“I don’t believe in miracles, I count on them.”

Here we are, thousands of  miracles later, on the 2nd anniversary of Dave’s accident. The first miracle being that Will Brayford, driving his rig north on Northland drive, saw a bright green flash fly through the air and land hard on the White Pine trail, 100 feet from where he was in his truck. He was driving home and looking to see if his nephew and nieces were walking home as they often did at that time. 

This random (not!)  passer by was Dave’s  first responder. I still have the voice message he left me on my phone. I still remember being stopped dead in my tracks listening to his voicemail 10 minutes after he left it. I probably stopped breathing until survival instincts kicked in. 

When I called him back the ambulance was still there. As Will filled me in, I heard someone yell, “where does she want him to go?”

I said Spectrum downtown. 

My eyes tear up and my heart floods with gratitude for the miracles unfolding after that fateful call. Dr Bad Ass Chadwick and her ER team, ICU and the focused care there. The top orthopedic neck surgeon Dr Scott Russo on call to clean up the damage and fuse  his cervical spine 3-6. Chaplin Cindy Veldheer   who took me aside and offered authentic compassion and a challenge to write on the Caring Bridge site since my phone was blowing up with texts from friends and family. 

Dr Russo said his recovery would depend on his mindset, exceptional nutrition, and my ability to hold on for a very long haul as his caregiver. Turns out we had the Right Stuff! 

Plus the intangibles he forgot to mention. 

You,  friends, acquaintances. and family, our beloved community, a web of prayers, meal trains, help in the yard, meals on wheels, home care from family, cards and more cards, flowers, cheerleaders, yes sayers, brilliant Physical Therapists who think out side the box, Medicare Part G (nothing out of pocket except some $3-400 in equipment),full permission from myself to have needed meltdowns, and mourn together. And above all a mighty sense of belonging to SomeThing beyond us and within us that manifest in the community we are held by. 

And now we prepare for another adventure within this one. I mentioned in my last entry that a baclofen implant may be an option we try to ease Dave’s stiffness and discomfort. Last Friday the 11th Dave had a spinal injection at the MFB clinic to determine how he would respond to baclofen administered directly into his spinal cord. It is a necessary step before actually having a pump installed with a catheter to his spine. 

All went well and we are on track for him to undergo this intervention. We had a consult Wednesday the 16th with Dave’s attending Dr VandenBerg who gave us the low down on what to expect, risks etc. A neurosurgeon implants the pump under the skin of his lower abdomen and runs the catheter under and around his back and then carefully into his spinal cord at L4, and threads it to around T6 where the pump will be programmed to deliver baclofen to his central nervous system. There will be pain when he wakes,  mostly in his back. 

He will be in the hospital for a while, up to 2 weeks while they titrate the dose. It’s important that it’s not too much or his muscles will be weakened. Most of the stay will be in MFB where he will get OT and PT again to learn to move with out the spasticity. 

So now we wait to see Dr Figueroa who will consult with us and set up a time for the surgery.

We are both pretty excited that he will eventually have much more relief from the discomfort of stiffness that can become sore and zap his energy. Also, he will no longer have the side effects of baclofen, since it will no longer be systemic. It makes him tired and foggy mentally.

We hope all of you are feeling the ecstatic joy of Spring as it slowly unfolds before us and within us. In spite of all the pain we feel about what we cannot control or understand, we hold you and all of Life as sacred and miraculous. 

“Lord of the star fields

Endless of days

Universe maker

I sing a song in your praise

Oh Love that fires the sun

Keep me burning…….”    ~Bruce Cockburn