Monday, September 25, 2017

Mike's Miraculous Journey

This is really Mike's story. A story he has lived for the past seven weeks. A story he probably can tell much better than I can but it's a story I can only tell from the only perspective I know best...mine.

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At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 5th, we received a phone call which no parent wants to receive, even if their child is a forty year old grown man. Our daughter, Christy, answered the phone. On the other end was a friend of our son's, Jon Elliott, telling her that Mike had been in a horrific motorcycle accident and was at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He said we needed to get there as soon as possible.

I couldn't get to the hospital fast enough. Even though it was only about a 20 minute drive, it seemed like it took forever to get there. I tried not to speculate since we didn't know how bad his injuries were, and yet, not knowing caused my imagination to soar. I prayed all the way to to the hospital. The only thing I knew to do was to put him into God's capable hands. No matter what news we received when we got to the hospital, it would be what God willed for his life.

Thirty minutes after receiving the phone call, Mike (hubby), Christy and I walked into the ER. As soon as we were told Mike was in surgery my legs turned to jello. I grabbed the counter so I wouldn't fall. I told the admissions clerk, "Okay. Surgery is good. We can deal with surgery. At least you didn't tell us to go the morgue." Relief and a lot of hope flooded me as we headed to the second floor surgical waiting room in Clarkson Tower.

We still had no idea as to the severity of his injuries. Again, we tried not to speculate as to how bad it might be. I know I was expecting them to tell us he had surgery for a broken leg or arm, maybe even both...after all, it was a motorcycle accident. But we just didn't know. Around 4:30 a.m. the surgeon came out to talk with us. She told us everything went well during surgery for some internal injuries and he was recovering nicely. I suppose our first indication that things were fairly serious was when she told us that he would be moved shortly to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit.

At that point she began to list his injuries. It's easier for me to do exactly what the surgeon did...start from the head and work down. His injuries included:

-A brain injury and small brain bleed
-A broken left eye socket, broken bones in his nasal cavity, broken cheek bones
-A broken neck at the #1 vertebrae - it was "hanging on by a thread"
-Broken back in several places, plus small chips broken in some of his middle vertebrae
-Several broken ribs
-Punctured right lung and bruising to both lungs
-Deeply bruised heart which put him into AFib meaning he now had a rapid irregular heartbeat
-Internal injuries where they removed his appendix and cleaned up and "repaired other organs" although I'm still not sure what that meant
-Broken pelvic bone which would require surgery
-Burns on his feet, legs and arm along with some road rash
-Broken wrists and an ankle (which we found out about later)

We were dumbfounded. Overwhelmed by what we heard, we quickly realized Mike's life would be radically changed for quite some time. Our lives too for that matter. I later told our family we were going to have to find a "new normal" for awhile. My grandson Micah reassured me, "Grandma, our family's lives have never been normal." Point well taken, Micah.

We also realized it was a miracle he was alive and still with us. Immediately we gave God the praise and honor He deserved in sparing Mike's life. It didn't take long for me to see that everything wrong with Mike's body was either fixable, mendable or removable. That's what I began to share with family and friends in reassuring them that he would eventually recover from the accident. We knew he wasn't going to die.

Around 5:30 a.m. my husband and daughter went home to get some sleep. Once Mike was settled in his bed they allowed me into his SICU room. There were tubes and IVs and machines everywhere. He was also on a ventilator. As I stared at my son a few tears trickled down my face but it would be a couple more weeks before I would be able to break down and have a good cry. While watching his chest move up and down with the help of the ventilator, I made a vow that I wouldn't cry while in the room with Mike. No tears; only rejoicing in God's goodness. 

Even though Mike was in bad shape it wasn't a morbid scene. As I sat in a chair next to his bed an incredible peace settled over us. It was as if Someone took a vial of Peace and began pouring it over my head. I could feel it saturate my entire being in a warm fluid sensation. God still had plans for my son and he was in God's capable hands. I began to quote out loud, "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."  Ephesians 3:14-21 came to mind. I wrote out the passage and left it by Mike's bed stand. God's peace indeed sustained and strengthened us during the difficult days ahead.

I want to step away from Mike's story and share about his daughter. She was in Mitchell, SD with her mother and stepfather when the accident occurred. They waited until Sunday to tell her when they were ready to head back to Omaha. Her other grandfather, who is a doctor, did a wonderful job of sharing with her about what happened to her daddy and what to expect. By Sunday night when they got back into Omaha, Mike was off the ventilator already so they decided to let her see her daddy. Even though it was emotional for her to see her father's broken body, she handled it amazingly well. This was a tough time for her but she was strong and continues to remain strong. She visited her daddy as much as possible.

Her biggest concern was his angry combativeness due to the brain injury and the meds he was taking. We had to have family and friends with him 24 hours a day to keep in him in bed and keep tubes in his body. At one point, he even managed to pull out his chest tube which totally amazed the medical staff. Was he going to be like that for the rest of his life? We simply didn't know. Understandably she wanted her wild, crazy and loving Daddy back. It was a huge relief to her when about two weeks later she walked into his hospital room and realized her dad was indeed back. His personality and everything she loved about him was still in tact.

I am very proud of my granddaughter. Even during the most stressful and fearful moments, she was there with her dad. What she experienced and saw was tough to face but she never backed down or stayed away from visiting in the hospital because it was too difficult for her. Now that's he's home and with a ways to go in his recovery, she continues to be the best medicine he could ever receive.

Back to Mike's story...during the first couple days in the hospital as the numerous specialist came in, each one shared with me why Mike was a miracle. As we began to hear details of the accident we were stunned he was even alive.

A friend of his, Jerry, was with him and their bikes collided causing both riders to go down. Jerry was in the hospital with a broken back, broken ribs, shattered shoulder, broken ankle and horrible road rash. Mike doesn't remember the accident. Even seven weeks later he can't remember anything and can only go by what he's been told. Jerry says he remembers every second of it. With the exception of sharing a couple miraculous incidents, I'm not going to get into the details of how the accident happened. I will share that alcohol wasn't a factor. The toxicology report came back and showed Mike had what was equal to one beer in his system. We knew our son well enough to know that wasn't an issue even before the results were made known.

I do want to share with you the incredible miracles God gave to my son, Michael Hofer, on August 4th at approximately 11:30 p.m. It is obvious that God is not done with this man yet and God has a rich plan for his future.

Miracle #1  Location, Location, Location
I can't share this without tearing up some. After the two motorcycles collided, Mike slid under an SUV while still on his bike, slid about 60-70 feet (according to the skid marks on the road) while the motorcycle caught on fire. There were two police officers at a gas station less than a block from where the accident happened. They heard the collision, jumped into their cars and were there in a matter of seconds. They had fire extinguishers and quickly had the fire out. Mike was wearing a leather jacket and heavy pants which protected him. He has some burns on his feet, legs, hands and arms and some road rash but it would have been a different story if the police officers hadn't been at that gas station with those all important fire extinguishers.

Miracle #2  Trained Personnel
Those police officers were trained to handle this situation. They assumed Mike had serious injuries (he was unconscious for awhile) and they carefully removed him from the bike. By taking the right precautions they saved his life or kept him from being paralyzed from the neck down since his #1 vertebrae was broken One specialist said when a person breaks that vertebrae they usually just simply stop breathing. Mike didn't.

If the police officers had not been there, the outcome could have been totally different. If Jerry or a Good Samaritan would have tried to pull him off that burning bike...well, yeah, the outcome could have been radically different. The police officers knew exactly what to do to save Mike's life.

Miracle #3  No Helmet
I know, right? In Iowa there are no helmet laws for motorcyclists. Neither Mike nor Jerry were wearing helmets which, at least for Mike, was unusual. He's usually quite cautious when it comes to his Italian bike. He did have brain damage and a small brain bleed and a few broken facial bones. At his last CT scan a couple weeks ago, it showed that the brain bleed had almost diminished. With the exception of not remembering the accident, his short-term memory loss has improved over the past few weeks.

The neuro doctor actually told me it was probably a good thing he wasn't wearing a helmet. They felt Mike broke his neck on first impact and with a broken neck, a helmet would have been a huge risk trying to safely remove it. The doctor said he might not have survived the ordeal. I am not stating a case against helmets because I'm a strong advocate for them, but in this case, not having a helmet was a blessing.

Miracle #4  Kidney
Mike did have internal injuries. They removed his appendix, repaired his spleen and cleaned up some tears, etc. His right kidney was deeply bruised and the surgeon said she almost removed it. At the last minute, she put her stethoscope up to it and heard the smallest of gurgles. She decided to wait and see what would happen. They sent him to the SICU with an open gut. Sunday afternoon he went back into surgery only for the surgeon to find a pink, functioning kidney.

Miracle #5  Bruised Heart
The impact of the accident sent him into AFib (rapid irregular heartbeat). Although his heart rate was an issue for the first two and half weeks, it began healing quickly. Originally, they were going to do further tests on his heart but it had recovered enough that they didn't see it as a long-term condition he would have to deal with. They did say that he would probably have to be on low blood-pressure medicine for the rest of his life. At about week five, he was able to stop using the low blood-pressure meds altogether. We did find out the hard way he didn't need the meds anymore. At four o'clock in the morning he passed out in the bathroom. After hours of testing, they determined it was the low blood-pressure meds that caused him to pass out.

Miracle #6  Broken Pelvic Bone
The Ortho surgeon said that if he had to break his pelvic bone he did it right. The break ran the entire length of the bone but stopped above the hip socket. The surgeon was amazed that the ball in the hip socket didn't dislocate which would have created its own serious problems. He said it was highly unusual for that to happen. Since he broke his pelvic bone "right" it went back nicely together with plates and screws. At the follow-up visit, the surgeon was shocked as to how well he was doing. He still can't put weight on that leg for a while but he is mending quickly. He will know on October 5th if he'll be able to start putting weight on that leg. There will be no long-term issues with the pelvic bone with the exception of setting off alarms at the airport when walking through scanners.

Miracle #7 Broken Neck
For me, besides having the police officers at the right place at the right time, this is probably the biggest miracle God gave to Mike. Simply put, he should be dead. He should have stopped breathing as soon as his neck broke yet he slid under an SUV and down the road for another 60-70 feet or so and still kept breathing. He could have been paralyzed. The doctors are still amazed that considering the seriousness of the break - "his neck is holding on by a thread" - he is alive and mending rapidly. He will have a CT scan on October 10th and they'll let him know then how much longer he will have to wear the neck brace.

I am sure there are other miracles that only God and heaven know about. To God be the glory! Throughout this entire ordeal I have declared, "God is good. Always." Even if the outcome had been different then the one Mike received, hopefully I would still have declared, "God is good. Always."

Not everything was smooth sailing in the hospital. First, as I already stated, due to a combination of the brain injury and meds, his anger and combativeness was a challenge for a couple of weeks. Although Mike doesn't remember it, he cussed me (and  others) out every which way possible. The  middle of the night, when I wrestled with him to keep tubes and wires in and keep him in bed, was the toughest but God's grace was  more than sufficient to see me through. (Christy and one of his friends took a couple nights for me and that helped a lot.) I understood it wasn't him doing the screaming, cussing and wrestling. Looking back, I'm thankful God allowed me to walk with him through those dark days.

Second, once they found out that Mike didn't have health insurance, the goal of the case worker seemed to be to get him out of there as quickly as possible. After eight days in the hospital, they wanted to dismiss him. I had to file a complaint for early dismissal. It worked and he stayed another two weeks. His physical and occupational therapists also fought to keep him in as long as possible.

Third, Mike demanded that his feeding tube be removed but the trauma team flat out refused to remove it even when he declared his patient rights in having it taken out. He gave me power of attorney over his health care and I had to fight for his rights. After me raising quite a fuss it was out within a couple of hours. Fourth, we also found out that even though he needed to go into a nursing care facility for further recovery, that wasn't going to happen since he didn't have health insurance. Nor did he qualify for any disability programs that the state had to offer.

Since Mike has been home, God has faithfully met his at-home medical costs as well as his day-to-day expenses and bills. God used many, many people who blessed Mike by donating to help cover most of these expenses. There is no way we can adequately thank all the family and friends and his work who donated money. Thank you to those who faithfully prayed for him as well. Your prayers were answered miraculously time and time again.

One of the toughest lessons I've learned through this is to trust God's sovereignty. While Mike was in the hospital there was a young man in his early twenties who was also in a motorcycle accident. It was heartbreaking watching family and friends say their good-byes to him over a 2-3 day period of time. He had a fractured skull and died about day three. At first, I felt guilty because as they were losing their beloved son, grandson, brother we were learning that our son, father, brother, uncle would survive. But God...only God knows why those two outcomes were different.

I would like to think that our worship and praise of God would have been just as passionate if Mike had not survived the accident. I really don't know what I would have done because it would have been the greatest trial my family would have ever faced. But God...obviously he isn't quite done with Mike yet.

Before signing off, I would like to share with you the scriptures kept by Mike's bedside during his 20 days hospital stay.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen Mike Hofer with power through His Spirit in Mike's inner being, so that Christ may dwell in his heart through faith. And I pray that Mike, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, TO GRASP HOW WIDE AND LONG AND HIGH AND DEEP IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that Mike may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all Mike asks or imagines, according to His power that is at work within Mike, to Him be glory in the church (and Mike's body) in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."     Ephesians 3:14-21 (emphasis mine)

God is Good. Always.























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2 comments:

  1. Beautifully written Lollie!! What a journey!! So glad Mikey is going to be ok. Love you

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  2. Love you back! Thanks for being there.

    ReplyDelete