More D.C. - Area Outings

Here are many pictures from the past 2 weeks. After the Cardinals rain-out, we went back to the Nationals game the next night. This time they played the Astros. It is so different from being at a Cardinal game. The stadium was so empty. Jack was thrilled that he could run up and down the many empty aisles near us, though. They had this tribute to Stan Musial at the Nationals stadium.

Jack didn't pay much attention to the baseball game.

Later that week we went back to the surgeon and he took the stitches out of Jim's chin, above his lip, and his forehead. He also took the cast off his nose. It was a big improvement. That weekend we headed to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We rented a cabin in the mountains and did some hiking. It was nice to relax; just the three of us.

Jack wanted to hike up to the edge of the cliff with his Daddy.

Family picture on tree stumps:

As we were driving to our cabin, three deer walked along the road beside us. We were able to drive closer and closer and they didn't even run away!

Later that night, after we put Jack to bed, Jim and I sat on the cabin's porch and played cards. Three deer came within 20 feet of us (probably the same three) and weren't scared at all. Jim and I were amazed.

Here's our cabin (we had the left half):

Sunday morning we went on a hike along the Appalachian Trail.

Snack break

On Monday, we went down to the Mall. We got to see the Lincoln Memorial.

We also saw the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Memorial

Jack wanted to get up close to Abe.

He settled for a more distant view.

We met up with Tim and Aimee for a bit. They are in town for National Police Week. That's the White House in the background.

Now we are a little closer to the White House.

Monday night we moved to a hotel in Arlington. Jim had a conference there, so it was closer than staying in Maryland and commuting each day. Jack really enjoyed looking at himself in the hotel mirror.

On Tuesday, Jack and I went to the Zoo. Here Jack is watching some gazelles. A teacher who was there with her class' field trip kept telling the students the gazelles were goats. I wanted to correct her because I didn't think the kids should be misled, but I didn't think it was my place. Clearly, they are not goats!

We got to see a baby gorilla with her momma.

The zoo had a system of cables called the O Line in which the orangutans can climb along. It was so cool to see. I didn't get any pictures of the orangutans on the wires, but here are some of the O Line, with a couple orangutans in the tower.

Wednesday night we went to historic Alexandria. Jack and I met a couple from Kirkwood on the trolley. It's such a small world! We met up with Jim by the waterfront and then walked to dinner. Jack enjoyed looking at the boats.

Thursday, Jack and I went to the National Air and Space Museum. He really enjoyed all the planes.

This is the Wright Brothers' plane. Last night Jim's friend Ben came to our hotel and watched Jack so Jim and I could go to a dinner with his colleagues. It was really nice to get out without Jack for a while. We enjoyed dinner without chasing after a two-year-old. Today is our last day and we plan to get on the road in a few hours for our long journey home.

Fractures

Here are a few images from my CT scans showing my fractures. The first six are "axial" sections oriented so that my face is on top, back of my head is on bottom, my right side is on the left of the image, and my left side is on the right of the image.

This right parasymphyseal mandibular fracture extends between a couple of teeth (no teeth lost--yet!):

I also have a comminuted (multi-part) fracture of the left subcondylar mandible:

Multiple fractures involving the maxillary sinuses: The alveolar ridge and hard palate were intact.

Deviated nasal septum; blood in the maxillary sinuses:

Small fractures of the anterior ethmoids, which extended into the frontal sinuses:

These next couple of images are "coronal" images, oriented just as if I were looking at you. This one better shows the fractures of my ethmoid air cells (right across the bridge of my nose):Pterygoid plate fractures: There should be 2 nice, upside-down "V"-shaped bones near the middle of the image.

Here are some 3D reconstructions. The first one shows the fracture across the bridge of my nose, the right maxillary fracture (which extends into the inferior rim of my eye socket), and the right mandibular fracture:

This one shows the left mandibular fracture, left maxillary fracture, and fracture across my nasal bridge:

Cardinal Rain Out

Jim came home from the hospital on Friday night. He can't talk much (just through his teeth, which is not very easy to understand). He has medicine to help control the pain. Each day he feels better than the day before and he has been able to get lots of rest. We had planned to go to the Cardinal game today (in D.C.), but after the accident it didn't look possible. Since Jim is such a die-hard fan and he has been feeling better, we went! Then, we got to sit in the rain for 2 hours until they called the game. We can use our tickets for any other Nationals game. Too bad today was the last game in the Cardinals series. The Nationals only have two more games while we are here, so we are going to see them play the Astros tomorrow night.
Jim's friend, Ben, joined us at the game.

Jack got upset after they uncovered the field, only to cover it again.

"Look, Jack. They might take the tarp off again."

Going Home

Jim was in recovery until a little after 9 p.m. last night. When we got back up to his room, I asked the nurses if I could stay the night and they said yes! The nurses were great. I had a chair that reclined and was able to get some rest. More importantly, Jim was able to get some rest too. The swelling in his face has gone down and he looks much better this morning. He had to write in order to communicate, but this morning he has been able to talk through the wires some. When the doctors rounded this morning, they said everything looked good and he could go home later today if he wants, or he could stay another night. He wants to go home (which really means go back to the house where we are staying in Maryland). We still need to talk to a nutritionist since he will only be able to have liquids for the next 2-4 weeks while his jaw is wired shut. After that, he will only be able to have non-chewing foods for a couple weeks. Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers. We still have a long road to recovery ahead of us, but I think everything is going to be just fine.

In totally unrelated news, we have some good news to share. Jack is going to be a big brother. I wanted to post a picture of Jack in his shirt that has "Only Child" crossed out and below it says "Big Brother," but I haven't gotten around to that yet. I am 16 weeks along right now. We are due October 15. We are very excited and looking forward to the new addition to our family. As with Jack, we are not going to find out the sex of the baby before he or she is born. I know that drives some people crazy, but we like the surprise.