Banjo Update -

Just returned from the hospital! Dr Emerson came by after a full day of surgery to see how Sharon was doing. He explained how this Wound Vac works and the "Why" of using it. Since there has been a fluid generation in the hip joint, the obvious use of it is to remove the fluid from it. The other, less understood, use is to basically seal the joint area, not terribly unlike what you do when you seal food with your "SealAMeal" vacuum thingy! That allows the tissure in the joint to grow and heal without a void, or hollow space, around the joint. It appears that Celine, our home care nurse, and I removed most of the fluid this AM before we went to the hospital. There was very little fluid that came out after they installed the Wound Vac.

He is projecting that he wants her in the hospital until at least Tuesday. He feels like that will get the void sealed up and pretty well locked in place. We sure hope so! The one bright spot in this whole step is that we were not on the way home when this happened. That would have required a post-haste U-Turn and return to Plano. At this point, at least, Dr. E feels like we are still on track for a January '09 return to install the prosthesis as part of the final repair.

Sharon seemed to have gotten a bit of rest while I was out doing the chores this afternoon. She said she had lain there for 7 hours before she got up. That, incidentally, is some kind of record for a daytime stop for her! She needed that after a sleepless night last evening. Bulli and I may tie that here shortly!

Cheers!

Joe