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Bad Fall, But Good Luck

Ricky had a bad fall on New Years Eve. He went skiing for the first time and towards the end of the day fell from a ski lift. According to a friend of our who was riding behind him, we are guessing it was at least a 30 foot drop to frozen snow.

We were first told he had three fractured vertebrae with no spinal cord or nerve damage. Yesterday, a more detailed report told us he has seven fractured vertebrae.

 He is expected to heal and make a full recovery, but it has been a rough couple of days.

When he fell, he was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital in Dubuque (about an hour and a half away from our house). The next morning, they transferred him by ambulance to the hospital here. He was so brave to ride in the ambulance without Dad in there with him. Dad followed behind in the car so we wouldn't have to make an extra trip to Dubuque to pick it up. 

During the ambulance ride, Ricky kept Dad's phone with him so he could talk to Mom any time he felt nervous or lonely. 

Once here, they got him settled in to wait for a back brace. 

He hasn't had any appetite and hasn't been able to keep food down since his accident. He is in a lot of pain and I think the pain medication makes him nauseous. 

Last night was especially rough. He got a fever in the afternoon and had an awful headache all night. It turns out his headache was from low oxygen. Once they got him hooked up to oxygen, he felt a little better.

The kids have been sad about Ricky being in the hospital. It's hard for Sean to understand. He has been acting up. As we were coming to visit Ricky he said, "Does Ricky live here now?"  Andrew misses his buddy. Because Andrew was diagnosed with pneumonia on Monday, we have had to keep him home. We are hoping he can visit tonight with a mask on. In the meantime, Andrew can't get enough of calling Ricky through FaceTime. 

Andrew is showing Ricky his bed.  Ricky will come home to a fancy new bed that will hopefully help him rest better. His old mattress was used (and I don't know how old) when we bought it with a bunk bed at a garage sale 13 years ago. We had been planning to replace it for a while, so why not have him come home to a nice bed?  Don't worry, it's not really green. That's just the fancy mattress cover.

Right now, the plan is to get a brace tomorrow and take X-rays of him standing with the brace on. If his back is supported enough with the brace, no surgery is necessary. 

Our other concern is his breathing. His low oxygen is mysterious. He isn't taking deep breaths because his back hurts. I hope that resolves when he is able to sit up with the brace. 
Until then, this is how he looks.

Every time we have had a child in the hospital (this is our fourth time--once for Andrew and third time for Ricky) I feel blessed that what our child suffers from is not permanent and that they will eventually heal. It's difficult and I worry about him, but he doesn't have near the difficulties that many children here in the hospital suffer from. We are truly blessed. 

Comments

The Kirkmans said…
I hope Ricky heals quickly, we will say some prayers for him.
January 2, 2014 at 7:29 PM
Unknown said…
We love you all and have you in our prayers. Jenni is going to write Ricky a letter and I will mail it tomorrow:)

Missy
January 3, 2014 at 1:19 AM
Unknown said…
We love you! Jenni wants Ricky to know she is praying for him:)
January 3, 2014 at 1:20 AM
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