Surgery This Tuesday

Ok, so here is an update....I'm a little slow with filling everyone in on this past week's details...sorry!

Tuesday (of last week): We went in to see Dr. Marco to have Brad's leg x-rayed again & to talk about our decision to have surgery. Dr. Marco said that he wanted to refer Brad to see Dr. Brinker, another orthopedic surgeon who specializes in problematic bone fractures. Dr. Marco also decided to run an ultrasound to check for blood clots due to the large amounts of swelling around Brad's knee.

Wednesday: We went to Texas Orthopedic Hospital to run the ultrasound...good news....no clots! Yeah! We then went for a marathon waiting session (5 hours) to see Dr. Brinker. He talked briefly about what the surgery would look like, then ordered a CT scan on the leg to see if there were any other fractures. The doctor also commented that he couldn't believe that Brad was in a brace & not a cast. He asked Brad, "Aren't you in a lot of pain with your leg like that?" I'm sure Brad was thinking to himself: Dude, if only you knew what my last year has looked like...this is nothing...really.

Friday: We went back to Texas Orthopedic to get the CT results and to schedule the surgery for Brad. The CT scan showed another crack on the other side of Brad's tibia along with a tear in Brad's lateral ligament near his ankle. (So, now we are tallying 3 breaks and 1 torn ligament for the fall...yikes...no wonder the man was in so much pain after he fell). Dr. Brinker said that Brad's surgery would be difficult (due to the titanium rod running through the center of the bone) but he felt that it could be successful.

So, now the plan is to go in for surgery at Texas Orthapedic Hospital (7401 S. Main, Houston) on Tuesday, April 8th at 10am. Dr. Marco will be assisting Dr. Brinker with the surgery. That is reassuring, being that Marco has done all the previous work on Brad's leg and Marco knows Brad intimately at this point.

We pray that God guides the hands of the doctors. We pray that they are successful in repairing the bones. We pray that God guards Brad from any infection & any other complications. May Brad heal quickly & may he regain his strength in that leg soon.