14 June 2010

hah~UGE thanks so very much

Some of you know, so this a re~cap. But first, I'd like to send out a huge thanks very much for all your help, food, prayers, energy, thoughts, eMails, etc. I appreciate it more than I can possibly express!!

My Jerry had an accident Friday afternoon, while coming home from work. An elderly man made a left~hand turn directly into Jerry's path and Jerry didn't have time or distance to do much to avoid the front end of the other man's cadillac. Things are not over by a long~shot, but Jerry is stabilized and out of immediate danger. If he continues to improve, he will eventually make a full recovery.

At the moment, Jerry doesn't remember anything from Friday, at all. This is fairly normal for a head~injury. With some time, he will be less confused and able to remember most things. He may not ever remember Friday, and that's alright. The important thing is that he has already been able to think a bit more clearly than he had either Friday or Saturday. Each day is much better than the day before. He still gets very easily confused at night time, but even last night was better than the night before.

He does have some road~rash. Mostly his left arm has been scraped raw, as he was wearing a t~shirt. His jeans protected most of the surface of his legs. His left cheek is a lil raw, but scabbing over already. If we continue to keep things clean and drained, he should recover completely within the next few weeks.

Jerry's neck is some sore, and one of his vertebra's protruding wing's was snapped off. The actual portion that encases the spinal column is fine, and given some time, the muscles in his back and neck should be ok. Things are banged up, scraped, swollen, bruised, &/or contused; so he needs lots of rest, for both his body and his mind.

His right leg is the largest concern right now, and the source of most of his pain. His knee~cap {patella} has been fractured horizontally. He also has a tibial plateu fracture. This mean that the top of his shin has a vertical fracture starting at the large bulbous area {that resembles a clenched fist}. These injuries will require surgery, probably early next week; however the swelling must first abate. So right now, his leg is in a soft splint to keep it immobilized as much as possible.

Jerry needs to keep any weight or pressure off his leg, so that he doesn't shift anything around or cause more damage. So it's lots of bed rest, no moving around running marathons or lifting weights or mowing lawns or heaving logs or doing the time~warp for the moment. Which generally is difficult for him to do, cuz he's so used to doing stuff~~this laying around is more difficult for him than getting out and about in this hundred plus degrees and clearing brush or whatever he seems to think he should be doing instead of resting, getting his wits and bearing straight, and not moving that leg around.

We'll be making a trip to his orthopedic surgeon later this week, and hopefully the surgery will be scheduled for Friday or Monday. In a couple weeks, his neurologist wants to see him to make sure he's progressing and then hopefully he can lose the cervical collar that is aggravating him when he is most confused and trying to take it off and hop out of bed and get dressed for work.

My Jerry is much loved and every one has been so incredibly helpful, and I am very fortunate to have him and all of his loved supporters around. Everyone has been making this so much easier for me by being here for him and by allowing me to nap and get some sorely needed rest. Folks have stepped up and taken on complicated tasks that seem way too daunting for me to figure out right now, like procurring a hospital bed so that Jerry won't make a break for it in the middle of that night by thinking he can run to the bathroom.

Thanks so very much, guys! It's so deeply appreciated! I'm sure that I'm forgetting to give some details, or thanks someone in particular, and I'm hoping you'll understand that I do thank each and every one of you, even if I don't say so at the moment.

1 comment:

  1. YIKES! I had no idea. Tell him good healing vibes are being sent from the midwest here.

    ReplyDelete

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