My hip was(is) messed up

I should not post this without reading Cara's most recent post, but here goes.
First, I am doing very well and Cara and I should be heading back to Fayetteville tomorrow morning.
Dr. Stafford came in to see us this morning. He reminded us that my hip was one of the worst breaks that they have dealt with and they are trauma specialists. I have to keep asking myself why I did not push for a hip replacement, but I am reminded that I am young and if we can save the hip then this is what it best.
Dr. Stafford had not seen the results from the CT scan post surgery, but he was in there during the surgery. This is hard to explain, but after the extra bone matter and the hardware was removed, it was apparent that the hip has deformed during the healing. What this means is that rather than the neck and the ball angling up at about a 120 degree angle towards the pelvis, it is actually closer to a 90 degree angle. This is both good and bad. It is bad because this causes more stress, makes one leg longer than the other and possibly requires surgery (in about 6 weeks) to be corrected. It is good because the surgery would not be as severe as originally expected with new hardware. Dr. Stafford said they would take a wedge of bone out of my femur and fix the femur with the hip in the correct angle. I forgot the term he used for the procedure, but the downtime (no load bearing) would not be as long. The thing I am doing is adding up the dates. 6 weeks of no load bearing from this week's surgery + 6 weeks of no load bearing from the future surgery still equals 3 months. It also equals more trips to Tulsa.
I always try to stay optimistic, but I was really hoping that this would be my last prolonged stay at St. Johns. I am ready for this to be over.
Anyway, like I said before, I am feeling pretty good overall. We will keep you posted as we get news from follow ups.
J

Thursday, September 4

Hello! J is out of surgery and in his room. Surgery started at about 1:00 this afternoon and ended around 3:30. He did well, but lost some blood. The unofficial amount is around a liter. We will have to watch and see if he needs a transfusion tomorrow. Blood loss is expected in this type of surgery, and J has already been "typed" with blood waiting in case he needs it.

His pain seems to be managed fairly well. He is resting comfortably with the help of Delotid. He has already said he would like to be off the IV pain meds as soon as possible. He also asked for a Super Sonic cheese burger, but that will have to wait until tomorrow sometime. He is on a clear liquid diet at the moment.

During the surgery, Dr. Norris was able to remove a good amount of the hetero-topic bone growth on the front part of the hip. This means J is now able to lay his left leg flat on the bed, something he was excited to show me as soon as he got to the room. There is more bone growth on the inside of J's femur, but the surgeon did not remove that as there are a lot of blood vessels in that area of the leg, and he did not want to damage them.

Tomorrow J will have a CT scan and radiation treatment. The CT scan is to assess how much healing has occurred since April. The ratiation treatment is to prevent more/regrowth of the hetero-topic bone. Regardless of the CT scan results, J will not have another surgery on that leg for a while. We may elect to have a bone graft in about six weeks to further improve flexibility, or we may just call it good and begin the business of going on from here. We will have to see how much more flexibility is there, and there is just no way to know that until J is able to put weight on that leg.

So, the bottom line is: Today's surgery may be the last... or it may not.

Love,

Cara

Good News - possibly

Well, my hip surgery was postponed from today until tomorrow. We were very frustrated and blamed it on a lack of communication between the two different surgeons who will be operating. The fact is that I have not seen either one since April and I have not seen the one I met with today since last October. He let me know that today's X-rays looked better than April's X-rays. There is a possibility that the femoral non-union has actually healed - or at least healed more than it was before. The problem is that the implants (plate and screws) prevent them from getting a good look with either X-rays or CT scans. We also learned that a lot of my discomfort may be more related to the heterotopic bone growth, than to non-union in the hip joint.
I am now scheduled for a surgery at 1:00 P.M. tomorrow. The main scope of this operation is to remove the implants and as much heterotopic bone mass as possible. A day or two after the operation, I will have a CT scan to examine the bone growth at the femoral-hip union. I will also be receiving a dose of radiation to resist any future heterotopic bone growth.
The good news is: if the femoral union has healed, I will not require the bone graft and the new implant in my femur, with the removal of the extra bone mass my hip flexibility and rotation will be improved, and I could be putting weight on my leg in as little as three weeks rather than 3 months.
The bad news is if the CT scan reveals a lack of bone healing in the femoral neck, we go back to plan A with a bone graft and no weight for 3 months. However, this operation could happen as early as Saturday and I would still be returning to Fayetteville on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Overall, I must be happy with delaying the surgery one day an visiting with the doctor today.
J

3 - days left

All, in less than 3 days, I will be undergoing hopefully my last surgery. I could have scheduled it as early as June 10th, but we all decided it would be better to wait until later in the summer. What a summer we had. With being on hold in the reserves, we went to the lake more than we ever have in the past. The boys are doing better at every water sport we try. School has started, footbal is getting started, and we told the marina that we were done with the boat for the year.

This surgery will be a pretty big deal, but I am a lot stronger than I was after the accidend so I am hoping for a quick recovery. It will be hard to not put weight on my leg for three months, but we all hope the rewards will be worth the wait. 3 - 4 days in the hospital and then about 2 weeks at home before I try to return to my normal activities. Stay in touch.

J

Survival Anniversary

To Everyone,

I have said it before and I will say it again. I am so grateful for all of you. The prayers, the thoughts, the visits. They always mean so much. Today is the one year anniversary of my accident and I am so thankful for what I have been able to do with my family and friends. July 29th will come and go every year, but it will have a very special meaning for me. The fact is, it could have been so different. Most people do not survive an aortic tear. My body was messed up and it will always be messed up, but I am back doing the things I want to do with the people that mean so much to me. I am going to celebrate July 29th every year. I survived and I still have so much to give. One more surgery to go. This has been a long challenging ordeal. I feel like I have been tested and I hope I am passing the test. Please take a moment to say a quick prayer, toast a glass, tell a friend - "It is wonderful to be alive and I appreciate life in a way most people can't imagine. I am blessed with many gifts"

I look forward to seeing everyone who has kept up with this blog and my journey again.

Thank you,

J

Surgery is Confirmed

All,
The date for hopefully the last surgery regarding the motorcycle wreck is confirmed on September 2nd. I have a pre-op testing appointment on August 24th, but I expect that to go well.
This is a pretty big operation that will keep me off of my left leg for 3 months, but I hope it will allow me to walk without crutches or canes in the early spring.

Everything has been going great this summer. Look me up on Facebook to see some of the good times we have been having. We intend to continue making the most of the rest of the summer.

I am sure I will put some more updates on the blog before the surgery, but please keep Cara in your thoughts as she cares for me and the boys during and after the surgery this fall.

J

Family Vacation

Words can't describe how wonderful it was to be able to go on a family vacation. It has almost been a year since my wreck and there is still a long road of recovery left, but I had so much fun and am so grateful to have my family. Vacation started Friday, June 26th with a visit with David and Tina Kemp in Russellville on our way to Pine Bluff. We got to Gulfport, MS on Saturday afternoon and visited with my grandfather, Papa (Jerry Sr.), Aunt Sandra and Uncle Terry - Thank you Terry for dinner that night!!!, Cousin Terry and my parents and Benjy Richards. We all went to dinner at Lil' Rays and joined Allison, Bin, Emily and Anna Clair, Scott and Elise. Allison and Bin hosted my family for the night at their house where we continued visiting. We continued our journey Sunday with a stop at LuLu's in Gulf Shores, AL and finally arrived at the Beach House in Seagrove Beach, FL that afternoon. Eleanor, Windell, Michael and Alex joined us at the beach house Monday evening. We had a great time hitting the beach with great (hot) weather every day. Wednesday, Cara and I enjoyed our 18th anniversary (June 29th)dinner at Cafe 30A. Aunt Mary and Uncle Ken joined us Thursday and ate grilled mahi mahi fish tacos for dinner. Saturday, the boys brought Eleanor and Windell's kayaks down to the beach and I thought, "I can do that" I had so much fun in the kayak and felt so "normal" that I wish I had not waited until the last day on the beach to use it. We watched fireworks on the deck Saturday night and made the long drive home all day Sunday.
I was so happy, surprised and grateful Sunday night to see that some one had weed eated at our house!
We are also blessed and thankful that Katie stayed at our house and watched over the pets.

Here is a funny confession: I have gained about 20+ pounds since leaving the hospital. After I showered this "afternoon", I noticed a funny tan line. Ever heard of dunlap disease? My new tan line is not due to my shorts being too high, it is due to it lapped over my waist band...

What a wonderful time!!!
J