What the Monday? And not just Monday....Monday the 13th. It is 100% worse than Friday the 13th, and always has been. It all started out fine and dandy. Shannon's sister Rachael and I stayed up way too late last night finding funny Disney memes for a project we were working on. And this morning, we got off to an early start to go downtown to do Shannon's laundry and work on our surprise for her.
Shannon has been struggling with understanding and keeping track of time (we are ALL struggling with this, but she doesn't see that reality while she's locked up in her isolation room), and because of it, she's been pretty down about how long she's been at the hospital. Technically, she's been there for 4 weeks and 1 day. But two of those weeks and an additional 3 days, she was sedated, so she doesn't remember them. Every day she does remember feels more like a week, and that can really frustrate you when you keep getting told you only have to be there for 6 weeks. Anyway... the surprise.
We made a countdown calendar for her to keep track of the days left and to brighten her spirits. It turned out waaaaaaaaaaay cuter than we anticipated. I used a fun idea I learned when I was teaching seminary: Printing on Post it Notes. Each one has a number to countdown until she (probably) is coming home. Behind each Post It, is a Disney Meme- and a couple of other memes that we just died laughing at. Every Wednesday marks off a week left.
Rachael is the super artistic one who did the cute month names. I mostly did incorrect math, traced lines, and glued stuff. Oh, I'm also good at copy-crop-paste. {insert proud grin}
In other news- as of this writing at.. approximately 10pm eastern time- Shannon has been breathing without the ventilator for (drumroll, please) 58 hours!!!!! She's been off of it since noon on the 11th. They are still monitoring her and keeping an eye on her oxygen levels to make sure she's getting plenty of the good stuff. I'm not positive how much of it is room air vs oxygen, it's a mix right now. A few days ago, it was 20% room air. They are still on track to have her completely on room air by the weekend!!! Also, she has had all the ice she wants, and told me that "God makes ice chips, or the machine did, but He inspired the people to make the machine, so therefore: He made ice chips" :)
Shannon did all kinds of therapy today, and I know she was tired out because she took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. She isn't sleeping super well at night. They are also trying to find her a power chair that fits her body better. The one they have been using bothers her back too much, so she doesn't enjoy sitting in it for long. I would know more about her day today, except our report on how she's doing was interrupted.
While we were driving home today, there was a torrential downpour. It's been flooding in the area and the roads were super slick. There were many times on the way downtown and back that we were losing traction and hydroplaning. Rachael was holding my phone and writing down notes of what Shannon's therapist was saying. I couldn't even hear her because there was so much rain!! Then we heard a loud bang, along with a jerk, and watched a truck that just hit us sliding into the off ramp guard rail and flip over! I got the car pulled over and ran back to make sure he was okay, and by the time I reached him, several men were surrounding him and the driver was out of the truck. He was fine, a couple of cuts on his head, but all his air bags went off and he had to crawl out of the passenger window. We are fine too, and seriously blessed! His rear tire/quarter panel hit my car on the passenger side right on the frame between the two doors. Rachael was safe, not even broken glass. We were both shaken up, and we will be sore, for sure. But it could have been so much worse. We drove the car home, but it's not safe to drive because of the missing mirror, oh, and the doors that are smashed in.
What did we learn today? We can handle waaaaaay more than we thought we could, and we are all being watched over. Rachael commented while we sat in the car waiting for the state trooper that I was handling things quite well. But later, when we were home- after my hour long call with yet another insurance company; I just couldn't handle diving back in to our overwhelming basement renovation project. Rachael was the one who was rallying the troops, assigning tasks and keeping us moving forward. So we all have our moments to carry each other.
We told Shannon about our accident, trying to be cool like her. She was adorably upset that I smashed in her car. She named it Toothless because it's a hybrid and sneaks up on you like a Night Fury. (How to Train your Dragon)
We should've known we were in for a crazy ride today, since this was the car we were following when we headed downtown.
Please continue to pray for Shannon to have the strength she needs to do her various therapies, to continue her progress with her breathing, and for her spinal cord to heal. Thank you for all your wonderful thoughts, your continued prayers, and for reaching out to Shannon to brighten her days.
Olaf: I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs!!!!
Kristoff: Those are MY legs. -- Disney, Frozen
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