Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Update on Chad

We went to the Dr. today for Chad's first follow up appointment. They took new x-rays, took staples out and his cast off. Pretty gross. But the Dr. was happy with the way everything looked,what they were expecting I think. Basically right now the hardware is just holding the bones together so they will heal properly, it doesn't actually speed healing or anything like that, it just holds everything in place. They put Chad in a walking boot that he is not allowed to walk in yet. He can't put any weight on his foot for at least 4 more weeks. We go back for another appointment in 4 weeks and then the Dr. will see how he's progressing and either give him the okay to bear weight or might make him wait up to 4 more weeks. We are really praying that things will look GREAT at his next appointment and he will be able to put at least some weight on it. Chad can take the walking cast off in about a week for showering, which makes me oh so happy, but other than that it stays on, even for sleeping. He's done so good at following the Dr.'s orders, I haven't had to yell at him once! He was able to go to a couple of carpet cleaning appointments this last week. We are so fortunate to have my brother Brett step in and do all the "labor" and Chad just goes and hangs out in his reclining camping chair at the jobs. We'll have to get a picture of that! Brett is a really hard worker and has helped Chad in the past on bigger appointments so he knows for the most part how things are run. They are going to try to move up to 2 appointments per day this next week and see how Chad does. Russell has also been able to go to a few jobs and work hard with his Uncle Brett, whom he worships! We have been so blessed through this experience. Just to be able to have Brett so we have some sort of income is such a HUGE blessing. The ward brought in meals everyday last week for us! My wonderful sister-in-law and nieces came over last week and cooked up 50 lbs of meat to go in the freezer. That way I can just go out and grab a pound of meat and put something together for dinner. Another HUGE blessing. I've still been pretty sick, Heavenly Father hasn't taken that trial away yet :-) but I'm doing my best to get through each day. It's not always pretty and I'm rarely the "fun" mom my kids wish I was, but we are surviving.

Outside of his foot, across the ankle. I think there are about 20 staples there.

Inside of his foot. There are 2 staples there.

X-rays taken today. 1 plate & 11 screws. About 20+ staples.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Chad's Broken Leg

So I decided to just give all the details here of Chad's exciting weekend. On Friday he went to an appointment here in Mesa and was unloading all of his hoses and stuff. He was walking backward pulling his hoses to the house when he tripped over a rock twisting his ankle one way and then the other trying to catch himself. This resulted in broken bones, both the tibia and fibula just above the ankle. I came and picked him up, bringing my brother and a friend to get Chad in the car and to clean up all of his hoses and to drive the truck and trailer back, and took him to the hospital. First let me say that the wheelchairs at Gateway stink! They are not like regular wheelchairs and I could've used a driving lesson BEFORE I put Chad in it. OK, so Chad is in the wheelchair and turning whiter by the second, the part of the chair that holds his leg out only comes to his mid calf so his foot is literally hanging off the end and it's made of hard plastic so it's digging into the back of his leg. Seriously?! Whoever came up with that really needs to go back to school. So I'm pulling him through the doors and I can't get enough leverage to push him over the bump so I'm busting up laughing pushing as hard as I can and he's got his arms spread trying to grab the outer part of the sliding doors to pull himself through. We both had a good laugh...as he's about to pass out. So I take him to the front desk, the receptionist looks at Chad and proceeds to ask his name, address, birth date and I am just waiting for him to fall out of the chair unconscious. Finally I satisfy her with enough information and ask for a bed. They take us straight back. They get him in bed and are trying to get him as comfortable as one can be with a broken leg, propping his leg on a pillow etc. After the nurses leave I'm trying to readjust things and Chad decided he would like another pillow to elevate his leg more. So I go and ask for one...and they don't have anymore. What kind of hospital is this that runs out of pillows?! So I ask for another blanket to roll up and put under his leg. I went back in, told Chad they were out of pillows, and we got another good laugh. Really? no more pillows. So, the Dr. comes in, they take x-rays, and we wait and wait, and Chad decides he needs a way better story than just tripping on a rock to explain his broken bones. He goes with the "saving children from a burning building" story. And now that Chad has heard the life story of the x-ray tech, the bed transport guy, and some of the nurses (Chad certainly has a way of getting people to spill their deepest darkest secrets to him) they tell us Chad will be admitted and will need surgery on Saturday morning. They took him up to his room and the main nurse comes in to introduce herself and asks him what happened. He goes with the burning building story and she promptly asks "Are you a firefighter?" I'm trying my hardest to contain my laughter and explain to her that very rarely is the first thing out of his mouth in any way serious! (only when he calls me on my cell and says he broke his ankle, then he isn't kidding!) I stayed with Chad until they get him all hooked up and then left to get him some stuff from home and to get the kids to bring them back so they could see that dad was OK. Friday night went pretty well for Chad. They kept him on some good drugs. He didn't get much sleep, who does in a hospital, but he said he was able to fall back asleep easily each time he was woken up. Saturday's surgery went as planned. The Dr. put in a plate and 3 screws on the outside part of his ankle and 2 more screws on the inside of his ankle. He was in recovery a little longer than expected his oxygen levels were low but they got him all taken care of. They rest of the story is pretty boring. Just laying around and waiting. We were expecting him to come home on Sunday morning but his white blood cell count was too high, which can be a sign of infection. So now it's Monday morning and we are praying he comes home today. We all miss him a lot. It's just not nearly as fun without him around :-) This comes at a really bad time for us, is there ever a good time?, with me being so sick with this pregnancy and Chad being self employed but Heavenly Father is pouring out his blessings on us. We are so blessed with amazing family and friends. Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls, emails & text messages. I know I am not alone and help is just a phone call away.
On the left side, the outside of his leg, there is a vertical break. On the right side, the inside of his leg is a chunk of bone that totally chipped off.