A new chapter: rehab

A new chapter in the chronicle of Nathan's recovery opened Tuesday with Nathan's transfer from the hospital in Salzburg to a rehab center 180 miles (300 km) away, near Vienna. We arranged ambulance transportation as the external fixator on his left leg prevents him from bending his knee, making it difficult for him to get in a regular car. Hannah and I followed the ambulance in the car Gerhard loaned us. I set a new land speed record for me to keep up with that ambulance. :)

The doctor who admitted Nathan to the rehab center discovered that he is unable to bend his right ankle to raise his foot. In fact, he has no feeling on the top of that foot. The doctor said that the nerves that have been damaged or severed may or may not grow back. If not, he will have to wear a brace indefinitely. Nathan was understandably dismayed to hear that, but took it in stride before long.

We were disappointed later in the week to hear that the removal of the top half of the fixator on Nathan's left leg will be postponed from December 15 to December 22. That will delay his being able to get in a car. But the doctor showed Hannah and I and Nathan the X-rays, and we could see the easily-discernible cracks in the bones of his left leg. (The right leg has steel rods inside both the thigh and calf.)

This noon (Saturday) he nearly fainted at the lunch table. He has no therapy on weekends, so he spent the morning reading and typing messages on the computer. He was doing more reading at the lunch table when he nearly fainted. It must have been too much for one morning.

So we are reminded that he has a ways to go. From his brain...to his eyes...to his teeth and jaw...to his legs and feet, he has a long ways to go. Bones and nerves, we are told, are the slowest parts of the body to regenerate. And Nathan's injuries were primarly injuries to bones and nerves. So patience is called for.

Tonight is the two-month anniversary of the accident. He was hit by a 9-passenger van while crossing the street late the night of October 14. I was reminded last night of the accident, and of God's sovereign care, as I read Psalm 139.

My paraphrase of Psalm 139:2-3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17-18:

"O Lord, you knew when Nathan and friends decided to sit down in the playground swings at the park that night...and you knew when he decided to get up and stroll across the street. Every moment you knew where he was. Nothing escapes your notice!

Not only were you aware, you were right there on the scene! None of us can get away from your presence. Manila, Portland, Salzburg; it makes no difference. You're right beside us.

Likewise, day and night, light and darkness, make no difference to you. One of the issues in the police investigation of the accident was whether there was enough light for the driver to see Nathan in the crosswalk. But you don't need streetlights or headlights to see what's up. To you midnight is every bit as bright as noon. Darkness and light are both alike to you.

So Nathan's accident came as no surprise to you. Not only did you know what was going on, you were right there!

We are grateful to all the physicians and nurses who have expertly and compassionately cared for Nathan. But how good it is to know that Nathan's Great Physician is none other than his Creator, the very one who made every last part of his body, knitting him together, weaving him together, in the first place! The trauma surgeons can align broken bones, but they cannot make them grow together again. That is your line of work! And when it comes to the nerves in his foot, even the doctors must wait to see if the nerves will grow back, enabling him to walk without a brace.

We cannot know what the future holds, but we can go to sleep at night knowing that the One who holds the future loves us perfectly and cares for us incessantly. You think of us day and night...without let-up!

It is hard to imagine being known the way you know us, and being loved the way you love us!"