A Miraculous Update on Benjamin

It's been 70 days.  70 long days since Benjamin fell 3 stories off of a parking garage in Lake Charles.  I'm in Lake Charles every single day, but I have not wanted to go to the accident site.  Someone sent Benjamin a photo of it and he showed it to me.  The parking garage has five stories.  He fell from the third floor and hit the concrete below.  The ambulance driver said it was a 40 foot fall.  Seeing where it happened is kind of hard to process.  I choose to be thankful that he didn't land on his head or his back.  He landed where he had to land in order to still be with us.  There is nothing else to do but praise God!

I've gone far enough in this update without doing something that I should have started off with: Thank you for your continued prayers!  Seventy days ago we were here in ICU getting ready for both orthopedic surgery to put rods in both bones in both legs and neurosurgery to insert two rods in Benjamin's spine.  At this point we didn't know really what to expect.  You can see that on Russ' face.

Since those surgeries, he moved from ICU into a regular room at Lafayette General where he began to recover and start very basic rehab.  He was moved to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in-patient rehab where he was involved in 2 weeks of intensive physical and occupational therapy.  They almost immediately had him doing things that we didn't think he'd be able to do for a long, long time.  Amazing, really!

Then he was released to come home with lots of medical equipment.  Three times a week he goes to out-patient rehab here in Jennings at Thibodeaux, Albro, & Touchet Therapy Group.  They have him working hard and we've seen marked improvement.  Remarkable, really.  He's been in a wheelchair.  Since his right leg is not load-bearing due to severe injuries sustained, he cannot walk.  He can put weight on his left leg as the bones with the rods have healed.  Because of that, he's been able to kind of gently hop on his left leg while standing in a walker.  

Benjamin has lost 25 pounds since the day of the accident.  He has lots of nerve pain in his right ankle and foot.  He still has weakness and lack of feeling in his right hand and fingers.  He works with putty to strengthen the hand and have seen improvement in strength.  Still numb and tingly, though.

He still wears a back brace at all times and wears a bone healing stimulator for a couple hours a day.  He can't bend and he can't twist while his spine injuries continue to heal.  The orthopedic surgeon told him he would be able to be load bearing on his right leg tomorrow.  We have been looking forward to that day.  Well, I have a surprise for you.  This video right here is miraculous!  Click on the arrow below to get a glimpse of what we witnessed this evening:

I can't describe to you the emotion, the gratitude, the awe that we feel.  Benjamin still has a ways to go.  He told me tonight, "It's a marathon, not a sprint, Dad."  But God is so good!  There is nothing He cannot do.  Thank you family and friends, and readers for your continued prayers.  We are so grateful for your love and support.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.  Psalm 107:1