In what circumstances will we be able to affirm a discretionary decision in a personal injury case?

This is not a case in which we may affirm so long as any ground for affirming appears in the record. So although it is possible that the district court properly exercised its discretion, such possibility does not enable us to affirm. When a district court makes a discretionary decision, we will affirm so long as the decision is within the range of permissible decisions that the court could have made given the law and the facts confronting it. But before we can be sure that the district court's choice falls within that range, we need to be certain that the district court applied the proper law, considered all the relevant factors, and actually exercised its discretion. See United States v. Cunningham, 429 F.3d 673, 679(7th Cir.2005) ("[W]henever a district judge is required to make a discretionary ruling that is subject to appellate review, we have to satisfy ourselves, before we can conclude that the judge did not abuse his discretion, that he exercised his discretion, that is, that he considered the factors relevant to that exercise."). In short, when we review for abuse of discretion, we necessarily review the district court's decision-making process, not simply whether the decision resulted in a permissible outcome.