On Tuesday, February 19, I (Mandy) got a call from my brother Andy. Our other brother Justin had a car accident on his way to work that morning. He was traveling on Hwy 60 from Marshfield to Springfield (in Missouri) when he had a diabetic blackout and ran the car into a semi truck. The Jaws of Life had to be used on both front car doors to get him out of the car and he was air-lifted to the Cox South Hospital. At first the doctors just thought he had a broken hip bone, but the next day they learned he had lost 3/4 of his colon and needed to surgically remove it on Wednesday.
Kevin called American Airlines and found they have a great discounted rate for emergency situations. He scheduled me on a flight for Thursday morning. Unlucky for me there was an ice storm in Springfield and I had to wait 11 hours in the airport before finally boarding the plane to Missouri. When I arrived at the hospital I learned Justin was having difficulty breathing, had a bruise on his heart and was in ICU. He also had a colostomy bag which would need to be there for 4-6 months until they could reattach the remaining parts of his surviving colon. He was scheduled for surgery on Monday for his hip.
The next few days in the hospital were long, but good. He took care of him everyday and we saw many improvements. His breathing, day by day, got better and better. The bruise on his heart, we learned, would heal on its own without long term effects and he was given a medication on aid in the healing. He was in a lot of pain from surgery and from his hip. Morphine was a word we heard often, but it also helped him to rest at night. I saw many visitors, friends and relatives, whom I had not seen in a long time, each person saying, "It's good to see you again. Just wish it were in better circumstances." I spent a lot of time with Justin's daughters, my nieces, Anna (2-years-old) and Chloe (4 months). They are so cute and Anna loved to be with me all the time.
On Sunday Justin had to have the incision from his surgery opened back up because there was some infection from the staples. The doctor thought this would help it heal faster. He did have one surgery on his hip, to put a plate in his pelvic bone on the right side from the break. They weren't able to do the second part, which is to put a pin in his tailbone from another break. The doctor is hoping to be able to complete that stage of his recovery later this week. I flew back to Texas on Tuesday evening, saying goodbye to my brother who had his first physical therapy session, was finally drinking clear liquids and sitting up in a recliner for the first time. Things were looking good.
On Wednesday morning I get a call from Christie, Justin's wife and my sister-in-law, saying they were taking him back into surgery because he was having a fowl smell come from his abdomen. She was very upset (and who wouldn't be) driving by herself to the hospital. I tried to help her calm down and then tell me again what was wrong, because I could not understand her the first time. After she told me I knew I couldn't do anything but pr. So I pleaded with the Father to help him. I found out later that he had more infection in his abdomen and they needed to clean it out. Whew!
How can the Father be praised in all this? Justin does not remember putting on his seat belt that morning before leaving for work, but the EMT remembers cutting it off, his abdomen tissue resembles much bruising across his stomach and Christie's dad took pictures of the cut seat belt. The first person on the scene was an emergency room doctor from another hospital. Each day he has been getting better and better. Many people are generously giving money to them to help with expenses, especially since Justin is the sole provider for their family. Also, Justin is talking about finally finishing his degree. He is good, all the time. All the time, He is good.
