An Update on Jan

A quick update on Jan

A few clarifications from yesterday to get everyone on the same page. Jan was hit head on while returning home on his mountain bike in the morning. It was a hit and run, however the police have located the van and have possible leads to the suspect. He was talking when the ambulance arrived at the hospital, however with the high risk of a head injury (brain swelling) and pain management the medical team choose to induce a coma, which requires the person be intubated (a breathing tube) and on “life support”. He was transferred from Pentiction (spl?) to Kelowna ICU yesterday night, and was “declared” stable in the evening. Ashley and Kim are at the bedside as well as Jan’s mother Ann. Amanda with her fiancé Neil Hilman flew out there yesterday afternoon. My mom called this morning (her and my dad went out to be with Kim and the girls). Jan is stable, and so far clear of brain damage, however that takes a few days to totally be in the clear. He has a collapsed lung that last night seemed to resolve with a chest tube. A broken femur and wrist, multiple fractured ribs, and his face is very damaged. There is a chance that a vertebra is displaced so he remains in a neck brace and their not moving him until the specialists have taken more x-rays today. His face is going to require much care and attention, a plastic surgeon will be visiting the family today. Both cheeks, his jaw and nose are the majority of the fractures. I imagine (knowing a little of the medical field) this will require multiple surgeries, a few plates and possibly wiring his jaw shut. He remains intubated (a breathing tube), also called ventilated, because of the severity of the facial damages. He will have a tracheotomy (aka trach) today, which is a small hole through the lower throat to insert a breathing tube. That will allow them to operate on his face without the tube in his mouth. While his face is healing the trach will allow Jan to talk with out needing to breath through his nose and all the swelling. This will be a long road to recovery. This list of injuries seems endless, however a quick glance at the positives…. God has already answered prayers. While bones take time to heal, brain damage has life long impact on a person and family. Praise to god that he has already had his hand on Jan’s head. To all those bikers (both motorized and unmotorized) Jan would not be alive today if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet. His lung seems to be re inflated and working better, and they think it might not have been punctured. All the family was able to be here loving and supporting him. Had this been weeks earlier Ashley would be alone on the other side of the world. I gave Amanda a quick pep talk yesterday before she flew out, and feel that it applies to everyone. We believe in an all powerful God, one that listens to the cries of our heart and never leaves our side. Don’t stop praying or believing that he will do miracles. Our son is a powerful testimony that God does miracles, answers prayers, and uses tragedy to touch the lives of people around us. Don’t loose faith, our God is an awesome God. All we can do is continue to pray. Alright it wasn’t quite that eloquent, but she got the point…. J