Here is a good explanation on Compartment Syndrome + why Brigham needed a fasciotomy. On the drive to Huntsman Hospital in SLC we got a video call from his friend Leo (who is serving an LDS mission in Idaho) it was perfect timing and a fun distraction. We got to the hospital at 9:00am to check in. We were together in Pre-Op for about 3 hours. It took 3 tries to get the IV in and all 3 of them hurt. Good thing Brig is tough. Luckily they didn't remove the wound vac until he was in surgery, one less moment of pain. You will notice he is wearing his new ARSENAL face mask that my brother + SIL got him. Dr. Hobson came in and explained the skin graft surgery, which I found interesting. They use something that looks like an industrial cheese grater to remove skin from his right thigh. Then they run it through another machine that makes holes in it so it looks like mesh. Once the skin is mesh-like it can be stretched and then stitched on th...
Before I get into Brigham's impairment rating, I wanted to document something new we learned in November. Brigham had been having some new pains near the scar where the cut happened, and we were concerned that maybe this was a sign of a new clot. It is so tricky, for 2 reasons. First, he cannot feel all of his leg and second, clot symptoms are the same as what he feels in that leg every day. We called Sheryl to get her opinion and she said to book an appointment immediately. Luckily, he did not have any new clots and she told Brigham eventually he will learn what symptom means trouble. For example, one guy always feels like he has the flu when he has a leg clot, so weird. She said it will take time. Because Brig's injury is so unique, she will always see him if he feels something is off. What we learned that day was Brigham has a chronic clot in the vein just above his right knee with clot strands extending a few inches past the clot. If he is ever seen at a hospital o...
The blood thinners are working and breaking up those nasty clots in his leg vein. Yay! Just what we wanted to hear. There was still strands of the clot in his vein that they hope will continue to go away with use of the Eliquis. The notes in his file from his visit: Patient will be on Eliquis lifelong. We will reimage in September. If all looks well we will do biannual imaging for the next 2 years. At that point will be able to switch to annual imaging if everything looks good. If there is any dilation of the bypass then we will increase the frequency of ultrasound. >>Next follow up will be in September and if there is no clots or complications then they think that will become his new vascular health baseline. Tidbits from the conversation we had with Sheryl: He can travel but needs to wear his compression sock when flying or on long car rides. This will help prevent blood clots. Sheryl (Vascular NP) told us that people at Mckay Dee still ask about him. "How's s...
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