet Carter play and be out in the fresh air. Cooper also had some great babysitters. ❤️

Prayer request

More than ever pray for healing on his leg. Pray that infection stays away and the skin is healthy.

Pray for his hand to heal faster. We’d like to do that surgery earlier. Dr needs at least another week, he’d like longer. I’d like less. God can work miracles.

Pray for that pesky fever to exit the building and never come back!

Pray for his pain and comfort.

And please pray for his spirit.

Thank you ❤️

Friday, October 11, 2024 at 6:16 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper has surgery on his right ankle at 7:20 this morning. He has had an XFix( metal cage,have no idea if this is how that’s spelled) drilled into the tibia this whole time

The dr who saved his left leg is doing that surgery and he will be checking out that leg while he is under and seeing where we go from here. There is currently a X fix drilled into the femur and shin bones of the left leg and will be for some time.

We are in his new room. We where able to put up all the posters his friends, small group boys and boys camp boys have made so it looks very cheerful and he has a large window he can see outside and get some sunshine!! That sunshine is going to be so important over the next few weeks.

Cooper ran a fever yesterday afternoon. Came out of no where. Started out low grade then started climbing. He’s out of the stage where the trauma should be causing fevers ( so I was told) they did labs and x rays. X rays came back clear. Labs have to wait as they are trying to grow a bacteria. It came and went throughout the day. During the evening he had a little episode that he had had several times in ICU that was always puzzling with a lot of shaking and sweating, loss of color they never could figure out. He hadn’t done that since the first week and then did it last night. But by bedtime seemed to level out and was ok. It’s 5:40 am now, they’ve come in to prep for surgery, fever is almost gone and he’s doing well.

I feel like I need to clarify something I said yesterday in my post. I was trying to relay a funny story about Cooper being mortified about me disagreeing with the doctor. The story was about Coopers reaction not about ME being correct over the Dr who was only mistaken because of the angle he was standing at, which he quickly figured out the moment he moved. That doctor and every doctor the Lord has blessed us with has been absolutely brilliant on this journey ( why do we say journey instead of nightmare??). They have saved his leg, are currently saving what’s left of one of his hands and still fixing his body and face.

I will forever be greatful for what the doctors have done to help save Cooper.

Please pray for the surgery today

Pray for Cooper to respond well after surgery. He seems to have had a rough go after the other ones BUT this is a simple screw some bones together compared to the other ones.

Pray for the source of that fever to be gone!!

And as always pray for continued healing over all and his spirit.

Thank you

Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 6:25 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper got his nose splints out yesterday. It wasn’t fun but it was fast so that was good.

They did another CT scan of his face and all his fractures are healing nicely. 😊

The doctor who worked on his hand also came in and said his hand is looking really good. I was able to breathe a bit easier about that. Please pray specifically for his hand, we will not be out of the woods with that darn hand for 2 1/2 more weeks. Funny story: The doctor told us it had to be positioned a certain way for blood flow, took a pic so we could mimic it. The arm is also broken in 3 different places so this can be a challenge with him being shifted and settled. I was checking the hand, realized it wasn’t right, the nurse and I were trying to get it positioned correctly which involves a beach ball and pillow( yes) I was saying no that’s not looking right when the surgeon walked in out of the blue at 10:30 at night!! He was happy to see us working together to position the hand correctly. But I asked him what he thought and he said yeah I think it looks good. I said no it’s not right, Cooper said Mom! He was so embarrassed that I had disagreed ( completely politely ) with the doctor. Who by that time had walked around to a different angle and said nope she’s right it’s not good. We all got a chuckle out of it. 😊

For those that followed along yesterday but didn’t get the update we will be moving to the step down. We had the meeting, it went well, they made us feel much better about his care and what they will do to still care for him properly. Some of you reached out and encouraged me to keep advocating for him, I absolutely will, thank you for the encouragement. We feel good about this at this time.

Friday is his ankle surgery so today is more of trying to keep swelling out of that ankle.

Coughing for him is good but coughing with fractured ribs and quite frankly a broken body is painful so please pray for his coughing to be under control and a good balance to keep his lungs healthy but not excessive for his pain control.

We are thankful for you all. So many people out there praying , supporting us with fundraising , meals, gifts, cards, words of encouragements , it’s humbling to see the kindness and love of friends, family, community and strangers.

Thank You

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 5:36 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper had a great day yesterday!

I’m going to report nothing but praises because sometimes we just need to concentrate on the positives!

He got his face stitches out! When they were done he said “one step forward” ❤️

They took some bandages off his legs and are letting them get some air!

And the biggest praise of all, drum roll please ……. HE GOT TO GO OUTSIDE!!! Our wonderful nurses unhooked everything and rolled his entire bed right outside!!! He got fresh air and after 14 days ( how is that even possible) some sun on his face!!! Isn’t that the best!! ❤️

Take some time today , go outside for a few minutes, enjoy the fresh air, thank God for the ability to do so and then please continue to pray for Coopers recovery. He’s got a big week ahead of him. You all are so appreciated. 😊

Monday, October 7, 2024 at 8:13 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Coops spent a lot of time just healing yesterday. Slept a lot. They did not do PT. They are trying to get his right ankle ready for surgery this week , it needs to lose a bit more swelling to do that. So they kept it elevated the entire day and that meant no PT. The ankle was the least of his injuries when he came in so they set it by drilling some metal plates into the bone to keep it stable while they concentrated on the other areas of his body. We are hoping Tuesday or Wednesday will be the magic day.

His fever continues to come and go but it’s stayed low and manageable , I’m so thankful for that.

Prayer request

Please pray for his over all continued healing. It looks like we will be in ICU for another 2-3 weeks. Seems impossible to think about. We have to have a conversation today with Cooper about where we are going after we leave here which isn’t home. It’s going to break his heart. He really wants to go home.

Please be praying about upcoming surgeries. We know for sure about the ankle but they may go in on his left knee also. We might find out about that hours before they take him.

Please pray about his care, we’ve had some fantastic nurses. The out come of his recovery literally depends on total strangers doing their absolute best job. I’ve never had to think about that before and honestly it’s pretty darn scary leaving one of the most precious and important beings in MY life in the hands of people I don’t know and trust that they care enough to go the extra mile at all times.

Cooper is healing!! Gloria a Dios!!!

Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 8:03 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Yesterday was an ok day.

He was more uncomfortable yesterday. I think his body is starting to recognize it’s been laying in the same position for 12 days.

His cough seems to be getting a bit worse, deeper.

He had more leg discomfort.

We ended the day with a fever.

But he seemed to rest well throughout the night ❤️

He got to drink some broth his aunt and uncle brought him from Nakato( they strained it so it was just broth) he thought that was delicious!

Prayer request :

Please prayer about that fever and where it came from.

Please pray for his left leg, it seems to be going backwards a bit and is giving him more trouble.

Blood pressure

Possible ear infection we are checking on today.

Please pray for

Coopers spirit, his mountains are big, the journey is long, and the reality is he’s doing it alone no matter who is with him. We will never be able to understand what he’s going through , the fear he feels with having his world yanked out from underneath him. It’s not faithless to have fear and worry, it’s human. I’m praying the Lord will send a group of men who can physically rally and lift Cooper up during this time, be his rock while he is weak, let him be vulnerable in his fears and worries without judgement, Cooper is strong spiritually but I have no doubt there will be moments when he feels weak, that’s when I know the Lord will send those men to wrap Himself around Cooper.

I’m still in awe of all of YOU. What warriors you are. We continue to tell Cooper bits and pieces and I’m still trying to get through all my PMs and text messages. THANK YOU ❤️

Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 8:02 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper had a good 24 hrs!!!

He sat in a chair!!! It looked like a NASA space chair but he was moved from his bed to it and he was in a different position!!! 🙌🏻

He woke up this morning after the first good nights sleep and SAID he had a good nights sleep( by the way I felt like I had a good night sleep also so thank you for those that prayed for me to!)

I feel calm this morning and some peace in my heart for the first time since we got that call at 10:30 Wednesday night. ❤️

Prayer request :

They have to move his pic line. Normally this would be moved to the other arm and that’s not possible. Pray they find a good vein.

Blot clot to continue to dissolve

Surgery’s are happening again next week, pray for wisdom for the surgeons going forward.

His left eye

Coopers peace of mind with all of the changes and challenges he is facing.

Friday, October 4, 2024 at 9:25 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Yesterday was such a great day. Cooper still has a trach but he got to drink water from a straw! He has been desperate for water so his joy was contagious. He was able to drink other clear liquids after he passed that swallow test but water remained his drink of choice. So thankful for that milestone.

He asked about the wreck. The person who hit him. I explained the details. Cooper said he wanted to meet the man who hit him, I asked why? He said so he could tell him he loved him and he knew it was an accident. 😭Coops was upset to hear the man had passed. It was a hard conversation.

Yesterday was a full day with them adding his first day of PT. He sat up in bed. He did well.

He was in good spirits all day and we all were in good spirits.

But then night came. And I am reminded that we are still in ICU. The night did not go well.

So here are my prayer request for you amazing prayer warriors.

Please pray for his blood pressure.

Please pray for his leg and hand.

Please pray about the blot clot

Please pray about the pneumonia

Please pray about hallucinations/ delirium

Please pray for him to get good sleep

Please pray for him to accept the changes that are slowly becoming his reality the more aware he becomes.

Praises! Cooper is with us!! He IS improving!

He got to speak to us! He got to drink water!

He sat up!

Thank you everyone. We truly love you all.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 11:53 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Today marked 8days in ICU. 8 days since time stood still. Cooper seems light years away from where he started and yet seems light years away from the end of his journey.

We had a major victory today. But I also have major prayer request. I’ll start with those so I can end on the victory.

Cooper has developed a blot clot in the bad leg. Pray for that to resolves itself with the medication. He now has pneumonia. He’s unable to sit up and we can’t even rotate him very much with the special circumstances of his hand. They are hitting it hard with antibiotics so please pray it doesn’t get worse. He is hallucinating pretty bad. Side effect of the pain meds he’s been on. He was pretty manic today with it and it was hard to deal with and hard to watch because it was all very real to him. Please pray the medicine which has been stopped, will leave his system soon.

Time for the victory part of the day!!

They were able to take Cooper off the ventilator! And to add icing to that cake, they put a special cap in his trach which allowed him to communicate with us!!! ❤️His jaw is wired shut so it’s not without its challenges, but we heard our sweet boy talk today. Hearing him say I love you never sounded to sweet.

As ever, please continue to pray and specially for the request I mentioned above. Thank you!

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 12:45 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Yesterday was hard and scary. But by the end of the day he was doing better. We rejoice in that. So much to pray for , I’ll just keeping asking, please don’t stop praying.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 6:01 AM Mickie Prout Roy

He had his facial reconstruction surgery yesterday evening. It went well.

He ran a pretty high fever though out the night. There’s a balance they are having to find. He’s had a lot of medicine that’s hard on his liver and kidneys so they are not wanting to give him a lot of certain ones but we couldn’t ice him because he’s had so much surgery and has so many different areas that need good blood flow, the ice would interfere with the healing process. They finally got it down.

As he woke up through out the night and this morning he’s indicated he’s in a lot of pain. His left leg is probably starting to give out nerve pain and he’s very uncomfortable.

Please pray for his pain, pray that his body fights off the fever. Pray for his lungs. He’s starting to cough a lot. Between his broken ribs, collapsed lung and the trach, the coughing is painful. But we need him to keep doing it. Please pray specifically for his left leg. He feels like it’s burning so we know that’s nerve pain. After all of this, watching him hurt so much is unbearable.

Monday, September 30, 2024 at 4:21 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Prayer request for Cooper: They are doing the facial surgery today. Not only is it a lot but there are other contributing factors that will make this difficult. Please be praying for Cooper, and the surgeon. Thank you

Monday, September 30, 2024 at 8:26 AM Mickie Prout Roy

The surgery was extensive yesterday and for the first time we are having a hard time keeping on top of his pain. Please pray for pain control.

We were told at 7am he was having his face surgery. At 8am they told us they were probably going to wait till tomorrow but that it could change after talking to the trauma team.

We’ve had to have some hard conversations this morning. He was wanting to know more about what the surgeries were for. It’s a fine line between wanting to be honest and wanting to protect him while he’s still so fragile. Please keep praying.

Monday, September 30, 2024 at 1:22 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Post surgery update on Cooper

I won’t get into the complexity of the surgery’s Cooper went through today. But they were tricky, outside of the normal box of surgery and complicated. Right now he is resting comfortably , blood pressure is somewhat ok, and his fever is manageable. PRAISE THE LORD!! I’m still going to ask you to pray, the risk of infection and surgery failure is so high.

But I also want to just give out the praise that right now something scary and hard went great!!

Thank you all so much for your prayers. What a village Cooper has. We are all so blessed!

Sunday, September 29, 2024 at 12:41 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Immediate prayer request. They will be taking Cooper back for what was supposed to be 1 risky surgery and now it’s 3. They are trying so hard to save Coopers limbs. Please keeping praying.

Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 4:24 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Reflection on Cooper-

I'm sitting here with my sweet Coops, and one of his favorite sayings keeps coming to mind, a saying that was on repeat Wednesday as we wondered if we would ever see him alive.

"To die is to Gain"

He would say this everytime I would tell him to be safe as he left the house and sometimes just to irritate me when we would be talking about him doing something stupid! Lol.

This comes from Philippians 1:21 For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Paul was saying , yes I'm here preaching and teaching the word but if I should die, I'll be with my savior so it's not death , it's victory I've gained, I'm not afraid to die.

Cooper believed this with his whole heart. I KNOW he did because we've actually had conversations about him not being afraid of death, this place on earth is temporary.

I believe with my whole being that Cooper is in the will of God. I believe that even if God decided to take him, it's for Coopers benefit.

I won't like that decision. I'll be devastated, and broken in a way I'm not sure I'd fully recover from. But that's because I love him so much. Not because I don't have faith in Jesus. I might even be mad for awhile and that's ok because God is big and he can handle anything I throw at him.

I believe Cooper was on crusade to help win so many souls to Christ that the devil couldn't stand it and had to stop him. Drs said he shouldn't have survived. He should be brain dead and he should have spinal injuries. BUT GOD!

Look at how much his story has already been shared and so many people have been able to see this man, our son, and how he has been a warrior for sharing Christ's love with EVERYONE he comes across. People are already hearing about the love of God and Cooper hasn't even begun to share what God is doing now and we believe, continue to do with him and for him.

Christ died for you, Cooper believed this with his whole heart. He would want you to know that it doesn't matter who you are, what you did( does not matter) Christ died for you, so YOU could live eternally with him if you CHOOSE to. You have to ask him into your heart, you have to recognize the fact that you aren't perfect , and you need a Savior to navigate this crazy world.

This isn't a sit on the pew type belief. I'm talking about a life changing , people can tell there's something different about you type of change.

I'm praying with every fiber of my body that God still needs Cooper here on earth for a long time. But his story isn't over, no matter what happens.

We should all have faith like Cooper and we should want to share it with everyone we meet, like Cooper. Because it's that important. We have many many many reasons to believe that the Lord has protected him in so many ways. Maybe this accident had to happen so people could share posts about Cooper, loving the Lord, sharing his word and being a faithful, fruitful follower of Christ.

Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 11:29 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Prayer request for Cooper: We've hit some snags today and one of the urgent request is Coopers fever is high. Please pray for it to go down, for the drs to know medicine combos to use and for him to respond.

Friday, September 27, 2024 at 11:29 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Coops had very extensive surgery today , leg, hips, pelvis and arm. It went very well and he did well through the long procedure. Right now he’s in pain so his blood pressure and heart rate are high. They are giving him heavier sedation and more pain meds to calm it down. Please pray for his body to relax, for him to have a quiet night so his body can heal. There’s a possibility of another surgery tomorrow, we shall see.

Tonight Fair Grove played Clever in football. They had a moment of silence for Cooper. Cooper was # 1 Jersey and when he graduated he passed that number down to Carter. Carter stayed at the hospital with us and Cooper tonight, but they carried the # 1 jersey with the captains in honor of Cooper. After they prayed a rainbow broke out across the sky. What a sweet moment for us to see how both teams came together in support of our sweet Cooper.

Friday, September 27, 2024 at 11:59 AM Mickie Prout Roy

He was already been taken back this morning for a pretty extensive surgery. There are 3 different areas they are hoping to work on. This is a lot so if he starts to get in distress they will stop and start again tomorrow.

Please pray for Coopers healing and tolerance , infection and fever to stay away. Pray for the surgeons who told us they are having to make decisions on how to operate that might not be the normal way due to how much is wrong and what needs to be done first.

Thank you

#cooperstrongisaiah4110

Cooper was coherent this morning. This is the most awake we have had. He learned about the wreck and some other questions were answered. Cooper wrote on the pad of paper Gloria Dios- Glory to God

Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 10:58 PM Mickie Prout Roy

Cooper update: We had a small victory with muscle and tissue on Coopers left leg. It's hard to be excited about good news because it's been flipping on us but we are going to celebrate this victory and ask for you to pray the healing process will continue. He is scheduled for a few surgeries tomorrow but that has also changed several time today so we'll just wait to see what happens tomorrow. PLEASE keep praying!!! At a later time I look forward to sharing all the ways God has wrapped himself around Cooper starting with the very fact that he is still with us.

So many people are doing so many wonderful things for us, can't keep it all straight. You all are helping us through this and I can't wait to tell Cooper all about it. Thank you.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 10:49 PM Mickie Prout Roy

There are really no words to describe what the last 24hrs have been like. There are no words to describe seeing all the post,shares and status changes lifting Cooper Roy up! Seeing all the lives he has had an impact on, knowing you are praying for him and loving on him. I. Have. No. Words.

Thank You

PLEASE continue to pray for Coopers legs and left hand. Pray specifically for NO infection. Infection determines so many things. Pray for total healing in his body. Our God is a God of miracles and he needs one. Cooper has a lot of surgeries to get through. Please start praying for the surgeons and their teams.

We love you. 💜

#cooperstrongisaiah4110

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 4:15 AM Mickie Prout Roy

Our sweet Cooper was involved in a head on collision last night. He is currently in critical condition at Mercy. He desperately needs your prayers.

Celebrating the faith and support around Cooper Roy's story while glorifying God and sharing hope.