Several people have asked me about how our son is doing post-Austin v. Tractor. My response, though certainly not original has been, "He's in pretty good shape, for the shape he's in." Honestly, that's pretty much how it is right now. He's still stuck on the main floor of our house, unable to navigate the stairs either up or down. He sleeps on a hospital bed in the corner of the living room. He still walks, when he walks, with a walker. He spends most of his day looking at four walls, when he's not watching tv or playing video games on an old cell phone. He has a homebound teacher come and help him twice a week to stay current on homework and occasionally a friend or two stops by to just "check in" and see how he's doing. So he's definitely not back to "normal" but he's better than he has been.
I know that all may seem gloomy but for us there are always the alternatives. Once when Austin was in the ER for another, yet somewhat connected reason, (which I won't share publicly as it would embarrass Austin), the doctor looked at Austin and said, "If that tractor had been one inch higher, you wouldn't be here right now." Translation: "You'd be dead".
So on that day, just a few weeks ago, we could have lost Austin. And so we just want everyone to know how grateful we are that we didn't lose him. Yes, life is generally somewhat different right now, but this is all temporary. Eventually, the pins that are in him and the bar that stretches from one side of his pelvis to the other side will eventually be removed. Eventually, Austin will be outside again, running, jumping, tormenting his brothers and sisters, and doing the generally regular, normal, everyday sorts of things that 14 year old boys do. Eventually, all things will be normal again. So I guess you could say that Austin is singing a song made popular by Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive".
P.S. This is not Austin v. Tractor
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