Monday, August 30, 2010

Progress

Hubby can now walk 6m using the zimmer frame! Which means that he can get to the toilet on his own - progress!

Apparently he'll be in this hospital for at least the rest of the week and then hopefully transferred to Armadale Hospital before being discharged at the end of next week or so.

He's a bit happier now that he has some mobility, but he's really "over" the whole hospital experience.

We were hoping that he would be out in time for Miss 6's birthday party (this coming Saturday), but unfortunately that doesn't look likely :(

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Mmmm

Well saw hubby last night. He's in quite a lot of pain again so wasn't the brightest.

He thanks everyone for their words of support.

However, I'm not sure what is actually going on at the moment. He had an x-ray of the hip yesterday post-op and they are just wheeling him off to do another one now. Also he's been told that he will need to use crutches between now and the second operation to finish the hip replacement off. Apparently the plastic spacer they used won't support the full weight of the hip!

Please keep those thoughts and prayers coming.

[Update]Apparently they needed to redo the x-rays as the original ones weren't showing enough of his leg. So nothing to worry about there.[/Update]

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

An update

He went into surgery around 4pmish yesterday and was back at the ward by 8pm.

The drs are happy with how the operation went - and yes, the infection had got into the bone so it was the right thing to do.

I've not seen him yet, will be going down after work and will pass the messages of support onto him.

So fingers crossed that all will go well and that he'll be out in a week or so and be semi-mobile by then.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Still waiting ....

He's having the operation today, apparently ...

Not sure what time.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Update ....

Well the Registrar got there about 10 mins before I did and had gone by the time I arrived.

Basically, they want to do the partial replacement next week (remove the femoral head and put a plastic spacer in), then it will be waiting until the infection is completely cleared before they complete the procedure.

They expect him to be in hospital for at least a week following the operation.

So the next step is to wait for the operation. I will update this when I know when that will be.

Not the news we wanted

Just heard from hubby - according to his doctor the the MRI showed (or indicated) that the infection has got into the bone and so they want to do the partial hip replacement procedure.

The registrar is, apparently, coming around to talk to him more about it after lunch. As I'm not working today I will head in shortly to be with him.

Please keep those thoughts & prayers coming.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Probably nothing to worry about ....

Spoke to my husband today and he was saying that he had been for another x-ray of the hip and an MRI has been organised for tomorrow. Apparently they "want to know what is really going on".

Mmmm ... he seems to be getting better. He's definitely much more mobile, which is why I find this latest news a bit surprising. However, I do think it is a good idea.

So, guess what, we're waiting again :)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Good News ... hopefully

Well after a Sunday similar to Saturday - with a bit more cooking thrown in here we are at Monday!

Monday mornings are ALWAYS challenging and today was no exception - made worse by the fact that we left my daughter's ear drops at home and had to go back to get them (we were already running late for school).

Actually feeling very stressed this morning - just trying to remember everything and get everything that needed doing done. However the stress has evaporated during the day - which is good.

Spoke to hubby earlier and he was reviewed by the Registrar today, who is pleased with his progress, and commented that if things continue the way they're going he will be out by the end of the week!

Given the amount of movement that he now has, post the change in the anti-inflammatories they doubt whether there could be fractures so are not going to pursue the MRI. Which is also good.

So please, lots of thoughts and prayers that he continues to improve this week and that he is out by the end of it - or at least back at the local hospital.

Thanks!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

A day in the life of ...

Here's my day (as I'm no longer up the range all day Saturdays) ... got up at 8.30am courtesy of my eldest and a phone call from my hubby (he's still in hospital, feeling okayish as long as he doesn't move).

Breakfast was pancakes, made from one of those shaker mixes, supervised by my daughters who were telling me when to turn them. After the second one Miss 8 said I should try the next one on my own :)

She did however make me a coffee, so all is forgiven!

After brekky, we did the wash hair routine and then we wrote a shopping list and hit the stores. Miss 8 needed a prescription filled at the chemist - oh, did I forget to mention that we ended up at the 'After Hours GP' service last night after visiting hubby in hospital as Miss 8 was complaining of an ear ache. She has an infected ear.

After shopping Miss 6 helped me make bolognaise sauce. She did good! Apart from me turning on the stove and helping brown the meat (and transferring from frypan to hotpot) she did it all.

While she was doing this Miss 8 was cleaning and sorting out the pantry for me. She did a good job, but unfortunately she didn't quite get it finished so there's cans and stuff on the floor surrounding the pantry!

Meanwhile Miss 6 had finished the bolognaise and had started cleaning the bathroom and toilet for me! She needed a bit of help but again did most of it herself.

I, meanwhile, was seating in the lounge drinking cups of tea! I wish :) Seriously, there was washing to be done, dishes to be washed, guinea pig cages to be cleaned, fridges to be sorted, but it was a good fun day.

The girls, when I had to interrupt them, said that they had had a great day and wanted to do it again tomorrow :)

At about 3pm we got organised for the evening and I did their hair. The girls were going to a friend's house and then to a disco that the Girl Guides were running. I was going to visit hubby in the hospital after dropping them off and out to dinner with a friend.

The dinner was wonderful! Really nice. I had a salad with mushrooms and fried feta for a starter with a kangaroo & duck main (odd, I know, but the kangaroo patty was fantastic, the kangaroo steak was a bit underdone for my liking and the duck was a bit salty), but all in all a nice meal and nice to be able to relax for a few hours.

Then off to pick up girls and get them to bed.

What did you get up to today?

Friday, August 13, 2010

Still waiting ....

Well they've upped hubby's anti-inflammatories and it seems to have made a difference. He's feeling better, hip seems more flexible and the pain isn't as bad. So now they're waiting to see how things go over the next couple of hours to make the decision on whether or not to do an MRI.

I'll let you all know more, when I do.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Waiting .....

Tuesday morning the Surgeon said to my husband that if everyone else (meaning the Physio / OT etc) are happy he could be out by the end of the week ... today they're investigating a suspected fracture which could result in a hip replacement.

Apparently, the level of pain he is experiencing when he tries to move is concerning and the physio has asked the intern / registrar to review his CT scan to see if there is a fracture.

We're waiting for news ....

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Life - An Update

Firstly I want to thank everyone who left comments, sent emails or phoned me after my last blog post, for your support. It is much appreciated.

I have been visiting my hubby every day and yesterday was the first day that he has looked and sounded somewhat human. On Wednesday evening I took the girls into see him and he could only cope with talking to them for 5mins, last night he spent nearly an hour chatting with them! It was a real relief to see the improvement!

He's still got a long way to go. They had him sitting in a chair for a while yesterday and he said that it was very painful. He's also doing a few steps with a zimmer frame but other than that he really can't do much.

The full body scan to see if there's any more sites of infection was done yesterday and apparently it was clear. However, they still want to do another procedure, but I'm not sure exactly what - bit difficult to discuss these things in front of the girls.

Meanwhile the girls and I are keeping things ticking along with some much appreciated help and support! Actually my girls have been wonderful and extremely helpful during this time. Normal complaining and arguing have been much diminished!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and I will let you know how things go.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Life !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well life can certainly throw things at you that you never expect.

The current situation is that my husband is in hospital having undergone an operation last night for an infection in the hip joint.

It was a bit of a surprise. It started with a bit of pain and stiffness on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday he went to the doctor who diagnosed bursitis and gave him a referral for an x-ray which he was going to get on Friday.

However, by 5am Friday morning the pain was so bad that he had me take him to the nearest emergency department. He was in emergency most of the day. They did an x-ray, CT scan and sent him home late afternoon with some panadine forte and anti-inflamatories. The x-ray had shown a bone spur and some osteo-arthritis.

By 3am Saturday he was back in the emergency department and then admitted to the hospital on a cocktail of drug medication (methadone / oxycontin) and antibiotics as they suspected an infection. They did a biopsy on Monday and the results of this came back Tuesday morning showing an infection.

He was then transferred from our local hospital to Fremantle hospital (about an hour's drive away). Interesting enough, transfers from one hospital to another have to go through the emergency department at the receiving hospital.

He was originally scheduled to go by ambulance at 11am, he eventually got one at 4pm. He was in the emergency department for about 30mins before being seen by a doctor who was a bit put out that he had had some cheese and biscuits at 2pm as they decided they wanted to operate pretty much straight away.

Prior to admitting him to a ward they did a chest x-ray and an ECG, apparently both "routine for a preoperative patient in this age group". Neither showed anything to be concerned about.

However, due to the amount of arthritis the doctor was talking about not just flushing out the infection (and packing the area with antibiotics) but removing the femoral head and putting in a spacer as a pre-cursor to a hip replacement. We expressed our preference for just the wash-out.

I ended up leaving the hospital about 7.45pm as I had "farmed out" the girls and wanted to get back to them and, at that stage, they hadn't decided if they would operate then or the next day. At 8pm I had a call from him telling me that they were taking him to theatre.

I had been told that I could expect the operation and recovery to last a minimum of 2 hours, so my plan was to check on the girls, ring the hospital and go back when he got out of surgery. I rang at 10pm to be told that he was still in surgery. I rang at 11pm to be told that he was still not back at the ward (they prefer family to wait until the patient is back on the ward before visiting). The hospital then offered to ring me when he got back ... the next three hours, to put it mildly, were stressful. I finally got a message just after 2am that we was out of surgery and "ok".

I went to see him this morning, he's actually looking better but was very tired. They've put a radioactive dye in to see if there's any other "hotspots" of infection in about 48 hours. However, when I went back this evening he was looking flushed, was in pain and was running a fever. So it might be that they've not got all the infection.

It is inconvenient that he is in Fremantle hospital, rather than the local one, but apparently that one is best set up for surgery and has good osteo-surgeons on staff.

So anyway, that's the situation to date. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.