Well so much for trying to keep up with my blog the past couple of weeks!! Shortly after my last post my husband and brother in law were involved in a motor vehicle accident. The new Jimmy we just got was totaled not by the accident but by the roof having to be cut off to extract my brother in law. He sustained serious injury to his right arm and it was touch and go there for while as to whether the arm would be saved. Right now it is good but that does not mean he can't still loose the arm. I was told after 7 hours of surgery that he should have no sensations for 12-18 months and that we should not expect any voluntary controlled movements for 6-9 months. Well once he was moved to CCU and we were finally able to see him for the first time since the accident I notified his fingers twitching. Since the doctors had told me not to expect much of the arm I wrote it off as involuntary muscle movements. Later that day when we went back to see him I watched him move his fingers (middle ring and pinkie) I was like what did you just do he said what this and did it again...I was shocked and the staff (nurses and doctors) have encouraged him to move his fingers as much as possible. Just before his discharge on Sept 20 (13 days after the accident) his doctor asked him to try to move his wrist and he was not able to, however later that night here at home when I was rewrapping his ace bandages that had come loose he tried to move the wrist again and was successful! He has had random stabbing pain in his arm from finger tips to injury site. This we have been told is the nerves trying to reconnect and even though it is pain it is a positive occurrence. Right now the most important thing to us is that he heals as well as possible and that he can eventually lead as normal a life as possible. Last prognosis was a return of up to 30% of is usage. the doctor says he may still need a skin graft but that remains to be seen depending on how the skin heals.It remains to be seen if that will be the way it is or not. He has set a long term goal for himself to bowl again with that arm. The vascular surgeon has said it is a good goal however the reconstructive plastic surgeon has said it is a good goal but he does not see it happening. I have told him to not let anyone tell him his goals are unrealistic. Right now it is crazy to think about bowling anytime soon but one day move his wrist the next maybe more thumb movement after that who knows what some one who is determined to do something can do? there have been cases of people with broken necks and spinal cord injuries told they would never walk again being seen running a marathon. I know these are isolated cases however it goes to show the power of being positive. do you think that if these people were negative about their situations and recovery they would have ever had the strength to try to do the things they were told they could not or never would? As soon as I heard of the accident and knew that a major injury had occurred I sent out a prayer request. This single prayer request grew and grew. I am not the most religious person but I believe that prayer is powerful and that God will answer prayers that are selfless. People who do not know my brother in law sent prayers for his well being and recovery. I believe God has heard these prayers and is helping him to recover. I know that God has a plan. What that plan is may not be so clear right now but there will be something good to come of this accident and injury. all I ask is that everyone who is OK with it says a prayer that he will recover and that he stays positive about that recovery and the last part should be that his pain stays bearable. I know we all have a long road of recovery ahead of us. My husband has the guilt that he feels as he was driving and his brother was injured. My brother in law well you got that already and for me to stay strong and to push him when needed and to try hard not to be too mean about it. I know that I will have to be the one to make him do the things he does not want to, that I will at times be felt as his worst enemy/nightmare. I know that he will be mad and angry and I need to stay strong enough to deal with that and also to be there for my husband when the guilt gets to be too much. Thank you for reading and I will update when I have something more about them and this accident.
I will also try to write more frequently. Update on my school before I go: I am still doing well. I have an A in my ethics in human services class and have dropped to a B in my algebra class over the last two weeks. I am less than a half a point from my A and hoping I can achieve that A! I am holding up for now and made it through the first dressing change of my brother in laws arm. I prepared for the worst and it was not as bad as I thought it would be!
