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.