The pictures gave me goose bumps and literally made me a little ill.
You're right, 10" forward and you would have had some serious issues. I'm so glad that you are in one piece and on your way to recovering. Try to take it easy so your body can heal itself and don't worry about finding another VX....we're all on it.
Let us know if there is anything that we can do.
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
-Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless