Update 12-9-09

Surgeon says Danny's range of motion in his wrist is better than he expected, and he may regain 90% of it, and not even miss the other 10%. He is really proud of Danny for not using the narcotic pain reliever for more than a couple days right after the surgery; said most people have to use it for that much pain. He's still taking a non-narcotic prescription pain reliever and anti-inflammatory, but can start trying to taper off, and should be off it in a week. He has some pain in his right shoulder area and also in his left elbow, that the surgeon said would hopefully just subside within a few weeks. He removed Danny's outer layer of stitches on both sides of his arm, and said he could start showering without trying to keep it dry as he's been doing. He won't be able to drive until he's off the pain medication, so that will probably be incentive for him to taper off and quit sooner. Danny thinks he's still having memory issues - his example was that he had to look at the calendar 3 times today to remember what day it was. I hope that's mostly a matter of just being so off his normal schedule AND being on the pain meds, which do make you drowsy and can make you dizzy, too. I haven't noticed his being forgetful. The neurosurgeon had told us to come back ONLY if he was still experiencing memory problems in a couple of weeks.

Update 12-7-09

Danny's still in pain most of the time, but his dizziness and headaches have subsided. He goes to the surgeon for a followup checkup tomorrow afternoon.

Slowing Down

Danny is recovering slowly but surely. Thankfully, he thinks his 2 new 6" long incisions will make for impressive scars and possible "chick magnets." When he is not in pain, his sense of humor is still intact, which is a blessing. This whole incident has left me a bit shell-shocked. My normal rushing-around-trying-to-make-the-holidays-perfect has been replaced with nothing-is-more-important-than-sitting-on-the-sofa-giving-Danny-a-foot-massage-to-ease-his-pain. As tough as this has been, it has also been a time to thank God for the blessings... his injuries could have been so much worse. So I am trying to not stress over the things that really do not matter in the grand scheme of things - the fact that I won't have time or money to buy just the right gifts for everyone this year, the fact that my house isn't decorated for Christmas, my oven is broken, my carpet needs cleaning, etc. Danny has always liked falling asleep on the livingroom sofa; it's in the center of the house, so trying to let a sleeping person stay asleep, it's hard to do the dishes and laundry and generally get stuff done. So, here I sit at the computer as Danny sleeps and my sink is full of dirty dishes. "Chilling" is not something I do very well, but I'm just having to learn to do it...

update on Danny 12-01-09

Danny had surgery on his 2 broken bones in his left arm today, and is home asleep. The surgeon inserted 2 metal plates and screws in his arm. The surgeon also discovered that Danny had partially dislocated his left wrist. He may always have stiffness and some loss of motion moving forward and backward. He should regain rotational movement. He will have to work at stretching his fingers to regain full motion. Thankfully he has no cast, since there are metal plates in his arm, so maybe he can regain finger strength by playing the guitar that he so loves to play, one of these days. Andrew and I will take turns working half days while he's recuperating. I'm sure that Danny will love hearing from friends and family in a few days when he's awake a little more and not in so much pain. Thanks for your love and support. Danny's cell is 214-864-1000 - a "hello text" would be great!

Update on Danny 11-30-09

Danny will have surgery tomorrow morning to repair the 2 broken bones in his left forearm - 2 plates & screws will be inserted through 2 incisions. We spent all day today either at doctors' offices or the pharmacy. The neurologist says he has postconcussive syndrome - symptoms include headaches, dizzyness, fatigue, occasional blurred vision, nausea, etc., which can last from weeks to months. He has been asleep probably 80% of the time since last Wednesday. The neurologist cleared him to go under general anesthesia for his surgery in the morning. Thank you for your love and support! I'm sure Danny would love to hear from you later in the week...

Danny's crash

Danny crashed on his dirt bike during practice in Fort Worth on Wed...ambulance to JPS Hospital in FW... concussion, 2 broken bones in left forearm...CT scans.... 5 grown men trying to hold Danny down while they tried to "set" the broken bones before casting...another CT scan... all 3 of us overnight at hospital...vital signs and blood drawn every couple of hours...asking questions to determine his memory/cognitive abilities...morphine...next night - 2am MRI to make sure his tiny hemorrhage hadn't worsened...futile calls to Blue Cross Blue Shield...decision made to postpone arm surgery until early this week...discharged from hospital Friday...trying to manage pain without using highly addictive pain killers... lots and lots of sleeping... little appetite...sitting on a lawnchair in the shower to get cleaned up...a very long, very scary Thanksgiving weekend. SO thankful his injuries weren't even worse. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers and calls!

November!

How can it possibly be November already?! I wanted to say how proud I am of Danny. He was in the first race of the new TORO series, had a great hole shot start, and was riding well when another racer had a bad crash on a downhill part of the track that made him nearly invisible to approaching racers. Danny stopped his race to go help him and to flag down approaching racers to keep them from hitting the downed rider. Gong Gong and Pop Pop just returned from a trip to Arkansas & Oklahoma to see the autumn color. Papa C will be getting a Mustang this weekend to begin rebuilding. Kevin & Rachel went to a Halloween party dressed as "Where's Waldo?" and "A 70's Chick".