Prayer Request for Steve

Hello everyone! I am asking for prayers for my husband Steve. He fell yesterday and has injured a kidney and cracked a rib. I know it is very odd, but it's the facts.

He went to our local hospital, and was ambulanced to a trauma 1 hospital, 90 miles away.

If you don't hear from me in the next day or so, this will be why.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Anne. Definitely will be keeping you in thought and prayer.

Oh my........

dear Heavenly Father.......touch Steve's body as he heals from his injuries. Direct the doctor's hands and minds as they determine the best form of treatment.

In Jesus'name, Amen!

Prayers for Steve (and you too) from here, Anne! Keeping you in heart and prayers throughout. xoxo

Sorry Anne. Am praying and will keep praying for Steve to have a 100% recovery!

Father God please heal every area of injury Steve Holmes sustained during his fall. Bless and undertake Anne and give her the strength and wisdom to help Steve regain his health, with a renewed vigor and strength he's never known. Amen!

Thank you all for your prayers. The news is good. The urologist who's treating him says the kidney appears in his opinion to "only have a deep bruise," which means no surgery to remove it, so as long as it doesn't start bleeding again between now and tomorrow, there is a good chance he will be released from the hospital sometime tomorrow. His 10th rib is broken, though so that will take 6-8 weeks to heal. And in the meantime, he'll need to be on some strong pain meds, I guess.

I'll keep you all in the loop, but if you don't hear much from me tomorrow, it is because I drove off to Rockford to pick him up.

Blessings to all of you powerful prayer warriors! And thank you!

This is great news. My MIL had a broken rib and was much older than your Steve when that happened. They don't do anything but let that heal by itself. At least that's how they handled hers.
Prayers and blessings; you take care of yourself, too, Anne.

So glad for the good news!

How is Steve doing, Anne?

Hi Jabber,

Thanks for asking about Steve. He's doing a lot better, but still taking pain meds every 4 hours.

I think (hope) I posted that late Wednesday I went to Rockford, IL to St. Anthony's, the trauma 1 center he'd been ambulanced to, to pick him up.

I could have ridden in the ambulance with him, but we decided not to, for a number of very sensible reasons.

He was released to go home after his red blood counts had stabilized so the doctors knew he was no longer bleeding internally.

His exterior bruises are healing nicely, but he still has a damaged kidney and a broken rib. Nothing that can be done for either except give time to heal and pain meds.

Each day since he got home is a little better, a little more close to normal. But he says he’s not up to leaving the house yet, except to go to the doctors, but right now he is working at his desk, and watching the Cardinals game while he texts with his brother in California.

He needs assistance to get up from anywhere, but he can now sit down at the dining table and his desk by himself. Baby steps, but we celebrate them.

Still praying. Both for Steve's 100% recovery and for yonuh's 100% recovery. God bless.

Thank you, jabber. And thanks, Anne, for the update. Healing is slower at our age, but as you say, baby steps. Will keep him in my prayers.

We are all becoming caregivers. It's difficult to watch friends/family age and become immobile.

Anne, you seem like a great caregiver. You are his best rehab!

glad to hear he is on the UP side of convalescing.

Thanks Di!

We have had an interesting 5-1/2 days since I got Steve back from the trauma center.

In the beginning, he needed so much assistance, that I was exhausted at the end of each day. Not just exhausted, but my body ached so much t was hard to sleep.

At that point he wasn't able to get himself out of any chair by himself. (Now he already has some mobility challenges based on birth defects, which mean that as long as I've known him there are times when I've had to help him get up from the table in a restaurant, because the chair and table aren't set up so that he can do it himself.)

So I already knew the "up from a chair" drill, we didn't have to invent it new. But what was new for the first few days home was that I was essentially lifting 250 pounds of "deadweight" from that chair. It required some modification of my technique, and it was very wearing on me.

But thankfully Steve is in a mental state where he is trying to rehabilitate himself as quickly as reasonably possible -- which is by no means overnight -- especially given that the doctor said he wasn't to carry anything more than 10 pounds, he's still taking pain meds and he still has pain from the rib and kidney.

But we have managed several small victories daily, which is so gratifying! Today, thankfully, I no longer have to escort him down the hallways of our house. More importantly, he can get into and out of chairs without assistance, and he can do some of his toileting routines alone. Praise God!

Thanks for saying I am a good caregiver. I appreciate that. But much praise needs to also go to Steve, who is maintaining a very positive state of mind. He wants to get back to normal as soon as possible. And when things don't go well here, we find a way to laugh about it.

For all of us who find ourselves spending time in caregiving, I offer blessings for patience and humor. And I also recognize that the person needing care can make the caregiving job a lot more pleasant when he or she has an upbeat attitude.

Thanks again to everyone for your prayers! I am sure Steve would not have recovered as well as he has to date without them. He's not totally out of the woods yet -- and there are a lot of bruises on his body and internal pains that prove this -- but he's well on his way.

Blessings to all of you in this caring community!

Anne

Great news, Anne!