Todd Rehmann

Saturday started as a beautiful day but took a very horrible turn for Todd.  We were in the backyard in Roseville and Todd was up on a ladder trimming a big branch around noon.  I was standing on the bottom of the ladder.  Todd said "clear", I said "ok", and he cut the final bit.  The branch dropped to the ground and then bounced off the ground and hit the ladder.  The bounce cause the ladder to collapse, dropping Todd about eight feet.

An ambulance arrived within fifteen minutes, neighbors jumped to help us, and we went to Regions Hospital. Andrew just happened to be at a neighbors helping with a roof so he raced over to the house and we followed the ambulance.

Todd had an excellent surgeon work on his spine for three hours.  The outlook for his spine is not good, but he is able to talk and and is going to be ok.  His spine is fused from #8 to #12 which is the middle of the back.  The spinal cord was not severed, but it is in bad shape.  Right now he has no feeling below his ribcage. 


Over the next five to seven days he will be in ICU and then will move to rehab, all at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.  He may get some feeling back, we'll know more after a few days.  Will he walk again?  Maybe...   


I'm surrounded by family.  Praying, crying, and then just plain old talking about the small stuff.  This doesn't make a lot of sense, but I wanted you all to know. Each of you deserves a phone call, because we love you, but right now we're in shock.


Sunday, October 21


Todd was kept pretty busy today as is normal for an ICU unit. Physical therapy had him sit up for the first time and he was able to sit up on his own without assistance for a few minutes. They took him down for a CAT scan and an xray for his shoulder that was also banged up in the fall. The surgeon wanted the CAT scan just to confirm everything that he did for the spine. They also brought in a big fancy chair so that he could sit up more for several hours. It's amazing to think it's only been 24 hours. His mind is working just fine. He keeps track of every persons name that comes in and out of the room and asks good questions. 

Has there been any feeling? He thinks he can feel a slight tingling in his left foot, but nothing beyond that. 

Is he feeling ok? Well, what's ok, right? He is tired because the hospital never sleeps, but he has enjoyed visiting with family. He will enjoy visiting with friends too. Having people come in and talk about mundane things is a blessing. It's hard for everyone to know how much is too much, so if you think you would like to visit you're welcome to text me and we'll see where the energy level is. It was important today to also have some time just to close our eyes and breathe. 

Thank you for all the prayers, we feel greatly supported. I also appreciate you passing on the word to anyone you think would want to know because my mind is a tad scrambled. 

Love, carolyn