Back in front of the computer . . .

On November 6, 2010, my husband took a hard fall while playing basketball outside on a concrete court. He received a severe head injury resulting in a moderate-severe concussion; epidural hematoma; frontal coup/contra-coup brain bruising and bleeding; left facial paralysis; left hearing loss; and loss of taste and smell. He spent five days in the hospital and went home to continue his recovery process. Chinese hospitals are nothing like American hospitals and we both felt that he would recover better at home. This was against his doctors' wishes and we were told that "You don't listen!"

There is much to be grateful for. God's hand was so obvious in the events following his injury. After three weeks, we flew down to Hong Kong for an evaluation with a neurosurgeon and his comment was, "Looking at these scans, it's quite obvious that Divine Intervention was at work. This isn't a case of 'it could have been much worse,' but is a case of 'it *should* have been much worse.' "

His recovery has been progressing well and after three months, the hematoma is gone and most of the facial paralysis is gone. He still has hearing loss, but feels that it is beginning to return. (The hearing loss is a result of "collateral damage" in that the nerve damage was due to compression rather than actual injury to the nerve itself.) His sense of taste and smell are still gone, but that's not always a bad thing! His energy is back at 100% and we are both hoping to get back into our exercise routine we had going before the injury.

I now know more about head injuries than I ever wanted to know. At times, I felt like I was cramming for a final exam in a course that I never took. Once again, God's graciousness was quite abundant. He showed himself in the form of friends who stepped in the provide food, hospital care, caring for our children (I was with Art 24/7 while he was in the hospital with the exception of a few hours in which I came home to shower and see the kids), and even financial assistance.

We never did ask God, "Why?" but we are still asking, "What do you want us to learn?" I'm not sure we'll ever have a concrete answer to this as it's likely to be an answer that is continuous. We do know that we are loved to an incredible degree and it is our desire to show that love to others.