So we thought that Mason had his last Doctor's visit Monday, but it turns out he will need at least one more surgery.  He will have to have his right leg re-broken and a wedge inserted to correct about a 10 degree angle.  We knew this was a possibility but hoped that it might straighten as it healed.  The doctor would like the bones to fully solidify first.  This summer was a possibility, but since Mason isn't a huge winter fan and he is signed up for driver's Ed, we opted for December.

If you have seen him walk lately, he looks like he is in pain.  In reality, he is not.  His upper core is just still very weak, and so he walks a bit funny.  He has exercises he should be doing, but he is a bit lazy.  We try to take nightly walks and everyday he is improving.

They will probably take out the two plates on his fibula at the same time they straighten his tibia.  If you look at the first x-ray below you can see the slight angle going into his ankle.  The miracle is that he regrew all of the bone in his tibia.  It was basically a gap between the two ends.  If you look at the bottom two x-rays, you'll see that his left leg healed perfectly.

The Hardware is History

Sorry it's been a while since we updated this blog, but bone takes along time to grow.

Today, Mason had his external frames removed. Under general anesthesia, in a 40 minute procedure, they removed the pins from his legs, ankles and feet.

He will begin physical therapy 3-4 times per week. He can start walking in the swimming pool next week. While the doctor has ordered 6 months of therapy, we think that Mason might be on crutches by the end of the year and walking again shortly thereafter.

We have been truly blessed throughout this ordeal.

Scott

Before:




After:

Location:Primary Children's Hospital

We're Home!

We made it. Mason and Liza flew directly from Flagstaff to Springville on a small plane and Parker, Madisen and I drove home, stopping in Page to pick up the boat.

The plane was a six seater, but they removed the two middle seats to allow Mason to stretch out. The flight was just under 2 hours.

Some neighbors met them at the airport and helped lift him from the plane to the car.

Ward members had already built a new ramp in our garage to make our house wheelchair accessible. They were able to wheel him right into the house. Young men had cut the lawn and the youth decorated the lawn and yard with posters, balloons, signs, and "hearts". The decorating continued inside the house as well. It was a sight to see as we arrived home!

Thank you neighbors and ward members, you're great. We feel so loved.

Mason is doing great. Being at home has completely cheered him up.

One week since the accident

This is Mason's last day here. He will be checking out tomorrow morning! All his monitoring devices have been removed and he is on oral pain killers only. At discharge, they will send him home with a wheelchair, portable commode, and a sliding board to move from place to place. Parker and Madisen are back with us today.

The main goals for today are for Mason to more easily move from bed to wheelchair and get comfortable moving around in the wheelchair.

They will be removing the staples from his head wounds and possibly his puncher wound on his thigh.

He's getting stronger, but his hematocrit is a bit low. These days they are very leery of giving blood transfusions, so, since the accident they've monitored it very closely. Even with the 3 surgeries, they didn't need to give him blood. He's making blood, but he gets weak quickly.

Mason and Liza are leaving about 9:00 am on a good friend's family plane and will arrive at the Springville/Spanish airport about noon if all goes well. Scott, Parker and Madi will pick up the boat at Powell and head home and be there about 8 hours later.

We have truly felt and benefited from everyone's thoughts and prayers. It's truly a miracle Mason is with us and healing quickly. He looks forward to seeing you all.

Love,

Mason, Scott, Liza and Family.

Location:FMC

Wednesday

Mason is making great progress today. He is regaining his strength quickly. He is now off of his IV and completely off Morphine. He's on minimal oxygen.

He's pretty much met every milestone required to come home soon. Hopefully on Thursday.

He was able to get from the bed to his wheelchair practically by himself. He then wheeled himself down the hallway and met up with the therapy dog.

His favorite nurse is Scott. He looks like a biker dude, but if you judged him on his looks you would be completely wrong. He plays a mean Ukelele and Guitelele. He brought his Guitelele in for Mason to play. He even played a tune until Mason fell asleep last night. It was really cool to watch Mason settle down, as long as Scott was playing, his pulse would lower to about 100, when Scott would stop playing it would go back up to about 116-120.

Tuesday

Mason is having a good day today. His recovery from his 3rd surgery is going well. Despite his legs weighing a lot more from the additional hardware, he is able to shift them on his own a bit

He is almost completely off morphine and percocet to just percocet every 4 hours or as needed.

Physical therapy was in helping him to learn how to get into and out of a wheelchair. He still needs a lot of help, but can at least withstand the pain of moving into one.

Across the street is the Taylor House, which we are able to stay at for very little cost. Liza and I take turns spending the night there and with Mason. The nights are getting easier. We still would like to come home Thursday, but as Mason puts it, its still "hour by hour" with him. Really, day by day and improving.

Thank you for your care and concern.

3rd Surgery Complete

Mason's surgery went very well. They did put the external fixator on his big toes and only a single plate on each of his tibias. He is still waking up, but is very thirsty and keeping down water just fine.

The doctor said it went very well and that he might be able to come home as early as Thursday.

Did I mention how great the staff has been here. If you ever have to be lifeflighted from lake powell, opt for Flagstaff.

Here's the new hardware additions. If you click on any of the pictures you can get a better view (if you really want to).





If you were wondering which bone the tibia is, here is a diagram for your reference.

Monday's Surgery

Mason is currently in surgery which is scheduled to be done at about 2 pm pacific.

They changed the plan and are now going to add internal fixators or plates on both bones on both legs. The x-rays showed that bones had shifted and that internal plates would help keep them aligned. The doctor is still going to add one more external frame and pin to the big toes.

That's all for now.

Sunday

Today truly has been a day of rest. Thank you for your fasting and prayers.

Mason has gotten some good rest. His pain has been much less today. He was able to eat a bit, who can turn down strawberry ice cream?

Physical therapy came by and had him work on getting in and out of a wheel chair. He had visitors, the Vaughans, his young men leader and kids dropped by on the way to the funeral of their grandmother. That cheered him up, thank you.

The surgeon talked to us about possible options tomorrow in his surgery. We have decided to keep with the external frames on both legs and not put any plates or pins internal. The x-rays show that things are aligning nicely and that for now, this is better. Tomorrows surgery, which is scheduled for 11:30 AM will be to further cleans the wounds and add a third set of external pins. These will be secured to his big toe bones and will further stabilize the foot and ankle for long term healing.

The staff here at FMC in Flagstaff has been awesome. Every Nurse and Doctor has been great. Being the nearest trauma center for a very large area makes them very experience at this kind injury. Lake Power, the Grand Canyon and the many reservations near by give them lots of experience on accident trauma. We can see the helicopter landing pads from Mason's room. The other night alone, there were at least 6 different helicopter companies that dropped victims off, sometimes two at a time.

The doctor would like Mason to go home by next weekend. If all goes well, we will.

Neck Brace off and already texting

Never too hurt to text your BFF.

Hospital Photos

Location:FMC - Flagstaff, AZ

Second Surgery

Mason's second surgery went well. They mostly cleaned and irrigated the wounds. The doctor was very optimistic and said Monday should hopefully be his final surgery.

He is still in a neck brace and after surgery they re-x-rayed his neck to check for any so far unseen damage. We are awaiting the results. He did have a vanilla protein shake for lunch, his first food since the accident so he's making progress.

He is in a new air bed that auto shifts to keep him comfortable. He also has a new pain management system that allows him to administer his own morphine. He is in alot of pain so hopefully this system will lower his pain and eliminate the swings from larger doses.

Mason's Status

All,

We would like to thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Mason is doing as well as can be expected. His first surgery went well and was mainly to clean out, assess and stabilize his legs. He has external spanners on each leg with pins holding the foot/ankle and upper leg together in alignment and proper span. The main concern for now is infection and blood flow. The color and pulse in both feet are good and for now minimal infection.

This morning he will have a similar surgery to further irrigate and assess his progress. The surgeon reviewed his before and current x-rays and it looks like the bones are lining up well. Either in today's surgery or Mondays surgery they will probably add more pins to lock up his foot to minimize movement. They may also add some internal plates and screws to one ankle which may allow them to remove the external spanner.

We expect to be here for at least one more week. I will keep you advised. Our two younger kids, Parker and Madisen will be staying with my sister-in-law in North Phoenix, 2 hours away and Alexa and Brianna are headed home.

Thanks again for your kindness.

Scott and Liza