Everyone is asking for an update, so here’s a quick synopsis. Peter and I are in rehab. We get Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy for 1 1/2 hours every day. (3 hours/day total) We also had speech therapy evaluations to see if we suffered any brain damage which neither of us did.

I am very mobile. I am independent in my room and get around with the walker. I can take my wheel chair to go visit Pete, and I am getting very confident with crutches. I have tons of nerve pain in my foot which is a good thing. I still have no feeling in my foot or ankle and have a full leg cast that is keeping my knee bent at a 70 degree angle.  Pete is harder to move around. He has skin grafts and burns and a large hole in his left foot. He has to keep his right leg straight out in front of him so he can get into a wheel chair with help and has to have a leg rest keeping his leg up. It’s not very comfortable for him though so he usually only gets into the wheel chair when he has to go to therapy.

Rebekah will be joining us here today! I’m not sure what time, but she is coming. We will all be on the same floor and our rooms are all close to each other. She has had a lot of complications and a lot of pain. I don’t really know all of her injuries, but bones in her hand are broken along with bones in her leg and foot. She hasn’t gotten out of bed much except to move to a recliner. She still has lots of pain so you can be praying for that. That they would get her meds balanced right and the she would start to heal and feel less pain.

Noah is at home in Texas with his grandpa. He is all recovered and had his stitches removed and before he left here was running around and mostly back to his normal self. He got tons of loot from the red sox and many others so he was enjoying being a celebrity in Boston. Pray for him as he will have emotional things to deal with and also he will be missing his mom!

Kim & Colton are back home in NC. They are doing well. Adjusting to being back to work/school. Colton’s parents came to visit so that was really encouraging for them.

Mom & Dad went back to NY for a few days and Dad is actually on his way here right now. He will be here until Wednesday when he will take me HOME! I am being discharged and can’t wait to get back to NY! I will be looking forward to lots of visitors. (And good food)

Dad don’t read this.

So everyone is asking what happened to me and what’s wrong and what’s going on and how quickly I will recover, so I figured I’d explain it all as best I can.

When the bomb went off, something made a huge gash in the back of my right leg right near the bend of my knee. It is about a 9-10 inch horizontal cut. It was so deep that it severed my main artery and 2 main nerves. I lost a ton of blood. I think I got at least 4 units, but I’m not sure if I got more than that. My left leg has some cuts on it as well, but nothing that required stitches or anything. It is all black and blue and ugly with scratches and cuts, but it will heal fine. Back to my right leg. So in my first surgery they repaired my artery and cleaned it all up. A portion of my calf was also cut off/blown off? But it was small so it’s not like I’ll have a huge gap in the back of my leg where my calf should be :-). Ok so second surgery I have no idea what they did. Third surgery they reattached my nerves and closed up the wound. My entire leg is in a splint with my knee kept bent at an angle. The reason for this is so that the nerves don’t get stretched while they are trying to heal. I also have a boot on my foot. I am getting a hard cast on Tuesday and it will again be my entire leg. And I’m sure I will keep the boot on my foot.

My foot has no feeling. I have a small spot in the arch of my foot where I can feel if someone is touching me, but other than that, nothing. I also can’t move my foot or my ankle. This is because of the nerves being cut. Nerves repair at a very slow rate. In my case, since the nerve now has to “grow” from my knee to my toes, they said it will take roughly 400 days for the nerve to get all the way down. So I may not feel, or be able to move my toes for over a year. I’m not sure what this means for walking. Also, since it is my right leg this also means I may not be able to drive for over a year. Which is a very frustrating thought!

Since the nerves have been reattached I have CRAZY nerve sensations going on all in my foot and toes which is a really good sign, but still no feeling. So if you are praying for my injuries maybe this will help you be a little more specific. Pray my nerves repair way faster than expected, pray I regain feeling and movement in my foot/ankle/toes, pray that I don’t die being in a full leg cast for 8 weeks :-), and pray that my wound heals up perfectly.

Thank you all so much for the unbelievable support, love and prayers. I certainly couldn’t do any of this without you.