My Dad

Many of you know my dad and many of you do not.

But let me say, that my dad is an awesome man. He always thinks of others, he's incredibly faithful, and his love for his wife and kids and 7 grandsons knows no bounds.

My dad has never had a sick day in his life. When he retired from Exxon after 29 years, they gave him a perfect attendance placque - something that no one has ever done for never missing a day of work in 29 years.

So, you can imagine the shock it was to see him lying in the hospital in ICU.

Yesterday morning, dad went to work with several other men at the church building the hispanic mission in town. Dad is an incredible electrician, and he loves working with these men. He climbed up on an extension ladder that began to slide. Dad rode it all the way down to the ground, but fell on his right side. He refused to let them call 911 (which doesn't surprise me).

Once they got to McKinney General, it was detected that his pelvis is broken in 4 places and he has two vertebraes that are fractured. He was also internal bleeding. But God protected my dad in that he didn't hit his head at all and was awake, lucid and responding the entire time.

They careflighted him to Parkland Memorial Hospital immediately which has the best trauma unit and orthopedic unit in the country. They were able to stop the internal bleeding, put his leg in traction to keep from moving his hip, and give him some slight pain meds. They have noticed that if they give him to many pain meds, his blood pressure drops, so he is still awake and in pain.

I was in Toronto yesterday when Becky called me. I had just stepped off the elevator at my hotel and into the shuttle to take me to the airport. I truly believe God's angels paved the entire trip home for me since I was flying standby and a huge snowstorm was going on. From the minute I stepped in the airport, I had a kind agent walk me to a flight (that was already closed), get me through security with an 8oz hair gel bottle (and those that travel know how much of a no-no that is), and get me on the plane within 10 minutes of stepping into the airport. I even got a aisle seat. The snow kept coming down harder as we waited for de-icing, but we took off and landed in Chicago without a hitch. I had just enough time to walk off, grab a quick bite, get to my next gate, and get on standby. This time, I had the last seat in the plane (and I hate flying in the back). After they shut the door to the cabin, a flight attendant came up and asked me if I wanted to move to 13D near the front. I stated I had a carry-on bag and weren't the overhead bins full? He said - come on. And he walked me up and sat me down. The entire day I never said a word to anyone about my dad - frankly, the cynical side of me who has traveled all over the world knows that ticket agents have heard every story in the world when people want to get on a plane. But I knew that God knew and God made a way.

As soon as I landed, I drove to Parkland and got there just as the trauma doctor came into provide his diagnosis. Again, perfect timing. And, after he told us the extent of the injuries, they moved dad to Surgery ICU where we could go see him.

And you want to know what my dad's first words were?

"How's Titus? Is he still getting his cochlear's tomorrow?"

That's my dad, thinking of others instead of himself.

And walking back into an ICU after all that we have been through with Titus, everything kicked back in. What questions to ask the doctor, making sure mom was drinking water and getting some food, making the plan for the evening, explaining what will go in ICU during the night.

It's hard when your dad has never been sick. The only other time I remember him flat on his back was 2 times growing up: once when a bug crawled in his ear and he was laying down trying to get to crawl out (it didn't), and another when he was bounced off the back of the volunteer firetruck in Premont on the way to a fire (and he was a giant scab - but still got up and went to work).

They are doing an MRI and cat-scan today, and believe we will have surgery tomorrow to put the pins in his pelvis. They can put a brace on his back that will help with vertebrae fractures but last night do not believe they will need to do surgery for the fractures. He can move his toes and legs and has sensation in his legs which is good.

Please pray for my dad, that he can get some relief from the pain, that the surgery times/schedule will open up quickly, that the brace for his back will help with the fractures.

And please pray for my mom - she's never had to deal with dad being sick. And the hospital is near downtown dallas (and quite a maze to navigate). She needs her rest to so she has clarity of thought and mind.