Going under the knife

Today's knee, bruised, swollen, and warm to the touch. Slight pain to the left side, but none other.

Rob has "officially" torn his patella tendon. The tendon has detached from the knee cap. There are no bone fragments (good news). Because of this injury, he has no control of his leg from knee to ankle.

He is scheduled for surgery at 1 pm tomorrow (Thursday, Feb 6) and has to be there by 11am. The surgery should take about an hour. Dr. McGeorge is going to drill 3 holes in his knee cap and thread fibers (some kind of durable stitches) through his tendon and into the holds, pulling the tendon up against the knee cap. This will hold the tendon in place while the knee heals. he will stay in the hospital over night and will come home some time Thursday.

He is to be 100% non-weight-bearing for 6 weeks. And the doctor estimates moderate recovery in 3-6 months. At least one year for the tendons to heal and begin functioning properly The tendon fibers will grow back in a random arrangement, it will take a bout a year to "train" them to reorganize so that they are all in the same direction - parallel with his leg.

He is selling all of his bats, his bat bag, and any addition softball related extras that he has. While it will be nice to have the extra money toward a house down payment, it is sad to see him go through this. I guess it is better to not even have the "paraphernalia" around if you can not use it. :(

Dr McGeorge explained that this type of surgery (and most) leads to depression for the patient and family. His lack of mobility for such a long period of time will be difficult on the whole family. Please be in prayer for Rob as he misses out on some things he loves - tournament softball team continues without him, church league begins (to which he was to coach & play), golf with the guys and as he has to step down from singing on the church praise team. Also, we will lean more heavily on friends and family to help us move into our new home in April.

Which leads to good news! We are going to close on a house March 15! A new home (not even finished yet). It is 3 BR, 2 BA (split floor plan). Lots of goodies, not to mention EVERYTHING is under warranty! Will post images when I can. FOr now...I am off to see to my patient!