First of all, some good news: Laura's fasciotomy wounds have been closed!
She was in surgery on Wednesday morning where they closed up all of the existing wounds on her leg. This is a critical step on the road to the repair of her tibia, but just as importantly, it helps her a lot with both pain and mobility. A relatively normal leg (albeit stitched back together) is much less painful than one that is flayed open, with sponges inside and a vacuum pump sucking out fluid and putting pressure on her muscles. And those same vacuum pumps being gone mean 3 tubes that are no longer hanging off/out of her leg, making it a lot easier to get out of bed onto the commode, for example.
By the way, that was Laura's seventh surgery. The OR nurses were joking yesterday morning that by now she should be able to pre-op herself. And we're also rotating back through many of the nurses that were here in the patient care unit before. That's comforting, actually. It's amazing how nice it is to see a familiar face, especially when they can help point out the improvements they can see since they were last here!
Next Steps
Now we wait. She cannot have the surgery to repair the tibia until the swelling in her calf has diminished enough. There was a hope that that might happen by Friday, but now it looks like it will be Saturday, or Sunday (or maybe even Monday) before they can do that. It's frustrating to wait, but of course it's not the sort of thing you want to rush, or they could expose her to the risk of another case of compartment syndrome. And we certainly don't want that again!
Anyway, Laura can't home until everyone here is satisfied that her tibia repair recovery is also in a good place. So we'll be able to fly home somewhere between two and four days after that surgery. It will be good to head home.
Help
Thank you again to everyone who has helped out with kids, who has sent care packages, who has called or texted or emailed or commented on Facebook! It really does help to hear from you. Also, we have been so well looked-after by the nurses, doctors, care techs and cleaning people here at Vail Health. They have all been so kind and friendly and helpful. We're lucky to be cared for by the people here.
The Surgical Team
Laura's surgeon here has been Dr. Randy Viola. He's a surgeon at the Steadman Clinic who specializes in hand, wrist, elbow and "orthopedic trauma" (I'll let you guess which one Laura falls under). Dr. Viola is going on a long-planned vacation on Sunday, so if the surgery gets delayed until then, she'll be handed off to Dr. Tom Hackett. Dr. Hackett is also a surgeon at the Steadman Clinic who specializes in knee, shoulder and elbow. So, even if that happens it's a lateral move, not a step down.
I know I mentioned before how the Steadman Clinic surgeons are world class, but just as an example, Lyndsey Vonn has been operated on by both Drs. Viola and Hackett along with other Steadman Clinic surgeons for many of her ski injuries, including a tibial plateau fracture in 2016. (I found this information in news reports, so no worries, the doctors here are maintaining client confidentiality and not sharing this info with us!!!) All to say that Laura is in good hands.
Nobody's Perfect
Sometimes I wonder whether I give the impression that we're dealing with things here perfectly, but I think I should admit that neither one us is a Pollyanna. It's a long time sitting here either trapped in the room or running back upstairs to the OR. Laura has her moments of self-doubt about the road ahead, or being overwhelmed with the pain or just the immensity of being here. And I sometimes feel that I'm going to snap when she asks me to do something that most of the day I'm happy to help with.
I think it's really about resilience, right? Being willing to forgive yourself for feeling down, to accept it, and to move on to the next moment. And when we need it, it helps to know that we have all of you looking after us too. Thank you!
