Ankle Saga Part VI (The Finale)

Just as we thought we were getting ready to wrap things up with this whole ankle mess we got another surprise thrown at us. Sometime around November 11 or 12 Jay started complaining about some pain in his right side where his ribs are. We dismissed it for a few days. One night, the 14th I think, he was complaining quite a bit about it. My instinct was to take him in, better safe than sorry. We went to the urgent care and after doing tests and a CT or x-ray (can't remember which) we found out Jay had developed some blood clots in his lung. Are you kidding me? I think our initial reaction was shock and then after that a lot of worry. Blood clots in the lungs is certainly something you never want to hear you have. They admitted him that night and started him on blood thinners. The little ones and I went up to spend some time with him the following day. They were happy to see him.

 They were using the remote for the TV as a phone. Aiden was pretending he was talking to Grandma Kinney. I love his smile.

 Olivia was just happy to lay in bed with her dad. By this point I think not just us, but our kids, were just so done with having Dad in the hospital.

 Once the doctor felt he had the medication right Jay got to go home. I believe that was the afternoon of the 16th. I have to admit I was pretty nervous for a little while. I was terrified that at some point one of these clots was going to move and things were going to get really bad. It was like anything else though and as time went on we just learned to live with it. It became less and less of something we worried about every day. 

Sometime after all the blood clot drama calmed down the home health care nurse was noticing that Jay's PICC line site was not getting better. It went from red and itchy to developing blisters. This of course compromised the ability of the site to be sterile. The nurses had consulted with their boss and tried every type of cleaning solution and bandage there was. Not one solution or combination of solutions worked. It got bad enough that when the nurse came one time she was insistent he go to the hospital. She just didn't think it looked good and she wasn't comfortable leaving until she knew that was where he was headed. She spoke with her boss several times and with the infectious disease doctor and she wouldn't leave our house until they gave the OK for her to send him. So Jay ended up back at the hospital where they ended up removing his line. They discovered at the same time that he had developed a clot at the site. Joy! The next day he went in and they put the PICC line into his other arm. So poor Jay had to suffer for a few more weeks with a line in his other arm. That site ended up severely irritated too but the line wasn't in long enough for it to get as bad as the other one had. After just three more weeks or so of the line Jay was finally free of it. It got taken out a couple weeks into Jay's new job. So that would have been a couple weeks into December. The day that thing came out was one of the best days ever. Jay's leg was healing beautifully, we were encountering no more problems, and the PICC line was gone. So he had 6 months ahead of oral blood thinners and weekly blood tests. We would take it though. 

So here we are. The story is done. Jay is still on the blood thinners but everything is going fine and things have gotten pretty much back to normal (as normal as you can get for our family). This was a chapter in our life that stands out as the most difficult time in our married life. It was challenging, on top of several other big challenges, but we survived the ankle adventure. After all, what else can you do? We are so glad it is pretty much over. We learned a lot over those months but it is not a time I ever wish to repeat. There you have it folks. The saga is finished. There is no more. 

The end

Or so we hope. . . .

Ankle Saga Part V

On to September. It took a long time for the wound to heal. After stitches were removed I had to pack his wound with gauze strips. This picture was when things were really starting to look better and I don't think I was having to pack the wound anymore. Finally a breath of relief again. We were done with that and things were going pretty well. For then at least.

We began to notice that the swelling in Jay's leg was getting a lot worse. He was working a temp job and he would come home and his leg literally looked like a tree trunk. It was just swollen and big from the foot to the knee. It was awful and he was pretty uncomfortable. The advice was to just keep it up as much as possible. That helped a tiny bit but it really didn't do too much to relieve things.

We worked our way through a good portion of October and his leg just wasn't getting better. Then, to top it off, he developed another wound on his same incision site. We knew this wasn't a good sign so we got in to see the surgeon right away. We were there for a good hour to hour and a half while the doctor thought and we thought. The final decision was to go back in for surgery again. The last resort was to get the hardware out of his leg. Though there was no infection found last time, I think we were just out of options. We didn't know what was going on. We took the time the following day to consult with our primary care doctor and got the second opinion we needed to feel ok about another surgery. He confirmed for us that there was no doubt this was what needed to be done.

October 23 brought Jay to the operating room for the 3rd time in just less than 6 months. 

At this point we were just rolling with things. That was all we could do.

Let me tell you, at this point we were putting on the happy faces. We were just going with the swing of things, expressing to people that we were hanging in there and what was there we could do about it. But inside we were both spent. We were exhausted, I think in every way possible. When was this nightmare going to end? Not yet. . .

Our primary care doctor called his friend, an infectious disease doctor, to get involved in the matter. When the surgery was done the doctor came out to be the bearer of bad news. They were able to find significant infection under the plate and had discovered the infection was indeed in his bone. They couldn't find it the previous surgery because it was under the plate. It was horrible news. We had been told through all this that we didn't want it to be in the bone. That there was relief it wasn't there because that is when things get bad. Well, they did get bad. It was awful. I was a wreck. It meant some serious antibiotics and a couple days stay in the hospital. He couldn't leave until the infectious disease doctor new exactly what kind of infection it was and they figured out his meds.

The results came back and it was for sure a staph infection but thankfully not MRSA. A blessing amid all the crap we had experienced thus far. The course of meds was determined. They installed a PICC line so Jay could receive IV antibiotics at home. For anyone who doesn't know what a PICC line is, it is a tube that goes into a vein in your arm and then goes to your heart. It looks something like this.

He got that put in and on October 26 he got to go home. That is when we learned how things were going to go with this IV antibiotic thing. A home health care nurse came over and she taught us how to do it. Yes, indeed, we did have to do it on our own. I was so freaked out by that at first. Especially because they tell you over and over how important it is to be super clean and sterile. Because of course, if you get an infection in the line that infection goes straight to your heart. And that right there is a recipe for some serious trouble and very likely death. Ok, thanks guys, no pressure. 

 The nurse actually didn't even do it for Jay. She taught him how to do it himself. This nurse was the first of 4 very nice nurses that we had in our home. I really wish I had a picture of us with Fiona. She is the nurse who ended up coming the most. We probably saw her a couple times a week for a few weeks. She was so nice and so laid back. She was also very assertive about dealing with the issues with Jay's line site. If it wasn't for her he may not have ended up at the hospital and discovering he had the clot. She really pushed the issue and we are thankful for that. She was truly a bright spot amid all the darkness of the situation. She is a good, good woman and we are glad we were able to get to meet her and have her as a part of our lives for just a little bit.

This is what just one week of meds looked like. I believe the dosage and the frequency was a good indication of the seriousness of the infection. I think his dosage was on the higher end. Three times a day we had to do it. It certainly became a part of our daily life. Just another part of our routine. 

 This is what was required for just one of the three treatments every day. Hand sanitizer first, always first. An alcohol wipe, a saline flush, an alcohol wipe, antibiotics, alcohol wipe, heparin, alcohol wipe, saline flush, done. The heparin went away early on but the rest stayed part of the routine the entire time.

So thus became our lives. It certainly was not the end of it all. It only took a few weeks and the site where Jay had his line get irritated. It just started out being red and itchy. Sometimes it looked worse than others. He suffered through it though. It happens and the nurses didn't see a real need for concern. So the hardware was gone from Jay's leg, the IV antibiotic regimen was in play, and we were on the road to resolution and recovery. Or so we thought. . .

Ankle Saga Part IV

Ok, so we were home free. Jay was recovering. Life was starting to get more normal. He was walking and things were looking pretty good. We made it through all of July and a good portion of August and then things got exciting again. I believe it was August 23 or 24 when things started going bad. We were out to dinner and a spot on Jay's ankle really started bugging him. He complained enough about the pain that I took him to the urgent care. The doctor decided it was an infection. He notified Jay's surgeon and Jay had an appointment to come in first thing the following week. He left the urgent care with some antibiotics. We put a hot compress on his sore when we got home. Then, I will spare you the details of what came of that. It was gross and a lot of nasty infection came out. He felt relief but he ended up with a hole in his leg.

The start of the next week I took Jay in to see the surgeon. It was determined at that time that they were going to open his incision back up to see what was going on. The doctor felt like it was the safest thing to do. So that Wednesday, August 28, I took Jay in and they did just that. They opened up the incision, flushed the whole thing, looked around really good, and closed him up. The doctor said they cleaned everything out good but that there was no sign of infection inside his leg. That was good to hear but a bit frustrating considering it set us back a little with Jay off his foot again. It was worth it though to make sure all was well.

So, drama number 2, dealt with and done. Infection should be resolved and we know there was no problem inside his leg. The best guess was the wound was caused by a stitch left in or just irritation from a stitch. All was well and we were back on the road to being done with this mess. We wish. . .

Ankle Saga Part III

 Roughly 3 1/2 weeks after getting it on, on June 25, cast number 3 came off. 

Unfortunately when they pulled it off Jay's leg looked like this.

 It got wiped down with some antiseptic wipes and the doc gave him a diagnosis of a fungal infection. It was very likely brought on because of having a cast on for 3 weeks in the summer. He figured that even with us being super safe during showers, just sweat and no room to breathe caused the infection. It was sort of gross. It leaked fluid for several days if I remember correctly. It itched really bad, poor Jay. It just required some meds and eventually a topical cream. It took a super long time for this to get completely resolved. Jay ended up at our primary care doctor who prescribed him some more topical cream. It was a process but hey, it could always be worse right? 

 You can see in this picture the swelling in his ankle and the difference in color of his entire leg compared to the other one. Us and the doctor knew it was just because of the surgery though so it was just about elevating it as much as possible and giving it time. No big deal right? That's what we thought. . .

Ankle Saga Part II

I keep things brief if I have any intention of ever getting this story down at all. 

So to pick up where I left off. . .

The next day, May 06, Jay was doing a bit better. Pain was still pretty intense but he wasn't as bad as right after surgery. So it was just a day of rest and then getting him up and mobile. He tried crutches first but he was just too weak to handle them. They brought in a walker later and he did much better. Since they established he could get around they were able to clear him to go home. 

He stayed one more night and fought off a fever over night. It went away though so there was no need to be alarmed about it.

 So on Tuesday the 7th he got to come home. It was a process to get him in the van and then out and settled when we got home. Moving was most definitely very difficult for him for the first couple weeks at least. Even using the walker required a lot of effort because he couldn't put any weight on the foot at all. No weight bearing meant he had to hop. He being exhausted still, drugged up, and by no means a little dude, it made for a lot of tiring work to get around.

 Olivia was definitely happy to have Daddy home. I believe at first, she was the only one who would really go near him. You just gotta love this little girl.

It was good for him to be home and I know he was glad to be out of that hospital. I had the awesome job of giving him blood thinner shots twice a day every day. That was exciting. 

Then we enjoyed some Panda Express after several days of limited eating for Jay.

The morning of May 10 we went in for his first post op check up with the surgeon. He got the bandages removed for the first time since surgery. I was so anxious to see what everything looked like. It did look pretty gnarly. 

 Lots of blood soaked bandages as expected.

 The puckering where the stitches were was the craziest to me. I couldn't imagine what the end result was supposed to look like.

 He had the two long incisions on each side of his foot and then two small ones on the top of his foot. You can see the stitches on the top of his foot in the picture above.

 The bruising was pretty insane too. All over his foot and almost up to his knee.

Dr. Haywood came in and checked things out and said everything was looking great.

With the good to go, Jay was on to cast number 1.

 This is Ernie the cast guy. He was super great, like everyone else there.

We got our first view of the post surgery xrays too. Pretty cool if you ask me.

 A plate and 16 screws later and this is what Jay's new ankle looked like.

A cast would not be a cast without some well wishes. This one was hands down the best. Our two most very favorite, awesome missionaries signed it. Elder Eddy and Elder Tuttle. Can't even say how awesome those guys were and how blessed we were to have them in our home so often. I think about them often and we sure miss them.

Elder Philips who was on splits one night signed too. It was the only time we saw him. He was great though.

10 days later on May 20 we were back at the doc to get cast number 1 off. And so the routine began. Cast off, (that is Genevieve another of the awesome staff) 

 x-rays,

Still looking pretty gnarly,

 stitches out this time,

 then cast number 2 on.

This one even got put on by the doc because Ernie wasn't there. Doesn't happen often but Jay was lucky like that. Truthfully though, you can tell he doesn't get a lot of practice these days with casting. Ernie does a lot better. :)

Then 2 weeks later on June 03 cast number 2 came off.

 This was an extra special cast because Zoey's playgroup friends signed it. 

 Still some decent swelling but it was really looking better.

I don't have a picture but next came the red cast, number 3. And so this part of the saga ends. Where we thought things were going to start wrapping up but what was to come, we had no idea. . .