Update on Erik

Some of you know by now that Erik had a bad crash skiing last night.  He hit a metal pole, shoulder first, and after an extremely painful ride to the hospital from the ski hill and a visit to the Emergency Department, they discovered that he fractured his scalpula.  The break itself isn't so much a problem, as that will heal itself.  However, he is having some weird neurological problems with his left arm.  He is unable to move it or straighten it and doesn't have any feeling in his upper arm .  They didn't really know what to expect overnight with the pain and swelling increasing with time, but during the night he felt some of his fingers go numb, too, and this morning is having a hard time with gripping things with that hand.  Most likely this was caused by nerves that were damaged during the crash (they were calling this a "stinger" in the ED last night).  He had a consult with Orthopedic Surgery last night and the doctor treating Erik called his wife, who is a Physical Medicine and Rehibilitation doctor (PM&R) to talk with her about it.  Both specialties, along with the ED doctor, said that it is going to take time for this to heal and they have seen it take six months for those nerves to get back in the groove.

Even if this just takes only six days or six weeks to heal, it's a bad deal for Erik!  His arms and his hands are his whole career and he can't just go to work like this.  Some were surprised to hear that Erik is THE doctor in residency.  He is on the schedule, seeing patients, and treating patients. With this bum arm he can't intubate, do CPR, put in a chest tube or central line, deliver a baby, put a broken arm or dislocation back in place, or do many other procedures that he does on a daily basis.  He's not going to be able to show up at his rotations and just observe or be there for moral support of his co-workers!  He's a paid employee that's expected to work.  So, the stress of trying to figure out what to do about work and the horrible feelings Erik has about burdening someone else with trying to find others to fill in, is making Erik feel even worse.

In the next couple days, he might be getting a MRI and an EMG and will come out either knowing more or just confirming that Erik will need to just wait for it to heal.  If you know Erik at all, you know he doesn't do very well at sitting still and waiting things out.  He's already talking about racing next week and I just have to look at him and smile.  He's anxious to get back to work and I know he'll do everything possible to make this happen sooner rather than later.  Today he has spent the majority of the day with ice on his shoulder and trying to rest.  It isn't easy when three kids jump on him every couple of minutes!  He's in a lot of pain and is super annoyed that he can't get his arm to move.

Prayers are appreciated.  On top of everything, Erik's pain meds make him a little nauseated, but it certainly could have been a lot worse!  If he would have hit just a few inches above where he did on his neck or if he would have hit his head, he could be dead or suffering from paralysis or severe brain damage.  God has a special way of protecting Erik and we are so lucky that we're only dealing with a fracture and a dead arm.  God is good!