Tim Ballou's Story of Recovery
By Tiffany Hadley, Editor
    Stepping into the Ballou's Adair County home, it's hard to ignore the resounding sounds of a warm, loving, energetic family of six. A family that has made it through one of the toughest years anyone can imagine.
    Tim and Tonya Ballou, which Tonya describes as "high school sweethearts", have been together since she was 15 and he was 16. Together they have four beautiful children - Timmy, 16, who just got his license; Tiffany, 14, who is preparing for prom by researching dresses online; Ty, 8, who loves to play video games; and Treyton, 20 months, who is already playing football in the house.
    In September 2004, the family was still settling into their new home in Burkesville - where they had moved so Tim could take a job driving a semi-truck.
    Tonya remembers September 3rd vividly. "Tim had come in from work around 5 a.m. He was going to take a nap and asked me to be sure and wake him up after a little while."
     After waking, he played with the kids and checked the mail, he left a couple of hours later in the family's only vehicle to pay some bills in Adair County. Tonya recalls, "Just minutes after he left I heard an ambulance go by - something told me it was him." Moments later, Tonya's brother-in-law drove up to their home, confirming her fear. "It's Tim", he told her, "and it's bad".
    Only a mile from his home, Tim had run off the road and hit a concrete culvert, flipping his car and eventually hitting a utility pole. He was immediately flown to the University of Kentucky Hospital.
    When Tonya got there, the doctors took her into a little room to explain just how serious Tim's condition was. "They had a stack of x-rays and they told me there wasn't a place they could touch on his skull that wasn't fractured or broken."
    Doctors told Tonya that Tim had lost a lot of blood and a portion of his brain was damaged. He had also lost an ear in the accident but they were able to reattach it.
    Grimly, they urged Tonya to bring the couple's children in to say goodbye to their father. "They told me he wouldn't make it through the night."
   After two-and-a-half hours in the waiting room, Tonya was able to go into ICU to see her husband for the first time since his accident. She remembers, "He was tilted straight up and he was so swollen (his head). Besides a small scratch on his knee, there was nothing else in his body broken or hurt."
    Tim beat the odds, and made it through the first night. In fact, he stayed at UK for the next three and a half months (two of which he faded in and out of a coma.)
   In November of 2004, Tim's condition took a turn for the worse when he developed a brain infection. Once again, doctors prepared Tonya for the worst by telling her he wouldn't make it - but again, Tim beat the odds and survived.
    Throughout most of his stay at the hospital, Tonya says, "He would just lay there lifeless. He couldn't talk, but he would open his eyes and I know he recognized me and the kids."
    Tonya praises UK Hospital, "We couldn't have asked for a better place. His doctor, Dr. Karen Swartz, was so good - she would even cry with me. They told me they had never had anyone in his condition live as long as Tim had."
    After several months in a rehabilitation hospital, Tim was ready to come home. During the time spent in hospitals, Tim and Tonya's family had moved their belongings back to Adair County, in a home only two houses down from Tonya's mother.
    Tonya, who learned as much as she could about caring for Tim by watching the nurses at the hospital, became like a make-shift nurse for him at home. She still gets excited remembering when Tim said his first word after the accident. "It was February 12, 2005 and the nurse asked him if he was in any pain and he said 'no'."
    Tonya says despite everything that has happened, their four children have adjusted well, pitching in to help when needed. "It's drawn all our family and friends closer together. We couldn't have done it without them."
    "When he first had his wreck, it was unreal what all people did for us - those in Adair and Burkesville. We can't thank everyone enough for the food, support, money, and prayers. We couldn't have made it without them."
     His medical team is so good to him. We especially want to thank his doctors at UK, Dr. Phil Aaron for the home visits and his physical therapist Linda Collins."
    Before the accident, Tim had switched jobs and hadn't yet qualified for health insurance through his work. Tonya still has the bill from the University of Kentucky - almost $400,000 for just the first three months of his stay. Fortunately, Tim was accepted for a spend down card which paid his doctor bills.
    Though Tim cannot yet walk, he can now talk, and through physical therapy he is able to move his right side and some of his left. Tonya has been doing research on her own and asking his doctors if some time in the future, stem cells may be an option for Tim. "With the progress they have made, we would definitely be open to trying that."
    Though still in the research stage, stem cells could potentially be used on persons such as Tim to "renew" damaged parts of the human body. In Tim's case, stem cells (whether embryonic or from mice) could repair the damaged portions of his brain.
    Though Tim continues down the road to recovery, Tonya says, having always been a hard worker, he worries about not having a job. When asked if he had anything to add, Tim said, "I am looking forward to getting back to work."
    Tonya now says at home to take care of the children and Tim. Looking back at the past year and a half of their lives, she remains confident when she says, "I knew he would never give up - he loves his kids too much. I knew I had to take care of him because he would have me."