11.19.08

What we've been up to:

Larry: Physical therapy twice a day, getting up and walking 4 times a day, CPM machine total 8 hours a day.

Becky: Giving LT pain meds every two hours. Changing his leg on the CPM machine every two hours. Emptying Mr. Piss (he's become a friend). Changing the ice machines every four hours. Answering Larry's bell. Running errands for things like a dinner tray and warm up pants with a fly... and Christmas shopping.

Hayley: Since the real physical therapist only comes 3 times a week I have become the physical therapist every day. Which means, exercises on each leg, which take about 1/2 hour, walking him around (with the walker) 4 times a day, and then helping my mom with the above list. I'm also the pain scheduler - every night I write up the pain med schedule and put the meds in little marked cups for the night and day ahead.

Riley: Comes around as often as he's not working. He's the do everything man. He'll do anything anyone needs.

Grant: Comes after work to go on ice runs and watch football or whatever is on TV with the Wolf. He's good at taking his mind off the pain.
...
This afternoon he walked out the front door, down the side walk, up the driveway and up 3 stairs in the garage... pretty good.

11.17.08

Over the weekend....

They thought they would send him home Thursday but decided he needed a few extra days. Bilateral knees are a lot more difficult to recover from. So Friday evening they transferred him to a rehabilitation hospital. We stayed all day with him Saturday, watching football, going on milkshake and soup runs. Saturday morning Becky called his Dr because his coloring was a little yellow, and she was just nervous about him. Saturday night they took a blood sample and discovered he needed a blood transfusion. He should have been at a 35 and he was at like 22. Which explains why he's been freezing cold all week. So Sunday morning my mom and Riley met him in the ER. Riley stayed all 8 hours while they pumped 4 pints of blood. Meanwhile, my dad had told my mom he wanted to come home instead of back to the hospital, so my mom, Grant and I were busy all day running around, trying to turn the living room into a hospital room. We even got a hospital bed put in. So Sunday night the hospital took him home. He seemed extremely relieved to be home. And I will admit it's so nice not to see him in those hospital rooms anymore. Last night my mom got up every 2 hours to give him his medications, she said between her alarm going off and his bell ringing, she felt like she had a new born baby... it's a lot of work for her, but we all think he'll heal better and faster now that he's home. The physical therapist will come to the house for awhile. He's eating a little more and his knees feel a little better day by day. So all in all, it was a long weekend for everyone (especially him obviously) but I think things have taken a turn for the better. I think in one week he'll really start to feel a difference.

11.13.08

They're going to keep him in the hospital one more day, so he'll be home Friday afternoon. With a change of pain medication, he's doing a lot better. Every time the physical therapist comes in (twice a day) he walks a lot further. This morning Riley said he walked to the nursing station... positive progress. I think he's tired of sitting in the same position all day and night. I brought him a DVD player this morning so I think that might help pass the boredom. They undressed his bandages - I'll try to get the picture off of Riley's phone and post them here... Thanks for the thoughts and well wishes.

11.12.08

UPDATE ON LARRY:

Larry went into have double knee replacement surgery on Monday morning. The surgery went smoothly. They were concerned about his heart condition, but there were no complications at all. They said his knees were completely shot. After football, skiing, biking and just everyday wear and tear there wasn't much of anything left. The Dr.'s were shocked with the amount of muscles in his thighs. They also said he has extremely hard bones... usually it takes one saw to get through two knees but they had to use two.
Monday after the surgery they gave him an epidural-like shot which numbed him from the waist down. Yesterday (Tuesday) I went in to see him about one o'clock and I've never seen him in such pain. He could hardly speak. He felt like the pain medication they had him on wasn't strong enough. He felt like his legs were on fire. He was nauseated and having a hard time eating. I stayed until about 5pm. Two physical therapists came in. They had him stand up and take a few steps. The pain on his face looked excruciating. I thought to myself, "A few months ago we were cheering him on during his one hundred mile mountain bike race and now he's standing there barely able to shuffle a few steps with a walker"... pretty crazy. I think he had a pretty bad night last night. They have his legs working on machines 3 hours each leg each day, so 6 hours total. They also have things pumping his feet to prevent blood clots. The Dr's said hardly anyone does two knees at one time. In the last year they've only seen 3 people do it. He'll be in the hospital until Thursday. Coming home will be rough I'm sure.

... I'll keep this blog updated with his recovery....

P.S. Thanks for all the sweet emails that have been sent.

11.06.08

Wyatt's 23rd Birthday! Lindsay and the birthday boy.
Chloe
Riley & Randy

Annie, Jackie, cute Max & Hank

Gabe, Phil, Larry

Karl & Joanne

Is it bad luck to light your own birthday candles?

Gabe & Chloe

Riley, Becky, Randy & Hank

Ri, Hay, Chloe, Wy, and Linds... playing and watching pool.

Love the concentration G Star

...

Happy Birthday Wyatt.