It Could Have Been Worse...

...but it's certainly been bad enough. That's the brutal reality. We are beyond grateful that Tristan wasn't paralyzed, didn't suffer severe brain damage, and that his life was saved. I would be failing my child, however, if I minimized in any way how painful and traumatic this has been for him. For all of us, honestly.

Many of you know Tristan's younger brother, Corbin. With the current COVID restrictions Corbin wasn't able to see Tristan in the hospital (they only allowed one person per day to visit and he wasn’t comfortable going alone) which left him in a state of fearful limbo. How bad was it? Was his brother going to make it? Would he get to see Tristan again? Questions I couldn't provide answers to because the doctors didn't know. For five agonizing days we didn't know if Tristan was going to live or die. This made focusing on school and work impossible for Corbin, so we let him stay home and encouraged him to spend time with friends whenever possible. I offered professional counseling and asked the school counselor to speak with Corbin, and to inform his teachers of what he was facing. He's a gentle soul with a tender heart and has always looked up to his older brother. He will have scars of his own from this, although they won't be as visible as Tristan's.

Progress, no matter how big or small, is a wonderful thing. Tristan is now free of his staples, his stitches, and the sinus restrictions. The specialist at the Eye Institute gave him a glowing report, stating that while the fractures behind and below his eye won't fully heal for about six months, the eye itself is in great condition and will not require surgery. He told Tristan the numbness in his teeth will gradually fade as the nerve that was damaged by the orbital fracture begins to heal.

Tristan had his appointment with the Orthopedic doctor today and he was very pleased with Tristan's range of motion, saying that at three weeks he was where they expected he'd be at six weeks. The main thing for Tristan to focus on now is to start putting more weight on it, despite the pain, to encourage the bones to compress together as they should for proper healing. The Oral & Maxillofacial doctor was also pleased with Tristan's progress and said that he could begin using straws again, as well as using a little more force when blowing his nose. Thankfully no surgery needed for the nose fracture either!

It was a very busy week for Tristan and today, in particular, wore him out. He woke up in pain, struggled to eat, then had two appointments in Seattle followed by a home-visit from the Physical Therapist. I'm thankful he has a couple of days to rest and recover from it all before the next visits from the Occupational & Physical Therapists. Our goal for now is to balance the physical work he needs to do with it's tendency to cause more pain. Slow and steady progress...that's what we're aiming for.

Wishing you all a great weekend!