He was only supposed to be in surgery for two hours but they found other issues and he was in for 5.5 hours. He is in a lot of pain and sick to his stomach when I left him. They pumped him full of a lot of drugs in this procedure.
It isn’t good, but it isn’t the worst either so here goes- they ended up taking off the entire right side of his left foot including the toe. This removed the abscess completely and also took off most of the bone infection he was dealing with (if not all of it) They did two tendon resections to give the foot stability and tried to straighten out all the broken metatarsil bones as well Before the surgery, Dr. Lin said if there was any amputation to be done it would be at foot level and not above it.
Then they went to look at the fracture and realized that in the fall Mike also severed all the major ligaments of his leg. So they had to stop the surgery and get me to consent to set the fracture in the way they were hoping to avoid with steel plates, pins and bolts. He has two plates, seven screws and two bolts in his leg. They took bone biopsies and cultured the tissue to see what is growing in the foot- those results will take anywhere from three days to five days. The doctor also said they did the equivalent of a major powerwashing on all the bones! They scrubbed them clean!
He will be in the hospital till probably Monday and in the surgeon’s words “He won’t be coming home for a long time.” They want him completely and I do mean completely off his foot for 6-8 weeks- any takers on that actually happening?
They are going to put him into a rehab center (aka nursing home) for the duration to make sure the bone heals. If he gets stubborn or stupid and steps on that leg and it breaks the hardware (which the surgeon said would happen because the bone is compromised by the disease- they will have no option left but to take the whole leg.
He is pale, he is tired but he is in good hands right now. They have him on a morphine drip and something for nausea and he is still as goofy as a pet coon from all the drugs.
What an ordeal, though it sounds as if it could have been worse for Mike – though he may be wondering how, just about now. If he is in a convalescent centre until the bone heals, they may be able to keep him off the foot. His leg must have been very fragile for the fall to do such damage. But it sounds like the medical staff you’re dealing with know what they’re doing and actually care about their patient. I hope things improve from here on.
Thinking of you and Mike and hoping for the best outcome. Glad he’ll be in good hands.
Hoping and praying for the best outcome…
Praying so hard now for Mike and for you. May all go right from here on in!
Purrrrraying for you and Mike.
Maryanne, if it helps any, a rehab facility is not the same as a nursing home, although they could both be in the same building. In rehab they will likely keep him busy exercising (even if he’s off his foot). When my mom was in rehab she had exercises both PT and OT just about all day long except at mealtimes. If he goes to a good one it will do him good.
I’m sure thinking of you and Mike.
We are sending lots of purrs and purrayers for Mike.
Sounds cautiously optimistic.
Love & Purrs,
Mom ML & KC