Accidents and hospitals...part 3

Caitlyn, Jenna and I went with him back to surgery. He was in so much pain he was begging them to just put him out. They gave him meds to relax him and then we had to watch his breathing. They had given him the max amount of pain meds and at times he just seemed to forget to breathe so they put him on oxygen and all three of us watched for every breath he took. Sometimes I would have to get up and pat his chest because he would go a little too long without breathing. They were at long last ready to take him back so we went to the surgery waiting room to wait... and wait... and more waiting!

Side story here... Thayne always tells me I can't stick to one story, I wander... and this will be no exception. Kassi text me that our neighbor had been flown by life flight to Utah. A nurse that gives everyone updates was talking on a phone as she walked by saying that only Jace and and our neighbor were left in surgery. I got up and followed her to the other end of the waiting room and sure enough, there was his wife sitting there. She asked what we were doing there... I asked what she was doing there. Her husband had slipped at work and his hand went into a fan and took a significant part of his hand off. Interesting enough... they would end up sharing a room the rest of Jace's stay because his roommate had gone home that morning!

Finally Dr. Kinikini (we named the Build a Bear that Caitlyn and Jenna made for Jace Kinikini... it's just a cool name, don't you think???) came out and told us that the surgery was a success. That they were able to sew the outside of his leg completely closed and that they were able to get at least half of the inside closed and that they put the wound vac on the rest of the incision. It went much better than they expected it to go. And the other doctor that was really awesome came and said that when they explored the entire leg they found blood clots around the entrance wound. Had he not bled out that morning, they would have put the wound vac in but completely missed the blood clots and that could have been devastating! What looked like a set back ended up being a great blessing. And we were very grateful for that! There have been so many miracles through out the whole ordeal that it would be impossible to acknowledge that there were angels watching over him. I read a discussion recently about how miracles have ceased. I would have to strongly disagree. Some of the things that happened could not be coincidence at all. They were miracles. Minutes... just minutes after praying that the doctor's initial report that he wouldn't be able to sew the incisions closed at all and that he would need extensive skin grafts Jace started bleeding. The bleeding caused them to go back in and find the blood clots that would have been missed and could have potentially caused serious damage. And because of the release from the bleeding the pressure was reduced in a way that they could close the incisions almost completely, but definately much more than they had even hoped for.

Miracles haven't ceased. We just forget to look for them. Bad things happen. The Lord doesn't cause bad things to happen, but He gives us many opportunities to grow from the bad things that do happen. I guess the trick is to decide if we are going to be miserable while we are going through the hard times, or if we will allow ourselves to find gratitude for what we do have. If we choose to be miserable than the hard times were a waste. The true character of a man/woman shows, not when they are going through good times, but when they are being tried and their circumstances are not perfect.