The Broken Old Man

Craig had surgery yesterday to repair the broken clavicle from his motorcycle accident. (Read about all the gory details in Detour Ahead.) I am happy to say that the surgery went well. He is very sore from the incision, etc., but I'm sure that things will improve rapidly from here on out.

Modern medicine is pretty incredible. They put in a titanium plate and screws, sewed him up and sent him home in a total of around 3-1/2 hours. Amazing.

Last night was pretty sleepless for both of us. I'm positive we'll be napping some today. Maybe things will go a little smoother this weekend as the surgery site settles down and starts to heal.

He said that the level of pain is greatly reduced over what he's been through for the last 19 days. Some of the feeling and strength is already returning to his hand.

Thanks to everyone out there who has kept us in their prayers. I'm certain it is making a difference.

Notable Quote

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

-Herm Albright

Detour Ahead

Well, I had a plan for July. . . it went something like this . . .

Craig was going to Chicago for his sister Karen's wedding. While he was there, he was going to visit with his brother, Scott, and Scott's family. Craig's Mom and Dad were also coming in for the wedding, so it was going to be a grand time for them all. Craig and Jeremy (nephew) had spent months planning out a trip on the motorcycle to visit 12 light houses around Lake Michigan. They were quite excited about the trip.

While Craig was away, I was planning on participating in the 4th of July celebration in Moreland. Images Studio / Gallery was giving out free watermelon, lemonade and ice water, as well as providing free children's art activities. We were going to display our art and promote our classes.

After Craig returned from Chicago, I was planning to fly to Boston for a week to visit my friend, Aileen, who I haven't seen in over 13 years. We were going on a camping trip to Mohawk State Park with her triplet teenage boys and her almost teenage daughter. We've had this trip planned for more than a year. The best laid plans . . .

All went well for a while. Craig made it up to Chicago safely. The Light House Tour started right on schedule. The first day (7/1) was winding down, when some fellow on a scooter made a u-turn right into their path. Craig did all he could to avoid the scooter, but he ultimately hit the back of it. The collision threw him and Jeremy off the motorcycle. Thankfully, Jeremy wasn't injured. The scooter rider wasn't badly injured, as far as we know. Craig sustained a broken clavicle, five broken ribs and a bruised lung.

Needless to say, Craig ended up in the hospital in Escanaba, MI. They didn't feel that their little hospital had a trauma unit that was able to care for him adequately, so they transferred him to a bigger hospital in Marquette, MI. This required a 70 mile ambulance ride at about 11 PM on Sunday (7/1) night. Scott called me around 10 PM while he was on his way to the hospital in Escanaba to pick up Jeremy. They planned to stay overnight in Escanaba. After that, Craig called and I was able to keep updated on his progress to Marquette, where they planned to keep him at least over night. Surprisingly enough, I didn't get a lot of sleep that night.

On Monday (7/2), Scott and Jeremy travelled to Marquette to spring Craig from the hospital. Then they made the 5+ hour ride to Chicago to Scott's house. Craig tried to take a shower when they got home, and quickly discovered that he was in too much pain to do that. He decided that he would just lay down to sleep and worry about a shower the next day. When he tried to lay down, he said that he heard his ribs crackling and crunching, and that on a scale of 1 to 10, his pain level was about a 13. His Dad took one look at him and called an ambulance to return him to the hospital for some more chest x-rays. He ended up sleeping in a recliner later that night back at Scott's house, with a timer and pain meds close by.

By Tuesday (7/3) night, it was pretty clear that Craig wasn't going to be able to go to the wedding. He was so uncomfortable, he just wanted to come home. Around 5 PM, he called saying, "Come get me!" So, off I go to Chicago!!

I didn't have a chance to make arrangements to board the dogs, so I loaded everyone up in the van, and my friend Mary Beth and I took off for Chicago at 3 AM on July 4th. We drove straight through, dropping her off at Midway airport for a flight back to Atlanta. (I owe her BIG for driving up there with me. I couldn't have driven straight through if not for her.) I actually made it to Scott's house in time for dinner on July 4th. Craig was as bad, if not worse, than I expected. It was obvious that this was going to be a rocky ride to get through this one.

We stayed there at Scott's house for a day, and began our trek home on Friday (7/6). We finally made it home Saturday night (7/7). The van ride wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. He was able to get in and out of it easily enough, and didn't seem to be in much more discomfort than usual while riding. Trying to lay down to sleep at the hotel was another matter entirely! I have no experience with this kind of thing, so I'm not a lot of help when it comes to finding a way for him to lay down and get up comfortably. Painful doesn't even begin to describe it.

So, now we're home and waiting for surgery to repair the clavicle. That is scheduled for Thursday (7/19), provided the lung has healed up enough to tolerate the surgery. I'm hoping that the recovery will end up being less painful for the little fella than the last week of waiting has been.

That's all for now. Please keep Craig in your thoughts and prayers during his recovery.

Recent Watercolor Paintings

This painting was done from a photo we took at the Shiloh National Cemetery. The trip involved an overnight "Ride to Eat" with some motorcycle friends to a catfish restaurant somewhere near Shiloh, TN. It was a lovely day in May 2006. I thought the geometric patterns made by the rows of headstones was really interesting.
The next painting was done from a photograph taken by Luann Harp at another motorcycle RTE function. She took the photo at the gardens surrounding the Jack Daniel's Distillery. I thought the photo was lovely and would make a nice painting.


The last painting is of NiteStar's True Blue Moore, CGC, TT. It was done from a photo taken ringside at the 2005 ASCA Nationals, where Callie went 4th Place Altered Open Blue Merle Bitch. I was especially proud of Miss Dog that day! I titled this one "It's All About Me".