Tuesday Night- 2nd Surgery down one more to go

About 3:30 this afternoon they came and took Kris to have his shoulder fixed. It seemed like he was gone a long time but in reality it was less than 3 hours. The surgeon met with us all in the waiting room and showed us ex rays of how he had repaired Kris's shoulder. He thinks he should be able to have full function of his arm, given time. The next step for Kris is rest and recovery. If things go according to plan, he may be able to have the air tube removed tomorrow afternoon and then it will be possible to communicate with him. We are all very excited and concerned about this next big step. We all want to talk with Kris and love him and do all we can to help. But we all know Kris. If he can talk and is allowed to come out of his medicated state, it is going to be very hard keeping him from trying to get to Clare. Rod said that this is what he fears right now. How do we keep Kris in his bed, recovering when he will be determined to find Clare. And what will it do to him when he sees her in the state she is in. We think it will be therapeutic for them both at some point in time. We just are not sure when that time is.

Clarissa continues to improve. When anyone asks how either of them are doing, the natural answer is that they are doing great. What you must understand is that they are doing great compared to the day before. Everything is relative to the day before. What we feel very blessed for is that we see improvement each day. Today Clare is very restless. Twice she opened one eye and strained to try to see but she just was not conscious enough to do it. She does not like the restraints holding her down. She is going to have one large left bicep when this is all over with the curls she is doing against the restraints holding down her left arm. Her arm is bruised and looks like it hurts, but she won't stop trying to get her arm free. She moves her legs and bends her knee so that it is propped straight up in bed. She is quickly agitated when there are voices in the room and it is apparent that she is not very far under anymore. The goal for her is to keep her quiet for another couple of days so the risk for brain swelling is decreased. Then they can schedule the surgery to repair her shattered pelvis. Today they are not needing to drain as much fluid from her brain as yesterday to maintain the pressure they want. Lets hope this continues.

If you cant see the hand of God in the miraculous things that have happened since the accident, then you don't know the details. So many blessings large and small keep the ball rolling toward recovery. As Kris's mom Char has said several times the past few days, "If God didn't want these kids to recover he would not be making so many things go right. It has got to be his will for them to get better." I believe she is right. Please keep your prayers and faith alive.