woodtick's quilt
Our friend, BeninSC suffered a terrible bicycle accident recently. One moment he was whirring down the road and the next he was on the road, broken and unconscious. It is still a mystery how the accident occurred but one thing is for sure -- we are very, very lucky to have Ben still among us. He suffered terrible fractures in his shoulder, his pelvis, and in spite of his helmet, even a fracture in his skull. Good news is that Ben has been released from the hospital. But his recovery will be long. He's not permitted to put any weight on his leg for another couple months. I posted these pictures in the last diary and am reposting them to show just what Ben survived.
This is his helmet.
This is a CT scan, an anterior view of his fractured clavicle and scapula. You can see clearly see the crack in the collarbone and the large fracture running down the scapula
Here is an x-ray of his pelvis. The pelvis was fractured in three places, with the head of the femur sticking in the pelvis through the joint. Ben was so fortunate - the orthopedic surgeons did an absolutely beautiful job recreating his hip joint.
We're making a community quilt for Ben so he can keep the love of his friends close as he recovers. Messages left by you in the comments will be transcribed in archival ink and sewn into a colorful quilt. We have received 60 messages for Ben so far -- with 68 we could do a quilt along the lines of Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse's.
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Or if we get more, we could make a medallion quilt along the lines of paradise50's quilt.
paradise50's quilt
Everyone is welcome to leave a message. If you would also like to donate toward the cost of making the quilt (time and materials) here is a PayPal link -- or message me if you prefer to send a check through the mail. A donation of $10/message is suggested but not required!
Lap throw Ann and I sent to jimreyn's widow, who has cancer. Click here for info on how you can help her.
These are the people who have sent messages to date (check here if you don't remember if you left a message last time):
1. Blue jersey mom
2. slksfca
3. JaxDem
4. Smileycreek
5. Brillig
6. Cronesense
7. commonmass
8. Carnacki
9. Gizmo59
10. Maggiejean
11. Boran2
12. Meteor Blades
13. Davehouck
14. rubyr
15. llbear
16. LNK
17. Puddytat
18. High uintus
19. earicicle
20. Dreaming of Better Days
21. Dragon5616
22. Sandy on Signal
23. teacherken
24. NormAl1792
25. Crashing Vor
26. JekyllnHyde
27. Sardonyx
28. desertguy
29. Swampyankee
30. Princesspat
31. Zoskie
32. citisven
33. raincrow
34. CJB
35. Ekaterin
36. beach babe in FL
37. TrueBlueMajority
38. Louisiana 1976
39. radical simplicity
40. gloriana
41. Sc kitty
42. Steveningen
43. greenbird
44. Leu2500
45. Ooooh
46. figbash
47. she said
48. Psnyder
49. Lorikeet
50. Cai
51. TheOrchid
52. flumptytail
53. Bronte17
54. Emeraldmaiden
55. marykk
56. C. Leven
57. Runaway Rose
58. nomandates
59. Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
60. Potatohead
Betty inspects woodtick's quilt
Here are a few of the messages, for inspiration:
Keep riding and writing. Psnyder
May this quilt warm you with our love and help you remember that we are all sending you best wishes for a strong recovery. Lorikeet
I look at "your" pictures, and all I can think is ow, ow, ow! And then sort of retroactively alarmed, because it looks like it could have been even worse. We are all very glad you made it through. Be as well as possible. Cai
BeninSC, ...as a fellow cyclist, I shuddered when I saw your helmet! I'm very glad you're still here. Best of luck and wishes for a speedy recovery. TheOrchid
Ouch, get well soon. You have a lot of friends here rooting for you. Love, flumptytail
"When going through hell, keep going!" --Winston Churchill {{{BeninSC}}} nomandates
detail of paradise50's quilt
These are the community quilts we have finished to date:
othniel (cellulitis and ensuing complications)
exmearden (cancer of heart and lung, RIP)
MsSpentyouth (brain tumor)
Moe99 (lung cancer)
Michelle Caudle (ovarian cancer, RIP)
BFSkinner (lupus)
Kitsap River (long wait for kidney donor that ended 2/18/11)
Frederick Clarkson (blood clots)
Dreaming of Better Days (lymphoma)
one bite at a time (lost house and belongings to fire)
Timroff (cellulitis)
Sol Fed Joe (multiple cancers and health problems)
Brubs (AIDS, immune reconstitution syndrome)
rserven (gall bladder infection with dangerous complications)
grndrush (brain tumor, RIP)
ImpeachKingBushII (needs liver transplant)
andsarahtoo (lupus)
Frank Cocozzelli (muscular dystrophy)
luvsathoroughbred (breast cancer)
Predictor (stroke and HIV)
Austex54 (caretaker to othniel)
Theodore Olbermann, RIP
cskendrick (antibiotic resistant infection)
Keith Olbermann (caregiver to father)
Juan (cancer)
Ana (a young horse belonging to Juan, hit by truck)
MA Liberal’s mother (Alzheimer’s)
Charles CurtisStanley (caretaker to Kitsap River)
Lorikeet (cervical cancer)
Dr. Lori (metastatic cancer)
ulookarmless (cancer, heart condition, stroke)
riverlover (caregiver to husband suffering from liver failure, now widowed)
Melody Townsel (caregiver to dying father, now deceased)
dadanation (AIDS)
Dr. William F. Harrison (leukemia, RIP)
Larry Bailey (sudden loss of partner to heart attack)
ramara (adopted son with fetal alcohol syndrome)
Noor B (herniated disk from car accident)
Louisiana 1976 (fibromyalgia, severe arthritis, depression)
stumpy (MS, stroke, RIP)
bleeding heart's niece (cancer, RIP)
escapee (failure of corneal surgery)
SarahLee (lymphoma, Lyme Disease)
Bustergirl (ovarian cancer)
mimi's niece (cancer)
ZenTrainer (breast cancer)
Miss Blue (severe injury to shoulder, anxiety over coverage for surgery)
Granny Doc (bladder cancer, RIP)
mango (heart attack)
nudger (ovarian cancer, RIP)
DaNang65 (heart condition)
Lt. Choi (exhaustion)
Nurse Kelley (spinal stenosis)
Ben Masel (lung cancer, RIP)
Otterary Scribe (caregiver, grieving grandfather, grieving widower)
Aji (autoimmune diseases incl. fibromyalgia, inflammatory arthritis, & Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus Syndrome)
JaxDem (suddenly widowed)
DavidW (AIDS and other undiagnosed illness)
Jester the Marine (facing amputation of leg)
peregrine kate (endometrial cancer)
mimi (grief due to family illnesses)
alliedoc (endometrial cancer)
labwitchy (diffuse scleroderma)
Daily Kos (celebrating community)
belinda ridgewood (sudden loss of her mother)
princesspat (blood clots, deep vein thrombosis)
Scott Olsen (severe head injury)
SensibleShoes (caring for sister with brain cancer)
Joanna (cancer)
cany (grieving caretaker of mother with dementia)
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (breast cancer)
Scottie Thomaston (intense chronic pain from spine, kidney stones)
paradise50 (throat cancer)
woodtick (caregiver to mother with Alzheimer's)
See also these two thank you posts from multiple quilt recipients:
KosAbility: A Virtual Quilt for Sara and Ann, from Community Quilt recipients
We Have Something to Say to YOU, Sara R and winglion!
Goldie inspects Scottie's quilt
We are caught up except for BeninSC's quilt. These quilts are planned:
relapsing (colon cancer)
MsGrin (life long heart problems requiring multiple surgeries)
llbear (brittle diabetic)
arizonablue (abiding grief for daughter)
UnaSpensor (Lyme disease)
MA Liberal (caretaker to her mother who has dementia)
paradox (cyclical vomiting syndrome, PTSD, depression)
Ellinorianne (rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia)
SwedishJewish (sexually assaulted as a child)
Betty really loved paradise50's quilt. We took it away, washed it, and sent it to him. We are not yet forgiven.
PAYPAL FOR BENINSC'S QUILT - THANK YOU!
Boots says, "Thank you for supporting community quilts!
Namaste.