Post-op news

Jim came out of surgery late this afternoon and is now recovering in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU). He is intubated (meaning he is breathing through a tube for now) for the night, and his team will remove the tube tomorrow morning. In the meantime, he'll be unconscious as his body recovers.
We had an informative talk with his surgeon, Dr. Robert Monsey after he came out of surgery.
Some of the highlights of the conversation with the surgeon are:

–The surgery was successful- in that they were able to stabilize the injured areas of his spine using screws and rods.

–The surgeon discovered that some of Jim's ribs were broken in the accident, which creates a risk for some lung problems such as pneumonia. The chances of this are higher than we'd like and could set back his progress so this is a big area for prayers and will be a big focus over the next few days.

–While Jim can work on his strength and mobility starting in a few weeks, it will take six months for the strength of the bones in his spine to reach 80 percent strength and 12 months to get to 100 percent. He'll be getting periodic X-rays to monitor the hardness of the bone.


The hopeful scenario at this point, and what everyone here is praying and working to accomplish, is that Jim will remain in the SICU for about three more days, and then be transferred to Orthopedics, where he will recover for three to five days. If Jim shows the signs of strength and recovery necessary then Jim would then be transfered to the Fanny Allen rehab facility, where they specialize in rehabilitating spinal injuries like Jim's. He may be there for weeks or perhaps longer.

(If for any reason the recovery in Orthopedics doesn't go according to plan, the medical team said Jim would be transferred to a "sub-acute" trauma center, where they'll work to get Jim's strength up to prepare for Fanny Allen (the doctor said about 20 percent of people Jim's age can't go straight to Fanny Allen).)

As Jim begins his journey toward recovery, his team will include his surgeon, the SICU team as well as his rehab doctor from the Fanny Allen rehab facility. These folks will be looking after him to ensure the recover goes well through all of the stages of his recovery. (We cannot even begin to share our sincere and deep appreciation for the wonderful individuals and teams who have helped Jim get this far!)

The family has asked that I share their deepest appreciation and love for all of the well wishes, love and prayers that have been sent our way. We know that our Heavenly Father hears and is answering those prayers every moment of the day.