Email From Jerry

Below is an email from Jerry that is a summary of events:

February 17, 2009

Dear Friends and colleagues

I am sorry to bring you some life-changing news for Carolyn and our family. Two days ago, while descending the stairs to the lower level of our house in Evergreen on crutches (Carolyn had a knee replacement on January 12), Carolyn fell to the bottom of the stairs and injured herself. With thanks to our physician neighbor Brad, we had the Evergreen fire and rescue team take her from our house to the local fire station where she was air lifted by helicopter to St Anthony Central Hospital in Denver.

We were fortunate to have an outstanding orthopedic surgeon named Amit Agarwala at the hospital on Sunday morning and she was in surgery by noon. He is with the Panorama Group in Golden, Colorado.

Carolyn's injury was a fracture of a vertebra and a displacement of that vertebra to the extent that it pinched the spinal cord. The cord was not severed, but was severely damaged, according to the medical professionals. The doctors have told us that it would be unusual for a person with this type of injury to recover the use of her lower extremities. She seems to have good movement of her arms and hands, which is good news. She is in intensive care now, and we hope to transfer her to Craig Hospital, which has a great reputation for rehab. However, we understand it is difficult to get in, so we are praying about that also.

We don't know what the future brings, and we are just taking one day at a time. Yesterday she moved her legs in the hospital bed, so who knows what the final outcome will look like. We are all hopeful and praying constantly for a miracle that would allow her to walk again some day. Our family sincerely appreciates all the support and prayers from friends and family. It is wonderful that our three daughters all live in the area, and can be with their mother during this time.

We have set up a blog for people to check on progress in an efficient manor, as it is hard to return all the calls we receive. The blog address is:

http://carolynvane.blogspot.com/

You can go on the blog from any computer and read and comment whatever you like. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested.

I will tend to be at the hospital from 8 to 8 daily, and can be reached on my mobile phone. The coverage in the hospital isn't great, but you can leave a message and I can call you back later. Alternatively, you can leave a message on our home phone. Carolyn won't be able to receive calls for a while, and we will post on the blog when she can.