Motorcycle Accident

     So as a lot of you know, we have had a pretty stressful couple days. Before I get to the bad, let me share our sweet family pictures we took on Saturday in front of the beautiful poppies. I have been wanting to take pictures in front of them since we moved here, and since they bloom this time of year it was the perfect time.      

     What I really wanted was for us to stand in the middle of a big poppy field, but I haven't been able to find one. When Aaron came across a big group of them lining the train tracks near our house, I knew we could make it work. So on Saturday, we met our friend near them and walked through really tall weeds/grass/pokey stuff to get to the tracks. Our friend was able to get some really great pictures after only being there for about 15 minutes. I was so nervous that a train was going to come while we were on the tracks, and sure enough it did! Oh My Gosh! I was terrified, and the only one that was scared might I add. It was a double train track and the train was coming on the one further away from us. My instinct was to grab Connor and jump in the bushes, but my friend kept me from jumping. I'm glad she did because it would have hurt. After that scary situation, I was done! I hope you enjoy our pictures as much as I do :)

One of my favorites!

We tried to get him to hold onto the poppy...

but rocks are more his thing.

Throwing it at me... boys will be boys.

My handsome little guy.

Aren't they beautiful.

    So... now that I shared our happy family pictures, I can talk about what's been going on. On Sunday morning, Aaron and his friends went on a motorcycle ride. About 20 minutes after they left, I got a call from one of our friends that was with him. He started the conversation with "Hey Jenn, don't freak out but..." At that point I freaked out and asked him if he was kidding. I have received a call like that before when Aaron broke his frontal sinus cavity, and knew it was going to be bad. He assured me that Aaron was okay for the most part, but definitely had a broken collar bone. He is an experienced medic, so I knew he was in good hands and that I could trust him. I dropped what I was doing, packed a bag for Connor, and left the house. I dropped Connor off at our friends house and went to see Aaron at the crash site. He was doing better then I thought, but I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I took him to the Italian ER and the interpreter helped us explain what happened to the triage nurse. We only waited about 10 minutes before they called us back. We waited some more before they took him into another room and decided to order X-rays. I waited outside the X-ray room and could hear Aaron yelling in pain. I felt horrible for him. We waited  for the orthopedic doctor to view the results and when he called us back, he confirmed what we already knew.Aaron had a fractured clavicle {collar bone} and 5th rib. 

 You can see where the break is.

The nurse put a brace on him and we were discharged. The whole process took about 5 hours. I picked him up meds at one of the local pharmacies and we came home to rest. 

 Connor wanted to take care of his daddy.

    On Monday morning I dropped off Connor at our friends house and took Aaron to work at 6:30. We went to the clinic after formation and saw his primary care doctor at 8. He sent us to a different clinic to get more X-rays taken, pick up pain meds, and meet with the Orthopedic doctor.

 They gave him a new brace after his X-ray. It's much better compared to the one he got at the hospital.

Turns out the Orthopedic doctor isn't even in town, so they notified the surgeon in Aviano. As soon as he saw the X-rays, he knew surgery was the best option. We went back and forth between the two bases and our friends house probably 7 more times before we came home {it was already 2:30 by this time}. 

 Connor slept in the car for 2 hours at one point.

We decided  it would be best for us to stay the night in Aviano, where his surgery was going to take place the next morning, so we didn't have to leave at 5am. Our wonderful friends offered to watch Connor for us so I didn't have to worry about him on surgery day, so I packed his bags and got the dogs stuff ready for our neighbor who was going to keep an eye on them for us. We dropped Connor off at 5 and then started driving to Aviano. When we were 30 minutes into the drive, we got a call from the surgeon telling us that the machine they use during the surgery, to make sure the screws are placed in the proper place, was broken. He had no idea when it would be fixed, so he called off the surgery. We were told he would call us the next day with more information. At that point I broke down because we had been going nonstop for 2 days, and I felt so bad for Aaron. I drove back to our friends house to pick up Connor and we came home after eating dinner at our friends house. Connor fell asleep in the car and Aaron went straight to bed. 

     Aaron is able to stay home from work today until the doctors figure out what they are going to do. We haven't heard anything yet, but it's still early. Hopefully they will have good news for us when they call.

So, what has all this taught me? I have learned not to let your loved ones leave on a bad note. I was angry with Aaron when I found out he was going on a motorcycle ride. He was supposed to be leaving for work this week and would be gone for over a month with a couple days back home in the middle. I wanted a day with him, but when I knew he was going riding it made me upset {I was being selfish}. I let him leave and didn't give him a kiss or tell him I loved him. I sent him a text message apologizing for being angry with him, but he never got it. He got into the accident a few minutes later. We were lucky that he only had a couple broken bones because it could have been much worse. Never again is he leaving this house without a big kiss and an "I love you."