Friday (9/30/2016)

Update:

Last Wednesday (9/21), my daughter, Ruth, and I were supposed to fly out of our local airport to go to Indianapolis for my leg surgery.  A few hours before the flight, we were notified that it was cancelled.  Yikes!!  We found that there was a flight available out of Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) but we had to leave almost immediately.  Fortunately both us were almost completely packed, so we jumped into the car and got going.  During the two hour drive to MSP, we received three additional alerts that our flight was delayed.  Just as we were parking, we were told that our new flight was cancelled too.

My airline had one window open for over 200 people upset and looking for alternate transportation.  We were told that my airline didn’t have any other flights out today; but they could book us on one tomorrow.  That wasn’t going to work!  I had to be in Indy on Wednesday for some pre-op appointment on Thursday or they would cancel my Friday surgery.  We found another airline that had a direct flight so my daughter went to buy us tickets while I waited to get a refund on my cancelled flights.  We had to buy first class seats but that made my leg VERY happy!  We then waited for almost two hours to get our refund.  Only one agent was helping the cancelled flight, although there were at least 8 other agents to help people on other flights.  What really aggravated me was that often times, those agents had nothing to do and just chatted with each other.  The only reason our line moved forward at all was because people got upset and just walked off.  With just a few minutes before my new flight was to begin boarding, we got our refund from United.  Oophs!  I said their name didn’t I?  Their customer service really stunk on this one.  I wasn’t upset because of the cancellations, just how poorly they handled helping those who were stranded.  I don’t plan on flying with them again anytime soon.

So I rode first class for the first time in my life!  Very nice!  My leg and sciatica appreciated the extra room to move around and wiggle.  However, the plane got caught in the backlog of aircraft trying to wait out the storm that was hitting the central mid-west.  We eventually arrived at our destination about 4 hours late; but we made it!!  They got 8-10 inches of rain overnight back home.  I’m glad we didn’t try to leave on Thursday morning.

 










I had three appointments on Thursday to be ready for my Friday (9/23) surgery.  We got those knocked out and felt good about our 7:45 a.m. check-in for surgery on Friday.  I was told to take a couple of my tramadol pain meds prior to coming in so my back and sciatica wouldn’t be as painful while waiting for surgery.  That was the best advice that I’ve ever received!!!

The surgery lasted over four hours.  Dr. Ertl found five nerves that were pinched or pressured at the end of my stump.  Taking care of those should remove most of my pain trouble when I heal.  He got those moved up and away, built the bone bridge, etc.  I had two leg catheters in my left leg suppling anesthesia to the surgery site for the first three days.  That meant they didn’t have to dope me up so much in the head like they did at my first amputation.

 My nurses told me that the Ertl revision surgery was the most painful surgery to undergo.  My thought was, “Nobody told me that before I was cut!!”  I wanted to ask, “Even more painful than childbirth?” but all of my nurses were female and I wanted to live, so I kept that question to myself.

The day after surgery PT came by and helped me get out a bit.  On the seventh floor of the hospital you can access the outdoor terrace and garden.  The garden provides a lot of fresh vegetables, herbs, etc. to food service.  It is a wonderful place to spend some time after being cooped up inside for a couple of days.  I asked to be rolled over to the wall so I could stand up and look at the city below while I’m hanging onto the wall.  Nobody thought of the fact that I only had a hospital gown on when they agreed to it.   I stood up and people were instantly grabbing at the ends of my gown.  Ha! Ha!  Fortunately nobody else was out on the terrace at that time.  Before I went out the next time, I asked for a second gown to wear backward!

Ruth, my daughter, brought me down and stayed with me until Monday morning.  My brother, Kevin, arrived on Sunday night and was staying until noon on Wednesday.

Originally, it was planned that I would stay in the hospital for 3-5 days and then move to a local Indy rehab for two more weeks.  At my second dressing change, Dr. Ertl said my surgical site looked so good that there wasn’t any need to stay for another two weeks or to come back in 10 days.  The first time that I needed to come back was at 6 weeks.  So we cancelled flights, hotels, car rentals, rehab, etc. and booked a new flight home.  I was discharged on Wednesday (9/28) morning.  After being discharged I had to go downstairs to the pharmacy to pick up my medications.  I had to wait in line for over 90 minutes.  So close to being on our way and yet getting absolutely no where!

My brother got me to the airport and up to security.  I made it through that fine and got to my gate.  I requested the front row seat because I knew there was lots of leg room and I have my leg in a protective brace (my knee cannot bend).  First class again!!  Yesss!!!!  With my Percocet and morphine I was flying fine all the way home even without the aircraft. 

My son, Jon, and friend, Art, were working in Minneapolis, so they volunteered to get me at baggage claim and get me home.  That was a nice ride home.  Ruth and Cody were at the house when I arrive.  They helped make certain that I got into bed safely.

I was warned several times by my surgeon and my prosthetist, “Be careful.  Don’t fall.”  It is too easy to have a momentary slip in judgement and slam the stump into the ground.  That’s painful and can easily mess up some of the work done in my leg.  So far, so good!  On my first amputation, I went six weeks before I slipped and fell.  My goal is a 100% Safety Score.  For a guy to accomplish that it requires something phenomenal—It means that I have to stop and think before I do ANYTHING!

About the only thing that I did on Thursday (9/29) was sleep.  It took a while but I was able to get breakfast and lunch fixed and eaten.  I feel like the hospital has turned me into a CAT!!!

Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes.  I’m certain that those have helped me thus far and will help me continue to heal ahead of schedule and keep me safe.  I was also very thankful that two of my FaceBook amputee friends had a chance to visit me in the hospital.  It was great to meet Daniel Waters, and Alicia Carver, and to spend time with them.  

Tuesday (9/20/2016)

Update:

On Wednesday afternoon (9/21), my daughter, Ruth, and I fly out from Eau Claire to Indianapolis, IN.  On Thursday, I have a number of pre-operation appointments.  My amputation revision surgery is scheduled for Friday morning (9/23) tentatively about 10 a.m.  The surgery will last four to five hours.  I’ll be staying in the hospital for three to five days and then transfer to a nearby rehabilitation facility for about two weeks.

My surgeon Dr. Janos Ertl will do a specialized amputation surgery (osteomyoplastic—also known as the Ertl procedure).  The surgery will be done at Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis.  Ruth will stay with me through the weekend and then my brother, Kevin, will be with me for the next few days until I am transferred to the rehab facility.  It’s only a four hour drive from St. Louis for my brother.   (My wife, Karen, won’t be coming with me for this.  Someone has to stay home and make money to pay for it all.)

At this point, I believe the rehab facility will be Wellbrooke of Westfield in Westfield, IN.  I’ll be going through physical and occupational therapy while I am there.  Since I’m coming from a distance, Dr. Ertl didn’t want me to travel immediately after surgery.  My brother will be back to visit with me the last weekend in rehab. 

Ruth will return on Tuesday (10/11) to check me out of rehab and take me to a follow-up appointment with Dr. Ertl that afternoon.  We fly back home the next day on Wednesday (10/12). 

I’ll have a number of follow-up appointments with Dr. Ertl over the next year.  I’ll probably be fitted for a prosthesis in November, depending on how quickly I heal. 

I would appreciate prayers for safe and uneventful travels, a successful surgery without complications, and for a number of details to all work out satisfactorily.  

Friday (9/16/2016)

Update:

I had a wonderful week-long trip to Los Angeles with my brother, Kevin.  Two of my sons live in the LA area and we were able to spend a lot of time with them as well as spending an afternoon with our cousin who lives in North San Diego County. 

With my current prosthesis, I can walk short distances and wear it for a few hours at a time, which made this trip more enjoyable than the last one when I was totally wheelchair bound. 

My daughter got me and my luggage to the Minneapolis airport and she left me at security.  Because I could walk, TSA had me go through the x-ray machine, and then swabbed my hands and prosthesis.  My backpack and pocket items went through the regular security screening.  They took my wheelchair and swabbed it and did a visible inspection as well.  Overall, not much more than the normal traveler. 

I rolled myself out of security and found that my gate was only about 75 yards away.  Sweet!  I found my brother waiting at the gate and we ate lunch together.  The gate area was crowded and although they have a designated handicap area, there were so many people and so much carry-on luggage in the way that I couldn’t get near it.  My brother elected to stand near me outside of the seating area.

With my limitations and my wheelchair, I always arrive at the gate early and let the flight attendants know what assistance I need and that I have a wheelchair to stow after I roll up to the door of the plane.  I always call the airlines and let them know about my needs after I buy my ticket, but the word never seems to filter down to the gate, or the details get garbled.  The flight attendants are always helpful.  Usually I get moved closer to the front of the plane and sometimes end up with more leg room, which is really helpful with my sciatic pain.  I get to be first on the plane and last off the plane.  At the door of the plane, I have to take my foot plates and seat cushion off of the wheelchair and put them in the overhead storage compartments.  It is nice to have a traveling companion to do that for me; but the flight attendants have done it for me when I was alone.

I had enough leg room for the flight, although my sciatic pain kicked in almost immediately.  Glad I brought pain meds along for the flight.  Being able to walk on this flight was nice.  I got to go to the bathroom!  And they started the beverage service while I was in the bathroom, so I got to stand and stretch out my hip for a lot longer.  Nice!

My brother arranged for the rental car.  Enterprise has a shuttle bus service with a ramp so I just rolled right on.  We ended up with a Dodge Durango which had lots of leg room for me in my prosthesis, my wheelchair, and our luggage.

At the hotel, I always have to get the wheelchair accessible room.  I’ve checked out the regular rooms but my wheelchair won’t fit through the bathroom door (and there is always too much furniture).   It was a great room; although the bathroom door was a pain in a wheelchair.  I think that I left a few reminders of my stay scratched into the finish of the door.  It takes quite a bit of effort to get the door pulled closed.  I need to remember to bring along some cord to use as a pull cord on my next trip (I have that on my bathroom door at home).

One of the personal highlights of my trip was getting to go to the beach.  My current prosthesis is an elevated vacuum system and has way too many parts that have to stay perfectly clean.  A grain of sand could poke a hole in the liner or sleeve and the whole thing would be shot.  So for this trip (and other uses) I purchased an iWalk 2.0 for the beach.  It’s a crutch that you kneel on that straps to your leg.  I found that I still needed some assistance.  The smaller foot on the iWalk would sink into the sand more easily than my other foot.  Hitting areas of hard sand, then soft sand, etc. made balancing a difficult task.  But I got down to the water!!!  At first I took the iWalk off and crawled down to the water.  The first big wave was unpleasant in my face.  So I went back up and got the iWalk back on to walk into the water.  Between the surf and the sand washing out from under the small iWalk foot, I needed help.  My two sons walked on either side of me and helped me into the water.  Rather cold, but refreshing and it was a victory!!!  Sand got onto the knee pad and I was afraid of an abrasion or sore forming so I got out and enjoyed sitting in a beach chair.  My leg muscles were pretty shot, so when it was time to climb up the beach to the car, both boys helped me as I walked up the sandy hill.  Fortunately, my skin was just a bit roughed up and the sand didn’t cause a sore on my leg.  Great time!

California has some great handicap vehicle laws.  Normal parking restrictions don’t apply if you have a handicap placard.  My son’s neighborhood has some very restrictive hours and requires a sticker to park on it—those didn’t apply to me.  You don’t have to pay a parking meter or pay for parking at the state beach parking lots.  As we went out to different places, my son decided that I was very handy to have around for the great parking!!! Ha! Ha! 

The plane ride back to Minneapolis went smoothly as well.  I wouldn’t have been able to stand it with the pain med for my sciatica.  My brother’s connecting flight had already started boarding when we landed so he took off to catch his plane.  The flight attendants helped me get my cushion and footplates out to the wheelchair and pushed me up the walkway to the gate.  I decided to go it alone in the wheelchair to the baggage claim.  It turned out to be a much longer trek with a few uphill slopes, so in hindsight, I should have accepted some assistance; but I made it.  My daughter met me at the baggage claim and got me and my luggage out to the truck.  I was so glad to get the leg off.  It was starting to chaff and really become uncomfortable.

The trip out to California was great.  I had fun spending time with my brother.  He was an awesome help, especially pushing me through the deep pile carpet of the hotel, and loading my wheelchair up wherever we went.  It was great to visit the boys and my cousin.  Great memories and good times!

Some of the places we visited: La Brea Tar Pits, The Getty Museum, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Torrey Pines Golf Course, Malibu Pier for lunch, and Point Dume beach.

Next week I go on another adventure to Indianapolis for my revision surgery!  Glad I have a week at home to get some rest before flying out again on Wednesday.