Prayer Updates

Thanks for your continued prayers for Brian.

The Dr. said his foot is 80% "heel"ed.

The last 20% will take the next 2 years for it to completely heal and for him to feel no pain.

He has a bit of a limp when he walks but he is free from crutches, knee brace, and knee walker.

Freedom!

Just pain at the end of the day.

That's ok. 

(easy for ME to say)

We are thankful he is on the mend and back to, somewhat, normal activity again.

My MOM

What was suppose to be an in and out colonoscopy has turned into a 2 week stay at the luxurious Salt Lake  Hospital.  She has had a few post-op issues that are getting better each day.

Pray for a quick resolve of these issues so she can go home.

She came to our house the day before her appt to "love on" Cooper (and the others),

to eat "Make-your-own-taco Night",

to help the girls finish a sewing project,

and to help celebrate Abbi's birthday.

We Love You, Mom!!

Thanks again SO MUCH for your prayers.

Greatly appreciated!

"He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion."

Psalm 111:4

                               

This IS for Real...

Many of you have been praying for Brian since his ladder accident on January 1st.

Many of you have been asking about him.

BRIAN'S UPDATE

For those of you who are new to our blog and may not know - -

Brian was on a ladder. His feet were about 10 feet high when the ladder began to slide right out from under him. He didn't want to get crushed so jumped to the side and landed 100% on his left foot hitting cement. His calcaneus heel bone shattered into about 12 pieces.

He had surgery on January 18th.

The surgeon put a steel plate and 12 screws into his foot.

OUCH!

Brian has not put any weight on his foot/heel since the accident.

Talk about makin' a man go crazy.

Well, he saw the surgeon this week. 

The surgeon was very pleased with the progress/healing.

He told Brian he can start putting 25% of his weight on it.

Finally!

This is the x-ray taken from the bottom of his foot.

CRAZY!!

I don't think he will be getting on an airplane

 without setting off a few alarms.

Brian is doing well.

However, he still has no feeling in his heel.

There seems to be quite a bit of nerve damage.

Time should heel the nerves.

Time will tell.

Thanks again for your prayers.

We Can Rebuild Him

This is the x-ray of Brian's heel/foot after surgery.

See the plate and 12 screws?

He is half bionic :-)

He is almost 3 weeks post-op!

Nice to have those 3 weeks behind us.

whew!

He was in so much pain and it was difficult for him to get comfortable.

Sleeping was nearly impossible.

The pain has subsided.

Sleeping is better.

Healing is happening.

Now he just wants to crawl out of his skin.

He is going stir-crazy.

3 months of no weight on his foot.

How do you keep a man down?

You don't!

He found this contraption called a "Freedom Leg"
that allows him to walk with no weight on his foot.
And he is hands free!
He does not depend on one of us to carry his things from one place to another.

His thigh and knee take all of the weight and his foot hangs above the bar.

The bar becomes his foot.

Right now, he wears it only when he absolutely needs to get around.
Once the swelling goes down and the stitches are out, I am sure it will be his main way of transportation.

20 Years...

So, what would you do or

what did you do for your

20th Anniversary?

This month was our 20th anniversary.

Guess where we spent it...

The Hospital!

There was no hot sun, sand or crashing waves 

BUT

we did have our own room

 (with the exception of all hospital staff coming in every 15 minutes) 

and food service.

(well, meals for Brian anyway. None for the 8 month pregnant wife) 

Aren't we THE wild and crazy couple?!

In all seriousness, it has been an incredible 20 years.

I love my man!

8 Days...

Post Surgery!

And doing well.

The first 4 days after surgery were rough.

Brian was in sooo much pain and really could do nothing.

Nothing at all.

(I do mean nothing)

Not having his foot elevated caused much throbbing which translated into pain.

The children have been awesome!

He has an assigned PA (personal assistant) each day.

They are eager to serve him.

Abbi and Maggie have learned to make his coffee and take it to him each morning.

The girls make him a hot breakfast and deliver it to him in bed.

(he is actually not "in" bed but does lay "on" the bed to do his office work)

PTL for laptop computers!

Caleb and Hudson have been maintaining the camp.

Checking the lodge daily.

Turning on generator when needed.

Snowshoeing to the hydro to get the power running.

Plowing the road.

Fixing the plow.

And the list goes on.

We hate to see him in so much pain but we do LOVE the opportunity to serve him.

We also love the fact that we know where he is at all times...

one of two places -

his bed or the recliner.

Easy to climb on, snuggle, and read with.

8 days post surgery he has weaned himself off the pain meds (for the most part) and is getting around more and more.

Calcaneus...

has been our new vocabulary word for the past two weeks.

Calcaneus is the bone that Brian fractured in his heel.

It is the bone that will get some MAJOR attention tomorrow.

The calcaneus is the bone in the back of the foot, commonly referred to as the heel bone. This bone helps support the foot and is important in normal walking motions. The joint on top of the calcaneus is responsible for allowing the foot to rotate inwards and outwards.

Surgical treatment of calcaneus fractures usually involves making an incision over the ourside of the foot, and placing a metal plate and screws into the broken heel bone. The doctor will attempt to restore the normal alignment of the bone and return the cartilage surface as close to normal as possible.

The following photos are from the internet (not Brian's)
The x-ray on the left is before surgery and the one on the right is after surgery.
See the plates and screws?
That will be Brian's foot tomorrow...
Beautiful!

Thanks again for your prayers.

It's Been Awhile

I almost forgot how to post - It's been that long!

So much to share but I must start with the most recent
because we need your prayers!!

On New Years Day, Brian was in the barn/warehouse/BCR office trying to fix the backhoe (by himself). He climbed a ladder looking for something. His feet were about 10 feet high when the ladder began to slip. It happened so fast, he had no time to bail. He went down with the ladder and his left foot caught the brunt of the force. He laid there, on the cement, waiting/hoping for the pain to go away - -
kinda like it were a stubbed toe.

No pain went away.

It was throbbing!
AND the pain was getting worse.

He called to the house for help.

Me and the boys went running.

There he was, pounding the ground in pain.

We rolled him over and pulled his boot off.

Oh MY!!

His foot looked deformed.

He knew immediately it was an injury that would need surgery.

So, we went directly to the ER.

They took x-rays and a CT scan.

The CT scan showed that his heel bone had been shattered in MANY pieces.

The orthopedic Dr. "on call" said Brian's injury was out of his comfort zone. However, there is a Dr. on the team that has done/seen injuries like this one before.They put a "bulky Jones" (still not sure why they call it that) on his leg and sent us home with a bottle of percocet. (sp?) He was in great pain and took the pain meds for about 3 days.
(Advil is sufficient now)

The Bulky Jones

(elevated)

 Brian in his new office - 

BED!

We met with the surgeon yesterday.

He introduced himself to us and sat down.

He then asked, "Do you have any understanding of your injury? I have seen worse but not many. Your life will be drastically changed for the next 3-6 months."

He has done this before and was very encouraging about the procedure and outcome. 

The surgery will take about 2 hours and they will be putting in plates and screws to put it all back together again.

Because there was still swelling, surgery will be on the 18th.

He put a new Bulky Jones on and sent us home.

He will not be able to put weight on his foot for 6 weeks and then he will walk in a pool for 2 weeks.

Then he will train for a marathon...

Just Kidding.

Actually, he will learn to use his foot again.

Please pray for the surgeon to know exactly what to do during surgery and for a quick (and perfect) healing. (no pun intended)

Thanks so much!

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory which far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

II Corinthians 4:16-18