Monday Afternoon, June 14, 2010 at 1600

Good Afternoon,
Well, we haven't seen David yet today he was taken for surgery about 7:00 this morning and the physician came to talk with us about 3:30. So, I'm thinking they started about 7:30 and ended about 3:00 so that is another 7 1/2 hours of surgery.

Yeah, the Fixator was changed. He will still not be able to set all the way up but, I am sure, they don't want him putting that much weight on his pelvis just yet. The Fixator took a great deal of time today because the screws have to be guided through the vessels and nerves in order to avoid any further damages being done. From all I can understand, it is very very intricate surgery and takes an enormous amount of caution and time to get it right. They can take all the time they need - I would not complain. We were told that, barring any complication, the Fixator will not be changed again until it is taken off.

The right leg looked very good today. They re-applied the Integra and are really optimistic that the wounds will close extremely well. The left leg had some new mold but it was a mold that is very common and he is already receiving antibiotics that should take care of it with no complications. I say, should, because every surgery includes taking cultures and it takes 3 to 4 days to bet a determination of what exact kind of mold it is. When in this situation, the surgeons have to make a decision as to whether or not they should close with the Integra or keep the would open for awhile longer. Their decision was to close with the Integra and they feel like they should be able to do skin grafts in about 2 weeks.

They did not make any changes or revisions to the damaged areas of his right hand and arm today. They said everything looked great. It is very amazing to me that, with all the cuts, scars, rips, missing pieces, indentations and needs for further surgeries, the surgeons can say the right arm and hard are looking great - even more amazing, we agree. When David woke up and was surprised to see he still had his right arm and hand, they look better than great, they look fantastic.

With no unforeseen surprises, the next surgery will be next Thursday. If there is someone out there that has nothing to do for awhile, maybe you could count how many surgeries David has had so far. I've lost count. I believe he is at around 15 so far - including the initial surgery in the field, the one at the hospital in Afghanistan, and the one in Landstuhl, Germany.

Lynnette just popped her head in and said, "HE's BACK!" See ya later.

Gordon