Leg Post-surgery Update

It took a bit longer than expected, but we got the call that Tristan's leg surgery was complete and he was on his way back to his room. There was enough time left for a short visit, which was an added bonus to the successful surgeries of the day.

The doctor noted that there were a lot of bone fragments and soft tissue damage which needed to be cleaned up, but he felt good about how it turned out. He placed a rod from the hip to the knee (the nurse informed me that Tristan's leg was at a 45 degree angle when EMTs arrived on the scene), and did his best to match the alignment of the left leg. He couldn't match it perfectly, so he said we'd have to see how Tristan does when he starts walking on it (in six weeks). It's possible that he may do very well and not notice the difference, but if it's problematic for him they can perform another surgery to try and rotate it further.

Tristan was under anesthesia for several hours today, so his body temperature was only 93 degrees when I arrived and he was still unresponsive. The focus tonight will be to get him warmed back up to his normal body temperature with the use of heated blankets, and if that's a success they'll work on extubating him tomorrow. If he does well breathing on his own and can resume swallowing, the next steps will be to transition him from the Fentanyl drip to pill form pain killers. Once all of these things have happened, he can be moved from the ICU to Acute Care, and if all goes well this could happen as early as Monday.

I told Tristan about the outpouring of love and support, and shared your messages with him. My time with him was very brief this evening, but it was wonderful to see him. On the way out of the ICU I was gifted with this beautiful sunset. So much to be grateful for today.