I blinked and all of the sudden a few days have passed.

Alrighty! Look at this…..

Okay, now in this X-ray of Chris’s leg…if you see the lone screw up at the top…..that the same screw..only NOT in the leg anymore…..blech!

Now….here is the most recent update from Momma (Karen, or whatever you call her)

just over a week ago….. Chris went to see the surgeon who did the flap that covered the bone on his arm. This is the surgeon who was operating on Chris when he crashed on the operating table the first time and then they had to abort the operation the second time and the third time they were able to get him through it…. The surgeon had come out of the first time and told Aunty Sherry, “I don’t know what they believe… but there is still the possibility for a miracle….” When he walked into the room his reaction was a big smile and a shake of the head and these words.spoken in awe……”IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU ALIVE AND WELL” as he ‘interviewed’ and examined Chris and his arm… he must have said this at least 6 times.

He told Chris that he could work on the reshaping “de-bulking” they call it… and explained several different approaches. Chris said, “You’re the Doctor what would you do if it was you?”. He said He would like to try and keep the skin intact as it is stronger and looks nicer. So He would lift it and de-bulk from under it and then lay it on again as a new graft….but that way they couldn’t guarantee that it would take…. Chris told him if that was what he recommended that He should do it and I said we would pray. He said that would be good. So he is on the list… it could be a year to a year and a half until his name comes up.

After that we went to the Hospital to say hello to who ever was on the 7th floor… then we stopped by the Trauma / Plastics unit to see if the social worker that had encouraged me so much during the first month Chris was there, she was so surprised to see us. She was amazed at his recovery. (Every time we go by to see the nurses and those who helped us… they always say it is wonderful to see a patient that was so bad come back well, they are thankful because they don’t often get to see the progress of their patients and what has become of them.)

She talked with us a long time and kept saying how wonderful Chris looked and what incredible progress he has made…When we were ready to go… she walked us out into the hall, we rounded the corner and when she turned away to go back into the trauma unit… we heard her say…”OH WOW!” She didn’t know we could hear her.

Praise the Lord! For the skill and help of the Doctors and nurses…. For Chris’ determination and The wonderful promises of God that sustain us.

We met a cleaning lady at VGH who always brought sunshine and cheer into the room. I talked with her often. She is a Christian and often prayed for Chris. She was so delighted to see how well Chris was doing. There are so many wonderful people who work in our health care system.

Tuesday June 24th

Chris went to see the Ortho specialist and he removed the screw from the upper part of the rod. This is to give the leg more compression and hopefully to help stimulate bone growth. He was just starting to walk again without the cane… but is using it again sometimes to help support the leg just for next little while until he sees how his leg handles the new pressure.

Chris said when the Doc. came in… he had a needle and poked it through he skin… He said “There that will freeze the skin…” then he pushed a little further and squirted more, freezing the flesh… and then pushed it all the way in until it hit… either the bone or the screw head “There that should freeze the area nicely.” then he slit the leg where the line was and opened it and looked around until he saw the screw head…. Then he picked up a big old screw driver and stuck it in onto the head of the screw… then he paused… waiting a moment to get ready he told Chris… okay this is where it usually hurts….. when I turn it and it tears away from the bone that has grown onto and around the grooves in the screw… then he paused again grinning….. Chris thinks it was so he could get himself geared up for the pain…. the next moment he turned it and…..nothing…. everything was okay..no pain… then the Doc asked Chris if he would like to keep the screw… Chris said” Well I would like to but The infectious Disease Doctor said he wanted the screw to go to the lab….” The Doctor agreed, that would be a good idea. and with a stitch or two…badda boom…. it was over. and Chris walked out of there… actually he came out and said to me… Have you got your camera? come and take a picture of this screw… so… we did.

Chris says it is going well (report after the 1st 24 hours.).

Yesterday, Chris saw the Specialist who did the amazing operation on his arm. We were told this was an incredibly complex and intricate operation. The results are wonderful. He was very impressed with how Chris is doing. He took pictures of both his hands and arms together… with the flex (he is able to bring his arm right up until his hand can reach his mouth and when warmed up and stretched out he can even get it up to touch his shoulder) and the extension (open straight out) and with the pronation (hands rotated facing down) and the other one (you know? the rotation that turns the hands upward) So there is more that can be done for his hand but the face is the next priority and getting the infection under control and keeping it that way until after that is important.

I also saw a specialist that will be working with Chris to see how things are from the brain injury side… in regards to getting his licence back. So this is looking forward with expectation for good things, new strategies and what ever else will be helpful.

Chris has started getting out for a walk on his own.He is travelling up to 6 blocks from the house, to the coffee shop or else where…….

I am really impressed with how he challenges himself.

Karen