update on my nephew

I will just share part of the email my sister sent this morning.

Cole is still hanging tough. He started taking pain pills in addition to the morphine yesterday to relieve some of the pain. He is still extremely stiff and sore and his foot continues to bleed out. His color is looking better and he no longer is running a fever, which is a relief. He will be having surgery tomorrow and they will cut into the wound on his foot and clean it up and repair anything that needs repairing, if they can close it they will but they are not sure yet. I don't know the time of the surgery but we should find out this morning when the doctor comes to visit. Probably will have at least a day or two in the hospital after that and then once he is released he will be treated in Grapevine by Dr xxxx who is not only a personal family friend, but an excellent doctor. The timeline for recovery appears to be the same(3 months), but knowing Cole he will work extra hard to speed that up, he already has asked when he can get back in the gym. Thank you for all the prayers and comfort you have shared with us.

Me again
He is in a hospital in Dallas which is about an hour drive from where most of us live which is why she is referring to where he is going to get his after surgery treatment. He is in Baylor which is considered one of the best trauma hospitals in the area and is a large teaching hospital affiliated with Southwestern Medical School. However, it has been tough on his parents who have been taking turns spending the night with him so one of them could be home with their 14 yr old at night and one of them can make sure Cole is being taken care of. I went by this afternoon and I was struck with how much he looks like his dad. When I mentioned it, they both asked at the same time. "Is that a good thing?" Made me laugh and I was glad to see their sense of humor again. It has been a tough couple of days. I thank you for your prayers and well wishes, too. I firmly believe in the power of prayer and appreciate you sharing it with my family.

Karen's engagement pics

Karen asked me to take some pics of her and Joe to use as their engagement pictures. They have a friend taking pictures at the wedding for gratis and did not want to impose her for these, too. I was very excited to be asked. My mother has a very pretty backyard so we went there on Sunday evening about 7. I was hoping to not only take advantage of the evening light but it's been over 100 degrees here every day for two weeks. It was still in the high 90s but there was a nice breeze blowing and lots of shade so we were comfortable. I still have a hard time believing this beautiful woman is my baby girl.

Some fun stuff I'm going to do with you

Starting Monday of next week, I am going to have a photo color challenge every day for a week with random drawings each day for those who participate. I will post the challenge every morning (hopefully) before I go to work and I hope to come home each day to lots of fun links to look at. I will number each comment in the order they are left and use the random number generator to choose the winner the next day by 4 pm. Get your batteries charged up and tell your friends. I hope this will be lots of fun for everyone.

I've been busy

Apparently, I am an orange

You Are an Orange

You have a zest for life, especially for anything colorful, wild, or dramatic. You have a unique take on the world, and you're not afraid to be a little funky. You are a bit reserved toward people who don't know you well. You have a thick skin, which can protect you from anything that goes wrong in your life. Once someone does get to know you, they totally get and appreciate you. Your friends see you as a bright person with a refreshing take on life.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

update

Thanks for the prayers. The gash was on his lower leg and they have sewn it up. The impact to his heel imploded it and caused internal damage and it started swelling. They are draining it and hope that the drain will lessen the swelling and surgery can be avoided. He apparently was hit in the shoulder, too, which is extremely painful today but not broken, just bruised. He will be in the hospital for several more days and probably not able to use the foot for about 3 months.

just got home from the hospital

My 22 yr old nephew (my sister's son) was in a work accident this afternoon. He was hit from behind by a 400 lb steel beam. Fortunately, his dad was working with him and shoved him out of the way of a full force hit. He has a gash on his foot/ankle to the bone and ligament and tendon damage and possibly some fractures. It was a miracle that he wasn't killed or crushed. They are waiting for an orthopedic surgeon to come out of surgery to evaluate him for surgery. The swelling is at the dangerous level. I was there for about six hours sitting with whoever was in the waiting room while the other one was in the room with Cole. My brother and his wife have taken over for me. Please pray that the damage to his foot can be fixed. The trauma doctor was talking about whether the tissue was viable or not, whatever that means. Poor boy is in horrible pain and his dad is just miserable with blaming himself.