An Epic Tale of Hipstoric Proportions

I know that I have been fairly cryptic and silent about how Jared is doing since his hip replacement surgery on November 7th. I haven't written about it for many reasons. When people ask "How is he doing?" I really don't know how to answer. And not having an answer makes it hard to talk about I suppose. So here are some pictures that will perhaps prod me to think of what to say. I CAN say a huge thank you to everyone who is thinking of us and praying for us. It means more than you will every know.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Here is a picture from back in July, when he was still in the drug induced comma and we didn't yet know what was wrong. I can certainly be thankful that he doesn't look like this anymore and that they figured out how to get him well enough to leave the hospital. He was on a ventilator for 10 days, in the PICU for 18, and the hospital 25. He had 5 different surgeries while he was there. All this from a little staff infection that settled in his right hip and went septic. Not the best month of the year for him.

Here is a cute picture of Dr Magic. This man is actually disabled himself and has to wheel himself around on his chair. What a great example of cheering others even though you yourself are hurting. Jared really needed this cheering because it was not fun to wake up and find out you have lost the ability to do so many of the things you used to do.

Here we are the day we left the hospital. Silly, silly me thought the worst was behind us. And look how short his hair is. Man that child has grown some hair in six months. But I figure that when you have no control over so many things in your life, if you want to control your hair, go ahead. We'll see what happens come January. Also he is so thin in this picture, because he lost 20 pounds. I know most of us would like to loose weight, but this is not the way to do it.

Here is the biggest scar from the first surgery. When the doctor cut him open to do the hip, he used this scar but had to make it longer.

Here is Diana doing her best Vanna White impersonation to show off what my family room looked like after it was turned into Jared's new bedroom. See the brown blanket on his bed. Some very kind people in Kingwood Texas sent it to Jared. One of my sister's good friends had her Church tie it for him. It came with a beautiful note stating that each knot represented a prayer that was said in his behalf. It is very warm and cozy and immediately became his blanket of choice to sleep with. It is heartwarming to know that there are still good people in this world.

All of our bedrooms are upstairs and so he had to sleep in the family room. This was convenient for me since it was right next to the kitchen, I didn't have far to go to carry his meals. And his new room had the TV, video games, and DVD player, all things his real room lacks. Here is the couch I slept on for a month after his hip surgery.

Here is me, in my best "when will these doctor appointments ever end" face. I am not sure why Jared took this picture of me, but it pretty much sums up how I felt this fall. This picture was taken in celebration of our 200th visit. So much fun, orthodontist, infectious disease, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapist, pediatricians, and even the dentist. Good grief Charlie Brown.

This is Jared on his way into the hip replacement. He looks pretty calm. Calmer than me that is for sure. And he had just gotten used to wearing underwear again when they had to go and put him back in a hospital gown. (sorry Jared, TMI I am sure)

Here are our lovely hospital accommodations. You can see the chair I tried to sleep in the first night. Then you can see my contraband cot that I snuck in. Total lifesaver. And look how close I am to him, so I could be right there whenever he needed something. So handy.

Here is a picture of Jared getting an EKG. Because there is nothing upsetting about that when you need a test to check out your heart performance. They were worried because his heart rate was so high, but they decided that it must just be from the pain he was experiencing.

And because it was so fun the first time, they did it again the next day. Jared keeps telling me he has a six pack, and I keep telling him that it is just his ribs sticking out.
Here is a lovely closeup of the would, hope it doesn't make you throw up. It took 22 staples to put humpty together again. I think it rather looks like a shark bite.
Here is an x-ray of his new bionic hip. I had to do some censoring to keep this family friendly. Sorry I don't have the same editing skills as Funny Farmer.

And last but certainly not least, is a picture of Jared with his surgeon. Also if you look closely you can see a card on Jared's lap. This is so he can get through metal detectors like at the high school football games or the airport. Pretty cool, huh?

So the bottom line is that Jared is alive. But he has been to hell and is not yet back. And apparently they like you to have a parent escort when you go to hell, kind of like an R rated movie.

His hip pain is gone, but it is his darn foot that still hurts. Also the muscles in his leg have tightened up and it is really hard for him to straighten his leg all the way. These two things combine to make walking extremely difficult. The doctor had originally said that he would be off his crutches by now, but that is not the case.

Jared has told me that he can go back to school with his crutches, and I am hoping that is true. The next semester starts on Jan 18th and that is our goal for him to go back then. I am fairly skeptical, perhaps cautiously pessimistic about that. He still has trouble sitting up all day long. If he manages to go to school and complete this semester, then he will still be OK with a little summer school. If he ends up not completing this semester, he will have to repeat ninth grade. I am desperately trying to avoid this for him.

Two weeks ago we moved his bed back upstairs. Each night he hobbles up the stairs and in the morning he hobbles back down. This means that I am back to sleeping in my bed as well. Oh happy day.

Jared hate going to physical therapy and fights tooth and nail not to go. He drags his feet and does his best to make us late every time. I am so tired of trying to make him do things he is insistent he won't do. Even his exercises at home, are a pain.

The physical therapist says that we must make him straighten his leg. I asked her just how does she suggest I do this. She said that ultimately it is up to him. Somehow I must convince him to want to do this.

It is in this department that I feel like the biggest looser/failure. My super hopeless ways have rubbed off on him, or he started it. I am not sure. But he seems to not quite believe that all this will make him better. Most of his friends have gone one with their lives.

He has had the sweetest seminary teacher who has been wonderful to visit him and bring some of the class to visit as well.

So his progress is ever so slow and ever so slight. He still needs help to do most things that need doing each day. Maybe when he gets back to school it will make all the difference to his outlook and attitude.

I can't help but worrying that somehow I should have taught him all these great lessons about faith and hope and relying on the Lord to get through things. Somehow it is my fault that I can not make him get better faster.

So we will keep on keeping on. And someday we just might return to somewhat normalcy.