Samuel
Straight
Glad you're still around - wishing you and your friends a full and speedy recovery!
Also, I've seen the auctions and sales here on PCF, but is there a Go Fund Me or similar website set up for just straight up cash donations to help Morgan and the rest of you?
...so use your best damn chips!!
Three weeks ago, I was in a TERRIBLE car accident. There were 4 of us in the car, and two people ended up with fractured spines among a whole host of other injuries.
View attachment 1227243
Was just thinking of you and Morgan, and hoping that everyone's road to recovery has been going well. Wishing all of you a very happy holidays !!!Morgan has a couple of people helping her with a few hands-on tasks. But I am the only one trying to help her with her added expenses (she doesn’t have much support).
Since it is just me, I haven’t set up a GoFundMe. But I do have Morgan’s PayPal and Venmo information for donations.
The rest of us besides Morgan have everything we need for recovery…support. Time (and therapy!!) will take care of the rest.
This is a brilliant update with some very positive news.Update time.
My only lingering injury is trauma to the eye. I've been to see a specialist, who gave me a diagnosis of Commotio Retinae. There is damage to my photoreceptors, which are the main retinal cells. My vision loss may improve, or it may not, only time will tell.
Annie (my wife) is doing pretty well too. She has a cracked sternum, and I think those take a long time to heal. She can't really lift much and sneezes are painful. But that's about it.
The other two are making great progress, but certainly have longer healing trajectories.
Erica has 3 fractured vertebrae, a cracked sternum, and a couple of broken ribs. Luckily, she didn't need surgery, and is a VERY athletic and active individual, so she's healing quickly. Her 1-month scans showed everything was lined up as it should be, and healing great. The biggest problem is that she's a school teacher and they are forcing her to return to teaching in mid-January, or lose her job. She can't sit down for very long due to pain in that position. But she's increasing her walking, and walked 5 miles the other day! Her "return to work" date is still a month away, and a LOT of healing can happen in 1 month, so I'm hopeful she'll be able to go back. She's still not able to drive, so her loss of autonomy has been really hard on her...but I think she is on her way to a full recovery.
Morgan was the one with worst injuries -- the surgeon said that he'd never seen anyone with her injury, that walked again. However, she had a very successful surgery the day after the accident, and recovery has been going well. She has to wear a full-body brace to ensure nothing in her spine moves or twists -- she's in this for 3 months, and has other restrictions for another 3 months. In this first 3 months, she needs help getting out of bed, showering, getting in and out of her brace (she doesn't have to wear it while sleeping, for some reason). But her 1-month scans also showed that things were looking good. There was a possibility that she would need a second surgery, but at least as of now, that doesn't look like it will be necessary. She's also increasing her walking, and is up to 4 miles, I think. She definitely has to go slower, and more careful than Erica (who would beat me in a foot race, even with a fractured spine).
I have been looking after Morgan's puppy, because her live-in help is not interested in helping with anything except the getting in and out of the brace, part. And thanks to Uber/Lyft, she's been able to go wherever she needs to be.
There are some mental-health repercussions for all of us, for sure. But we're absolutely on the mend.
Since the accident, I've been thinking a lot about life, and what I want out of it. When you get second chance at life, it can bring things into focus. I'm still working on this, but I'm never going to be the same. I'm changed.
Thank you for all of the love and support, and help for me and my friends through this recovery period. We're going to make it!
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It always sounded like hyperbole, but now you can live it.
Well, soon you can live it. For now you have to keep doing as the doctor says, accept any new limitations, and squeeze the boredom and the day-to-day doldrums out of life. What you will be left with will be more magical and you will soon be getting more out of life than most who simply let it flow by.
Amazing!! Wow that's incredible news for her!MORGAN: This past week, Morgan went in for her 3-month spine check-up. There was a lot of anxiety going into the appointment, because there was still an outside chance she'd need another spine surgery. It was very sobering when the head surgeon came into the room, and told us both how surprised he had been that she still had use of her legs, after he saw the extent of her injuries on the day of the accident. But the 3-month x-rays showed that she is healing up nicely, there are no problems with the rods that are permanently placed to support her spine, and she was given the green light to stop wearing her spine brace!!! She'll have limitations for the rest of her life, but she will be able to do most things, and her prognosis is excellent. The care team said she is about 95% healed at this point, has some physical therapy ahead of her, but she is a walking miracle.
Unfortunately, this whole thing has taken a real emotional toll on me. After months of therapy, and processing the events of the accident, I decided that I needed to separate from my wife. We're in the process of getting a divorce now. It's pretty ugly, honestly, and it is only going to get worse. But the accident really made me examine what is important in life. I really REALLY should have died in this accident (I've withheld some of the details that would make your jaw drop...it was so much scarier than you have imagined). But for some reason, I didn't die. I've been given a new lease on life, and big changes must be made, as difficult as they may be.