There and Back Again

A "before" and "after" shot of Kev's hip. (I'm not so sure about the fastener spacing on those screws...) In the "before" picture you can see how the lower pelvic bone fades away as it enters the socket (left hip). The socket had also been destroyed by the cancer. In the "after" picture all the "bright" objects are metal. A new socket was screwed and cemented into the pelvis. Some missing bone was replaced with bone cement - sort of a surgical bondo. The ball side of the joint was cut off and a new metal piece was cemented in.

We saw the Orthopaedic Surgeon on Tuesday and he was quite impressed with how fast Kev is healing. He double checked the length of Kev's legs and thinks he matched them up pretty good. Kev's been walking with a cane for a week and he'll start physical therapy (PT) next week to work on overall strengthening. He will also start radiation treatments soon on the hip region.

Inspired by his newfound mobility and having been cooped up for almost 3 months, Kev went to New Mexico for a week to visit with his family. (The kids and I stayed home since they had school.) He didn't quite make it through the metal detector at the airport without being "detected", but at least didn't have any problems carrying-on his stash of narcotics and anti-convulsants. Sounds like the flight went well and Kev is having a good time visiting with his parents, brothers, sister, nieces & nephews.

I've been home for 5 days now

Deneen did a great job of statusing all the gorey details of surgery and post surgery so I'll skip it. If anyone wants to see scars you'll have to let me know. I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, it really helped my spirit knowing someone was out there thinking of me.

They let me go home Sunday. I could walk around the ward with a walker but still needed a little help getting into bed. My left quads could only move my leg an inch or so, but I was feeling pretty good and getting plenty of sleep.

It's amazing how fast the body recovers. I still have a long way to go but leg strength and mobility has come a long way and I think I might be able to make Don Pico's next Thursday if anyone is up for it.

Kevin

post op + 8

Well Kev is still in the hospital, but his foley catheter, IVs and drains have been removed - he is completely line-free! He has a large medical team who individually each have their own metrics he needs to meet before being released. Then after they are all in agreement the paper work needs to be processed. So he has met all the Drs. requirements, but his PT (physical therapist) still has some goals for him. So we are now thinking MAYBE today, but more likely a Sunday release. He really enjoys getting the your notes, so keep them coming.