2nd surgery and thankfullness

I am grateful for the support my family and friends has given me.  My parents were down for a few days and the kids have been great. I cant even put into words how thankful I am to have Liz as my wife. I would be a bad person to not acknowledge the person who donated his/her body to medicine, for they provided the ligament that will allow me to walk again. Thank you, I know you are in heaven.

I had my second surgery to repair my ankle yesterday. The primary purpose was to get my fibula back into proper alignment with my tibia and ankle. They put in a cadaver deltoid ligament that connects my tibia/fibula to my foot/ankle. As you can see from the pictures they inserted two skewers. 

My antenna leg. 

One runs perpendicular to my leg and goes completely through my foot. This keeps everything down south connected. I don't really remember  though as the Doc told me this when I was just waking up. Ill have to ask my wife,,she was the dedicated note taker.  

The other skewer sticks out at about a 30 degree angle from my tibia on the anterior side (ive picked up some medical jargon)and doesn't run thru. It has two spokes and some sort of device attached to it. What this device is i dont know and cant see it as its covered. I can imagine it's some medieval device with a cam or other torturous device. Its good this doesnt run all the way through as it allows me to elevate my leg by resting on my calf muscle,,,or what used to be a calf muscle. 

Inside of my leg.

I think this keeps my fibula in line with the ankle, as this was the main reason for the 2nd procedure. While the tendon cures and attaches itself to my bones these rods will keep the bones in proper alignment.

For pain management, its better than the first operation. After the first operation I was only given strong Tylenol and no nerve block or percocet. I wanted to avoid opioids, and the Doc agreed. Pain was bad but manageable for the 1st 48 hours. 

The "Q-Ball".

When I told the doc of the pain level she was amazed and said that was unsatisfactory and gave me a continuous nerve block and percocet RX. The nerve block is contained in a spherical container I carry around in a man purse.  The "Q-ball" auto delivers 10ml of wonderful pain blocking goodness per hour for up to 48 hours via a pre surgery installed saline lock. 

So today I am just relaxing, reading and watching Breaking Bad(never seen it). Luckily, I have my knee scooter so im mobile enough to fend for myself and do light duties such making chow and laundry.

I have set a few major goals everyday. Help Liz get Aidan ready for preschool, read, write the blog and prep dinner for the family. The dinner part is particularly important as it is taking some stress off of Liz. I prepare meals that don't keep me away from my recliner or couch for too long. 

What Liz has done for me has been nothing short of amazing. She is commanding a naval unit, picks up the kids and deals with my broke self in addition to all the shopping.  Cody does his fair share as he has dog crap patrol, dog walking duty in addition to dishes and being a teenager. 

Aidan has proven to be very adept at fetching me things, especially if i let him use my grabber/picker upper. The little trooper even emptied my pee bottle a few times while avoiding spilling urine all over the place.

That is all.

Kevin