here we go again...

I finally got to san antonio to see my dad on friday morning just in time to see things fall apart before my very eyes. physical therapy had been in once that morning to get him up and walking and during the second try...they really f@#% ed him up! his brace is a very large contraption and requires a lot of effort to get it on correctly. the two girls that came in had not been in to help him before and it was quite obvious. during previous pt times two men came in and helped him get up and then get the brace on...these girls had another plan.

while one of them helped him roll to his left side, the other held his right leg. between the two of them they were successful in pulling his new hip out of socket. i stayed in the room since i hadnt been here and i wanted to know what was involved so i witnessed the whole thing. it so wasnt anything that anyone should have to see their dad go thru...i cant imagine the immense pain he was in.

while we were waiting for them to come get him for surgery, one of the drs came to talk to us. i know that carrie, my sister, had been living through this for weeks now and took everything in. i on the otherhand, live 5 hours away and i have the distance to help me..but on thursday everything began to hit home for me. once talking to the dr everything came into perspective. my dad had chondrosarcoma, cartlidge cancer in his right hip joint. upon getting into the surgery going after the initial tumor, they tested his blood marrow and saw that there was still cancerous cells there. they then had to cut away all his butt muscles to get to the back of his pelvis for the other tumor. so...the hip popping out made sense.

basically, his whole right side had been cut through and only staples and sutures were holding him together. his pelvis was removed on the right side and cadaver bone replaced it, a steel ball atop a steel rod replaced filled in the new socket. it is such a hard concept to grasp for me still. with all of this work done...he is so lucky to be at this point. given the severity of the cancer and placement he is so lucky to be able to still have his leg. the dr told us most doctors would have done the replacement surgery, they would have only taken his leg off.

so...at 5:30 last night they took him back down to the or to put his hip back in place. with any luck they would be able to pop it back it without having to open him up. well, after over an hour in the OR we were thinking that an easy fix wasnt an option. a little over 2 hours after going in, dr williams came out. they were able to pop his hip back in quite easily and decided due to the swelling to open it back up. they were able to take almost a liter of fluid away from the incision sight.

so overall, he went through a lot of pain and had to go back into surgery but hopefully that will all get everything on the right track. with removing the fluid, they are hoping that everything will go back together in less time. another drawback is that after surgery last night he will remain in his brace at all times. talk about uncomfortable...a hard plastic brace to lay on...yay! he is starting to develop bed sores on the heels of his feet. they brought a special little boot to help keep him from applying pressure to it.

on a very good note, friday night was the best night he had in a long time. somehow we got him comfortable physically and mentally. he is on the road to recovering after traveling through hell on friday and we are hoping for the best. :) the drs think he might be able to leave the hospital and go to the rehab facility by wednesday.

i cant imagine the pain he has gone through physically as well as mentally...i am so glad he is going to a rehab that can help him with both.

i have been up here with him all day and he is starting to drift off for the night. we are waiting for his next round of pain meds and then hopefully he will be out for a good while sleeping peacefully.