BroganMc
It's not the age, it's the mileage
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,991
Hi guys,
I hate to say it but we've had to cancel our Fall trips to Disney this year. As soon as we got home from our May trip (I know I still haven't finished out that blog), my dad started having some bad leg pain. It had been off and on since the winter. We figured it was just normal arthritis aches in the knees.
But by the time we went to take our trip to Atlantic City in June things got dramatically worse. By July 4th he was barely able to walk. I came home from the beach and we did the rounds of doctors. Thought it was sciatica pain and would go away in a few weeks and with some steroids.
Turns out it was complications from that leg break in '08. For some reason the bone just stopped healing this winter and decayed rapidly. By the time the ortho surgeon got a look at it the top of the femur had almost completely collapsed. So we scheduled hip replacement surgery for him.
Pain caused his appetite to plummet and so his body chemistry got out of whack. First he was dehydrated so was admitted to the hosp for that. Then he was overhydrated and had low sodium so they sent him to the hospital again before surgery. Everyone was busy coordinating things through his cardiologist to make sure his heart was up to the operation. Admitted to room 13 for surgery on Friday the 13th.
Now that I've terrified you (oops), he did make it through surgery just fine. Spent about a week in the hospital dealing with the usual body chemistry and heart shenanigans (A-Fib here, low sodium there, low hemoglobin, IVs out the wazoo and consultation after consultation).
I've had my nephews and niece spending the last weeks of their summer helping me take care of him and get the house ready for him. And my sibs and I spent far too many hours at the hospital playing nursemaid. (I did several 10 hr shifts myself including an allnighter.)
We thought he'd go into a Rehab Center last week but the old coot just can't keep from surprising us. So now he's back home with me recuperating. Doc says it'll take 12 weeks for a full recovery this time since the surgery was so extensive (had to take the old rod & pin out, then put an extra long prosthesis in, and cracked the femur doing that). Oh yeah and that femur completely collapsed so he ended up with a titanium screw poking a hole right through his hip socket.
Since our Fall trip was scheduled for 6 weeks post surgery we opted to just cancel the whole thing. Better to be safe and let this heal properly. I also cancelled our early December trip. I was able to salvage most of our points for next year but we've lost 64 of them. (They were banked from last year.)
On the bright side we extended our NYE trip so we'll be there for a full week this time. And the family has really pulled together to help out. Grandpa Mohawk is in good spirits and getting around the house well with his walkers. I think we all learned alot from our 2008 escapade and have put the knowledge to practice now.
We are bummed about missing the Autumn trip this year. Me since it is my birthday trip and my dad because he loves dressing up as a gladiator and trick-or-treating in Magic Kingdom. But we'll be back next year and are planning to take the whole family with us again. And he'll have a really cool 12 inch scar to add to his fighting costume.
I hate to say it but we've had to cancel our Fall trips to Disney this year. As soon as we got home from our May trip (I know I still haven't finished out that blog), my dad started having some bad leg pain. It had been off and on since the winter. We figured it was just normal arthritis aches in the knees.
But by the time we went to take our trip to Atlantic City in June things got dramatically worse. By July 4th he was barely able to walk. I came home from the beach and we did the rounds of doctors. Thought it was sciatica pain and would go away in a few weeks and with some steroids.
Turns out it was complications from that leg break in '08. For some reason the bone just stopped healing this winter and decayed rapidly. By the time the ortho surgeon got a look at it the top of the femur had almost completely collapsed. So we scheduled hip replacement surgery for him.
Pain caused his appetite to plummet and so his body chemistry got out of whack. First he was dehydrated so was admitted to the hosp for that. Then he was overhydrated and had low sodium so they sent him to the hospital again before surgery. Everyone was busy coordinating things through his cardiologist to make sure his heart was up to the operation. Admitted to room 13 for surgery on Friday the 13th.
Now that I've terrified you (oops), he did make it through surgery just fine. Spent about a week in the hospital dealing with the usual body chemistry and heart shenanigans (A-Fib here, low sodium there, low hemoglobin, IVs out the wazoo and consultation after consultation).
I've had my nephews and niece spending the last weeks of their summer helping me take care of him and get the house ready for him. And my sibs and I spent far too many hours at the hospital playing nursemaid. (I did several 10 hr shifts myself including an allnighter.)
We thought he'd go into a Rehab Center last week but the old coot just can't keep from surprising us. So now he's back home with me recuperating. Doc says it'll take 12 weeks for a full recovery this time since the surgery was so extensive (had to take the old rod & pin out, then put an extra long prosthesis in, and cracked the femur doing that). Oh yeah and that femur completely collapsed so he ended up with a titanium screw poking a hole right through his hip socket.
Since our Fall trip was scheduled for 6 weeks post surgery we opted to just cancel the whole thing. Better to be safe and let this heal properly. I also cancelled our early December trip. I was able to salvage most of our points for next year but we've lost 64 of them. (They were banked from last year.)
On the bright side we extended our NYE trip so we'll be there for a full week this time. And the family has really pulled together to help out. Grandpa Mohawk is in good spirits and getting around the house well with his walkers. I think we all learned alot from our 2008 escapade and have put the knowledge to practice now.
We are bummed about missing the Autumn trip this year. Me since it is my birthday trip and my dad because he loves dressing up as a gladiator and trick-or-treating in Magic Kingdom. But we'll be back next year and are planning to take the whole family with us again. And he'll have a really cool 12 inch scar to add to his fighting costume.
