Luke's Broken Leg Shopping Fiasco (Long Post)

Ok, so we have the gallon of primer, the Veggie Tales Video, AND the power tool we needed... but the Nebraska trip didn't happen. We are day 3 at Hays Medical Center. The car was packed, we were ready to go - but we had one last stop to make on the way out of town, who could have guessed it would result in so much "excitement"?! We stayed in the car as Luke went in to Home Depot to pick up a couple of things for his family in Springview. The kids and I were waiting and I was just beginning to think it was taking him a long time when I heard one of the kids exclaim, "Daddy!" I looked out my window but didn't see anything... until I looked down. There was Luke on the ground. The wind was howling as usual here, (30+ mph)and Luke had a box with a heavy power tool towards the front end in the cart. The cart was building momentum rolling down the lot and the wind was taking it- Luke decides to hop a foot onto the bar way underneath the handle and somehow his foot slips and catches in the cart as the wind takes it one way and his leg goes the other. He heard the bone snap and then he went down. Let me tell you, I couldn't get my seatbelt off fast enough. I ran out asking him if he was ok, I didn't know if he bumped his head or what he did, but I could tell he was hurting because he was beginning to let out some painful groans. I asked him what he hurt and he said his leg, he was holding his left knee and I looked down to see that his leg was pointing east instead of south. This had to be one of the most horrible freaky things I've ever seen - his foot was hanging at a 90 degree angle.I yelled for someone to call 911 and it took more than 10 minutes for an ambulance to get there. I was thinking how grateful I was that he wasn't having a heart attack or that could've been bad!

So the ambulance got there finally and I told them he needed something for pain right away. The whole thing was really stressy. It's hard to see someone in that much pain when they are usually Mr. Tough Guy. I knew it was bad. It got worse when they had to move him to get him in the ambulance and it got really ugly in the ER when they had to straighten the leg to splint it. X-rays showed that he broke the Tibia and Fibia (I think that's right) The big and small bone in his left leg. The worst break was about 6 inches above the ankle and the other break was in the smaller bone about 3-4 inches above the ankle. Surgery was to be at 8 a.m. but apparently a set of twins decided they were more important :) so we had to wait for the anesthesiologist to finish with a C-section delivery. Finally at 9:45 he was taken in and surgery lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. It was a closed surgery, meaning the only incisions were to get the rod and screws in. This decreases risk of infections. A rod was inserted just below the knee and all the way down the leg to hold the big bone in place. It's held in with 4 screws, 1 on top and by the knee, 1 through the front of the leg and 2 from the side. The break in the smaller bone Doctor thinks will mend itself.

The surgery went well and Luke came out of anesthesia just fine. He was in a lot of pain after surgery, but nothing like the pain he had gone through the day before when it happened. By last nite the pain was under control with a morphine pump and doses of Tordal.(don't know if that's spelled right)If he had to move the leg for any reason he about went through the roof. Finally by bed time he was doing pretty good, but his bladder wasn't back to doing its job yet, so he had to suffer through a few straight catheters in the evening and through the nite. The nurses told him that morphine can cause this problem, especially in men, so he backed off of that nearly altogether and just used the tordal. He was also able to get his IV taken out today since he was off the morphine, this made him really happy, but not as happy as the fact that his bladder back to normal, thankfully!!! The surgeon also came in and said that he will not put a cast on it, he just has a straight splint and ace bandage on it. He'll get a support boot to wear for a while. FUN FUN! Dr. said that if therapy is going well it's possible that he'll get to go home Monday afternoon. Yeah... you heard right, the therapist was in already today having him walking with crutches and doing excerices with the leg. OUCH. He's doing really well, though and I'm so proud of how strong and determined he is. He really wants to go home.

This whole thing has been such a nightmare, it didn't even seem like it could really be happening - but I'm praising God that it wasn't something more serious; like a car wreck with all 5 of us in it. It could have been so much worse. Ciara has been great about stepping up and cleaning house and taking care of things at home while I'm here at the hospital with Luke. I've been staying the nite with him. His nurses are pretty good, but what normal person can wait 20 minutes when they have to go to the bathroom??!! I wanna be here to help him, I can't imagine not being here. I'm so thankful for kids that can look after themselves and be responsible. They're the greatest!!

So what's the future hold? The rod and pins are permanent unless they cause problems, then could be removed. He will be on crutches 4 to 6 weeks, and it will likely be 3 months before he is considered "back to normal". The doc said he can do desk work, but we'll find out tomorrow how long until he can drive. I'm not in a big hurry to put him on the road by himself with crutches and a broken leg though - so I hope he'll be reasonable about it and not try to be a martyr and hurry back to work, that'd just be crazy. His co-workers and employees have just been fabulous about telling him not to worry and that they're taking care of business.

Well... that's our exciting weekend in a nutshell. We would appreciate your prayers regarding a full, speedy recovery. Thanks so much for that! I know many have already been praying and we very much appreciate it!

Jami