Surgeries:
Here's a list of surgeries Jim has had so far, plus a short run down of the days he's been in the ICU.
Dec. 4th, the first day/night and Saturday: Emergency first aid to tuck the bone back into his right leg, and the wound vac procedure on his abdomen.
Saturday was spent just trying to keep Jim stabilized. He's so swollen and continuing to swell. He looks like he's this big beefy guy, but he's not at all. He's a regular sized guy that usually weighs around 170, usually a little less. When they weighed him after the first couple days, he weighed around 200 pounds. That's right, he has gained about 30 pounds in fluid that his body is trying to retain.
Sunday the 6th: Jim was more stable so they were able to take him to surgery. Both upper legs were operated on. He received a titanium rod in each upper leg.
Monday the 7th: Able to lower blood pressure support slightly. Surgery on his left arm. A titanium rod in the upper arm, and two plates and screws on the lower arm. They needed to change the dressing on his wound vac as well. They have to change this every two to three days to keep the area clean. They literally lift out his intestines and irrigate his abdomen with some kind of disinfectant and then tuck it all back into place and cover it with a layer of plastic that's tucked under his skin, and then the sponge goes on top of that, then another layer of plastic that looks like it's been shrink wrapped there. There's a suction tube on it that helps to suck out fluid that wants to gather there. They also had to switch out iv's that were placed at the accident site and therefore not sterile. They placed a port in his chest, which can accommodate several medications at once. Then they let him rest for the rest of the day. On monday night he needed his lungs suctioned out pretty aggressively. When they suction his lungs it makes him cough. Imagine coughing when your muscle and skin is not there to hold back your organs. It's not good. He's also still swelling, which means that you can literally see his intestines around the black sponge. That's something I didn't realize until a few days later, that I was actually seeing Jims intestines. I'm told they are very healthy looking. If I watch carefully, I can actually see the peristalsis-that is, I can visually see his intestines moving around. There's not many a wife that can actually say they've seen their husbands peristalsis, I can tell you that.
Tuesday Morning: Surgery again. They had to place something called an IVC filter. When you break bones in the legs, you're at hight risk for blood clots or pulmonary embolisms, basically from the fatty tissue of bone marrow (from broken bones) traveling up the artery into the lungs and getting stuck there. So they placed a filter in his artery in an attempt to combat it.
Did an ultrasound on his legs as well, to check for blood clots. Later that day, they switched him from being intubated, to haveing a trachiostomy - which is a hole cut in your through in which they place a tube to help you breath. Basically he's still on the ventilator, but he's being ventilated through the trach. Also his jaw was wired shut, because it's broken. He's got several broken teeth, a couple of the front ones were broken right off with just the nerve showing. They were able to get a good look at his tongue and re-sutured it, they told me it basically looked like hamburger. But they also told me that the tongue is very resiliant, and he should be able to talk once it's healed. His jaw will be wired shut for about 4-6 weeks.
Wed: I met with our kids in the cafeteria. I feel very strongly that they not be put through the trauma of seeing their daddy in such critical condition. But I thought it would be good for them to see the hospital, and to see that Daddy is in a good place. I've explained to them that Daddy was in a bad accident, but instead of telling them everything that is wrong with Daddy, I drew a picture for them telling everything that will be fixed. It was a good visit, and they were even able to meet a few people who are helping their Daddy get better.
12/09-Wed: coughing again, and they have to hold his stomach when they suction him. They tried to take him to a ct scan, but when they put him on the transport ventilator, he started coughing so bad the icu nurse put a stop to the whole thing declaring that Jim was too unstable to move. His oxygen levels dropped really low, and he had to be suctioned again, though they didn't get much gunk out. So now they are going to let you simply rest today. They are worried that you may have pulmonary embolisms in your lungs even though they installed the filter in you. So now you're taking a blood thinner, and you'll have to keep taking it for 6 months or so.
The dr said that since Jim was to unstable to be moved, he would bring the OR team to Jim, and change the wound vac in his icu room instead. I get the feeling that this is a pretty rare occurance, but i am thankful that the Drs. are accomadating to what is best for Jim.
Ok, that's all for now.
I'll try to catch up more in the next day or so.