After our daughter was nearly killed back in April, we all struggled to find a way for her to heal both physically and emotionally.
We found the answer halfway around the world.
A few people have asked for an update on this situation over time, so this seemed like a good time to do it.
In April, my daughter was bent in half and pinned under a large (67 ft - 1,500 - 3,000 lb.) tree. Her lower spine was broken/crushed. By a true miracle, she survived and was not paralyzed. She spent 3 months in a full-body brace/leg-extension. She did not heal. The insurance company and doctors screwed around with her for 3 more months. Surgery was scheduled, then postponed.
After the last visit with the neurosurgeon, it was decided that although her spine was still fractured and would not heal, the fracture was stable. Surgery was postponed again.
In the meanwhile, an opportunity came up for us to go to China for an extended visit. My daughter, who has always been interested in Asian culture and had taught herself some Japanese while she was bedfast, desperately wanted to go. At this point, she had gone through 3 weeks of gentle PT. She had bruised lungs, bruised ribs, could barely lift her legs. The neurosurgeon gave her permission. We pulled it all together in about 2 weeks.
Fast forward 6 weeks. We went to China. It has given her her life back. She went hoping to volunteer, do some good and connect with people there. I was thinking yeah, un huh, that's going to happen.
But...she volunteered at 2 schools, toured a third, met a gang of young Chinese professionals, students, workers. They adopted her, came to our apartment, cooked meals for her, taught her Chinese while she taught them English, took her out to clubs and internet cafes at night. They're planning to (and we hope they do) visit us at various times over the next year. She's learned an amazing amount of Chinese. She's now considering working and living in Shanghai.
No one in China knew what had happened. For the first time in a long time, she was not a victim.
She's working on adopting a library for a rural Chinese school ($600 buys a library). She's now (mostly) looking forward to returning to the universsity in the spring semester.
Physically, there will always be limitations. She's lost a lot of flexibility. She tires more easily. She hurts. She'll have more PT now that she's home to try to regain motion, and she will have more x-rays to be sure her spine is stable.
I have no idea where life will take us next, but this was a pretty good ending to a truly terrible year.
posted by clarkstonian to MetaFilter-Related at 4:12 PM (133 comments total)
182 users marked this as a favorite
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:16 PM on December 22, 2009