"... Ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille."

11/12/2004
Nikki and I traveled to Cleveland today, to attend the American Red Cross Hero awards. The ceremony was held at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown, a beautiful old hotel. The organizers were wonderful, going out of their way to make sure that Nikki was comfortable. As invited guests, we attended the VIP reception held before the ceremony. Nikki met a steady stream of local dignitaries and personages, all of whom were unfailingly kind and supportive.

Eventually, we were escorted to the banquet hall where the ceremony would be held. It was enormous, with seating for many hundreds of people. We were seated with Mike Melinis, the hero who helped to rescue Nikki back in July, along with his wife. The ceremony moved at a comfortable pace, and was well presented. After the great lunch, a video was shown, featuring each of the 17 recognized heroes and a bit about their stories. Each hero received a copy of this video for their own The heroes also received beautiful American Red Cross plaques, along with signed documents from local congressmen and the mayor of Cleveland. All told, we both had a very pleasant day as guests at the event.

Tonight, Cleveland's NBC 3 TV showed their story of Mike's rescue of Nikki. Mike got some very good footage here, and Nikki also represented herself well. Obie Shelton of channel 3 did a fine job with this feature. I've included links to both stations news stories, at the top of this page. We've been very happy with the news stories done by the Columbus and Cleveland NBC stations.

We were both glad that we were able to witness Mike receiving the reward that he so deserved. Naturally, we'll continue to stay in touch with Mike and his family going forward. I'm sure there'll be more meetings between us in the future, as Nikki continues to recover.

11/09/2004
Just a brief one tonight. This evening, a local NBC news crew came to our home to interview Nikki. This came about in relation to the award ceremony for one of her rescuers, being held in Cleveland on Friday. NBC 4 in Columbus and NBC 3 in Cleveland did a joint story on Nikki and rescuer Mike Melinis. Each station will share it's footage with the other, and both stations will run the feature this evening on their 11pm news. Both stations are usually good about putting their features on their web pages, so take a look there, if you can't see the newscast tonight.

The whole process went pretty well. The crew was polite and considerate of and interested in Nikki. My only gripe is that TV can't resist looking for a negative side to every story. When the crew first arrived here, they noticed the For Sale in our yard. One of the first questions asked of me was whether the house is being sold due to hardship caused by Nikki's accident (it's not). When the reporter discovered that Nikki's insurance ran out this month, I got questions about how the bills will be paid (Medicaid- I hope). During my interview, the reporter asked "but aren't you pissed?"- at life in general, I guess she meant (I'm not). I hope that the tone of the story is a positive one, but you never know until you see the final edit.

The crew had also asked if they could film Nikki's dressing change, which was going on when they arrived. Nope, I replied, too much like exhibitionism, with no real purpose. I explained that she's completely nude during the change, and that most of her dressings are on or near private places. Nikki did her interview wearing a halter top, though, in order to provide a good look at a lot of her damage. She also demonstrated various exercises that she does, and I think the crew saw more than enough to satisfy themselves.

Nikki did very well, even though she was quite nervous about the camera. She got emotional when speaking of rescuer Mike Melinis and her accident, and still handled herself well. Her energy and enthusiasm came through during her segment, which should make for a positive showing.

In non-TV news today, I saw Nikki's recent surgical sites for the first time. Ouch. The armpit and elbow have large chunks of tissue missing, even when grafted over. I can't see these ever filling in completely. However, Nikki can raise her right arm to 90 degrees unassisted now, even though it hurts, and can extend her arm to nearly 180 degrees- Awesome! She returns to Fiends & Torture- er, Occupational Therapy tomorrow morning, during which these new graft sites will get a real workout.

That'll do for now. Take care-

11/08/2004
Nikki came home today, airplane splint and all. She has to turn sideways to get through doors, and she can't walk really well; but still, she's happy to be home. Her right arm is still very sore, with grafts in her armpit, elbow joint, and along the right side of her neck. Her right thigh is also very painful, where the grafts were taken from. However, the only tears she shed today were tears of joy, when the physical therapist was able to extend her arm upwards over 90 degrees- the furthest possible since her accident in July. This represents a big step in her rehabilitation, hence the tears.

Nikki resumes physical and occupational therapy through outpatient services this week. She's now scheduled 3 days weekly, which is quite a workout. She also still gets home nursing for her dressing changes. Her burn wounds on her back are healing very well, but with such a large area, it's slow going. Nikki had a large reduction along the base of her back / top of her buttocks, where skin and fat burned away, down to the muscle layers, This caused a nearly 3 inch deep fissure, running completely across the back, exposing fatty tissues at the top of the buttocks, making a sort of ledge across the buttocks. This huge area has now almost completely healed itself, and is looking very good. It was thought early on that plastic surgery would be necessary to even out the transition from back to hips. Now, it looks like it probably won't be necessary. Nikki is living proof of how resilient and downright tough the human body is, and watching her healing process has been a rare treat.

Nikki received her next surgery schedule today- December 15th. This will be surgery on and around the eye, with both ophthalmology and plastic surgery involvement. This will be tricky, detailed work, with the payoff being a working right eye and a better-looking face. Nikki is really looking forward to this one, although she has some fear about the eye itself. She's an avid reader, and the thought of permanently impaired vision is a sobering thought. Nevertheless, the eye isn't much good as it is, so she's ready to charge forward.

Nikki and I still plan to attend the American Red Cross Hero awards in Cleveland on Friday. Also, a TV crew is coming to our home this week to film a brief interview with Nikki for Cleveland's TV3 news, in time for the ceremony on Friday. The station there has taken an interest in Nikki's recovery, and I hope they do a good job with her. We're both really looking forward to the ceremony, where Mike Melinis will receive an award for his part in helping to rescue Nikki from her burning car on July 23rd.

That'll do it for now. I'll add more when I have it.

11/05/2005
A little different kind of update today. We've just learned that one of the Good Samaritans that helped to rescue Nikki from her accident in July is receiving some recognition next week.

Michael Melinis, of Parma, is receiving the American Red Cross Hero Award, sponsored by various Cleveland businesses. This award is for everyday citizens, who have performed extraordinary feats of heroism. Apparently, pulling my flaming daughter out of a burning car qualifies! Of course, we're all very excited about this, and very happy that Mike is getting his just recognition.

Local press seems to be making a pretty big deal of this honor (as they should). Mike is a truck driver for Giant Eagle, and the local Teamsters are heavily promoting their own. The local newspaper (the Parma Sun, I think) has interviewed Mike a couple of times. The Sun has also tried to interview Nikki at home, but she's always in the hospital . The Red Cross is doing a lot of promotion, including a video production. Local TV Channel 3 is planning to do a follow-up on the events that led to Mike's heroism, even talking of sending a camera crew to Columbus. Both newspapers and TV are interested in speaking with Nikki and/or me, to which we've agreed. Nikki and I are also planning to be at the ceremony, if she's able to travel by then. I'll go alone, if she's not able, as Nikki wants at least one of us to be there.

The ceremony will be held next Friday, Nov. 12th, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, at noon, in the grand ballroom. I would think anyone living in the Cleveland area at least has a chance of seeing something on their local news, or in the newspapers.

Isn't it nice to see some good news about good people for a change?