Christmas came early to our household this year. God is good! Stephen was in a HWY 9 accident early today but has come through this in decent shape. He has 7 stitches to his left cheek but his eye is fine. He has minor compression fractures to two cervical vertebrae but they have allowed him to come home with us for the weekend so someone can watch him. He has many scrapes and bruises but nothing that is major. He actually walked away from the car. Hes walking all over the house and is hungry. All this but he is going to be very sore for some time. This is what we think happened. It was very foggy last night and into the early morning hours in Oklahoma. An opossum ran out in the road and he swerved to miss it. He must have overcorrected as his tire got caught off the road and he clipped the back of a semi parked on the shoulder. Another piece of luck is that his car punctured the tire of the semi which collapsed it or he would have gone completely under the truck. He had no access to his cell phone but was brought by ambulance to Norman Regional. Joe took the call from the ER but never woke me to tell me what was going on. I went to school oblivious. Meanwhile the world was texting Thomas and Michael for information. Joe had called into Stephens place of employment and that was the source of how so many people knew. Because there were no orthopeds and neurologists at the hospital or on call they decided to take Stephen to OU Medical Center to check out his neck injury. I had no idea what was going on until I returned to my room during lunch and checked my phone. By the time I read the three messages that Joe had left on his phone (that was losing its charge...) I was not losing it because each subsequent message was sounding better and better. My great colleagues chased me out of there and covered my two afternoon classes. I took care of the dogs, picked up chargers, left a key for someone to come in and out (just in case), picked up some clothing (just in case he got discharged) and headed up I-35. By that time Thomas was insisting that I pick him up first. By the time we got to the hospital (via Edmond and then back to the Medical Center in OKC) Stephen had called Thomas to say that they were at the wreckers to pick up his personal goods. Look at the pictures. Had anyone else been in the car with him they would most likely have been killed. Meanwhile I knew that Joe had things in hand... finally got his phone charged... so I took Thomas back to Edmond and helped him food shop for finals week and headed home to make the guys dinner and hug the troops.. Stephen knows how lucky he is. He is talking and walking just fine and watching basketball at the moment while eating supper . Hell heal but for now is very sore. His appetite is not affected. Lots of folks are calling him...including many he has not heard from in some time. My weekend trip to UT is cancelled until another time. Family first! So hold your loved ones a little tighter tonight. And thanks to all who helped me today!!! God is good and we are grateful. Lovingly, Eileen
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 02:17:53 +0000