Monday afternoon update

Today is a depressing day.

Mom is out of surgery. Apparently, it went pretty well from an operational standpoint. They have screwed a long metal plate into from high thigh to the top of the knee. There is another smaller plate covering below the knee half-way down her leg. They determined that a cast would be enough to heal her wrist and that her collar-bone will heal on it's own. She is heavily sedated right now and we are hoping she stays asleep. The bad news is her femur was completely shattered and it will be 3-4 months before she can do anything other than go from bed to the wheelchair. Then she would be able to start physical therapy and learning how to walk again. So long term, it will likely be a year before she is walking again.

Bill has been pretty agitated all day about his breathing tube. He is fairly alert and focused, which is good but bad because you can tell he is very scared. They finally gave him some Ativan to calm him down so he is mostly sleeping now. The good news is it looks like he will go for his spinal surgery tomorrow so only 2 (hopefully) more days on the breathing tube. I think it will be a big relief for him to get it out. The bad news is right now, they don't really know the extent of the injury to his ankle. They won't really look at it for a few more weeks. But he also won't be able to walk for at least 3-4 months either at best.

About the only bright spot is the room next to Mom may open up today, so the staff has said they might be able to move Bill there. There is a glass partition that can be opened to make it essentially one room.