My leg has made great improvements since I last posted.  I have been walking around the house without my boot for the last few days and today I was able to wear shoes on both feet for the first time!  I am working 30 hours this week and next, so my days will get busier.  I am very relieved to be able to move around better, though my limp is still quite pronounced, and I plan to finally organize the nursery, clearing out the dresser and closet we have in there and in general de-cluttering our house, I see a trip to the Goodwill in my future.  

Though I am sad that the holidays and all the festivities are over, this week is a big one.  I have an ortho appointment on friday, and will get referred for PT and see current x-rays.   And Josh and I begin our birthing class this thursday evening!

The christmas tree is up, and the days are almost ready to start getting longer…thank the Lord!  I am feeling very optimistic about my leg healing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to walk in the boot by the end of the year.  I occasionally practice a few steps without crutches. Today is exactly one month since I broke my leg, and I decided it was a great time to get back behind the wheel.  So after a brief test drive around camp I drove myself into town and ran a few, very short errands, one of which required a drive-up so I didn’t have to get out of the car .  I have told my employer that I will return to work on Monday.  Thankfully I am only scheduled for two shifts a week, so I’ll get to ease back into it;  It has been at least a month since I was awake for more than 12 hours at a time, and work will require far more than that .  Pregnancy is going well, we have 11 weeks until we get to meet him!  Our little boy (who remains un-named) kicks and wiggles constantly, which is very fun.

It’s been a week now since Lydia came home from the hospital after a 4 day stay following surgery on her freshly broken leg (while 6 months pregnant). We’ve been reflecting on that time for a number of reasons; it was pretty scary for both of us, it was both of our first major experiences in a hospital, and Lydia’s immobile enough that there are plenty of constant reminders . It is interesting though how the national debate about health care has been so huge lately and while I’m reading all these articles, listening to reports on the radio, and figuring out my educated opinion on a national health care bill, I’m put into a position where I don’t know how we would have survived without decent insurance. If Lydia had accidentally taken a wrong step and broken her leg and we were unemployed I can’t imagine what the outcome would have been. Would they have refused the surgery? Refused the 3 days recovery and care in the hospital? Been unable to be constantly checking on the vital signs and health of our unborn child? Not offered the physical therapy needed to property heal? Would we have to pay an outrageous amount for the painkillers being used while at home?   The craziest part is that we’ll rely on our insurance again when our baby is born in just a few months, they’ll receive the proper medical care needed to ensure a safe welcome into the world.

I’ve also seen communities around us willing to offer so much support at an important time for our family. Friends moving in for 3 days to take care of Lydia while I go to work & school, meals being dropped off at home and the hospital, lending walkers and wheelchairs, and so many encouraging visits, cards, emails, and facebook posts. We needed community to get through the last week and a half just as much as we needed the excellent healthcare at the hospital.

Fixing the healthcare, insurance, and pharmaceutical systems is important to making care like this affordable, and once it’s affordable shouldn’t everyone have access to it? I wouldn’t wish anything less on anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to us, now I just need to make sure that doesn’t happen… and you know what, I’ll probably need your help. It’s a good thing Christ calls us to feed the poor, take care of the sick, and to love others.

3:58pm – The following is an email I sent to a few people this afternoon – we’ll try and keep you up to date over the next few hours as things change.  Lydia should be out of surgery pretty soon…

2:30pm – Yesterday afternoon Lydia was out on a walk around camp when she was walking down a very small but very steep hill. She felt her leg brake and she slowly fell to the ground. She was yelling for help for about 40-50 minutes before a few people down at my office were in the parking lot and thought they heard something in the wind. Our food services manager Mike started driving around to find out where the yelling was coming from. He found Lydia not too long after and went to go get more help and Lydia asked him to call 911. When I got there it wasn’t too much longer until the local first responders got there and an ambulance followed shortly afterwards.

We went into the ER where they put her in a room and checked on the baby (everything appears to be just fine) and took X-Rays. After a few hours they splinted her leg and we moved upstairs to the orthopedic floor to spend the night and waited for surgery sometime today (Thursday). It’s a pretty nasty break, both bones above the ankle and below the shin broke a few times with a fracture going down to the ankle. Lydia’s OB doesn’t practice at this hospital but there are OB doctors from the hospital who are taking good care of us – we did a full ultrasound this afternoon and nothing was wrong at all!

So – now (2:30pm) Lydia is in surgery for the next 2 hours and recovery until somewhere around 5. There is a labor & delivery nurse in there with her monitoring the baby’s heartbeat. We’ll be here until Saturday or Sunday, and Lydia would love visitors if your free – we’ve got a nice private room waiting for her when she wakes up. Her pain level has been about at a 4-5, hopefully recovery will go well and painless over the next few days.

We would appreciate your prayers. For pain, for the baby, for the surgery, the recovery…. I’ve got both cell phones, feel free to call – we’ll anwser if available and tomorrow I’m sure Lydia would love to chat (but we’ll see what it’s like).

-Josh

Sent from my iPhone