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Sunday, March 30, 2014

To the Mall

Tomorrow is Danny's 25th birthday/ I think of him as my 50th birthday gift. Planning to celebrate Danny''s arrival around the 18th of April, we were all surprised when he made his appearance three weeks early. Because he was early, he was jaundiced, a bilirubin baby. He was placed under ultraviolet lights in a preemie isolette which his 8 pound 3 ounce body filled to overflowing. Had he been full term, the doctors speculated he would have weighed over eleven pounds.
Today Colleen took Logan out to the mall to gift shop for Danny. Logan propelled himself around on his scooter and wore himself out. When he got home, he recuperated with a four hour nap. Colleen's nap lasted only half that long.
Logan spent most of the rest of the day on the couch, cheering the Padres on to their first win of the season. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Crash Report

Most of you already know Logan had a terrible automobile accident on March 6, 2014. While driving alone south of Ozark, he went off the road, crashed through some trees, and came to rest upside down in his car. Witnesses immediately called the highway patrol and went to the scene. Within fifteen minutes he was loaded into a helicopter and was on his way to the hospital. His injuries included a slight collapse of one lung, a severely dislocated left foot, and a crushed L1 vertebra. The foot was set immediately in the emergency room, the lung recovered without intervention, and he had surgery to replace his vertebra. The damaged vertebra was removed along with the surrounding discs, and a carbon "cage" filled with bone from one of his ribs was secured with titanium hardware. Fortunately, there was no nerve damage. He had lots of bruising and abrasions all over. He was conscious and communicating throughout the rescue and ER process.

Twenty days later, he returned home. Colleen is here with me and helping with his care as he quickly gains strength and ability to care for himself. He must use a back brace anytime he is not flat on his back, but he can put it on and take it off by himself. The walking cast on his foot remains on all the time, except when he is showering. A plethora of mobility assistance devices are at his disposal: crutches, a "scooter", and a walker. At the moment, he seems to prefer the walker because it is useful in getting up and down.

We have lots of follow-up appointments scheduled over the next weeks, but would love to see any of our friends who would like to stop by. Understandably, after such a long confinement in the hospital, Logan loves to get out. He has been out to the movies, dinner, and just riding along on errands.

Some days are still very difficult and filled with pain, others seem normal and bright. We look forward to tipping the balance toward brightness.

I am finding that scheduling all these appointments and taking care of all the business attendant to the accident and hospitalization require a great many phone calls. Because of my hearing loss, I don't do well on the phone and find using it stressful. Consequently, I may seem lax in my communication with all our caring family and friends. Please believe me, it is not intentional. I love and need all of you. I'm going to try resurrecting my blog, which I had thought had run its course, as a means of keeping all of you updated.