Mike's Softball Injury

Last Thursday, I went to watch Mike play softball. I was late to the first game since Hannah had cross country practice, and I needed to drive her home. I was there for a couple of innings and saw Mike get a good hit and also throw some strike outs. It turned out that he had struck out 10 batters, an amazing thing in softball, but he said it was due to the sun being in their eyes. In the second game, Mike pitched a ball, and the batter hit it hard back at Mike. It hit him on the left side of his face. He went down on the ground, and someone said, “Call 911.”

Thursday, August 27 about 7:45 PM
I found out later that Mike asked Paul Munoz (the coach of his team) for a blessing right there on the field with a whole bunch of people who are not members of the church right around them. The ambulance came and took him to Highline Hospital. I wanted them to take him to Valley since it is close to home, but they were very worried about his eye, so they took him to Highline as it was a lot closer than Valley. He got there about 8:00 PM and had a CT scan there. Paul Munoz came to the hospital. Trent & Mykel Hainer came to give him a blessing. Mike was bleeding a lot from his nose, and it was draining into his stomach. He threw up blood several times (about a pint or more). After reviewing the scan, the emergency room doctor called the ENT doctor for advice. He had broken most of the bones on the left side of his face, and his eye was injured as well. The decision was made to transfer Mike to Harborview Hospital so specialists could treat him.

Thursday, August 27He was taken by ambulance around midnight to Harborview, and I drove and met him there. We were there until 5:00 AM. Most of the time spent at Harborview was a very long eye exam. The ophthalmologist did an exam in the emergency department, but then they moved him to the eye clinic with better instruments. They looked at his eye for about an hour. Fortunately he could move his eye up, down, left and right; some ways not as much as he should. The doctors confirmed that he did not tear or detach his retina, but that there was a lot of bruising (commotio).
Mike came home with me Friday morning—we left the hospital about 5:00 AM and got home a little after 5:30. When we got home, we realized that they had left an IV in his arm (he had one in each arm and they took one out, but not the other). Mike wasn’t worried at all, he just said that Carolyn Robbins (our friend and neighbor who works in the ER at Overlake Hospital) would take it out, and she did take it out later that morning. I went to sleep right after we got home, but the phone calls started around 8:00 AM, so I only got 2½ hours of sleep.
Mike had an appointment with the ophthalmologist Monday afternoon. He said the swelling and the blood on the eye had improved but that his vision wasn’t back to what it should be. The swelling in his face has gone down quite a bit. We met with the plastic surgeon this morning. He showed us the CT scan and all of the broken bones. They will be repaired with titanium plates and screws. He will also have a plastic orbital socket put in. Amazing medical technology! We went through all of the paperwork to get ready for surgery tomorrow—all that was left to do was get the okay from the ophthalmologist. The ophthalmologist said wait until next week so the eye can heal some more. The surgery is set for next Friday, September 11. He has another appointment with the ophthalmologist this Friday.I was scheduled to leave Sept. 10 for Utah to help Nadine with her new little baby. She is due Sept. 11. I have delayed my trip for 2 days, so I can be here for Mike’s surgery. His parents will come up from Portland to help for the first few days following surgery and then Miriam is coming from Pullman to help her Dad.

Friday, August 28

Friday, August 28 (afternoon)

Monday, August 31

Tuesday, Sept. 1