Yesterday, while sitting in school, my mom tried to call me- but I didn't answer. I went out a few minutes later on a break and before I could call her back, my brother called and said, "how bad is he?" This, of course put me into immediately panic mode- "How is WHO? WHAT are you talking about?" He then told me that my youngest brother, Drew, had fallen off of a ladder, broke his back and was at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I think, no, I know that was the fastest I have even driven from Draper to Provo- I made it in less than 15 minutes... thankfully, my guardian angel is able to fly quickly!
So, long story short...
Drew was helping my dad clean up some trees that had broken limbs from the last heavy snow fall. He climbed up on Grandma Dot's shed and had anchored a ladder to the taller tree. The ladder was all tied into the tree- he really was trying to be careful. Drew made it across, cut the branch 90% off and was climbing back across the ladder when the ladder failed and broke, sending Drew down about 20 feet onto his back. Thankfully my dad was near by and was able to call the ambulance and tend to Drew until they arrived.
At the hospital, it was seen that L1 in his spine was shattered and L2 was broken. The decision was made to perform surgery and remove the broken pieces, then fuse the upper two and lower two vertebrae together, placing rods throughout the area for strength.
Before going into surgery, Drew was given a blessing by my dad and Elder Hafen of the 70- he is my parent's neighbor and just happened to be at a doctor's appointment with the surgeon when the call came into the doctor that he was needed for emergency surgery.
As a family, we sat for over 6 hours while the doctors worked. Everything went well and the doctors are very encouraged. Thankfully, after the surgery, Drew was able to move both feet and the numbness is slowly going away.
As I type, Drew is in the ICU at UVRMC. He has a really long road ahead of him. The true extent of the injury will not be seen for days, weeks, or maybe even months. He will be fitted for a turtle shell cast- it goes around his chest and abdomen to help stabilize his back and is removable for sleeping. The cast will be worn for at least three months. At this point, all we can do is let the doctors and nurses take care of him and pray that he will have a full recovery.
I will keep this updated as things change. Any prayers in our family's behalf are greatly appreciated.
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3 comments:
Steph your brother is truly blessed to have such a wonderful supportive family behind him. I have every hope that he will make a full recovery.
He is a strong guy with a lot of things going for him. I wish you all the best of luck!
Wow! I saw your post on FB and that is not fun at all! Scary! I wish for the best in his recovery! That's so good that numbness is going away! Just wanted to say hi too since you're no longer here! Email me your email address at dianatjohnson@msn.com and I am going to add you to my list so I can keep in touch with ya, if you don't care!! :) Good luck with your brother!!!!!
Wow, that sounds terrible! I'm glad he appears to be doing well so far. Keep us updated on his condition! How old is Drew now? I just picture him as a 10 year old still, but I suppose that's not accurate.
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