Uncle Dan's Surgery

Here is a shot of Dan and Corban just a few days after Corban was born. It's a good one:)

So, yesterday was Dan's surgery on his Achilles tendon. He tore it a few weeks ago playing soccer. Based on conversations with my parents and Dan, it sounds like things went well but the surgery and recovery were not completely what anyone expected. The doctor said when he opened Dan up, there was a lot of scar tissue surrounding the area he needed to work on and that the tendon was much worse than he expected. He told my parents that if he tried to fix Dan's existing tendon, there would be high risk of it tearing again, especially since Dan is so young and active. So, the doctor had to make a 6 inch incision (I think behind Dan's knee but I'm not sure; I haven't seen him yet) to do what he needed to do. My Mom said something about the doctor having to use part of a pig to make a new tendon for Dan so that is something to tease him about later:) Anyway, after the surgery, Dan wasn't feeling so well from the anesthesia but just wanted to get home. I think he was home by 2 p.m. yesterday and he threw up a couple of times as the anesthesia wore off. But he is feeling a little better today. He told me that when he first woke up, he was having trouble breathing (probably another result of the anesthesia) so he kind of sounded like he had a sore throat over the phone today. Now he is recovering and what a long road it is going to be! Apparently, he has to keep his leg elevated above his heart for the next 8 weeks and I think my Mom said something about him having to keep his foot pointed vs. flat; otherwise, he could risk tearing the tendon again. Then I believe he'll start physical therapy after that. At any rate, the doctor said it will be a good 6 months before Dan feels back to normal. Please keep him in your prayers and feel free to send him an e-mail or give me suggestions on fun things to do while he's laid up. (Also, I would like to say that some of the above may not be completely accurate as I tried to remember what everyone told me as best I could so don't quote me!)

On another subject, Corban is doing a little better today. He barely ate or drank anything from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. yesterday but napped 4 hours during that time and threw up again at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. At 7 p.m., he was ready to sleep again so we put him down and he didn't wake up until 3:30 a.m.! And he wasn't throwing up- he was just crying because he was hungry. So, he drank about 6 oz. of rice milk and went right back to sleep- praise the Lord!- and hasn't thrown up since so we shall see. He was up at 7 this morning but fell asleep again at 9 a.m. Keep praying for his health if you think of it- this flu is nasty.