OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD 2012

Welcome to Cents To Save! Follow along as we pay down our debt, become mortgage free, and enjoy life. You can read more about this site here and subscribe to get all the latest updates sent to you by email or RSS feed here. Thanks for visiting!

Happy Wednesday....

.......But it feels like Thursday today. In my mind, I have jumped ahead and skipped a day. On Wednesdays, I am scheduled to be at work to start a 9:00 AM.   Today, I guess I thought I had to be at work at 8:00 AM because I was on the road at 7:20 AM.  It probably took me about 10 minutes, but I finally figured out that I could turn around and go back home as it was WEDNESDAY today!  When I got back to the house,   I was able to get a load of clothes going and get the dishes out of the sink and into the cupboard.  Man.... talk about a blonde moment!


Yesterday, was an exhausting day! We were in court participating in a trial than involved my son J ( Yeah... I know... I said I was not going to post about him again...but THIS is not related to his jail experience).  Last May, on Mother's Day weekend, J was a victim of random violence.  In a nutshell, he was out with friends and when he was getting ready to call it a night, he was "sucker punched" in the side of the head by a guy with supposedly brass knuckles. The blow knocked J out, he fell back and hit the parking lot pavement.... with the back of his head.

He was unconscious, his head was swelling, he was bleeding from his nose and his face.  The ambulance/paramedics bypassed the hospital closest to the incident and took him to the Level 1 Trauma Hospital downtown.  By the time I was notified by his best friend, ( my cell phone was on silent) he had been at the hospital for about 2 hours.  I called the ER and asked to see if J was there, they said yes..... "Let me get the Chaplain for you".  What??????  My heart sank to the floor. I thought for sure the Chaplain was going to tell me the worse had happened to J.  At that moment, my world stopped.  And then the Chaplain spoke....


As it turned out, J was in the ER and he was alive. We left the house and got to the ER only to see J on a stretcher, swollen face, almost unrecognizable, practically unconscious.  The neurosurgeon was there and was debating on if he was going to have to do brain surgery to relieve the swelling from the bleeds in his brain. What?????  You know... when you hear this kind of news.... everything kind of moves in slow motion.  All you see is that doctor repeating that he is almost certain that J will need to have brain surgery.  But.... he did decide to wait.  In about 12 hours J was transferred to a trauma unit.  He was given injections of Mannitol every 4 hours to reduce the swelling in the brain.  He was in the trauma unit for 7 days.  Each day, the neurosurgeon would come in and check, he would also evaluate the latest CT scans of J's brain.  The swelling had stopped, the bleeding had stopped, and the doctor said the swelling was actually going down. Huge sigh of relief.....



J was then transferred to a rehab floor, the injections still continued.  He was not allowed to get up by himself, he was not allowed to walk anywhere by himself.... in case he fell and re-injured his head. He suffered from Brocca's Apahsia.  This means what he was thinking is not actually the words that would come out of his mouth. Towards the end of his stay, that did improve significantly.   As of today, J still has an indentation in his right cheek from the alleged brass knuckles. 



On day 13, the injections to reduce the swelling were stopped.  He was alert, eating, and definitely ready to go home.  On day 14, he was released.  Back to the trial..... Yesterday, we all got to relieve the event, different and conflicting stories were told to the jury.  The defense attorney was very aggressive, but I understand that is his job.  The state attorney did a great job as well.  Closing statements and jury instruction were given at 530 last night.  The jury came back today at noon with a verdict of "not guilty". 


Well, it is what it is.  As I said both sides of the stories were conflicting.  The jury did the best that they could.  And.... J will tell you himself... he put himself in that situation.  Praise the Lord.... I think he is finally learning.  He had a long way to go to get back to  a  some what normal life.   We remind each other daily ... One day at a time.  That is all we can do. 


Anyway... I am glad tomorrow is Thursday.  Payday is just around the corner and I still have 30 dollars cash left in my wallet.  Yoo Hoo!!  My next post will be more on my money than on my family.  Enough drama for one week! 

Hope the rest of your week is wonderful!!

5 comments:

Maureen said...

As you say enough Drama and not just for this week. It sounds as if you have had enough to last a lifetime.
I think one very changed boy will be coming home.

Budget Confidential said...

Your son was sucker punched, had visible injuries, still has an indentation from it, has witnesses (I assume the friend witnessed it) and the judge and/or jury still said the other guy was NOT guilty???? Wow.

Jane said...

Just because he put himself in that situation doesn't give someone the right to punch his lights out. Gosh - really makes me wonder about justice these days. However, enough said about that, you need to and are moving on and so must your son.
So yes let's look at the money and congrats on having $30 bucks left at the end of the month - that is cause to celebrate. So here goes - I'm raising my glass of red wine to you RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE!! Oh yes, now it IS Thursday and that means tomorrow is FRIDAY!!! YAY!!

Sharon said...

Lisa, enough is right. Closure is a good thing, although I agree with the rest, it doesn't seem much justice was done. Sending **hugs** your way, and I agree with Maureen, you have had enough for a lifetime!

Budget Confidential said...

Your son was sucker punched, had visible injuries, still has an indentation from it, has witnesses (I assume the friend witnessed it) and the judge and/or jury still said the other guy was NOT guilty???? Wow.

ShareThis