Yet Another Update On John

Another update
Well, there's good news and bad news concerning John. He's still doing great as far as his vitals are concerned. His temp has come down and his lungs are clear. The bad news is that when they went in to remove the dead skin yesterday, they found out that the muscle underneath the skin had not survived either. This was the muscle the surgeon had pulled down and attached under the bone that was left. So now they're going to have to take more off of his leg. I don't know how much...I won't know that until the orthopedic guys see him today and decide what to do.

They had hoped to keep the amputation below the knee, but depending on the extent of the dead tissue, that may not be possible. The other good news is if they have to take it off higher up, the tissue is healthy and should do well. Before they were working with what was left from the trauma to the leg. Now they'll start fresh and if things go the way they hope they will, this might be the last surgery he has to have on his leg. The nurse said today that while he has to have the breathing tube left in until after his surgery, she was going to actually shut the machine off today and see how he did without it. If that goes well, then once the surgery is over, they'll finally be able to take the breathing tube out and he'll be able to talk again once they wake him up.

So once again we deal with this new information as best we can. I'll have to tell the kids once they get home. At this point I'm not really too worried about it. But still...it's just one more thing for them to process. I'm just hoping for this surgery to go well so that he can be awake this weekend so the kids can see him again and he can see them for the first time since the accident. I have received lovely cards from many of you...thank you so much! Each one brings tears to my eyes when I read them and realize just how many of you are thinking of us and praying for us and supporting us even though you're on the other side of the country or the other side of the world. You are all angels disguised as quilters!! :0)

Hugs to you all!