September 4, 2009

Here's the Story


Many people have been asking the deal with Jordan and his leg and how it happened. I am usually pretty strong when it comes to injuries involving my children, but this one tends to get me a little queasy.

For those of you who know Jordan, you understand that he isn't one to shy away from stupid situations. I firmly believe that one day I'll see him on Nitro Circus. Two months ago, Jordan and Noah went up to Utah to visit with his grandparents. He stayed a while longer in order to visit with his cousins in Rexburg. My brother in-law owns Rexburg Motor Sports, so dirt bikes and four wheelers are readily available. One afternoon while dirt biking, he got stuck in some mud and the bike tipped over on him. His leg became stuck between the tire and the exhaust pipe and burned clean through his jeans. Funny how his jeans had no damage, just the leg.

Now, for a positive and a negative. Negative note, during the month of August we had no insurance. Positive note, since he was up in Idaho, he could go straight to the burn center and didn't have to be sent to every other doctor in Vegas, each of them charging a fee, just to end up sending him to the one who would treat him. Things seem to be much simpler in Rexburg. Plus, medical treatment up there is considerably cheaper.

Hanging out in the whirlpool for burn treatment. This was the daily drill for a couple weeks.

So, we kept him up in Rexburg with my saint of a sister in-law Nicole in order to get him as much treatment as possible before bringing him home. The timing of it all couldn't have been more perfect. He had enough work done on him up there in order for us to understand what the extent of the damage was, as well as learn how we needed to treat him when he got home. Also, hey were kind enough to send him home with a huge box of supplies to get us by for a while (never knew how expensive gauze and wrappings were).

We have also been blessed to have a couple of nurses in our ward. I was able to ask whatever question I had, plus one of them came by a couple times to check things out and make sure everything looked okay. We pretty much knew a skin graft was on the horizon, but had to hold out hope that it would heal on its own.....or at least stay okay until our insurance began.

So, that's where we lie. We've had our consult at UMC's burn unit and are just awaiting a call for the surgery date. I can't wait for this to all be over with. And if I can't wait, I can just imagine how Jordan must feel. I do have to say, he has been VERY tough through this whole process. He's been taking care of his wound himself, being very cautious as to follow the exact steps the doctors told him. He doesn't complain about the pain at all....unless someone accidentally knocks his leg. I forget half the time that he even has this issue. I just couldn't be more proud of him.

For those of you morbid types, who enjoy checking out wound pictures, I'll post them here. For those of you who might puke if you see any sort of blood, I'll post them very small.


1 hour after the accident

3 weeks after

4 weeks after

At the consult with the surgeon....we didn't know he was allergic to sulfa in the antibiotic they gave us to apply. This caused the redness here.

7 comments:

Lindsey said...

Yuck- I had no idea it was so bad. Poor kid that's going to leave quite the scar.

Kati said...

There's something about the sand dunes up there & injuries. Five years ago this weekend is when Josh got in his accident up there. He got hit by a four wheeler & was air lifted to the hospital in Idaho Falls. He had a burn on his leg too, but not as bad as Jordan. He does have a nasty scar though. He shattered his finger bone & had a concussion. The sheriff said he was surprised Josh survived with only minor injuries. Glad that Jordan's accident wasn't worse.

Samantha said...

GROSS!! Hope all works out okay for him, and you all too!

Katie said...

It's funny because when you talk to Jordan about the skin graft, all he seems to say is that he gets to miss school!

Unguren said...

That is crazy. I totally checked out the pictures because I am morbid like that...but isn't it amazing that the body is able to heal from that. That is a serious burn and they are going to be able to make it better. Crazy.

Rachel B. said...

In the words of young Benjamin...."NASTY!"

Jaime Lynne said...

Gosh, it could have been so worse! Hope the surgery went well on Friday!