Emily On Break ...

Hello there. This is Emily's Aunt Carol blogging for Emily, as she is currently without computer access.

It turns out that Emily was sicker than any of us realized. She managed to get extremely dehydrated over the weekend. When she got up to go to the bathroom early Sunday morning, she passed out and fell in the worst room in the house. There are no soft surfaces in a bathroom! Emily landed on her elbow and hit her left temple on the toilet paper dispenser.

Unfortunately, Matt had left to visit his parents, thinking Emily was on the mend. After she came to, she called me for help, and I told her to call 911, as they could get to her faster than I could. She was able to call 911 and unlock the front door before she passed out again. I met her at the emergency room, where her blood pressure was so low it would not register until they administered some fluids. Meanwhile, Emily's dad and stepmother arrived at the ER. Dad called Matt, and he headed home from New Braunfels.

As the day wore on, Emily responded to the rehydration, her blood pressure reached normal, her arm was x-rayed, she got a CT scan of her head, her pacemaker was checked and found to be functioning normally. No concussion, but the arm was broken at the elbow in several places. It was splinted to provide comfort until an orthopedic surgeon could check her out. She finally was admitted to a hospital room at about one o'clock on Monday morning.

Later on Monday, the bone doc visited and told her that surgery was required to assure mobility of her left elbow and fingers. She underwent the operation on Tuesday morning, complete with screws and plates to hold hold that elbow together. Once they opened her up, the breaks were somewhat more extensive than they appeared in the x-ray, but the doctor thinks she'll recover well and achieve good range of motion.

Physical therapy begins today. If she responds well, she'll be home by the weekend.

Emily's a trooper, and she has maintained her sense of humor throughout this whole disaster. She has plenty of family on hand to make sure she takes care of herself during the recovery process. Matt's on vacation this week, so he's been available for moral support. He's not a hospital kind of a guy, so he's given himself a variety of chores and projects to make life easier for Emily when she comes home.

Emily won't be traveling for a while. Luxe has been really wonderful. Jenn will be teaching Emily's classes at CKU Chicago this week. Em's really sad and disappointed that she cannot be there, but that's the breaks (ha ha).

We'll keep you posted as we can.