Forgive me for repeating the lead graphic from my last article but things have moved on a tad and it’s looking even better. This morning (it’s around 1500 in Texas), Otter is in surgery to repair the damage from his fall a couple of weeks ago. The medical care in Plano, where Otter has been receiving “care” has been less than stellar. In fact, if it were possible, litigation would be instigated over the way that they have consistently bungled the after-effects of Otter’s accident, 12 months ago.
Otter’s friends felt that he was going backwards where he was and they basically “kidnapped” him and took him to a hospital they know in Houston where assessment was made. What the doctors found proved all the things that we have been saying about the “quality” of care that he had been receiving. I’ll let Jen tell the next part of the story..
“Well it paid off. I can’t call now. Been in ct and xray all day. Literally. Got the trauma guy here at 9am. Begged and pleaded for them to really look at his case. They got the records from plano. They’re not only going to fix it and fix his pain mgmt, they’re going to Lengthen it as best they can to match the other leg in Length as well. No risk that we will lose the leg. All good good news. Getting him to a room . Eating. And surgery in the morning. Fixing everything with the plates and hardware.”
That was yesterday morning. As noted above, it’s moved on very rapidly since then. Oh, I must add that it isn’t actually Otter’s LEG that has been broken. It is, as you can see from the xray, the supposedly titanium bracing that was installed to keep the broken parts of his femur together, is what has broken.
Anyway, the news from Jen this morning is even better…it’s a long read and it’s from the heart but please read on.
“Spending 22 hours straight in the Texas trauma unit will make you reconsider what’s important. I thought I already learned that lesson. I must have needed a refresher. I saw a young boy brought in. I won’t discuss it in detail, but I don’t think he made it. He broke me down. Literally. His gurney was next to Otter’s bed, I- standing next to the bed and then the boy on the crash gurney. I cannot explain how I so desperately wanted that boy to live. How I would have given possibly a limb for the guarantee that he would. I could almost feel him. The life force going away. I cannot explain what you see there in 22 hours. I cannot. I will not explain what I’ve seen Otter battle. I know this isn’t what goteamotter is about, but right now I just am kind of muddled in the head. I’m exhausted. I’m emotionally wrecked. I have the utmost respect for the staff at Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Team. These people go and go and go. The exhaustive emotional strain… what it takes to do what they do. They kept asking if we were ok or needed anything. “We don’t. We’re here… that’s all we need.” I was so afraid I would miss the mark. Not explain it right, not get him helped. That they’d refer him. They started to. That’s where I didn’t behave well. We are out of time. They listened where they didn’t have to. They are going beyond what is required. They see something so wrong and recognize that it has to be fixed and so why stop with part of it. They’ve decided after 5 ct scans that the whole leg needs to be redone, so they’re replacing all the hardware today. They identified an unhealed break from the initial crash injuries, connected to hardware in his lower leg, that’s going to do the same thing the top did. The first hardware wasn’t right and wasn’t ever going to be. They’re replacing everything. Honestly, beyond wanting more than anything for this to restore Otter, I’m terrified that if it fails, – I just won’t say that part, because it won’t. These surgeons #1, care about him, #2, 3, 4, & 5, these surgeons care about him. He’s 3rd on the list. Surgery begins at 10 am, so anytime now. It’s very hard to update everyone. No signal 50% of the time now, so that’s better than 100% of the time yesterday. I’ll get what news I can out on here so everyone can see the same thing. He’s resting and really is hopeful and positive about everything going on. He feels like this is a new chapter, and rightfully so. He’s strong today. Way better than last week. Keep him in your hearts today. I will post an update when he goes in. Thank you for your support. Be patient and kind when you can. Remember everyone has their struggles, no matter how bad yours is. Someone has it worse. Be helpful if you can, sometimes kindness in the smallest token will change a life. PEACE”
Is it any wonder that the goteamotter supporters have been so frustrated. I have to say that I doubt this would have happened in Australia.
Anyway, as I said, Otter is presently in surgery and fingers are crossed for a good outcome. I’ll keep you posted. You can send messages of encouragement to the goteamotter page on Facebook or on Otter’s personal Facebook page