Accident injury update

Today we went to see our orthopedic surgeon in Rockford to have the progress on our wrists, ankles, and Dennis' toe checked out.

The good news: Dennis is doing really well with his wrist, fingers and toe (this first pic is of his internal bling). He's had some pain in his sprained ankle, but the doc said that should continue to get better.

The bad news: My ulna bone is not regenerating. Apparently the ulna is a hard bone to regrow and when it has 17 breaks, well... (here's a pic of my bragging rights). Further, a pin has broken in the wrist causing elbow pain. The doctor thinks that there is also some loose cartilage in the elbow causing it to ache and pop related somehow to the wrist injury (I'm unclear about how that would work...)

The good news: There is an electro therapy thingamabopper (that's its official title) that I can wear that will hopefully prompt the bone to grow again. I will wear it for 8-12 hours a day and they'll check it again in 6 weeks, though they'll give it 3 months to start the bone regrowth.

The bad news: If this doesn't work, I'll need a bone graft. When he was explaining taking bone from my pelvis to graft to my wrist, I, who is generally just not at all squeamish, felt physically ill. I hope it doesn't come to that.

The good news: We are less than 30 weeks from the accident and have experienced a lot of healing.

The bad news: Further treatment drags out the possibility of an insurance settlement and some money to pay these doctors' offices. We know that eventually the other drivers' insurance will pay everything, but in the meantime dealing with creditors is tiring. They aren't real pleased about waiting.

The BEST news: We are alive with BOTH of our children.

Today Daniel, Annalivia and I picked up Dennis just like I did that morning. I drove up the same road and by the accident site for the first time since then. I felt like it was time to slay that dragon.

Oh, we are so, so, so blessed... We were both reconstructing our memories and I was telling Dennis that I will never forget the sound of his voice when he saw what was happening. I just knew something was very, very wrong. And I don't think I'll ever forget thinking that I would obviously lose the baby and just praying again and again the 23rd Psalm as I breathed past the pain and focused on my Celtic cross visor clip.

That we are HERE -- right now in our living room -- me holding that baby I thought was lost -- Dennis standing in his stocking feet just like he was on the side of the road, having left his shoes wedged up inside the van so he could come and wrench my door open with his bone sticking out of his arm -- the daughter we left at home that day unfolding clothes for us right now... Geesh... all the rest of it seems so very, very inconsequental when I think of what could be. I'll still put the other paragraphs up to let those who have inquired know, but really, the only news that should matter is this part. We're here. We may still be broken, but we're here. Thank God.