Friday- April 25th

Stephen's goal today was to be able to handle having his bed elevated a few degrees. It was excruciating for him. Up until this point he had been flat on his back. He is still unable to move anything but his fingers and his toes. 

Half way through the day they started giving him Valium, which helped a little. Everything hurts- from the tips of his hair to his toenails. He has also been really itchy, so family members have taken turns scratching for him seeing as he can't do it himself. 

He has 7 broken ribs, a broken scapula, and broken vertebrae in his neck. He also has torn ligaments in his ankle, probably as a result of having his shoes clipped into his bike during the accident and being ripped out of them at such force. 

The doctors are worried about the possibility of pneumonia because he is unable to really expand his lungs. In fact, breathing, shallow as it may be, is extremely painful. 

The doctors have mentioned that the scapula is one of the hardest bones in the body to break. And the same thing goes for the two upper ribs in the back. They very rarely see people break them, especially both of them. Typically if something hits you hard enough to break those bones, your insides would be mush. But miraculously Stephen has no internal bleeding. It is a wonder that his broken ribs did not puncture any of his organs, including his lungs and aorta. And the particular vertebrae in his neck that are broken, just happen to be the ones that are supported by muscle and will heal on their own with time- no surgery needed. 

We are still trying to wrap our heads around the fact that he has not suffered any spinal damage, and that his brain is functioning at it's typical (unbelievably high) rate. The kids have joked that you just don't mess with a brain as big as Dad's. In fact, just hours after the accident he was already divvying up responsibilities and making arrangements for who was going to cover his classes, and which bishop duties needed to be taken care of. That's dad for ya! 

I think I also need to mention that dad's first concern was for the driver of the car. He is so concerned about her and wants her to be at peace about the accident. His attitude during this whole ordeal has been such a testament to the kind of man he is. 


This next picture makes me chuckle a little. Dad has been feeling a little self conscious because when he came into the hospital they cut all of his clothes off of him. They just draped a blanket over him for privacy. So to make him feel a little more comfortable we put some pants on him. :) 

Today was a tough one... but we are so grateful for the progress he is making.