Benjamin - Two Weeks Post Accident Status Report

In about an hour and twenty minutes, it'll be two weeks since we learned that our 22 year old son, Benjamin, fell from the third story of a parking garage in Lake Charles.  He suffered terrible injuries, but is recovering.  We thank God for His Goodness.  We thank you, family, friends, and readers for your prayers.  What we've seen is nothing short of a miracle, and God's not done yet.  We thank all the doctors, nurses, ER staff, ambulance drivers, surgeons, and support staff that have been wonderful!

We are currently at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital In-patient Rehab where Benjamin has a team of doctors and therapists working on him, assessing speech and cognition due to the skull fracture.  He undergoes a couple of hours of occupational therapy each morning in which he is being taught to put on a back brace and use a slide board to move from bed to wheel chair, from wheel chair to commode and back.  He also undergoes a couple of hours of physical therapy in the afternoon where they work with him to regain strength and mobility in his damaged legs, pelvis and back.  He is EXHAUSTED in the afternoon when all that is done.

Matters are complicated due to his two badly broken legs.  One of them is non-load bearing, so he cannot put ANY weight on it while it heals.  This could be anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks.  We have a family - treatment team meeting on Tuesday morning at 9:30.  I'll give another update Tuesday night as we'll know more about prognosis, goals, treatment plan moving forward.  You would not believe the improvement we've seen in the last week.  Here he is in the wheel chair.  The tape on his right arm is for nerve damage - numbness and pins and needles from elbow to fingers.  Feeling has not returned.  We're still praying about that.  

Staples in his left leg and right leg, except where the compound fracture was, come out tomorrow.  Staples in his spine come out Tuesday.  They are trying to figure out how to accomplish teaching him to shower with the restriction of no weight on the right leg and no hopping - only pivoting on the left leg.  Other than the numbness in his right arm and numbness on his left forearm, his upper body strength is really helping his recovery.  

He wanted to get out of the room for the past two days, so he pushed himself all over the hospital in his wheelchair.  His brother, Russ, was there to assist should he get tired.  Tricia wanted to avoid being in the photo.  She's hiding behind the door.

Benjamin had not been outside in 13 days, so we went out to the butterfly garden so he could get some sunshine and fresh air.

We anticipate being released to home for a number of weeks until his leg is load-bearing.  At that point, he'll be back in rehab.  This week I'll be moving a bed from upstairs into his old downstairs bedroom.  That bed is shorter.  I'll also be building a small ramp to enable him to get into the house over a four inch threshold.  We'll also remove the door from the bathroom in his room for easier access.  We will also be figuring out how to get him back to work as quickly as feasible.

Stay tuned for a "normal" post tomorrow night and then another update on our patient on Tuesday following the big meeting.  You'll never fully understand how appreciative our family is of your prayers, love, encouragement, and concern since this occurred.  Much love to you from the Sonnier's.