Feet, Hands & Hips

Monday:  Tyler had an appointment with the foot surgeon.  He took x-rays and said his bones are doing really well!  He also said he has never seen a calcaneus shatter so completely like Tyler’s.   Time will tell how completely or to what extent it will heal.    Tyler’s new cast is lighter and protects his toes,    

The doctor also gave him permission to put weight on the left foot.  He ordered a foot scooter, but forgot to take into account his left hip that has another 4-5 weeks before it can handle weight.  His hip has always been one of the biggest worries because of the severity of the damage.   Here you can see Tyler using the foot scooter on his way to therapy. 

  That evening Tyler’s hip was hurting him and the next day his hip popped out of socket.  John tried to get him into the hip doctor, but it will be another week before he can get in.  His hip has popped back in, and we are hoping no long-term damage has been done.

Tuesday, he went to his hand surgeon.  They took more x-rays and will surgically remove the pins out of his left hand on Wednesday the 7^th.  Tyler is excited for those pins to be removed because they have been causing him a lot of pain.  

He is unable to raise his left wrist at all.  There is very little motion in his fingers.  They suspect that a nerve has been severed either during the fall or in surgery.  Time will tell if the sheath is in place (and the nerve can reform) or if it has been severed completely.   In that same appointment the doctor was amazed at how well his right hand is healing.  Interestingly, the right wrist was obliterated during the fall and was expected to have limited if any use at all.  Here we witness another miracle in Tyler’s recovery.  His right (and dominant) hand is functional, he can write, eat and is making huge bounds in recovery. 

Even though there have been some setbacks this week, Aunt Diana made an excellent point.  Things could be so much worse.  How grateful we are that Tyler didn’t break his back or neck.  How grateful we are that Tyler has functioning limbs and will walk again.  How grateful we are that Tyler can talk, feed himself and make jokes.  It was a great reminder to thank our Heavenly Father for the many miracles we have witnessed up to this point.  We will continue to pray for more miracles, but are so grateful for all that has happened thus far.    

Tyler with his awesome therapists!

Tyler with cousins and aunt Floris!