2nd Surgery Complete!

Rob had his trach procedure and another round of ortho surgery this morning and did very well.  The trach was supposed to be done yesterday, yes, but faulty equipment or some other malfunction pushed it to today instead.  When Dad arrived in the ICU this morning Rob was wide awake, and when Dad left he said he looks like Rob again now that the tubes are out of his mouth. 

There have been some changes lately on the orthopedic repair front.  Another surgeon looked at Rob's x-rays and thinks that the fracture in the hip socket can be left alone.  It isn't at a load-bearing place and he doesn't want to mess with it.  This morning the rods were removed from the left knee and a metal plate was inserted to hold everything in place.  Another metal plate was inserted in his right hand.  His surgeon said the knee is now stable and didn't make any mention of more surgery, but we will of course just take it as it comes. 

I think that just might be the key to staying sane through this - proper expectation management.  And by management, I mean don't have any expectations because they will change.  We know that God is taking care of Rob and we have the utmost confidence in Rob's medical team.  We have been so impressed by the quality of his care and feel good about the decisions they have made to get him to this point.     

Catch-Up

Sorry for not posting an update yesterday, friends.  I was too busy living through the super contagious Stomach Flu of Christmas 2011 last night to make it down to the computer.  At least it's a fast-mover!

Rob is supposed to get his trach today, and not a minute too soon judging by his swollen throat and the alertness that is causing him to try and rip out all his tubes this morning.  That's right - he's WIDE awake.  Dad, Aunt Dena, and Uncle Drew are down there with him now and he definitely knows them.  They'll be getting the tubes out of his throat when they do the trach surgery this afternoon and hopefully they can untie his arms later today. 

I honestly can't remember too much of what happened yesterday and I didn't go back to see Rob since I was starting to feel bad while I was at the hospital.  I do know that they replaced his dialysis line to minimize the risk of infection and also gave him another round of dialysis.  His hemoglobin was very low since they actually didn't end up giving him a transfusion the other day, so I'll check in with Dad later and see if it wasn't better with this morning's labs. 

Because Rob is so aware and is getting so worked up, we're going to be limiting visitors today.  Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you planned to come down to the hospital this evening.  We hate for anyone to make the trip in and then find out they can't see Rob.  Hopefully tomorrow it will be fine again. 

Dad says the neurologist sounded the most positive about Rob than ever before.  Dad says it's been a good day so far.  :)

Please say a prayer that the trach surgery goes well and that he continues to do well today so more ortho surgery can take place tomorrow.  I imagine that the surgeons are getting pretty anxious to start on the hip and continue with his knee. 

The Tuesday Evening Report

Rob was very stable today and had another good day.  The surgeon yesterday tried to brace us for a setback as a result of the surgery, but so far we haven't seen it yet.  Vitals are good and he's still doing fine in the regular bed on his back.  His hemoglobin was way down to 7.1, which is not surprising since I've heard that orthopedic surgery is pretty bloody.  They talked about giving him blood again today but are going to push it until they see what tomorrow's labs are like.  Platelets are good at 230,000 and he's now actually on a blood thinner like most patients who are sedentary in a bed for so long.

The main event today was a two-hour MRI to double check the spine.  No fractures!  :)

I stayed home all day with my own little family and my parents reported that Rob was the most aware they've seen him despite his sedation meds still being fairly high.  He had lots of eye movement, eyebrow raising, and squinting/frowning.  We doubt that he understands the conversation but it does seem like he's trying to take it in.  Whatever he's seeing and hearing must be so strange!  One of the sedation drugs also causes amnesia and the nurses tell us he won't remember any of this, but I do wonder what he sees and hears.   

We haven't heard if he'll make the surgery schedule again tomorrow or not.  Nothing can be scheduled even the day before because it depends on how his night was, but if he's ready for it and if they have a spot I know they would love to get him back in the OR again.  The sooner these breaks are repaired the better off he'll be later, and I would imagine it will shorten his recovery time because everything's recovering at once instead of drawing it out.  If he ends up having surgery tomorrow I'll let you all know. 

What a blessing to be thinking about the length of recovery time.   

We sat and talked about how good the week has been while we ate yummy chicken and bean enchiladas - thank you, Dana!  Mom and Dad also brought a pizza home from Acme (since Brent and I are huge eaters and may have gone a little crazy eating the enchiladas by ourselves) and we loved it!  Thank you, Megan and Damien!   

Checking in After a Big Day

Rob sure worked hard today.  He was moved off of his new rotation bed onto a regular hospital bed, had his CT scan, and underwent three hours of orthopedic surgery this afternoon before entertaining visitors this evening.  By entertained, I mean he just laid there while we all hovered around him.  His mouth moved once when I was talking to him, but he was pretty sedated tonight.  By the ouchie look of the rods sticking out of his left leg, I'd say that's probably a good thing. 

His surgeon worked on the left knee and finished the left ankle and right foot today.  He wasn't able to do the right hand, but we think it was more because he ran out of time and not because Rob wasn't doing well.  The bottom line is that from an orthopedic standpoint, Rob's surgery was more complicated than it needed to be because of the length of time that has passed since the accident.  The trauma ortho team prefers to do these repair surgeries within a day or two, not two weeks.  They've been hovering and waiting for him to be stable enough to endure the procedure.  (We know that hovering and waiting feeling well!)  Because of this, the surgeon explained that the left ankle isn't going to be perfect and the left knee is now very difficult to fix.  On a scale of 1 to 6, the damage to his knee is a 5.  He'll have at least one more surgery on the knee, but probably more, to stabilize it. 

I'm sad for Rob that his knee probably won't ever be quite the same but also thankful that so far it's the only thing I suspect will not completely return to normal.  We'll definitely take a less than 100% knee - and I'm sure at some point, he will too.

We learned today that his collarbone and scapula breaks will more than likely not need surgical repair.  Other than getting his lungs back up to speed, he will still need repair work done on the right hand, left hip socket fracture, and the left knee.  I believe the fracture in his pelvis will also heal without surgery, but I might have that wrong. 

All in all, I feel like this is so much better than what we originally braced ourselves to face.

Rob could have surgery again at any time starting on Wednesday if he'll tolerate it.  They're giving him a day to rest, but the sooner they can continue the better.  I have a feeling this will be the main activity over the next few weeks now that we know his brain is okay.  After the surgeries, I think they'll start on breathing trials without the vent.

It feels good to have some idea of where we're headed now, even though it will all probably change by the weekend. 

Thank you for continuing to support us and for your prayers.  :)

And a big thank you to Ashley and Andrew for watching Jack again tonight.  Brent and I did a little hospital visiting and then went out to dinner alone for the first time in three months.  We really needed it!  Thanks so much, friends!

Hot Off the Press

Breaking news this morning - they finally got the CT scan done and all looks good!!!  There's a little bit of blood in the brain, but the neurologist isn't concerned.  He wasn't able to get Rob to respond this morning to commands, but he said that's pretty common for someone who's been sedated for so long.

More breaking news - Rob will still be having surgery today.  I hope no one remembers my bet of $1,000 that it wouldn't really happen.  Everyone's wrong sometimes. 

They'll be taking him back at noon and starting on the left knee, moving down to the left ankle, then the right, and finishing up with the right hand if it goes well and he's doing okay. 

Ya'll know what to do.  

Seeing the Light

When Dad arrived this morning he found Rob in a new bed.  Someone worse off needed the RotoProne and he's done well on his back for several days.  Two weeks ago, I'm pretty sure there was no one in this hospital doing worse than Rob.  And now here he is, on Christmas Day, ready to give up the RotoProne for good (we hope).

On Sunday, December 11th, as I rocked back and forth on the floor of my living room, begging God to save my only brother, I decided this would be the best Christmas we've ever had if Rob was still here for it.

Today we experienced Christmas in a way we've never felt it before. 

It wasn't filled with wrapped presents or well-coordinated Christmas outfits (although, Jack did look pretty darn cute in his reindeer sweater).  But tonight, we were given a sign that Rob is with us.  And I just know that everything is going to be okay.

Rob's sedation was turned down today, and his eyes have been open quite a lot this evening.  He has been frowning from time to time.  He seems to know us.  But you know how we KNOW he's with us?  Mom told him that he ended up making money on his truck after all was said and done....and he raised his eyebrows.  His eyes have been wide open ever since.

Leave it to Rob to come out of this making money on that truck.  

This Christmas season has been numerous things for us: surreal, terrible, unsettling, uncertain.  But among all those emotions, the most powerful feeling has risen above them all - hope.  I've felt a peace within that can only come from the One bigger than all of this.  Our God is bigger than this.  He's using this experience, no matter what the outcome, to touch us all and to help us remember to just have a little more faith.  More than anything, I have been reminded this Christmas season that people are good.    

So while Christmas just wasn't the same this year without Rob at home, and without our usual traditions, perhaps this was maybe the closest to the real Christmas that we'll ever get. 

Last year my Christmas post ended with this message, taken from our Christmas Eve service at North Church in Indy:

Jesus came to us to be a light in the darkness.  The light does not make the darkness disappear, but the darkness cannot extinguish the light by itself.  Go into the world and shine your light.

This has undoubtedly been my family's darkest time, but the light is shining so brightly in our darkness.  It's shining because all of you are caring for us, praying for us, and reminding us that we just need to have a little more faith. 

Quick Christmas Eve Update

This will be a brief post, but I wanted to let you know that all is well in the VIP suite of the ICU today.  Today was much the same as yesterday and the day before, with good stats and lots of stable healing going on.  His blood gas readings were great today, showing a 95% oxygen saturation rate (medical peeps, am I saying that right?).  The oxygen given to him through the vent is down to 35%, still on 14 breaths a minute. 

The best news of the day is that his femur isn't broken.  We thought on the very first day that it was one of the broken bones mentioned, but we were relieved today to find it isn't and that must have been a communication mistake or a misunderstanding in the chaos of those first several hours.  I'm not sure why that made me feel so much better, but it's one less thing to worry about I guess.

Mom, Tracy, and Patty were back with Rob tonight when his awareness monitor shot way up and he lifted his head up.  Scared the bejeebers out of them!  The monitor attached to one of his sedation meds had been beeping, indicating a low bag, so he must have come out of sedation briefly.

One of us was there during every visitation today and we weren't alone one time, even on Christmas Eve when everyone is normally busy preparing for their holiday celebrations.  Thank you again, everyone, from the bottom of our brusied, but not broken, hearts.