March 29, 2020

Well, it's officially two weeks today. Two weeks ago at this time of day (around 3:30 pm), I was wandering through our home trying to figure out what else needed to be taken care of and packed before we hopped on a plane for Iowa. We had a few friends who came to our home when we told them what happened, and they were right on top of taking over wherever we needed them. We were headed to a pretty unknown scenario, to whatever condition our kids were in, and it was comforting to have left our two youngest and our home in their capable hands.

A piece of the story I haven't talked about here is that we were, in fact headed to our kids, two of them- and another one that is like a daughter to us already. Shannon had been riding home from school with her brother Austin, and his fiancée Katie. Austin and Katie were at a hospital near the accident scene, and by now, Shannon had been taken by Life Flight to a trauma hospital in Des Moines. Katie's mom flew out with us, and she drove to the hospital that Katie and Austin were in, about an hour away, while we headed straight to Shannon's. We didn't get to see them until the Wednesday after the accident.

Happily, they were wearing their seat belts, and their physical injuries were very minor. We were so blessed that Katie's mom was able to fly out with us and take care of them so we could focus on Shannon. I don't know what we would've done without her. Another blessing- having her able to help. She took care of getting them and their things back home.

So this really has been a family ordeal, on multiple levels. When people ask me how my other kids are doing, I say we are all hanging in there. We all have good days, good times of the day, bad days, days we want to fill with other things so we don't think about it, days we can't stop thinking about it. We have hope and peace; struggles and doubt. We have all had at least one moment of "If only.....", but know that's not a healthy path to go down. For those of you who don't know, Shannon has 7 siblings, 2 nieces, 3 nephews, 2 brothers-in-law, 1 almost sister-in-law. That's just the physical family. Yes she has an army with her, fighting along side of her. That means there are also a lot of people who are affected by this trial. But we fight together.

Shannon is doing well today. She is still struggling with her one lung that has an infection in it. They are trying some new medication to help with it, and have increased her ventilator settings to help her breath better. No fever today (but that changes all the time), and she is in good spirits. We chatted with her a couple of times today already. We played "guess what Shannon is saying" and failed pretty badly. I did figure out that Shannon is missing her music, so her super kind nurse hooked her up with an iPad she's playing music off of. We gave her a list of artists Shannon enjoys. Shannon was also was able to FaceTime with her boyfriend, and that was great for both of them! Yesterday she was able to FaceTime with one of her sisters and her family of boys. Shannon said she enjoyed it (nodded when I asked if she did) but also nodded when I asked if it was a lot to take in- all the people and crazy that goes with it. When you can't speak, it's hard to have more than one person trying to talk to you. So for now, Shannon wants to keep it at minimum interaction.

Shannon needs prayers to overcome her lung infection, to have her lungs heal and the strength to breath on her own, without a ventilator. She needs prayers for her spinal cord injury to heal in whatever manor our Father in Heaven has in mind for her. She needs prayers for peace, and comfort- both physically and mentally.

We told Shannon this morning that there is a world-wide fast and prayer for help and healing for the pandemic, and that many people were also praying and fasting for her specifically. She was pretty amazed when we told her that there are literally thousands of people who have been praying for her these past two weeks. I wish I knew you all personally and could thank you personally. I know she is feeling that love and support, we certainly are. We thank you for it.

Now that she's cognitive, feel free to send us letters, emails, and messages to read to her. I'm sure she'd love them. Or if you are a FB friend of hers, post them on her page. As soon as she regains control of her hands better, she will be able to use a phone/iPad to stay connected to others. But for now, she's loved when we pass on your well wishes. Keep anything you share with her positive, of course.

The past several days, since Shannon hasn't been sedated, have been harder for her mentally. I can see how one day is harder than another, depending on what they have her do. She dislikes the "wheel chair" and physical therapy, even though she knows it's good for her. So she does it anyway.

If she could quote Disney (or rather, if I could read her Disney quoting lips)--

"Giving up is for Rookies!!"  Phil, Hercules.