So here we sit in a hospital room in Milwaukee--my baby sister Gina and I. We are both sitting up in chairs, but I am sitting next to her typing this, and she is sitting up sleeping--I am next to her to make sure she doesn't fall over, but she's doing great. She actually looks comfortable, even, for the first time in days. On a scale of 1 to 10, her pain is at a 3 right now, she tells the nurse.

Gina was driving to work on Thursday morning when she accidentally went off the pavement a little bit while she was rounding a curve, then over-corrected, which caused her car to spin off into a ditch on the opposite side of the road, which then caused her car to flip twice and land on its roof. She had to unhook her own seat belt, open her car window, and crawl out onto the grass to wait for help. When help appeared, she told me one guy made fun of the music that was still playing on the car's radio when they arrived. "Oh, Styx, eh?"

She had no external signs of major injuries or trauma--not even so much as a scratch on her pretty little face (although now we can see where she got banged up, by way of bruises that've developed since then). But the fire and rescue folks strapped her to a board and put on a neck brace to take her back to the hospital for testing, just in case--and thank GOD they did. Upon further tests including an MRI, they found that Gina had, in so many words, "broken her back." Her L-2 vertebrae had shattered and become unattached from the vertebrae above and below it, and she had multiple bone fragments floating in the spinal canal, pressing on her spinal cord. Gina was airlifted to a hospital in Milwaukee--the best for spinal surgery in the Midwest, and they operated on her the following morning.

I arrived in Milwaukee on Friday, and she was still in surgery when I got to the hospital. My immediate family was all here and we were all clearly shaken. My parents had spent the night in Gina's hospital room Thursday night and clearly hadn't gotten any rest. By the time we left for the night to go to a nearby hotel, Suzanne had to drive because they could hardly keep their eyes open. David stayed with Gina that night, followed by Suz last night, and tonight it's my turn. Gina's surgery was very successful, albeit not straight forward, her Superman surgeon explained to us in a tiny consultation room afterward. He also told us that if she would've been twisted a millimeter more during her accident that she'd almost certainly be paralyzed.

I am just happy she is alive. This kid has got somebody upstairs lookin' out for her, for sure.

Gina was initially very groggy after her surgery, which took about 4 and a half hours plus about 2 hours on either end, in pre-op and recovery, respectively. She could talk a little bit and thanked me for coming, I gave her a pink stuffed pig that says "IOWA" across its belly with an ear of corn standing in for the "I," and by the end of the night she'd eaten 2 popsicles and some chicken broth and was being feisty and funny, getting annoyed at me for bugging her with trying to feed her ice chips every five seconds.

Since then, she has been making huge strides, even through a haze of pain medication that keeps her pretty out of it most of the time. She's been taking walks up and down the hallway with her nurses several times a day, doing exercises to increase her strength, and even went up and down some stairs today! She now has two 6-inch titanium rods and 9 screws helping to straighten her spine. Gina is expected to make a full recovery.

In closing, I just want to thank all of you for your prayers and your happy thoughts over the last several days. They worked, they worked, they worked! My family and I, and especially Gina, all appreciate you keeping us close to your hearts and in your thoughts. God Bless.

Love,
Angela

(PS--GO GINA LOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)