Things are looking up

Yesterday I saw a spinal specialist in Colorado Springs named Dr. Sung. Here's where things stand at this point:

1. After reviewing my x-ray with Dr. Sung and consulting on the phone with Dr. Corenman in Vail, it looks good that my spinal fracture is on track to heal without surgery. Eventually I will be able to resume nearly every activity I have done in the past, albeit with a crooked back. I will need to be smart about things like skiing, where the chances of falling and breaking something else are greater.

2. I will spend another five weeks in my brace and then begin some intensive physical therapy. I am really looking forward to this, as it will mean getting out of the brace and getting on with life. For now, I am being a good boy and doing what the doctors tell me to do. I see Dr. Corenman in Vail on January 4th to do one last x-ray and consulation before I close out this phase of recovery and look toward rehab.

3. My low bone density needs to be addressed, so I am trying to get in to see a specialist in Denver that Dr. Corenman said "I'd send Gerald Ford to him" (one of Dr. Corenman's patients), so he must be pretty good. I know that any genectic spinal degenration that has and is occuring in me will be addressed at this time.

4. At some point down the road, after I get my bone density higher, then I may elect to do some spinal surgery to correct the curve in my spine. It's far too early to think much about this kind of surgery, but it is in our minds and something we will be considering as we get further down the road of life. It would be my long-term goal to avoid becoming the Hunchback of Notre Dame and set myself up for a graceful aging and exit from life in my 100s.

So for now, I am doing fine, I'm off the pain medication, and I'm planning to resume my travel and shooting schedule in late February.

Thank you so much for all your calls, notes, prayers and help. We are grateful for our friends and family and would NOT have been able to get through this thing sanely without each and every one of you.

A Note of Thanks from Linette

Hello friends near and far! I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for loving us so well these past couple of weeks. So many of you have pitched in to make our home merry, our tummies full, and our load lighter. While Sean was in the hospital I received tons of calls and emails offering support, prayer, encouragement and well wishes. One of those calls came from our friends the Jacksons who have a home in Edwards (just west of Vail where Sean was resting in his ski in-ski out slope side accommodationsJ). They quickly and generously offered their place to us for as long as we needed. So, the kids and I moved in and made ourselves at home. Sean’s parents joined us in Edwards to help out with the kids, cooking, hospital runs and so on. My dear friend Mary Beth flew in from Indianapolis to be with us for our last few nights in Edwards. She pitched in on all fronts including working on and completing a 1,000 piece puzzle (one of my favorite holiday traditions). After 10 days in the mountains Sean was ready for the ride home!

We arrived home to find… a dust free house (we left to go to the mountains because we were having our kitchen floors redone – a dusty job to say the least) thanks to Julie, Claudia and Jill – a beautiful Christmas tree in our front room specially chosen for us by Tim, Denise, Sam and Rachel – a refrigerator stocked with the essentials from Denise – a freshly made hospital bed/TV set-up for Sean designed by Tim, Denise and Sam – and dinner on the way thanks to Jane. Now, that is a nice welcome home!

Since then we have enjoyed gourmet dinners from Denise, Kallene, Joy, Jane, and Mary Beth. Coach Brady dug our Christmas decorations out from beneath the heaps of boxes in our garage and hung our big wreath on the front of our house. Way to go coach! He also made a late afternoon beer run for Sean the other day (Sean was quick to explain to me that the beer is not for him rather for those who stop by to visit). Ladd and Julie cheered us up by sleeping over…just for old time’s sake. Brother Tim has been leading the troops behind the scenes in ways I don’t even know about. I do know that he took Sean for his first “field trip” on Monday. Several friends have picked up a handful of groceries for us. Ladd and Jake did a few projects around the house – removing AC units, sanding and wiring. Friday Ms. Jane spent a couple hours playing with Henry while I took Olivia to the doctor, on Sunday morning (after a night of no sleep) Pop Pop and Mor Mor came and picked up the kids, our neighbor Nancy stopped over for awhile on Monday while I went and completed a few errands and Ms. Mary Beth joined us for the day on Tuesday! Tuesday afternoon Henry’s “BIG boy” friends, Zach and Gabe, came and took him and his sister on an adventure – this was a hit! Wednesday morning Denise showed up to stay with Sean while I went to the airport with the kids to pick up my mom and Bob. In typical “Denise fashion” she strung the tree with lights, hung Christmas decorations, and gave the house a once over all in about two hours flat. Unbelievable!

Truly we have been well taken care of and we are thankful! You have loved us above and beyond. Now, my mom and Bob are here and the able adults out number those who need diaper changing and medical assistance. Amen. So, thanks to all for thinking of us and taking the time, in the midst of this holiday season, to serve us. You are dear and we are grateful! With my folks here we should be set. However, if some special need arrives I’ll let you know.

As for Sean…he is hanging in there. Each day seems to be a bit different. Overall I think this past week was better than the one before. He has a follow-up appointment and x-ray one week from today. That appointment should be telling. He is still taking quite a few meds – thankfully they help with the pain and aid in sleeping. Unfortunately, they also slow down digestion and make him a bit “cloudy” at times. So, if you have a conversation with him and he doesn’t sound like himself it’s because he’s not himself all the time.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Love,
Linette

The beard is Getting Thicker, But the Bones are Getting Thinner

Today I had some discouraging news from the medical center in Edwards. Before I had left there last week I did a bone density test and the results I got today indicated that my bone density is low.

At this point I don't know too much about what that means, if it played a role in my back fracture, or what the treatment is, but I DO know that a week from today when i see Dr. Sung here in Colorado Springs I will be asking him about it, as well as Dr. Corenman in Vail. More later on both this and the next x-ray next week. In the meantime, enjoy the caveman look.

p.s. this is the look i'm going for: http://www.geico.com/video/airport_h.htm

December 6 X-Ray of Sean's Spine

Here you can see the third thoracic vertabrae crushed down at an angle that forces the back forward. If this angle increases due to further compression of the fractured vertabrae over the next week or so, then surgery will be required to straighten and stabalize the spine.

I will have another x-ray on December 20th to determine the angle of compression and then decide next steps. If surgery is required, I would be inclined to have that done by Dr. Donald Corenman, the surgeon from the world-renowed Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail. If surgery is not required, it will be a matter of wearing the brace for two more months and then undergoing some physical therapy. At any rate, I am grateful that there is no neurologoical damage and that I can function fairly well right now. I'm eager to heal and resume my shooting and traveling schedule early next year!

Some background on the accident: I took Linette and the kids to Beaver Creek the afternoon of November 27th for three days of RandR before I was scheduled to fly to Sudan and shoot in Darfur beginning December 3rd. It snowed all that night, and early the next morning I snuck out of the room and went for a run through the fresh, still-falling snow.

There I was just running along and WHAM! I was on my back. I had slipped on some hidden ice under the fresh snow and fallen square on my back. With a flash of hot white light when I hit, I knew I had broken something. The wind was knocked out of me and try as I might, just couldn't get up. So there I lay, in the middle of the road, with snow falling on me as I looked skyward, groaning with a fairly intense pain.

Thankfully, two workers from GE Johnson Construction Company saw that I wasn't getting up (they had just arrived at their worksite along the river in Avon) and helped me into their truck and took me to the Sheraton, where we were staying. I hobbled up to our room and collapsed on the bed, telling Linette that I was hurt and needed help.

The Hotel called 911 and I made a humbling trip to Vail Valley Medical Center in the ambulance. Once in the ER, they took x-rays and informed me I had suffered a severe vertabrae fracture. So I called Linette on my cell, gave her the news, and thus began my treatment in Vail.

I received excellent care from everyone involved in my case in Vail. After several days they let me go to the Jackson's home in Edwards, where I rested a little more before coming home a few days ago. I am now awaiting the next x-ray and trying to keep on top of the work I can do. Linette, my family and all our friends have been so good in helping us through this. Thanks everyone for your prayers and your concern. I am optimistic that I will make a full recovery--even if I must have spinal surgery--and I am blessed that things were not worse.

More pictures of Sean

Here are a few pictures I took while with Sean & Linette in Edwards. mbj

I Broke My Back

December 4, 2006 UPDATE

Last Tuesday, Sean & Linette decided to take a little trip to Vail, CO for a little r&r with just the four of them before Sean was to fly to Sudan for 2+ weeks. On their first morning in Vail, Sean headed out for a casual run. However, during the run, he slipped & fell on some ice and broke his back, his T-3 vertabra to be exact.

Sean is doing pretty good in my opinion considering all his body has gone through this last week. He is "home" from the hospital, staying at the home of my in-laws here in Edwards, CO. He is walking around & eating more regularly. He is still not sleeping through the night. Sean & Linette are unsure of when they will be able to head home to Colorado Springs but they are hoping by maybe this Wednesday (December 6). His parents have been here since last Wednesdsay, providing much help & relief.

Sean's prognosis is good. He is expected to have to wear his neck brace for at least three months & is forbidden from traveling for the same amount of time. Anything you are able to do to help is appreciated by all. Thanks to all who have helped out thus far.

MaryBeth Jackson