Update 1/12/09 Day 65

Dear friends,

The man's foot is a mess. Thankfully, tomorrow we see Dr. Bagchi (you remember, Bob the Builder), Stephen's orthopedic surgeon. I once described Steve's right foot as "scrambled eggs". He had surgery on said foot several days before checking out of Albany Medical Center. At that time, various screws and pins were inserted to put his kicker back together. Since then it has been kind of swollen, which is normal given all the trauma on the right side of his body. But now the skin is beginning to grow over the pins, and the swelling has gotten rather severe. He will most likely get the external pins out tomorrow. The pain in his foot has increased due to swelling, and the physical therapist said as the nerves regenerate, the area will "wake up". I wish it would go back to sleep. Stephen took some Tylenol but it's not helping much. This is the hard part, seeing him in pain and not being able to do anything about it.

Today we went to Sunnyview for the first day of outpatient therapy for Hercules. He was asked the same questions many times, as this was the evaluation phase. It was strangely familiar being back there. I had to run up to the third floor to see the nurses I spent so much time with over the past 6 weeks. I recalled that first day there with Hannah Rejoice, when I realized I was on the traumatic brain injury unit, and it seemed as though I had been hit with a brick. How far we have come! The mercy of the Great One is completely over the top. Makes me grateful. Humbles me to the core.

I started the day professing how I was going to eat healthy today, and drink more water, and get out for a walk. Well, after the rush to get out by 9am (no easy task around here these days), I wound up in the car with an empty stomach and a need for coffee. I was jonesin' for some Dunkin Decafe, and a vanilla filled donut. I got the coffee, but had to "settle" for a jelly donut. Now those of you who know me know jelly donuts are never a second choice for me, but always right up there with mocha frappucino's, lighthouses and windy October days in the "best things in life" parade. But today, I just wanted a vanilla cream and alas, boo hoo for me. I topped off the evening with a piece of Entenmann's yellow cake with chocolate frosting and a glass of milk. It's not that I wanted the cake. But I had to have something to wash down the milk. After all, a girl must get her calcium...

Judy the Good let me put all my stuff in her freezer until we get a new one. Unfortunately, 5 half gallons of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (purchased during a Stewart's Ice Cream sale before the crash) softened to a yucky mush and had to be disposed of. Nothing sadder than wasting ice cream. At least brother John is coming up tomorrow bearing Bruster's frozen confections. Yum. Double Yum. So much for the healthy eating plan...

My heart hit the floor tonite hearing about the earthquake in Haiti. To think of the suffering of those people, their family members hurt or lost in the rubble, or dead, is overwhelming. No advanced life support, no insurance, no high tech medical care. I could just about double over thinking of their pain. I wish I could go there and put my arms around someone in their extreme sorrow. I wish I could find super human strength to move boulders and steel girders. I wish I had millions of dollars to send to pay for the best medical care and sanitation and accommodations money can buy. I pray for the love of the Great One to shine in their darkness as it has in mine. I ask Him to show us how to make His love real to these desperately needy people. Lord have mercy.

Life is unpredictable. How we've learned that. How we continue to learn that. But there is a Rock that does not move. There is solid ground that never shifts. There is a future that is secure. Praise God for who He is. Unshakable. Immovable. Almighty. Wow.

My dear friends, hold on to the Rock. He's always reaching for us.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann