When the going gets tough, sometimes there are hard decisions to make!

Just got back in from the hospital, after spending all afternoon there with Sharon. Had two doctor visits, one routine and the other requested. Dr Baum came by late, and Dr Barrington, Dr Emerson's associate, came by after surgery as we requested. When he came by this morning on rounds, the hip was "pumped up" and was very uncomfortable. When he examined it, he found that the Wound Vac had been doing it's job, but so had the body! The body, responding as it was supposed to, formed a seal at the top of the wound. It was supposed to do that at the bottom, down by the bone. When he punctured that top seal, it drained all the fluid that had been trapped that the Vac was supposed to be removing. Now, I realize that is more information than most of you want to visualize, but you needed to know that because it is leading to the "tough" part. It appears that our options are getting fewer and may not lead down the rosy path that we thought we were on. One thing that is blatantly obvious is that things cannot continue the way they have been planned (yes, they HAVE been changing daily!) Dr Baum, the infectious specialist, has said the whole time that we really SHOULD remove the last remaining part of the prosthesis to eliminate that as a harbour for the fungus growth. Dr Emerson has wanted to try to get around that because it is such a strong construct and nothing will ever be as strong and supportive as it is. If the decision is made that it must go, then we are on the Plan B track, instead of the Plan A track we all have hoped for. We will know more sometime tomorrow after the team of doctors have a chance to consult and recommend another course of action.

Looks like, right now, that there may be another extended stay in the hospital. When I've said I would like to live in Texas again, this is NOT what I had in mind!

More to follow..........................

Cheers!

Joe