Sunday, July 01, 2007

And Update on Mr. Eagle

Since so many of you have been keeping Mr. Eagle in your thoughts and prayers since his accident, I thought I'd give you an update - and it's a good one!

After spending the rest of May and most of June in the severe burn unit, undergoing 5 skin graft surgeries, a bout of pneumonia, and a broken nose (we suspect from trying to remove his glasses which ended up melting in the fire), he is now in a rehabilitation facility. He spent about three weeks pretty much in a drug-induced coma, but is now awake, walking, sitting up, and talking, and starting in on some extensive therapy. It's a very, very slow process - for example, just to be able to get out and walk, both of his legs have to be wrapped from the ankles to the thighs with ace bandages (to reduce swelling), which then have to be removed when he's finished. He is eating solid food, although it's a slow process as even the fingers on his mainly uninjured hand are stiff from inactivity.

He and Mrs. Eagle's daughter is getting married next week and they are hoping that he can get a day pass so he can attend the wedding, although they know it might not happen. There was some talk of postponing the wedding, but Mrs. Eagle and her daughter made the decision not to. For one thing, no one knew when he'd be able to get out and attend, and secondly, he'd probably be pretty irate if they put it off because of him. He's like that. So the wedding will happen, and hopefully he'll be there.

Mrs. Eagle, who basically has lived in the hospital for the past six weeks, is now at home most of the time as the rehab facility does not let family members stay overnight. So she goes down to visit in the afternoons, after his therapy, and comes back in the evenings. With the wedding happening next week, she's got alot on her plate, but her children (there's four, and they're all grown) are a huge help. The Eagles have some great kids.

Thanks to all of you who've kept Mr. Eagle in your thoughts and prayers. He's a fantastic person who's always put other people first, especially kids. We couldn't have come this far in his recovery without your support and prayers.

2 comments:

Jose Vilson said...

I just saw your comment on NYCEducator's blog and am interested in knowing what the acronym AVID means.

Secondly, good luck to Mr. Eagle's continued convalescence / recovery.

ms-teacher said...

Thank you for the update on Mr. Eagle.