SAA Thank You!

12/2/16

My dear friends,

Over the past few days I’ve received many touching notes, beautiful drawings, lovely flowers, sugary sweets, prayers, and thoughtful visitors! I can’t tell you how much all of these things mean to me, I am extremely touched. : ) I’ve read your letters several times now and many of your notes told me how brave and tough I was out there on the field. Well, let me tell you something, let me tell you how brave and tough you all have been, especially Lee Rea, J. P. Guy, Mariah Godde, and Eliana Denham, who never left my side from the moment I fell to the moment I was taken away in the ambulance! I owe a special thank you to Guiseppe Forte for going to get help right away, and to Mr. Fredrickson, Mr. Van Hecke, and Miss Warnert, who stood by to give special support. Without your bravery I couldn’t have gotten through any of this. In order to tell you how much I appreciate you guys and everyone at SAA I need to tell you what happened from the time I got injured to the time I got discharged from the hospital.

After I heard my leg snap and was on the ground, people came to help me right away, people who stayed calm, cool, and collected. No one was freaking out except, well, me I guess.: ) Now, that alone takes guts! If you had not been calm I am sure I would’ve been less calm myself and as a result my pain level would have most likely gone up. So, that in itself is something to be proud of, not everyone can do that! All of you should become doctors or nurses, or something! : ) Also, you started praying for me right away, so I knew I was off to a good start! Your prayers showed me how strong you all are in your Catholic faith. I admire every one of you at St. Augustine’s for it.

It was truly a miracle that I was able to feel very little pain through the whole thing and was able to laugh and smile along with those who were by my side. Whether you realized it or not, God was truly working through you, my friends! : ) He was using your beautiful smiles and happy laughter to cheer me up. Those are gifts and you have used them for good! That was the reason why I was able to smile, laugh, have conversations with ya’ll, make up crazy stories about my leg, and sing along with you when I should have been in agony. God has blessed me with loving, caring people to take care of me and when I count my Thanksgiving blessings I count you twice! : )

Let’s speed ahead a bit. After the ambulance ride (which I gotta say was pretty fun), I arrived at the hospital and was taken immediately to the E.R. Everyone was extremely nice at CMH and although my leg felt perfectly fine and was still in no pain, that is when I started to cry. Suddenly, everything just hit me, everything that had happened. While I was in the E.R. the one thing I remember saying over and over again through my tears is “I don’t know why I’m crying! My leg feels fine”. My mom explained to me over and over again that I had gone through a lot that day and I was just feeling overwhelmed, but I still insisted that I shouldn’t be crying because my leg was not in a bit of pain. It seems funny to me now that I would be confused about why I was crying. Now I’m thinking *DUH! Of course you would start crying! You broke the biggest bone in your body!*. I guess why I’m telling you all of this is because in your letters most of you told me how amazed you were that I didn’t cry or scream. Well, I was definitely crying in the ER and the pain meds were known to make one emotional, but I’d like to think it was mainly because before I was surrounded by your brave familiar faces and so I wanted to be brave for you. Now that you weren’t there, it was a bit harder.

The next order of business was the x-rays, which showed that my femur had broken a clean break. This would make my surgery a lot easier. Also, they found out that I had stopped growing which was pretty much no news to me. : ) This also was fortunate, for if I had continued growing I could have ended up with uneven legs, my right longer than my left, which could cause other problems in future. So, you see, God picked the right time for this! : ) Although all these things were wonderful news, we still worried about why my leg had just snapped and from giving a piggy-back ride, no less. We were worried that maybe there was something wrong with my bones, but the doctor told us that my bones were perfectly strong and that what happened was just a freak accident. God had a plan in mind though so I’m sure this was no accident, but in any case, God was with me every step of the way due to your prayers! : )

I had surgery that night and the last thing I remember is hearing “Hotel California” playing on the radio before I was given the drug that made me fall asleep. I woke up an hour later feeling delightfully sleepy and painless; it was heaven! The doctor told us the surgery went very well, which was great! : ) There are three incisions in my left leg where they put in a titanium rod. I was told that in the years to come I would be able to have this rod taken out if I wanted, but a titanium rod in my leg just sounds too cool, so I think I won’t ever want to take it out! : D I was also told that every time I go through security the alarms wouldn’t go off like crazy. : )

Early Tuesday I had my first Physical Therapy which was the most painful thing I had experienced since the accident. Eventually I made it out of bed and used a walker to aid me, I could only walk five steps, maybe less, and then was put back in bed. This was a lot less than my goal. I’m going to skip ahead to later that night. That night my nurse was replaced by another nurse named Stephanie. She told me she wanted me to get out of bed soon and try walking again. Immediately, I thought of the pain the first PT had caused me and I got nervous. I told her about how it was earlier and how painful it had been and asked her if she didn’t think it was still premature. She told me that the more I got up, the quicker I would heal and the less pain I would be in. So, we began and this time I was a little calmer and the pain wasn’t as bad. Finally I was nearing the edge of the bed and my leg was in a lot of pain. I started to lose it and got scared; I wasn’t sure I could do it. My mom told me to think of all the people at school and what they would say if they were here. I started to think of everyone at school who had cheered me on, whether it was sports in P.E. or before I took a big test. I thought of Eliana in particular and I could clearly see her face and hear her say “You got this, babe”. I got closer to the edge. It hurt pretty bad and I knew that it was going to be terribly painful bringing my legs into a sitting position on the bed. I started to lose it again. Then Stephanie told me a story.

“I was in an accident when I was eighteen, I got hit by a motorcycle which broke the lower part of my leg. My doctor told me I would never walk again, but I didn’t let that stop me. I got well and one day I got on my crutches and walked into the doctor’s office to prove to him that he was wrong. If I could do that, you can do this. I believe that you can.”

Dang! This girl is brave and a fighter. She was gutsy. I admire that; she is something amazing. Instantly, she became one of my heros. I made it out of bed and using crutches I made it to my goal! From there it got easier and easier like she said it would and the next day I was discharged. So, pretty amazing, right? I was only in the hospital for three days! I couldn’t have done it without your prayers, love, friendship, and support. : ) I know I won’t grow any taller, but I know I can stand tall knowing you loving people are my friends! : D Thanks for all the support. I’ll come hurrying back soon, but I’ll remember not to run, Mr. Van H.! ; )

Love,

Clare Bagdazian

P.S

People are going to have to give me piggy-back rides when I come back to school; just don’t break your femurs! ; )