Sometimes no news is good news, but not this time.

Here is Jared's x-ray from today. If you look at the left hip you can see that it is round like an ice cream cone. Then compare it with the right hip and you can see that the right one is very much not smooth. This shows that there has been permanent cartilage damage to Jared's right hip. It can not be repaired. I am really quite in shock, because I have been preparing myself all week to hear the news that the infection is back and that his bone needed to be drilled and drained. But this news means that it is very likely that Jared will be disabled for the rest of his life. To what extent we don't know, but that hip will bother him and not ever be the same. Perhaps eventually it will mean a hip replacement but they will not do that for quite some time, especially given that the infection is still healing. This may not be exactly what this means, but for sure the doctor said the words "this is very bad news". Not anything you ever want to hear a doctor say. The good news is that it is not life threatening, not cancer. It will just mean some readjusting of life expectations that is all. He may not be able to do school this semester. He may never play sports again. Maybe he will eventually get a cool cane to walk with. This will take time to process and adjust to. Maybe it won't be bad, just different. But it does explain why he is still in so much pain. And sadly there really isn't much to do for this pain.

Right now I am going to help him pack to go on a scout outing, where he thinks it is a good idea to sit on an inner tube behind a speeding boat. The hyper vigilant in me says no way, no how, but at the same time the kid has got to live. The doctor gave approval. So everyone pray that he doesn't come home worse off and that this helps to cheer a kid up, who was just told his life will never be the same.