Update for August 30th

This is another one of those "where do I start?" type of messages. I will try to keep it simple. I went in Tuesday to have the free flap surgery. The doctor started and thought the wound looked much better since he saw it last (it had not changed and you all know I have pictures to prove it) and decides the free flap surgery isn't needed. He thinks it can be healed with a much simpler procedure (pedicle flap surgery). He goes out to the waiting area and tells my family that he is going to do this other surgery. He returns to the operating room and starts but soon runs into a pocket of puss which indicates the presence of infection. All the doctor can do at this point is clean up the wound, take tissue and bone samples to determine where the infection is. The doc then heads back out to the waiting area to break the latest news to my family.

As I'm waking from surgery, I can see the clock says 9:45. This confused me because I knew that I went into surgery at 7:30 for a six hour procedure. I then overheard some of the staff saying they didn't perform the free flap but I couldn't hear why. Still groggy from the anesthesia, I didn't feel like asking questions and waited for Janay to fill me in.

As it stands now, I am home with a wound vac on my leg. So far, all of the tests show that the infection is in the tissue and not in the bone, which is very good. I will see the doctor next Tuesday and he will decide the next step. If all test show there is no bone infection, the doctor most likely will perform the pedicle flap surgery the following week. The pedicle flap will only require a hospital stay of a couple days and a much quicker return to work. I've added a couple photos that shows the new whole the doctor punched in my tibia. Click here to view the pictures.

Though it has been a frustrating three days, God's hand was in it the whole time. He opened doors when we needed Him to and the end result is going to be a simpler surgery. Janay stayed with me every night and I can't tell you how comforting that was. We even managed a few laughs during our stay. Laughter is wonderful medicine.