Highly Favored vs. Many Afflictions 1 Nephi 1

Ron's 1 year mark was in July (the 26th of July) since his accident happened. He is doing great, he had his hip replaced at the beginning of this month, Sept. 2, 2015. His first hip surgery just didn't make his walking any easier. It did help with movement as Dr. Hilliard had predetermined. Ron didn't improve much so he decided he was ready for a hip replacement. That went very well and Ron is working hard in physical therapy and is having a quick recovery. His attitude is as great as ever. I feel so blessed to be around him. He is amazing! He has changed his life dramatically since his accident. He has no desire to smoke, to partake of substances, or even participate in anything he would have called his "vices" that he struggled with his entire life. He just wants to be clean and live a clean life.

I am taking a religion class through BYU-I, and was given the opportunity to post a blog about what I learned this week in my studies of the Book of Mormon. In 1 Nephi 1:1, Nephi states that he was "highly favored of the Lord," and that he had "seen many afflictions," as well as had gained "knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God."
I can't but think of the afflictions that everyone experiences. I am not alone in my trials. No one is exempt from trials in life. In D&C 122:7-8 Joseph Smith was in Carthage Jail before he was assassinated. He had suffered many afflictions and was told by the Lord "if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; [if] the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."  Applying that scripture to my own life, helps me to understand that trials are given to us so that we can grow. During one of my worse trials in my life I had never prayed so much. Trying to understand why this certain trial I was enduring had to be so difficult. As I ponder the words of Nephi "having seen many afflictions in the course of my days," I am comforted to know that we are given certain trials and afflictions to be tested, and to be put through a "refiners fire". As we endure and turn to God, we gain knowledge and see the goodness that comes from Him, as stated by Nephi. We will learn more about the mysteries of God through being submissive to God's will. 
I watch my brother Ron suffer in pain, living in a long-term care facility with the elderly, many who have no quality of life. Ron is amazing, and he is enduring his trials with grace and humility. He is cheerful (except when he is in pain, and it takes an hour from the time he presses the nurses call light to get some pain relief!), he is child-like and humble. I get to be around him and I feel so blessed to learn from all that he has endured. I don't know that I can shout "bring on the trials", I can say that I change during my difficulties, and I fall to my knees asking for help to endure. I hope one day I will be highly favored of the Lord, by enduring my afflictions well.

Ron's Hip Surgery Jan 2015

Ron was pretty excited for the surgery. He had high hopes that Dr. Hillyard would fix everything. And he did a great job. It was a little rough because he couldn't move at all for what seemed forever. Not sit up at an angle, nothing. The Dr. wanted to try and get the hip to stabilize on it's own to avoid a hip replacement (he is too young for this per the Doc.). I thought Ron was going to go crazy (I know I would). Laying there in bed for weeks. I think it was 6 weeks total. And every 2 weeks he had to ride the Gold Cross ambulance to Murray to see Dr. Hillyard. He had a brace on that leg to keep him from moving the hip. Ron hated that thing.

Here are some pics from the hospital bed, he ended up staying there almost a week, he lost some blood and blood had to be drained from the bleeding caused by the bone removal etc. He also had to be moved from the care center in South Ogden to another facility because he needed a special board to be transferred to for his physical therapy while bed ridden. It took several days to find a place that had this table. He is now in North Ogden at the Deseret Health and Rehab Center.

The Surgery went well, and I asked Dr. Hillyard how much bone was removed, he described it as if it was like removing 150 cubed-sized sugar cubes. (A LOT).

Ron went to the new facility and it felt like starting over again with learning to walk and move again. We had high hopes for his hip. Here are some pics of Ron working with that special table. He would be strapped on the table and the rehab Dr. would flip him around to standing position in order to keep that hip in place.

Christmas and another Hip Surgery in January 2015

Ron came to our house on Christmas Eve and he had a sleepover on our couch. Ron was with us when Santa came, he wanted a cane to help with his walking. Santa brought him a cane, he was very grateful. Ron and I watched a movie together while everyone else slipped out of the room, and went their own ways, they couldn't get into the movie I guess. It was great hanging out. I set up a tree in his room at the care center that he could enjoy during the holidays.

For several months Ron was complaining about his hip, he hasn't been able to straighten out his leg and his hip (left hip that was hit so hard) just hurts all the time. He had been walking all over the place and trying to do his physical therapy. Nothing helped. We went to the Dr. in December and Dr. Hillyard advised that the surgery was a risk, he was diagnosed with Heterotopic Ossification. This is caused when bones form abnormally where there has been traumatic injuries. This was the case in Ron's hip and pelvis. Neurological injuries (TBI) can cause this issue, which was also the case with Ron. We are pretty sure he has the same problem in his left arm. His left arm will not turn. His left arm and hand does not function much at all. Below is an X-ray of the Ossification formed on his left hip:

The reason the Doctor felt the surgery would be a risk was because it isn't a guarantee that it will be fixed. And, he has to dig out all the bone that has formed in his muscles. He described it like trying to find hundreds of marbles in beef and trying not to mess up the meat. Another thing that could go wrong is the feeling in his legs and feet because the bone was also formed near his Sciatic Nerve, which could get damaged. He warned Ron of these risks, however Ron wanted to go ahead with the surgery. So we set the date for the first week in January 2015. Below is the x-ray of his hip, the bone looks like crystals forming and growing abnormally.