Perspective Update

Kat and I were in Portland today, and dropped by the hospital to see how Skyler is doing. I had received a phone message from one of my old students who is a close friend of Skyler's who told me that she had come out of surgery on Monday and was doing better than expected. I inquired about her at the information desk, not sure if she'd been moved out of ICU or not. She was still there, so we made our way up to the third floor and the pediatric ICU ward. Her mother, father and grandmother were all in the waiting area, and I was again greeted with a grateful hug from her mom.

It turns out that Skyler had been unconscious since coming out of surgery on Monday, and had only come to this morning. She was completely unaware that she'd been out for over a week. (She had apparently regained consciousness for a short time before going into surgery, but she didn't appear to remember it). So, our dropping by today turned out to be fortuitous, as today was the first day there was anything new happening.


Her mom then asked if I wanted to go see Skyler in the ICU. I said yes, so long as it was okay with her and her husband.

The last time I'd seen this kid, she was in my classroom the morning of the car wreck, on a special visitor's pass so she could hear my annual Halloween story.

The shock of seeing her flat on her back in an ICU ward was made better by the response she gave when her mom said, "Skyler, look who's here to see you!" Skyler's eyes widened, and she tried to reach up with both arms to try to hug me. I gently took her right hand as she tried to speak. Her voice was only a whisper, and she was difficult to understand at times, but she related that she was so glad to know so many people cared about her, and she was very happy I'd come to see her.

I only saw her for a couple minutes, as I didn't want to sap her strength. Her mom told me that she had spoken more with me than she had with anyone since she'd finally come to this morning, which made me feel really good.

She still doesn't realize she was in a car wreck - she thinks, through her drug-induced haze, that she had some sort of cheerleading accident (she's commonly the top of the pyramid at games). Her mom has held off in telling her all the details, including the extent of her injuries (which, as I said before, are all non-permanent). We also found out that she will most likely be wheelchair-bound until after the first of the year, which will be tough on her, but better than any of the alternatives that might have happened if she'd been thrown from the car on a slightly different angle.

So. Skyler's doing better, and is making even better progress than her doctors anticipated. Thank you all for your prayers for this special kid - please continue to pray for a speedy recovery for her.