Life Happens
On November 21st a student went into convulsions. Roxanne Clark , who has been an instructional aide for 
over 20 years, my wife for 17 years, and an EMT for almost a decade, responded. At the top of a staircase on the way to help, Roxanne slipped. Her head banged hard against the wall. It snapped back and she fell down the stairs.
She was laying in a pool of her own blood at the bottom of the staircase when she woke up. Emergency people were attending to her. Friends began praying
for her even before the EMTs arrived and have not stopped. Roxanne had lost so much blood that on the way to the hospital the EMTs lost her pulse. The school called me and told me that Roxanne was on the way to the hospital. When I got there, she was in the ER. The goal at that point was to stop the bleeding and to stabilize her vitals.
Roxanne had a tingling in her arms and hands. The emergency MD wanted an MRI. A neurosurgeon was called in. There was serious spinal cord damage. The neurosurgeon Dr. Gardon told us how lucky we were. We weren't feeling lucky. He explained that many patients with the similar injuries became paralyzed. Roxanne's spinal cord had been compromised. She would need spinal cord surgery.
Dr. Gardon showed us the MRI. We were able to see what was wrong. He was able to show us the plan to fix it. The technology is incredible. The surgery was delayed until December 11th. The surgery was complicated and Rox needed to get stronger and the swelling needed to subside. Roxanne needed 24/7 care. I became her caregiver.
During this time I have not earned a paycheck. We believe that in the end, we will get paid back (workers' compensation) for the time that I have missed. We had built up out savings cushion. Our lifestyle is good, but far from extravagant. In the end we will end up losing about 2 months worth of checks. 
Having a cushion has eased our stress during a difficult time. Building a cushion isn't easy. It took hard work, and sacrifice to build. If there is one piece of advice that I can give the reader on this – it is to work on building that cushion. Life can change in an instant.
The surgery went well. She did inpatient rehab 4 times per day last week. These pictures are from the rehab center. As she has always done Rox worked hard in her rehab. Part of the rehab was physical therapy. That is to get her as well as possible. The other part was Occupational Therapy. That is to teach her to function in the real world again. Things like getting in and out of cars. Working in the kitchen. They worked on becoming safe and functional.
Eventually life will return to a new normal. We are so thankful. People with very similar injuries have suffered paralysis. Roxanne and I are home together. In another week or two I will be returning to work with a shortened schedule. Sometimes, it takes something like this to realize how blessed we are. It puts our life / faith / and work balance in proper perspective. We pray for the family of that little girl, while they search for answers,as they have prayed for us. We are just thankful beyond words.