Dear Friends,
Some of you already know what has happened to Debbie. For many of you, however, this will be the first you have heard about it, so let me bring you up to date.
A week ago Friday, September 18, our family was in Auburn, Alabama. We were there visiting one of our grandsons, Blake, who attends Auburn University, celebrating our youngest son’s 50th birthday, and looking forward to the Auburn football game on Saturday.
On Friday, we were gathered at the VRBO we had rented with about 22 of our sons’ friends and our friends who had come together to celebrate. Suddenly, while taking a picture the deck collapsed beneath us. A number of people were injured. Twelve eventually went to hospitals, urgent care centers, or other medical facilities for treatment.
Unfortunately, Debbie was among the more seriously injured.
She suffered significant injuries to both legs, including a major fracture of her right knee, specifically the tibial plateau. She also suffered another fracture near that knee and a smaller fracture of her left ankle.
We needed to get her home to Orange County for treatment and surgery. Flying obviously would have been much faster, but because of the risk of blood clots, her doctor would not allow her to fly.
Debbie was not the only one facing that problem. Our son’s mother-in-law, Debbie’s best friend Stephanie, and Stephanie’s husband Alex, were also injured and unable to fly because of similar concerns. So the three of them began the very long trip home together in a medically equipped Sprinter van.
The van traveled with a three-person crew consisting of a nurse and two drivers who alternated driving. Around El Paso, Texas, they met a fresh crew of three who took over for the remainder of the trip.
After traveling all the way across the country, they finally arrived home yesterday morning at about 7:30 a.m.
Debbie is now at Mission Hospital in Orange County.
When I began writing this email this morning, we were still waiting. We had been told that surgery could happen today, tomorrow, or Monday.
And while I was writing this email, we received another answer to prayer.
Debbie will have surgery today.
Dr. Hoshino will be performing the surgery. We don’t know what time yet, so now we wait again, but at least this time we know it will be today.
Of course, that also means no food and no water until after surgery.
My poor wife.
After everything she has already been through, now she has to wait, hungry and thirsty, for the call that it is time.
But we are grateful. This is the next step we have been praying for, and today that prayer has been answered.
And I have to tell you something else.
I miss my wife.
I’m home in Newport this morning, and Debbie is lying in a hospital bed. She has been dealing with pain that is always there, rising and falling in degrees, and requiring narcotics to keep it manageable.
Sitting beside her, I feel helpless.
There is something about being in a hospital that strips you of almost everything. Your clothes are gone. You’re connected to monitors and machines. Suddenly, you are dependent upon strangers for some of the most basic things in life.
As her husband, I want to fix it. But I can’t.
I can sit beside her. I can hold her hand. I can love her. I can pray for her. I can advocate for her.
But I can’t take her pain away.
And yet, in the middle of all of this, Debbie and I are so blessed.
Our sons and their wives, Jack and Susan, and Brian and Vanessa, have been amazing. And so have our six grandchildren, Parker, Spencer, Tori, Brooke, Blake, and Cade.
They love Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Granddad, beyond words. They have surrounded us, encouraged us, advocated for us, and reminded us again of what an incredible gift family is.
And then there are all of you.
So many people have reached out to us. You have prayed, encouraged us, offered to help, and simply loved us. Many of you have walked alongside us through years of ministry. Others have come into our lives in entirely different ways.
God, You have been so good to connect us with so many loving friends.
In the quiet moments, I find myself going back to something I have written about before.
It would be easy right now to ask:
Why us?
Why now?
Why her?
But I have tried to live my life making the shift from Why? to What?
So I am trying to ask:
God, what are You preparing us for?
What do You want to come out of this?
What are Your plans?
I don’t know the answers yet.
Maybe part of the what is learning that after spending much of our lives trying to love and care for other people, there are seasons when we have to allow other people to love and care for us.
And right now, that is exactly what so many of you are doing.
Hogan’s Journey
Because so many people are asking how Debbie is doing, we are in the process of making Hogan’s Journey the central place for updates on Debbie and the journey ahead.
Rather than trying to keep up with hundreds of individual emails, texts, and phone calls, we’ll post the latest information there. Sometimes it may simply be a medical update. Other times, I may share a little about what we are experiencing and what God may be teaching us along the way.
Please be patient with us for a day or two while we get everything set up and working correctly. We hadn’t planned on using the website this way, so we need a little time to get it ready.
As soon as Hogan’s Journey is up and running for these updates, I’ll send another Mailchimp email letting you know. We’ll include a direct link so you’ll know exactly where to go for the latest news about Debbie.
It seems fitting.
This certainly isn’t a chapter of Hogan’s Journey that Debbie or I would have chosen.
But it is where the journey has taken us.
For today, our prayer request is very specific.
Please pray for Dr. Hoshino and the entire surgical team, for wisdom and skill as they operate. Pray for Debbie to have peace as she waits, for her pain to be controlled, and for a successful surgery that will begin the long road toward healing.
Please continue to remember the others who were injured in the accident as well.
And if you have room for one more prayer, say a little one for me, too.
We love you, and we are deeply grateful that you love us.
Jim & Debbie