Hello faithful family, friends, and followers. Six months ago today at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon, on a sunny day in Panama City Beach, FL, we pressed the pedestrian crosswalk activation lights, looked both ways and started across the street. That’s when, seemly out of nowhere, a 21 year old distracted driver in a pickup truck with bad brakes and no liability insurance, struck us both. While my injuries were limited to abrasions and my hip, knees, and elbows, Joy suffered immense trauma including:
Left SDH subdural hematoma (10mm) w/ 9mm L-R shift
Left temporal IPH intraparenchymal hemorrhage
Left side SAH subarachnoid hemorrhage
Rt orbital wall & maxillary wall fractures w/ associated sinus hemorrhage
Non displaced Rt temporal bone fracture
Rt hemotympanum (bleeding from the ear)
Rt open elbow arthrotomy
Rt distal radius fracture
Rt thigh hematoma
Rt 4th rib fracture
Possible pulmonary contusion
Questionable splenic laceration
Thinking back over those first few hours and days, which turned into weeks, which turned into months, I am overwhelmed by the remarkable progress Joy has made. And yet, as I reflect on those early days, I am reminded of the agony of seeing her go, within a span of 48 hours, from moving all her extremities just after the accident, to total paralysis of her right side including a right facial droop. We/you prayed fervently for Joy’s healing and healing did begin to happen. First, she started breathing on her own, without the ventilator. Then she began to respond to commands to move her left hand, foot, and leg. But, because of her lack of progress, she needed to have a tracheotomy and feeding tube surgically placed. While this was best for her care, it signaled a much longer recovery time than we were praying for or hoped for at the time.
I started to prepare myself for a life of caring for Joy with her right side paralyzed. I even had Alyx take a realtor friend by our home in anticipation of having to sell a townhouse that had three levels. Given the seriousness of Joy’s injuries, length of anticipated recovery, and what at the time appeared to be a prohibitive cost of transporting Joy back to Minnesota, I also began to face an anticipated 3 to 6 month stay in Florida, a visit that had begun with only two roll-aboard bags.
But then, came the first little wiggle of Joy’s right big toe. I quickly shared the video with family and close friends. Movement of her right foot soon followed and eventually movement of her whole right leg. But there was still no sensation in her right arm and hand, even to deep pain stimulation. I would stroke her right arm, rub her hand, and flex each finger, praying, hoping I’d feel the slightest response back. Then, one day, she lifted her right arm about one inch off her body. Still no movement in her hand or fingers, but her arm was responding. Then came the day when her fingers begin to move. That’s when the progress compounded. There were celebrations of sitting on the edge of the bed, then of being able to stand on both legs with support. Then there was the first step, then three steps taken, followed by steps across the room, then 50 feet down the hall, 100 feet, 250 feet, then around the whole hospital floor.
During this time careful attention was on the status of Joy’s brain swelling and intercranial pressure. Daily I’d watch the area of her head where the brain flap had been removed. It needed to be significantly concave, accompanied by CT scan results, which indicated she would be ready for her cranioplasty, the surgery to replace her brain flap. As the area over the flap site began to move more and more concave, it was exciting to hope the restorative surgery may be near, but it was also very unnerving so see how sunken Joy’s head was becoming, a very stark reminder of just how damaged Joy’s brain was. This surgery was an absolute prerequisite for Joy being able to return to Minnesota. We’d have CT scan after CT scan that would come back, improving, but not enough. Then, finally, on March 25th Joy’s restorative cranioplasty was scheduled and performed.
Concurrently, through Alyx’s great work on setting up the GoFundMe page, and the unbelievable generosity of all of you, funds were coming in that allowed us to start making plans for getting Joy back to Minnesota. I could write pages on the drama that went into coordinating all the pieces of the arrangements for Joy’s return. Our daughter-in-law Caitlyn, an OT herself, played a crucial and pivotal role in locating and acquiring the best setting and authorizations for Joy to make the transition and our friend Joe, tirelessly researched the best MedFlight options, all of which eventually allowed us to make the trip back to Minnesota on Thursday, April 4th.
While Joy’s physical gains were evident in her ability to walk greater distances, her cognitive and eyesight deficits remained significant challenges. Therapy continued to build Joy’s physical strength and mobility, and slowly her severe aphasia and apraxia, started slight, but steady improvement. That slight improvement was seldom satisfying for Joy and she ended many speech therapy sessions in tears, frustrated at the lack of progress she wanted to make. But then at last, after 8 weeks of hospitalization between Florida and Minnesota, we returned to our three level home, which from day one, Joy was able to navigate without difficulty, having practiced climbing 24 steps at a time in the hospital stairwell.
We then began outpatient rehabilitation in earnest, 7 therapy sessions a week in PT, OT and Speech. As Joy gained strength in her upper and lower body in PT, OT was working with her on vision exercises and her vertical diplopia began, very slowly at first, to resolve. We were told that vertical diplopia was much more difficult to heal from than horizontal diplopia. But with time, and again by God’s grace and your prayers, Joy’s vertical diplopia healed completely! Joy still has an upper right quadrant field of vision cut, due to permanent brain damage, that will not heal without miraculous intervention, but we are so thankful for the clarity of sight she has achieved.
This walk down memory lane is getting long and I’ve probably lost most of you by now, and while I could go on and on, I’ll wrap this up. It would take too long to detail all the gains Joy has so miraculously made in these six months, especially since our return to Minnesota. Your prayers, God’s grace and mercy, and Joy’s faith, grit and determination have brought us to a place we could not have imagined even three months ago let alone six months ago.
It is impossible to find words to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude for each and every one of you and for the faithful prayers you have held up for us so diligently over these past six months. While Joy has made remarkable progress, her language, reading, and cognitive challenges still remain and can still bring significant sadness and discouragement when they get the better of her. So, please stay with us, keep up your prayers, and know that we feel and depend on those prayers each and every day.
