From Jessica

Jess does not have Internet access in her room, so she typed up a message in Word on her laptop which I have copied and pasted here.

Hi guys!
It has been a surreal experience in the hospital. The days just blur by. Per the “plan”, I will be coming home Monday which will be three weeks here. I remember well the moments before this all started. My aunt Sandy and I were in the most beautiful hotel room I have ever been in, with the perfect view of the beach and I got up to get ready to leave. Sandy was SO calm when I fell. I was thinking, what are we going to do! She was, I am sure, retracing five potential scenarios in her head! Good thing Sandy journals so I can recall all the funny parts later.

I think that by the time you have been in the hospital for two weeks, they let you upgrade to the best room in the place because I am in the penthouse of the hospital. I have one of the “new” beds, a huge room with a couch and dining table with big chairs. I have pretty wallpaper and crown molding. I even have a nightstand with a lamp. There is a shower and bathroom in here to, making it easy for Jake and others. But, the BEST thing is the view. I realized I had not seen out a window in two weeks, and that does a lot to a person. In my other rooms, they had windows, but they were behind me, and small. Now, I am facing a wall of windows that overlooks beautiful La Jolla, CA. I see rolling hills and blue skies. It is a huge blessing to be in this room.

It was wonderful to see Katelyn this past weekend. Nothing makes me smile quite like the girls. She was beaming all weekend too. She brought family pictures, which are a treasure to be able to see right now.

Having Jake here is invaluable too. He is cutting down my hospital expenses by helping the nurses whenever he can! He also gets plenty of me telling him to do things I can’t do, “Honey, can you scoot my left leg down?” “Can you throw away this paper? “Can you put away your shoes!!”

It has also been so great being able to see my mom, dad, and step-dad here in California. Having them here is almost like being at home. There is nothing like seeing your mom when you are sick that just makes things seem like they will be okay. And, Jake has some family right here. He stays a lot with his Grandpa and Oma who visit daily, and his aunt Sherry and Uncle Ron who live outside of LA have been here for every surgery. I also got a special visit from my cousin Krista!

I have LOVED each of your emails and beautiful flowers and fruit and cookie bouquets and cards. The food here is, well, hospital-esque, so the extras are yummy.

All of these things have kept me feeling not so far away.

Can I also say that knowing that the girls are so well taken care of at home is a huge relief. I remember that the first days I was here, I was trying to tell my aunt Sandy all the girls had to do the next few days. First, it was exhausting and second, it made me know I needed to be home. I then realized that God could control all these details and that the girl’s lives would be different, but okay with any plan. Whew! They have been and I am a lot less stressed! Thank you, Thank you for loving them.

Okay, I know there is more to say, but just know I love you all so much and that everyone in this hospital thinks that I am some greatly famous person back home with all the love poured out on me here. And, even far away, there are plenty of times I have said, “Thank you God for this moment!”

I am often brought to tears and filled with so much emotion when I hear of the rally to support to make coming home possible, as well as getting family to me, and support when for my family when I get home. It is truly a great, overwhelming gift of which I have no better words to say but thank you.

Even far from all of you, I see a definite reason for my being at this place, at this time. Now, I just ask God to give us the next step toward getting home.

One God moment…Saturday night before Easter, I was lying in bed asking God to move my toe. I couldn’t and was getting increasingly worried. Sunday, doctors and nurses and scans revealed that more was wrong with me than my broken hip, and I still could not move any part of my legs. Dr, Coufal, the neurosurgeon, was examining me, asking me to close my eyes and respond to his touch. When he asked me to move my toes, my eyes were closed and I could not feel it or see it, but I moved one toe on my right foot! Everyone in the room saw. It was then that Dr. Coufal said that I had a partial spinal cord injury. Partial, because I could move my toe. But, God moved my toe!! Since the surgery, you know that I now have more movement. I can move my left toes fine, but my right is actually still not as good. It just needed to move that once for me… at that moment. Thank you God, and thank all of you for interceding in prayer on our behalf!

Love to you all,
Jess