The End

Seems so long ago that we were updating this blog daily. Here is one last entry to update you all. Sean moved back to his apartment in mid-August. He continues to amaze his medical team. He is 100% weight bearing on his right hip and left leg. He has a bit of a limp, but only uses a cane at the end of the day, when he's tired. The nerve damange in his right knee may take up to a year to completely heal. He expects to go back to work the first part of October and may do some light duty before then. Thank you to all of you for your support. Tom & I needed it as much as Sean. It seems you never stop being a parent. Our family and true friends were there for us and we appreciate all your calls, cards and kind acts. We will never forget all you've done for us. I hope never to have to go though something like this again, but there were many many positive things that came out of this so we are grateful for the lessons learned. Thank you again. Lorraine & Tom

Hurry Up and Wait

The short story is...the much anticipated knee surgery didn't happen. The longer story is: We arrived at 8:15 as requested, only to be told that the surgery wasn't scheduled until 10:30. They just wanted to make sure we weren't late. Thanks so much! Sitting around in the waiting room is not easy for Sean, his leg begins to swell and the pain level goes way up. At 10:30 they annoucnced that the surgery before him was taking longer than they thought and so it would be at least 11:30 before they would take him in. By this time, Sean is extrememly uncomfortable and so they decide to take him back to a pre-op room where he can lay down, elevate his leg and get some pain meds. Waiting, waiting and more waiting. Finally they take him in to the OR at 1:30 PM. About 45 minutes later, we get a call from the surgeon saying he has manipulated the tendons around his knee (something they couldn't do unless he was completely sedated) and he didn't find anything that would require surgery. His ACL and LCL were intact! A short wait until the anithesia wore off and then Sean literally walked out of the hospital (with use of a walker). We were left with mixed feelings...was this good news then? If there is nothing wrong with his knee, where is all the pain and swelling coming from? This doc thought it might be nerve damange related to his hip injury. Guess we'll know more after his next doctor's appt. In the meantime, Sean is back at Kat's, able to put 25% weight on his right side, and using the walker much more now.

Rolling along

Another week has gone by with ups and downs but mostly ups. Sean ventures out by himself once in a while to a convinience store a couple of blocks away. Not so much that he needs anything as much as just being able to do something by himself. He had an appointment this week with the surgeon who worked on his hip. We also got a patient care coordinator involved as Sean was seeing three different orthopedics teams and they were giving him conflicting information. Much better now. The physical therapist says he is doing well, and may be off home care soon. Surgery still set for July 17th on his right knee.

Sunday Report

Sean is doing remarkably well. Doing his physical therapy twice a day. Able to maneuver well in his wheel chair, walker and occasionally using the cane. Still getting pretty tired and sore. More pain since he had begun to wean off the pain meds in anticipation of the next surgery on July 17th. But all in all, he is mending. This weekend he had a couple of outings with Kat and Aaron. It's so great to see him out of bed and up and around!

Even More Surgery

Kat took Sean back to the hospital this afternoon for another doctor's appointment. This time he saw the sports medicine doc to look at the right knee that they haven't addressed thus far. It appears to be a ACL or LCL injury, but since he can't put any weight on that side (hip surgery still healing), they can't properly evaluate it without going inside to look at it. So on July 17th, they will go in and take a look. If they do determine they need to repair it, they will do so at that time, since he will already be under general anesthesia. Sean had the choice of going ahead with it now, or waiting until everything else was healed and then doing it. He thought he might as well do it now, since he was already laid up. Good choice!

Saturday we ventured out for a short time to a gathering at friends. It was good to get out, but I know these little jaunts are draining. He was pretty tired on Sunday.

Another doctor appointment on Wednesday, this time with his Ortho team. More later.

Thursday

The visiting nurse came Tuesday and she was not happy with the swelling on the right foot, plus Sean has been complaining of a "knot" in his upper right thigh. She made an appt for him the next day (Wed) back at Harborview to be seen by his orthopaedics team. What we expected to be a 1/2 hr. appt turned into 4 hours, as he made the rounds of doctors and had another ultrasound on his right leg. The ortho team decided that the "knot" was a collection of fluid, blood and damaged fat cells. They could drain it, but it will just come back. So he has to have another surgery. The plastic surgeon will go in and cut out and repair the damaged area. Should solve the problem. Don't know when this surgery will be yet. He has two appts next week. One with a Sports Medicine Doc (for his as yet untreated right knee). He'll also see his ortho team again. Yesterday they gave him a pressure sock to wear on his right leg which has greatly reduced the swelling. He has to spend more time with his leg elevated above his heart now, until the swelling goes down more. This hasn't hindered his computer time. You should see the set up he has with his monitor on a bookcase above him, and the keyboard on a pillow on his lap. The physical therapist came again today and she seems happy with his progress and that the swelling is down. Sean got to hang out with friends last night for a short time. Sure does lift his mood when he can get out. Comes back pretty tired but it's worth it. All for now.

Tuesday

Sean is settling in at Kat's. Tom & I took a much needed "vacation" and returned to work yesterday. Sean insisted he didn't need us over there as much and so we didn't go over last night. We'll probably go over tonight though. Aaron is working from home this week so Sean always has someone there to get him his favorite "Diet Coke". Friday is Kat's last day of school, so she will be home with him the rest of the summer. The visiting nurse came today again, so I'll get an update on that tonight. He still is quite medicated but becomes more self sufficient every day. He can get into the bathroom with his walker and everywhere else in his wheelchair. Being home is much more restful than the hospital so he can get in lots of naps. Sean has lots of advice for the new home owners (Kat & Aaron) and they are including him in on their decisions. So far so good. More later.

Home At Last!

Not really home - but out of the big house (ah - hospital). Sean's now settled in at his sister Kat's house in West Seattle. Things are going pretty well. He adjusted right away to the wheelchair, in fact we never hear him coming and he sneaks right up on us. He's getting around well using his walker to get to the wheelchair and the bathroom. The home health nurse came this morning and spent 2 hours with him. She was very informative and helpful. Sean will also be having a physical therapist work with him at the house. Things are looking up!

Contact Information

Sean's email address is sean.kelly@kent.k12.wa.us

FRIDAY - Welcome Home Sean!

Again - a roller coaster day. Lots of activity, then waiting then the adjustment of being home. Kat's husband Aaron, waiting all morning for the wheelchair to be delivered. Finally came at noon. Tom & I ran out first thing to find, purchase and arrange delivery of a single bed. Then to the store to stock up on sheets and basic supplies for Sean, and groceries. Tom went to DOL to get the handicap sticker. Kat arrived as planned at the hospital at 4:45 PM to pick him up, only to be told that they wouldn't send him home with any drugs, we'd have to go have the Rx filled at his insurance's pharmacy (Group Health)which by this time was closed. This is after we were assured he would be discharged with enough meds to get him through 24 hours. By this time Sean is extremely uncomfortable and in lots of pain and I'm more than a little annoyed considering I have been asking for 11 days what the procedure was for discharge, and this was NOT the way they told us it would go! Tom and I both talked to the charge nurse and finally she consented to arrange to have him sent home with enough drugs to get him through the night. However since the hospital did not have his drugs ready as they had told us they would, Kat had to wait several hours to get them. Of course the ride home wasn't any picnic. They got home about 7:30PM. We had dinner waiting, but it wasn't much of a celebration. Sean has to adjust to everything all over again. He's exhausted from using the walker. Short trips like going into the bathroom wipes him out. He's not that comfortable in the wheelchair. Adjusting to a regular bed, instead of the hospital bed where he could adjust everything has been a challenge. I think it took a couple of hours last night to get him semi-comfortable (arranging and re-arranging pillows) under, to the side, in between his legs. I think his pain is far more than I would expect to see, but it was a BIG day. Tom & I went home as 12:30 AM exhausted. I'm hoping he got some sleep.

The Best News Ever

Wow! What a day! The nerve block was removed this morning. Physical Therapy came this afternoon and got Sean up using a walker! The best news ever....he is mobile! Three steps and he was wiped out. But for God's sake, he was walking! However slow it was..it was progress. He can put weight on the left leg, yeah the one he just had surgery on Sunday. No weight on the right leg yet. An MRI taken today will give them a better idea of what's to come for the right leg. The best news is....Sean can come home tomorrow. He'll be going to Kat's house (the only one in our family with a one story house). They have a room ready for him. I have to run out and buy a single bed tomorrow (keep your fingers crossed that they can deliver same day). Wheel chair is being delivered tomorrow as well. We are all in a frenzy of activity to get things ready for him to come home. All of us happy, busy, excited, tired, oh and did I mention happy?

Sure Happy It's Thursday

(Kat again)

Nerve block was removed (or that was the schedule for today). The PT (Physical Therapy) Doctor was supposed to come yesterday but couldn't because the nerve block was still in. She's supposed to come today. Hopefully she'll be able to give us more information. I'm going to go visit him after school.

His room is all painted and we are just scrambling to put it together before he gets released.

Today's update

(This is Kat again)

Things look a little brighter than they have in recent days. He had a nerve blocked yesterday that really seems to be helping his pain. He's seeing the Physical Therapist today. Still no word on the date he'll be released, but we're getting his room ready for him. :)

Tuesday

Not unlike the last eight days, this has been a day of ups and downs. When I came in at 5:30 this morning, he was in excruciating pain and had not slept all night. The nerve block they placed in his left leg during the surgery yesterday, did not work. The purpose of the nerve block is to completely block the pain after surgery. It took until 1PM today before they took him back into the OR and inserted another nerve block. This one worked and so now his left leg is completely numb. What a relief! He has a little better appetite today (which translates to; he's eating an eighth of what he normally does). We are so grateful when he has any pain relief what so ever.

Out of surgery

Out of surgery @ 4PM. Surgery went very well. Surgeon is VERY optimistic. Will know more tomorrow.

In Pre-Op

(This is Kat)

Sean is in pre-op right now waiting with Mom. The surgery on the bone above his ankle (hopefully will be today). They are ready and waiting for their turn. Cross your fingers that he doesn't get bumped. We don't know how long the surgery will take. He's really enjoying the cards and emails you send.

Monday AM

Ortho docs rounded @6AM. Lots of patients came in this weekend needing ortho surgery. Sean may get bumped today. Waiting to hear.

Sunday

Day 7 - Nothing new. Pain, uncomfortable, not eating much. Waiting to hear when next surgery will be.

Visiting

Sean can have visitors between 8AM and 8PM. He is in Harbor View Medical Center, East Hospital, Room 618 bed 2. He can have two visitors at a time. He won't tell you but gets pretty worn out when people visit, so please don't stay too long. (Sorry, but I had to say it). He's been reading the emails you've all been sending through the Harborview website. They get hand delivered every day and he really brightens up when they arrive. We got him a mini computer to keep at his bedside, so he can check his email and surf the web.

Saturday

Sean had an OK night. Got lots of rest yesterday, slept most of the day. Had his dressings changed this morning and now has a trapeze over his bed so he can reposition himself Thankful for excellent upper body strength. It's raining today (back to normal Seattle weather). Will probably work on physical therapy today which consists of learning how to get himself to the edge of the bed.

Disclaimer

So you all know this blog is being updated by Sean's mom. I am probably giving you much more than you need but this is very cathartic for me. Please feel free to filter all of this. And if you have any specific questions, text me at 253-951-7450. Thanks again to everybody.

Surgeon's Report

Official diagnosis:

• Associated both column acetabular fracture. Click this link for more info LINK
• Pubic symphysis. Click this link for more info LINK
• Right sciatic peroneal
• Damage to right knee ligament
• Fracture of right leg below knee
• Fractured left ankle
• Right obturator nerve transection

Prognosis:

• 5-7 days in hospital after last surgery
• 2-3 weeks return to clinic for surgeon consult
• 6-8 weeks check xrays - start physical therapy
• 3 months - aggresive physical therapy
• walking at approx 3-4 months

(above subject to change)

Friday

We got him moved to the Orthopaedics floor. What a difference! The room is bigger and brighter. He has a pain med cocktail going now that is finally managing his pain. The word at the moment is that he will have surgery on Monday for his right leg fracture. Heard there might be some PT today? More later.

Out of Surgery

So surgery went until 1PM. Chief surgeon can't talk to us until tonight but the assisting surgeon says things went well. They didn't have to use any donor bone. He has 3 plates and 12 screws in his hip. Also, they looked at his other leg and decided it needs surgery as well. That will have to happen some other time. Things may change, but the word today is 6 weeks in a wheel chair, then to a walker and looking at 3-4 months before he is completely mobile.

From the beginning

May 31st - While out riding his motorcycle, Sean slipped on gravel, lost control and ran into a tree. He broke both legs, and shattered his right pelvic bone. No head, spine or major organ injuries. He was transported first to Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup and then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (Northwest trauma hospital). He spent 16 hours in emergency before being transferred to ICU.

June 1st - Finally transferred to ICU. They are watching him to make sure the major artery wasn't nicked. Doctors tell us he will need surgery to reconstruct his hip. The good weather (it's in the 90's) is working against us. Everyone is going out to play and hence lots of emergencies coming in. Sean keeps losing his place in the surgery line for more emergent cases. Guess we're happy he's not one of those. Sean had 15+ visitors, many many phone calls, texts and emails. Nice to know he is well loved.

June 2nd - ICU all day. Pretty drugged up.

June 3rd - Sean was considered stable enough to be transferred to a regular room. Space is really at a premium so he ending up in the burn ward. He was third on the list for surgery today but by noon they let him know that today WASN'T going to be the day. Big let down. Lots of pain, muscle spasms. Unable to control the pain. Occasional relief. Ate little, drank lots. End of day...GOOD NEWS. Surgery tomorrow. 7:30 AM.

Surgery Day

After four days of waiting, Sean finally made it to the top of the surgery list today. He went into the OR at 7:30. Surgery is four to five hours long, with one to two hours in recovery. We'll update this blog later today.