Friday, November 13, 2015

Jim's Procedure

Jim's procedure went well.  The nerve block in his leg took 15 minutes, the actual repair of the tendon was about 35 minutes.  Have you ever had a nerve block in your leg?  They use ultrasound to visualize the nerve.  Then they stick a 4 inch needle in to the leg using the ultrasound to determine when the needle is approaching the nerve.  There was a lot of fishing the needle back and forth, looking for the nerve.  Before the anesthesiologist did that, he gave Jim a pretty good whack of happy juice in the IV.  It's unfortunate that I did not get a picture of that needle.  But wait!  The internet has a picture.  The nerve block was in addition to general anesthesia.



The surgeon said that the Achilles was totally ruptured.  He believes he made a good repair and is happy with the results.  
Jim has a gigundo bandage on his surgical foot and leg.  That stays on until November 24, then he gets a hard cast.  There will be 2 to 3 weeks in the cast.  Then there will be the beginning of weight bearing in a boot.  This will be will Jim's position for at least the next three days.  One must elevate to keep the swelling down.


He's doing well.  With the nerve block in place there is currently no pain.  Tomorrow should be interesting.

10 comments:

  1. Happy to hear that all went well and good that they didn't have to give him general anesthesia. Looks like he will have a chance to get a lot of reading done!

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    1. I was imprecise. He also had a general. They had to intubate through the vocal cords, so he was sounding sort of froggy for awhile.

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  2. But of course the internet has a photo! :-)

    I hope he has lots of books and a love of reading!

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  3. Glad to read all went well:) Think of all the books and movies you can enjoy:)

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  4. So happy to hear that is over with. And if the surgeon says it went good that is great news.

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  5. Great news. Here's to getting this miserable year over with, then burning the damn calendar!
    Box Canyon Mark

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  6. Mark, I have already put the matches right where I can find them!!!

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  7. Sending lots of healing thoughts to Jim and sympathy for you too, Allison. It's hard to have a spouse out of commission.

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    1. Thanks for that, Emily. It's tiring. When the spouse is down, one realizes how much work was being done by him and not me.

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    2. Ain't that the truth! We've been on both sides of this one, as have you and Jim. Life is definitely easier with two. :-)

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