Production Notes - Not Just A Simple Fender-Bender.

**Update below**

Oh brother, sometimes it really is a production around here!!

This week's production notes go like this. Last Sunday afternoon, Pastormac and Joe Cool and Shorty were driving home from church and they were rear-ended. Totally the other person's fault. The little guys were fine - thank goodness everyone was buckled properly and they weren't hit too hard. The van's bumper got mushed, but since it's not exactly pristine being over 20 years old with nearly 400K miles on it, Pastormac wasn't too worried about it. All and all a pretty minor accident, so much so that the two drivers involved just exchanged names and phone numbers. No problem.

EXCEPT that after Pastormac arrived home he noticed that his left hand hurt a little and was a little swollen. Thinking back he figures that his hand probably got smushed against the steering wheel in a funny way. He puts ice on it and hopes for the best. (Ha ha! As if!) Next morning, it's not better, still not terribly painful but still swollen and in fact he can't touch his pinkie or ring fingers to his thumb. So Pastormac relunctantly goes to the doctor who sends him off to spend the next few hours getting X-rays. And how about that? His hand is broken! But a simple cast won't do. He has to spend most of the next day having the X-rays studied by an orthopedic who agrees that indeed it's broken. (After they cut his wedding band off because he finger is liable to swell.) But a simple cast won't do. So he spends another couple hours waiting for the orthopedic surgeon to take a look at the X-rays and conclude that the only way to fix his hand is surgery. (Oh yes!) Because his hand isn't just broken, it's broken at an angle and the upper piece has slipped down and to the side of the lower piece. So the bones have to be pushed back into place and then pinned. (Doesn't that sound pleasant? Good thing he'll be unconscious.) If that won't work they'll have to make an incision and put a plate in. (We're hoping for option A - the pins.) Then they'll put on a cast for 4 -6 weeks. It's an outpatient procedure. We should be home tonight. But as with any surgery, we're a little nervous.

Please if you're so inclined, we'd really appreciate your prayers today that all would go well and that his hand would heal quickly without too much pain.

That's a wrap!

**Update. Thank you all for praying for us today. We are home and Pastormac is resting. The surgeon did end up having to open up the hand to re-align the bone and put a plate in, which from the sound of it, was his plan anyway once he got a good look at the X-rays. We're very glad and relieved that it's over and all went well. It's painful, but the pain is manageable. Pastormac is hoping to be able to wean himself off the strong painkillers by Sunday morning - he's scheduled to give the teaching! Thank you all again for your well-wishes and prayers. I know they buoyed us up! And also for the reminders that we are very blessed that all we got was a broken hand, considering the precious ones that were in the van. **