Taming the Talus

Front entrance to the ritzy Vestavia Park Apartments

my favorite picture: melty car

Erin's talus is shattered...

I'm sitting next to Erin in Brookwood Medical Center, waiting for her to fall asleep so that I can take a picture of her in her hospital bed, tubes and all. Still cute... Until then, I figured I'd just give a little bit of an update on her & the state of Vestavia Park apartments. I put several more pictures on Thirty Travelers & Melissa Richie, Erin's sister, put some information on her blog. 

At around four-thirty this morning, Erin & her roommate Laura discovered that their complex was on fire, ran back into the apartment as the flames came into their apartment and tried to escape via Erin's window. Erin attempted to climb down the tiny window ledge, slipped, hung on for dear life, and then plummeted approximately three stories.

Thank God, everyone made it out of the apartments, but, unfortunately, Erin's a little beat up. At about 1:30 they had to take her into surgery.

Erin's out of surgery now... She had surgery on her ankle, specifically the talus bone, which is one of the bones that comprises the ankle, and, incidentally, one of the planets in the Star Wars universe... The doctor said that the surgery went well, but there's just no way to know just yet how it's going to turn out. If the blood vessels in her talus grow back properly, then she should be a-okay. If not, however, she could have avascular necrosis (bone death due to lack of blood flow) and they'll have to go back in and fuse the bone to another one... Bummer. Either way, she'll be rocking a wheelchair for 4-6 weeks. Brainstorming ways to trick it out presently. She'll also be sporting a new, hip vest for her cracked vertebrae (t-11 & t-12).

We'll be chilling at the hospital for the next few days if you want to drop by (Room 403, yo). Oh, and Joel said that if you'd like to make a contribution to her, Laura Vandal, or Laura Pearson, because they lost... everything... if you write it out to Redeemer Community Church, then they can meet the needs specifically (and be tax-deductible!). 205-253-5635.

Phone Calls Received Concerning Erin: 34
Text Messages Received: 60+

I love you guys so much. Thanks for your prayers. God is so good and gracious. I started crying on the way to Birmingham this morning and all I could stammer out was "Thank you... thank you..."

P.S. in case somehow you were unaware, my girlfriend is incredible. She is SO optimistic about everything, seemingly unconcerned about the loss of all her possessions, and laughing (yes, laughing) about her prayer (yesterday...) for God to help her know that He is all she needed and for God to strip her need of comfort. Hilarious.