This Day Took An Unexpected Turn :'(

[Peach]

Well we are really close to this family since before my oldest brother was born...They have two sons and one I grew up since I was in the crib....Him and his brother and friends went down to Panama City and we got a call today that he is in the hospital getting surgery ( all we know it wasn't a car accident). He will never walk again. His mom is rushing down to get to him 6 hours away and his father is visiting Cuba for the next 2 weeks and they can't get a hold of him. My brother and parents have rushed down to be there during this difficult time. My brother and I are holding down the fort here. Please pray for my friend in this difficult time. :'(

 

[ladysown]

gah! will do. scary times.

 

[MaggieJ]

So sorry to hear about this, Peach. Hang in there... I'm sure we are all hoping things will turn out to be less grim than they sound now.

 

[skysthelimit]

I will pray sincerely for this situation.

 

[Peach]

Thank you guys. He just came out of his first surgery and it went well. The only thing that will confirm if he will be able to walk or not is when he wakes up. Apparently he went for a football and dove into shallow water from the low tide. We won't know the complete story until everyone gets to the hospital. I think he has some more surgery he might have to do after this one. I still can't imagine someone as athletic as he is never be able to walk again. I refuse to believe it until he wakes up. Thank you so much for your prayers. I'll keep updating as my parents fill me in on what is happening over there. They finally did get in touch with his father. He flew to Miami and is getting another flight to Panama.

 

[Miss M]

I pray they're wrong about him never walking again, but more than that, I pray the Lord will bring them through this time.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend! I hope his father gets there soon so the family will have each other for support.

We know a fellow through our handgun classes that lost the use of his legs when he was around 18. He was also very athletic. He didn't let the loss of the use of his legs stop him though- he started racing wheelchairs competitively until that ultimately caused other lower back issues. Now he has found the shooting sports, and is doing great in class.

I pray that your friend regains the use of his limbs, but if not he can still have a full life- not the one he planned, but still a good and useful life. I would be happy to ask our friend how he coped with his loss at first, or if he knows of any support groups that may help him through this.

(((Hugs!)))

 

[Peach]

Thank you so much everyone during this time. They finally got a hold of his Dad and he arrived in Panama at 5am. The surgery was successful,but he can only lift his arms at the moment. He will have to stay at thay hospital for a week before he can be transferred to a hospital in GA. As of now,he can't feel anything below the chest. He chipped his C1 vertebrae and cracked his C6. His chances have increased to a 50/50 chance that he will regain the use of the other half. Right now, the area around the C6 is swollen so it is normal for the swelling to cut off the nerves. Until the swelling goes down, nobody can know what damage has been done. Apparently they had driven all through Friday night to arrive Saturday morning,hadn't checked into their room yet, and were simply enjoying the beach after being there for just an hour and he dove for a football and landed on his neck/back. He couldn't move and started drowning and the lifeguard thought he was just playing around at first until he noticed he really was in danger. They pulled him out and gave him oxygen and took him to the hospital.

He is in good spirits right now and surrounded by many loving people. I'll take 50% over nothing any day! Keep praying everyone

 

[TariLynn]

We will continue to pray for him. Thanks for keeping us updated on the situation. Glad he is in good spirits, that is more than half the battle right there!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I hope he continues to improve! What a reminder that we must not take any of our blessings for granted.

Our friend was not at class yesterday, but hopefully I will see him next week.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Thank you so much everyone during this time. They finally got a hold of his Dad and he arrived in Panama at 5am. The surgery was successful,but he can only lift his arms at the moment. He will have to stay at thay hospital for a week before he can be transferred to a hospital in GA. As of now,he can't feel anything below the chest. He chipped his C1 vertebrae and cracked his C6. His chances have increased to a 50/50 chance that he will regain the use of the other half. Right now, the area around the C6 is swollen so it is normal for the swelling to cut off the nerves. Until the swelling goes down, nobody can know what damage has been done. Apparently they had driven all through Friday night to arrive Saturday morning,hadn't checked into their room yet, and were simply enjoying the beach after being there for just an hour and he dove for a football and landed on his neck/back. He couldn't move and started drowning and the lifeguard thought he was just playing around at first until he noticed he really was in danger. They pulled him out and gave him oxygen and took him to the hospital.

He is in good spirits right now and surrounded by many loving people. I'll take 50% over nothing any day! Keep praying everyone

Lots of prayers for your friend....and his family...{{{hugs}}}

 

[curlysue]

Ill be praying your friend can walk again.

 

[HendricksHearth]

So sorry to hear about the accident!

For what it is worth, I just finished a clinical rotation at the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta. It is amazing how much they can recover from stuff like this:

http://www.shepherd.org/

All of my patients with the exception of two during the past months were cervical spine injuries and 9 out of every 10 was a young man. All I can say is that if the family has the opportunity, that they should try to get their son in there. It is one of the top 10 spine and brain injury hospitals in the United States. After a year and a half of hospital rotations all over the place, I really feel like his best chance for a successful rehabilitation comes from the care he will receive over the next several months to a year- not just from doctors, but from nurses, occupational/physical/recreation therapists, etc.

Also, I know it seems shocking if he can't move his legs, but the fact that he can move his hands already is actually much better than it could have been especially since the actual cord injury was obviously much lower than the chipped C1. You are also right that as the inflammation starts to reduce, there may be additional improvements made still for a while yet to come. And rehabilitation will help him with adaptive equipment, working those muscles below the injury, etc.

Give him a big huge hug when you can- he has a long road ahead of him, but staying positive and being surrounded by friends and family really helps. A few things that my patients really enjoyed- school support in banners, videos, pictures, whatever. A "Prayers for (name)" facebook page where they could see all the love pouring in. Also, their favorite food once cleared to eat it.

Take care,

Lauren

 

[AnnClaire]

Oh yeah!!! A FB page where he could get allllllll kinds of bunny love!!!