Robert's Surgery

 January 25, 2022

Robert had surgery this Thursday (01/20/20222), so he and I drove to KC on Wednesday night so we'd be ready for his 8:00am surgery call. His procedure lasted five hours, then he had a two hour recovery. When the surgeon, Dr. Fox, came to talk to me about it, I had him draw what he built, and am including it below.

The bone, in black, is still broken, but is being held together by a plate (the blue oval) that is screwed into the bone. The blue rectangle is cadaver bone that is cinched to Robert's humerus with metal bands in the hopes that his diminished bone would meld with and be strengthened by it. Dr. Fox had to remove both previous implants and replace them with new ones, though he had hoped to reuse the socket implant. 

When I was able to see Robert in his room, he complained about not being able to feel the bottoms of his feet. At first, we thought that was temporary (and it was) as a result of his upright positioning for the surgery, but as it went on, it impeded his ability to stand and walk. Finally, by Saturday, he began to have some feeling in his feet and was able to stand and shuffle a few steps to the chair nearby so that he could sit upright for a bit. 

I went home Saturday evening and drove back Sunday to visit, leaving in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Robert's social worker was preparing to find him a rehabilitation facility (at the recommendation of his PT/OT team) so that he could gain confidence in walking and moving before coming home. The social worker has been calling places since yesterday (Monday, 01/24/2022) and is having some difficulty because she needs to find a place that will accept bariatric patients. So, he's still in the hospital. The house is very quiet without his cheerful laugh and dad jokes. I miss him.