Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Mark is "Lester-less". The external fixator came off today! (Lester is the name he gave it.) He is delighted to say the least. He was an "add-on" in the surgical suite yesterday, but got bumped due to the number of surgeries being done. He was notified late Monday that they wouldn't be doing the procedure yesterday as planned. Today he was also an add-on, so as of last night he could not eat or drink anything after midnight, but he still wasn't sure if it was a go.

Finally late this morning they called and he was taken in. Strangely enough, they never used any anesthetic, not even a local one. He just sat there and they pulled off the rod, pulled the pins out of the tibia and then out of the instep and dressed the little holes that were left behind. He asked the doctor when he could stand on it and the doctor told him as soon as we put the boot on you can stand up along side the table. He told me he was so excited to be standing there "normally" after all these months. With the boot on, he said he was level with his other leg, so they are adapting a new pair of sneakers with a lift between the sole and the bottom of the shoe. They are also going to do that with a pair of cowboy boots for him, so he is delighted.

He is very encouraged that this surgery was all worth it. I am confident that he will continue to do well as it continues to heal. He told me he could move his big toe up and down for the first time as well, but for today, that's all the doctor would let him try. It's amazing how something so small and usually taken for granted, can be so important in the scheme of things.