Hello!
If you haven't heard, Mike has been unable to straighten his left knee for about three weeks now. After x-rays and an MRI, it was determined today that Mike would go under the knife...tomorrow!
Dr. Fitzsimmons, the orthopedist who will be performing the surgery, met with us today and confirmed that there is in fact a fragment of bone that has come off and is lodged in the meniscus of Mike's left knee. This is what is preventing Mike from straightening his knee. Surgery tomorrow will remove the bone fragment. That is likely to be the easiest part. After that, Dr. Fitzsimmons will determine if the bone fragment is still good/healthy enough to attempt a reattach. At this point, he is banking on that. So in our appointment he told us that he would like to reattach the bone fragment and hold it in place with two small metal screws, with the hopes that it would eventually fuse back together. All of this work will require a large incision on the outside of Mike's knee. And, post surgery, will call for Mike to be on crutches (no weight on the knee) for three months before a second surgery. Because Dr. Fitzsimmons will be using metal screws, a second surgery is required to remove the metal screws and check on the progress of healing.
Mike's knee injury is quite uncommon so there is a lot of uncertainty involved with the procedure. It is unclear how successful the surgery will be, how much function Mike will get out of the knee, if the bone will fuse, etc. But, Dr. Fitzsimmons thought that this was our best option for "fixing" Mike's knee.
We appreciate your prayers for:
A smooth, uncomplicated operation
Skill and wisdom on the doctor's part
The health of the bone fragment itself (pray that it is in good enough condition to reattach without having to scrape bone from other parts of Mike's knee)
A quick recovery
Thankful, helpful attitudes for our whole family
That Mike will heal enough to start freerunning/parkour training or at least wrestle with the kids :)
I've included the countdown clock above so you can have a better idea of when Mike will be in surgery in your time zone. The doctor blocked out three hours for the surgery with the hopes that it wouldn't take that long.
By the way, we found out tonight that a female student who is taking summer courses at PIU will be moving in with us this week...a double blessing! She will be close to campus for her classes and we'll have an extra set of hands to care for home and kids!
Thank you so much for your prayers! You are an essential part of the ministry that happens here in Guam and in caring for our family!
No comments:
Post a Comment