Stairs of Doom

Really, who knew that 8 stairs could be such a game changer.

Really??? 8 Stairs???

Two days before Christmas Patrick fell down the first section of our stairs, 8 stairs... doing back flips all the way down and banging into the wall at the bottom. Scared the *#$! outta me!!!! He was really sore and dizzy at first, but nothing too serious was obvious, so we just hoped that a little rest and ibuprofen would get everything back to normal. So we waited. But instead of getting better, he just kept getting worse. Remember Brayden's baptism on New Years Day, well Patrick was hardly able to stand or walk that day. I still have no idea how he actually was able to baptize him when his body was in such bad shape, but he did.

So finally once we realized that he was just getting worse and worse as days went by, we decided it was time to go see a Dr. So we decided that a medical Dr. would only give him mild pain killers that wouldn't help much and we would be out a ton of money for nothing. So we found a Chiropractor to go to. I did some looking on the internet and found one that was pretty close to us, and did the first visit for free. Free is good when you are without an income or health insurance. We went, and so our journey began. 

We found that when he fell down the stairs, he compressed the vertebrae in his lower back so much so that his nerves were pinched to the point that he had no feeling in his feet and legs and they were at times cut off so much that they couldn't even send the "messages" that his brain was sending them to move...making it pretty much impossible to walk, drive, or even stand for any length of time. Not to mention the rest of the damage to his spine, you could literally see in the x-rays how his spine looked like a snake, all curvy and back an forth instead of straight and in line like it should be. So the Dr. set up a treatment plan to "decompress" his spine and relieve the pressure from those nerves that are being cut off. We were so blessed that we happened to end up at a Dr. that specializes in spinal compression injuries...seriously a huge blessing since we didn't even know that was what his injury was!

So for the first 3 weeks, he was in "intense therapy" meaning that he went to the Dr. and Physical Therapy everyday, Monday through Friday, for 3 weeks. They were not kidding when they say intense. It was all that and some! Through this whole time, he was pretty much down for the count, on bedrest sort of, and not able to do much, including finding a job.

Last week he went in for his re-evaluation. The Dr. was hoping that he would've made a 10-15% improvement. Patrick was at 38% improvement. While that is FANTASTIC news that he had made so much more progress then the Dr. was hoping for, he still is only functioning at 38% of what he "normally" was. (I have no idea how or what makes up those numbers, I just was happy to hear there were improvements being made!)  So while this is a great stride in recovery, there is still a long way to go. He has good days and bad days. He "graduated" from everyday therapy to 3 times a week therapy. Spinal injuries like this apparently take a long time to heal.

As we have gone through this, it is absolutely amazing to us how much we have been blessed and watched over by a loving Heavenly Father. 

First, who would've thought that being unemployed would be a blessing, but it has! Had Patrick had a job during this, it would have been so super stressful because he would not have been able to work and with the kind of job he had, the stress of NOT being at the office would have killed him! 

Second, our families have been so supportive of us and helped us any way they can. Especially my sister has been such a huge support for me over the past several weeks...always knowing what to say to help me through that day.

And our ward and friends (near and far) have been amazing!!! Several times I have gotten random calls form people offering to bring dinner that night for our family, and it was always on a night that it was a lifesaver! Neighbors and friends taking my kids while I had to take Patrick to his therapy appointments or picking them up after school for me. Random phone calls, emails, or texts checking in on us to see how we are doing. The Bishop and Stake Presidency have kept a close eye on us and given words of comfort and encouragement that we so needed. The help and love we have felt has been overwhelming and most definitely an answer to prayers each and every time!

Patrick has been able to make it to Sacrament meeting for the past 2 weeks and is currently practicing driving. He pretty much has to re-teach himself to drive, but since he is getting feeling back in his right foot again, he is able to move his foot and push the pedals. So far it's just trips around the block, through the neighborhood, or to Circle K for drinks, but as we are learning, even small steps in the right direction is a good thing. 

And as blessed as we have been, I really can not wait to get our normal boring life back!! :)

Come What May and LOVE It. That is our new motto in our house!