Today Dr. Tarkin, Josua’s Orthopaedic surgeon, told us that Josua is doing well and that tomorrow he will undergo his first irrigation and debridement operation following the bone setting and rod placement yesterday.
To recap:
Joshua suffered a compound fracture of his left tibia. Orthopaedic surgeons placed a metal rod through the tibia bone and cleaned and re-attached the skin that had de-gloved around his ankle. He will have to have several follow up irrigation and debridement procedures in order to prevent deep bone infection (osteomyelitis)
He will have to have some sort of muscle flap to repair lost muscle and tissue, and a bone graft to replace a large part of bone that could not be repaired. The muscle flap will be grafted from another place on his body.
His treatments and recovery will take a considerable amount of time. He will have to remain in Pittsburgh for a very minimum of three weeks, and could be six weeks or longer depending on how fast his body repairs the damage and the absence of any infection.
At the time of this writing, he has been in the hospital for close to 24 hours and is taking strong pain medication and two different antibiotics intraveniously. He is resting well and remains in good spirits. He jokes with everyone even though he is obviously in pain. Josh is one of the finest people I have ever known, even if he is my own son.
Your prayers are much appreciated for his rapid and complete healing and recovery.
–Sheri