Over 20 years ago my wife, Twila, was injured in a horrific car crash. The SUV in which she was riding was hit head-on outside of Glasgow, Kentucky by a young man on drugs. The driver of the SUV was killed instantly and Twila would have also perished if not for a couple of extremely brave Good Samaritans, some wonderful first responders, and a talented and dedicated Vanderbilt helicopter pilot who found a way to reach her in adverse weather. Even then they didn’t expect Twila to survive, nor did they expect her to walk again. Boy, did she fool them! She lived and a few months later was in rehab in Glasgow learning to walk again.
For 20 years my amazing wife did all the everyday work and fun things that were normal for her and if you didn’t look closely, you would not have known she had a slight limp. Then a couple of years ago it began to get worse and finally several months ago it got to the point we knew something had to be done or she would be in a wheelchair soon.
We visited the office of a respected orthopaedist in Bowling Green and met with his Physician Assistant who took and reviewed X-rays… seeing all the metal in Twila where an incredible surgeon at Vandy had put her back together with mesh, screws and rods, and the PA projected that a hip replacement was the right choice and would solve most if not all of Twila’s issues.
However, when the pictures got to the PA’s boss… the guy who would wield the knife… his answer was… “No… this is one that needs to go up a notch.” He sent us to a facility in Nashville that specializes in joint repair and replacements and we met with a surgeon there who I laughingly told everyone is “12 years old and needs a haircut!” But he was extremely kind, knowledgeable and honest, letting her know the goods and bads of what to expect. Twila didn’t just have a horribly damaged pelvis and hip, but over time the muscle and tendon had been damaged. If it was only the hip, she could walk the same day as the 1.5- to 2-hour surgery. If it was also the muscle and tendon… well, that was a different story.
After the over 4-hour surgery the results, according “Kid Doc”… see what I did there… were great. The hip replacement should eliminate all or most of the pain and it also helped the nearly 2-inch difference in the length of her legs. But, and this was the big but, he had to repair the tendon and completely re-attach the muscle. Now she faces 3 months of being mostly in a wheelchair. Absolutely no weight on the hip replacement. This also required an extra day in the hospital.
So, what about the pee and poop? Evidently those are big deals after being on a lot of pain drugs for a major surgery. So, Kid Doc and the wonderful nursing staff had a celebration and did a little dance when Twila was able to go Number One AND Number Two… making her, in their eyes, a True Number One! But best of all it allowed her to leave the hospital and come home with me.
Now we will be adjusting our world greatly for the next few months and ask that all our wonderful readers, clients and friends be patient if things move a little slower or look a little different than usual. We are doing our best not to let our new challenges and journey affect anyone else, but some things are even beyond the talents, skill and determination of my amazing partner and wife. However, feel free to send up a little prayer of thanks for Twila’s Pee and Poop success. It is just the beginning of my amazing partner’s journey to a renewed and better life.
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