Partially amputated fingers

For those who don't know, Jacob had an accident at work 2 weeks ago.  He was pounding a post into the ground, and ended up smashing his fingers between the post and the tool he used to pound the post.  He had to go to the hospital (out in the desert, where he was working at the time), and ended up spending the night and enduring a 5 hour surgery the next morning.  Praise God that one of the doctors on call was a hand specialist, and performed the surgery.  He said Jacob partially amputated the middle finger between the 2nd and 3rd knuckle, and the tip of his index finger.  The doctor had to put a pin in each finger, to set the bones, and provide the means to hopefully fuse the bones back together.  These pins will remain for another 2 months, approximately, and then they will remove them and begin intensive, painful,  physical therapy for approximately 4 months.  The doctor warned Jacob before he had the surgery that it was going to be a long road to recovery, and that a lot of people wouldn't want to invest the effort that would be necessary.  He gave Jacob the option to just cut the damaged portions off.  Jacob decided he wanted to keep his fingers, in hopes he will eventually regain full use of them.  Now 2 weeks after the accident, the doctor said the fingers are healing well, and he removed a few sutures a few days ago. 

As far as daily living, he is not able to use his hand at all.  His fingers are wrapped, and he must keep his entire hand elevated as much as possible, day and night.  He is not to do anything that could even potentially cause the fingers to bend, nor anything that would cause his blood pressure to rise (to prevent swelling).   Obviously, he can't do any projects around the house.   Sadly, that means all his gardening projects are put on hold.  And so are his tree-trimming schemes, and chicken coup building, and plum tree planting......  He also can't drive.  And he can't work.  He won't be able to work for at least 6 months.  But he is learning to write left-handed, and he has sent a couple of short stories to several different magazines, and is able to invest in his writing.  He is finishing up a screen play and looks forward to finding out if the Lord may have plans for him to write in the future.  And he is also taking an electrical class with DWP, to see if he might be able to find a job working with them.  

 As God would have it, just weeks before the accident, we had been praying about a job change for Jacob, so that he could pursue something that had a bit more of a future than the explosives work he had been doing.  There seemed to be a couple different possibilities then, but most of those required 2 fully-functioning hands.  We don't know what God has planned, but we are certainly excited to see what he is doing, and where He is bringing our little family!   

We are both facing different challenges, but God is faithful to give us the grace we need with each day, and to provide what we need.  Already we have been so blessed by the love and generosity of the body of Christ, and are praising God for how He answers prayers.  For example, Jacob's electrical class meets at night, which requires me to drive him to the class, come home and put Alaka'i to bed for a few hours, and then load him back up into the car to bring Jacob home.  We prayed the Lord would provide another way for Jacob to get home.  Yesterday Jacob got a ride home from a guy in his class who is a Believer and is looking for fellowship.  The two of them can encourage each other in Christ every week now on the drive home!   

This is the x-ray just hours after the accident.  Notice the middle finger - crooked and bone cracked.  It was almost completely cut off!  The only thing keeping it on was the flesh on the back of his finger.  And the tip of the first finger was almost lost too.

Here are the current photos showing the pins in both fingers.  They extend beyond the tip of the finger.  Good thing they're bandaged up.  That's just too creepy.  And you can also see a metal plate attached to the bone on the finger to the left.  

Daddy CAN still hold Alaka'i, play with him (a LOT) and share his oatmeal with him.  

Alaka'i is loving all the extra time with "Ah-da".