Facing Death

I haven't posted anything for the past two days because I have been emotionally tied up. My very dear friend and co-worker, Bonnie, was in a head on collision on Tuesday night. I received a phone call at 4:30 that morning from another of her friends. I was told that she had been in a terrible accident. Through tears I heard that they did not know if she would live. She had a torn aorta, her left arm, face and right foot were crushed. They were considering amputating the arm but were holding off because of the aorta tear. They were giving her a 25% chance of surviving the day.

All I remember is saying. God, I am sick. I am so sick..... And feeling this total shock and foggy sensation. I work next door to this lady and over the past 4 years we have grown close. We have taken a ton of college classes together and we plan our lessons and she is the only person at my school who knows my story that you all know. She is one of the most trustworthy and level headed people I have ever met.

Because the medical and trauma center here does not have a doctor who deals with vascular surgery of this severity, they air lifted Bonnie to a larger hospital 150 miles away. But, they had to wait on an airplane to take her there. There is so much smoke in the air from the Florida fires that it could not land.

There she was met by a team of doctors who stood around her bed and discussed what actions to take and in what order. They decided to deal with the arm at the same time they worked on the aorta so she went pretty quickly to surgery. The aorta was not torn completely through and had only leaked a small amount of blood into the chest cavity or she would not still be with us.

Bonnie faired very well in the 5 hour surgery. Her aorta is all patched and they have decreased her sedation so she recognizes family. She is moving the fingers on her left arm that they "reconstructed" - scary word. While she was enroute I prayed fervently for the nerves in that arm. I felt like I was willing them to grow together and be healed.

Her face is so swollen she cannot open her eyes. I suspect work on her face will have to wait until the swelling goes down.

Bonnie is doing so well that they plan on orthopedic surgery on her foot tomorrow. And the doctors are telling her husband that she has some hard therapy ahead but he can see her back in her classroom in about 6 months! That was the most wonderful thing he could have said.

For several hours I was facing the loss of one very, very dear to me. I was in such shock that I started shivering - and I NEVER get cold. I am always HOT! I am menopausal! Slowly good news filtered over here and we have hung on to every word of it.

Please pray for Bonnie. People all over the country are praying for her. I want to hear the doctors say, "You are kidding, I can't believe she is doing this well!" She is moving fingers that she came close to losing - that is one big one. She whipped the odds, that is two. Now for #3!

Bonnie loves flowers and plants so I picked the picture above for her. Bloom on Bonnie!