The Fall of Jerel

WARNING:  THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PHOTOS WHICH MAY BE UNSETTLING FOR SOME OF OUR READERS.  READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.  On the other hand, those very same photos may be gruesomely irresistible to others.  Like me.  It's like back when we had cable and I would watch the health channel and they'd show video of surgeries and other gross things.  I was simultaneously repulsed and attracted, I watched peeking through the fingers that were covering my eyes.  That's how I feel about Jerel's stitches.  Definitely disgusting, but I can't stop staring.

At one of his post-op appointments I asked the doctor how bad his break was on a scale of 1-10.  I never would've imagined a broken arm would mean 2 surgeries and a week in the hospital!  She said it was at least an 8, maybe a 9.  She had seen a worse one where the guy was shot and the bullet went right through the elbow joint itself, but Jerel's was pretty impressive.  (Especially for being self-inflicted, I mean the bullet wound guy had help getting hurt!)  Anyway, she said basically that his was the kind of injury you could show at a national conference to a room full of orthopedic surgeons and everyone would wince and gasp....So here's to you, Jerel, way to go above and beyond!  

After the second surgery they put a splint on for about a week, then a week after that the stitches came out.  We're concerned because he doesn't have much movement coming back.  He can move his hand fine and he can move his whole arm up and down, but he can't bend it at the elbow (there are two titanium plates & 16 screws holding him together, all of which are expected to be permanent) nor can he rotate his hand at the wrist.  The doctors mentioned that if at the 3-month follow up he hasn't regained enough movement then they will probably want to do another surgery.  There is a part of one bone that they pieced back together, but they may decide to replace it with fake bone instead.

So that's the latest (at least that I can think of).  He's back at work, back to cooking (although he can't open lids by himself), but not back to wrestling on the floor with the kids.  He has managed some diaper changes but Eliza kicks too much and his arm is still very sensitive to being bumped.  He wears a sling when he's out an about (work, church, etc.) mostly just so that people will be aware he's injured and hopefully be careful not to run into him.

Don't worry, we'll keep you posted!