Update on my Nephew, Braxton

So many of you have been emailing to ask about my little nephew, Braxton and how he's doing after his accident.

Braxton is the 4 year old son of my sister Missy and brother-in-law Gerald Miller. They also have a 6 month old son named Caden. They live in northeastern Ohio.

Braxton was injured in a lawn mower accident on Tuesday, April 17th. In this accident, his big toe and next toe on his left foot were severed. The next two toes were also broken. His foot also sustained a severe laceration breaking several of the small bones on top. His tibia (leg bone) was broken also.

After a reconstructive surgery, the specialist was not able to save the severely damaged big toe and it had to be amputated. The next toe was reattached and the cut sutured and broken bones set in his foot and leg. He is now wearing a bright red hip cast that you can see in the pictures. He will wear that for a month then a knee cast for 3-4 more weeks.

The biggest challenge in caring for Braxton right now is the dressing changes on his amputation. These have to be done twice a day. Because of this area being considered a dirty wound, there is more risk of infection and these dressing changes are absolutely a must. Of course, it is difficult for my sister and brother-in-law to handle constantly changing and disturbing the area, but they must in order to avoid infection.

He will continue to visit the doctor every week to have the amputation site checked. The hope is that new skin will grow and skin grafts will not be necessary.

By the way...all of the stuffed animals on his bed are the "friends" that got him through the 4-day stay at Akron Children's Hospital. They all had a special place they were supposed to lay. Even the nurses learned really quickly which way they were supposed to lay and would tell the next shift nurse how to lay them to where he was comfortable. Sometimes they had to dig through the "friends" to get to the IV stuff.

Braxton is a brave little boy and has been through a horrific ordeal. He is doing well and and is handling the news of his amputation and accident amazingly well. It is, of course, up to my sister and brother-in-law to present this news in a way that will not devastate him even though their hearts are breaking.

Missy has asked that I thank everyone for your prayers and support. There is no way they would be making it through right now without prayer. She also asks special prayer for Gerald - he is struggling to deal with all this, as you can imagine.

If you would like to send Braxton a get-well card or well wishes, you can do so at gmbmiller@netzero.net or at their mailing address: 4200 Alabama Ave. NW North Lawrence, Ohio 44666

My heart has been with my sister and family since this happened. If there were any way possible that I could go to help, I would. It's at times like these that I feel every mile that separates us. Salamanca, Gto. Mexico feels like a million miles away from North Lawrence, Ohio.


So that's the update I have right now.
Thanks for caring and for praying for Braxton.

Melodie