Life Changed in a Moment
It was Father’s day and we had been to our son’s home to celebrate the day. We were on our way home when suddenly I felt a tremendous impact. I passed out when I came to I asked my wife if I had fallen asleep and run into a tree, she said no. We found out later from others who witnessed the accident that a vehicle headed in the opposite direction crossed the center line into our line and smashed head on into the left side of our vehicle. I had to be extracted from the vehicle and was in critical condition with injuries to my chest, left leg, left arm and a concussion. I was taken by helicopter to a level 1 trauma center and was out of it for the next 48 hours. When I came too I found a pain block drip in the right side of my chest, my left arm totally wrapped in gauze and my left leg totally wrapped in ace wrap. I was in the Surgical Intensive Care unit where I remained for five days. I found out from the nursing staff that my femur was broken in multiple places and that I had gone through surgery to save my leg. My wife was in another part of the hospital. She had injuries as well, but no where as severe as mine. After 8 days in an acute care hospital I was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital where I spend the next 28 days learning how to use the toilet, transfer into and out of a wheelchair and regaining enough strength to go home. The recovery since I have come home has been slow and painful. For four months I could not bear any weight on my left leg. Since then I have been able to get around the first floor of our house with the assistance of a walker. It has been six months since the accident and at this time I do not know what the future holds. I have had three surgeries since the accident. I go tomorrow for another evaluation of my left leg. At my last evaluation my Orthopedic surgeon said the femur bone was not fusing at the fracture sites. If there was not significant improvement before the next evaluation more surgery will be required. Whatever happens to God be the Glory. During most recent appointment with Orthopedic surgeon January 3 it was determined that the fractures in my left femur are not healing. This was no surprise as the leg is still quite painful, and it cannot support weight. I have a CT scan on the left leg scheduled for January 13, and another appointment with the Orthopedic surgeon January 17. It looks like I have more surgeries in my future.
