Dan’s Story

Site created on March 15, 2019

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Newest Update

Journal entry by Jennifer Sears

Well, a month later...and here we are!  He got his external fixator removed as well as all of his stitches.  His leg looks less Frankensteinish, but he will have some stories to tell!  He is going to physical therapy 3 times a week to work on breaking up the scar tissue in order to have his reconstructive surgery.  He needs at least a 90-degree bend, and he is currently at 60 degrees.  The physical therapy is helping, but he got a little friend yesterday to help out more.  It is called a jazz brace, and it looks like a Storm Trooper leg from Star Wars.  He has only had it a day, and he is ready to throw it out the window!  It's not that it hurts, necessarily, but it is VERY hard to use.
His pain is more controllable now, but he still suffers from quite a bit of nerve damage to his foot.  It doesn't take long for his foot to resemble a blueberry if he is up for too long.  
At this point, we are looking at a reconstructive surgery date of June 13th.  However, that does depend on his progress on his bend as well as a go-ahead from the vascular surgeon.  His vein reconstruction looks good, but they have to be careful that the ortho reconstruction won't hurt it.
He is keeping busy by educating himself on his injury which is both good and bad.  This is such a rare injury, especially with the double fasciotomy, that there is not a lot out there except that the main "cure" is amputation.  He is realizing that he will have to be monitored for the rest of his life because the reconstructed vein can be fairly fragile.  Even the ortho reconstruction is dangerous because he still is at risk of losing his leg.  Although he has his good and bad days, he still has a good attitude toward all of this and is making sure he is doing everything possible to heal himself.
I hope to be able to keep you all updated better as school winds down.  It has been a tough road with all of this and still working full time and dealing with all of the end of year stuff for a 5th and 8th grader!  
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