Surgery Update - Part 2

On Tuesday the 2nd Brandon went in for his surgery.  I am just now posting some updates because I've been busy trying to keep my normal work schedule but also take care of a bed-bound-Brandon.

 We got to the surgery center at about 5:45 am.  He was prepped, talked to by the surgeon and anesthesiologist, and then I gave him a kiss and off he went.

They anticipated doing two things:
1) Reconstructing his ACL by using part of his own hamstring tendon or by using an allograft (a fancy term for "the ACL of a dead person).
2) Fix or replace his meniscus, depending on how bad it looks.


The good news is he had the best possible outcome all around!  They used his hamstring to repair his ACL and they said the tear in his meniscus wasn't too bad and showed some signs of partial healing. Yahoo!

Then we got home..... that's where the fun began....

{Brandon's leg in the brace}

{Mr. Yellow Foot.  I have an random memory from 6th grade camp
that involves iodine.... and now I look fondly on it.  Weird.  I know.}

Brandon, anesthesia, and narcotic pain medication do not mix well, this we learned.

This poor man of mine, on top of the pain, had just about every side effect on the bottle of his medicine.  I will refrain from sharing all the details, but some of the oddest ones were a constant sensation of itching all over, sweating/fever-like feeling, and hiccups.  Yep, hiccups.  24.7.  Unless he fell asleep, and usually a hiccup woke him up.  

As for the other symptoms, you can probably take a guess.  He was sick.  He was MISERABLE.  I was doing everything I could to try to help.  Even trying to scare his hiccups away! LOL  Nothing was working.  We were quite the mess. 

{Checking up on his wounds to make sure he didn't have an infection}

Three days after the surgery he had another feverish session, and we decided to start taking his temperature. It was a good thing we did because it was over 100!  We monitored it every couple hours, and at midnight when it reached 102, I called the doctor.  He continued to have a fever the next day, even though we confirmed he did not have an infection (Praise God!), and the doctor suggested he go off the pain medication to get rid of the other symptoms.

So since Thursday/Friday Brandon has been off his medication and on Tylenol.  It doesn't do much for the pain but he is feeling a little better every day.  The other side effects are slowly but surely going away.


He went in on Tuesday to be checked on, and this is how everything looked:

In a word: great!  Everything is healing well and now he starts exercises/physical therapy.  Next summer he'll be able to resume his normal activities..... it feels like a loooonnnnngggg ways away.  In some ways it is.  But hopefully it will go by quickly.

{ Brandon's new nickname.... Trampy.  Apparently has to do
with vagabond characteristics and a bad knee.}

{Starting to feel better and trying to take pictures with Abby}

{My attempt..... I don't know why we make odd faces as we try
to coax her to look at the camera...}

Please continue to pray for healing, for sanity for Brandon as he is still stuck at home all day by himself, and for continued financial provision as we still have bills that we need to cover.  We are so thankful for everything God has been doing and the ways he has been providing.  We are so blessed.