05/04/2008: "Day 38"

With today being the last of the daily updates (tomorrow's will serve for a week) I have been struggling with what to post about. I feel that I have never come out and said what all Kate's injuries were in one posting. Here are the ones I have talked about.

I have mentioned that her spleen was removed because it had shattered and caused massive internal bleeding. This required major emergency surgery and a complex balance of blood and blood products. I have mentioned she broke her leg and that it is still in a cast that is proving to be a hindrance to Kate's balance and mobility. I have mentioned her fractured pelvis. I have talked about her head injuries and how the final effects of that will not be known for a long time, but that we seem to have avoided any major problems. I have mentioned the weakness she had on her left side that also resulted from the head injury, but that has improved greatly and is getting closer to normal. I have mentioned that her jaw was broken and dislocated and required surgery to repair. I have mentioned the issues with extubation and how that caused anxiety when it was delayed, but when it did happen Kate was whispering right away and hasn't stopped talking since. I have talked about the infection that she acquired and eventually shook once a number of antibiotics were tried.

I have mentioned other things in my postings, however there are many injuries, experiences, and events I have not included. Over the past month I have tried to keep the balance between keeping people informed as well as keeping our privacy. I strongly feel that keeping people informed helped people pray more effectively and during the time of acute care that was appropriate. Now that we are transitioning into a longer term rehabilitation and recovery I feel that daily updates would be less appropriate and would either be too vague to be useful or too personal for me to post.

I am thankful that people were able to follow this daily and be able to pray and encourage us each step of the way. Please continue to keep Kate, myself and our families in your prayers as we continue to recover from this tragic event.