Update on Jared's injuries following his motorcycle accident on Palm Sunday:
After the emergency knee surgery on Sunday night, and a second surgery to repair his wrist with a titanium plate on Tuesday, Jared was released from the hospital on Thursday. But he couldn't go home to their apartment, since they live on the second floor. Instead, they are staying with a friend's parents who live nearby and have an extra room/bath at ground level. They can stay there until next Tuesday, when the family has out-of-town guests arriving. On Tuesday they will round up some burly guys to lift Jared up to their apartment. He will have to stay there until he can negotiate stairs, approx 6-8 weeks by the doctor's estimation. (Jared doesn't agree with that; he's trying to make faster progress.) It means, of course, no work for Jared until he can get out of the apartment. He is anxious to get back to work, and the car dealership will take him back to do a desk job until he can start selling again. Unfortunately, he will only get minimum wage while he does desk work.
Jared has an interesting piece of equipment to rehabilitate his knee. He stays hooked up to this machinery most of the day and it manipulates and exercises his leg without his help. The goal is to keep the muscles, tendons, etc from atrophying as well as regain range of motion. He is up to 45 degrees in bending; he has to get to 90 degrees to be able to use the stairs.
The insurance looks like it will get straightened out. His old employer made a mistake in not sending him the COBRA letter as required by law when he left their employ. So they are allowing him to sign up for it retroactively. But that means they have to come up with two months of insurance premiums right away. They don't know the amount yet, but from what we hear it is very expensive. On top of that they have a huge annual deductible, and then 20% after the deductible is met. With Jared not working for some weeks and Heather only part time I don't see how they can make it.
We offered to let them stay with us for as long as they need to (we would give them our master suite) but they are hesitant mainly because work is up there.
We and they appreciate all your prayers!
I have a new hobby -- looking for a cheap Honda, or two, or three. With the towering rise of gasoline prices, I want to replace our gas guzzling cars, especially our aging Ford Aerostar, with a more fuel efficient car. But I want the Honda to be cheap. The problem is that I have been finding Hondas that look very similar to the one pictured above. I have looked at a variety of cars and I have found some possibilities that are actually drivable and look not-too-badly dented. Before I buy, I bring the candidate to my auto mechanic to evaluate. I thought I found one the other day, but it did not pass the mechanic's test.
