Sad news from the deep south

It is a sad day in the deep south.  One of my dearest friends lost her beloved husband Mike last night.  A couple of weeks ago Mike was out at his favorite shooting range with his son.  Mike was apparently on the tailgate of the truck putting up a target, when he lost his balance and fell backwards.  He broke one of his lower legs in two different places.  I don't know the rest of that story, until it picks back up in surgery.   A doctor operated on Mike's leg, inserting a metal plate and four screws to repair the breaks.  Shortly thereafter (maybe the next day or two) Mike was sent home with orders to bear no weight on his broken leg for a total of six weeks.  The only other instructions given to Mike and my friend, was that if he ran a high fever, that they should immediately call the doctor, but they should not call if it were a low grade fever.  That was the extent of the information.  They went home.  They had a later appointment and the doctor said all looked to be healing well.



However, after about a week at home, Mike started feeling badly, but he was not running a fever.  He was dizzy to the point of passing out when they helped him up to take a shower, and since he was never one to complain, his wife thought he was feeling residual pain from the surgery.  A day or so later, he said he felt tired and nauseous, so he didn't want to eat.  Even though his family was concerned that he was feeling badly, they never suspected that he was on the brink of death, and they had not been warned of any danger beyond a fever which he never experienced.  Yesterday, they all (my friend, Mike, their children, their son-in-law and their precious granddaughter) spent the day together.  It wasn't until later in the evening that he started to show symptoms of extreme distress, and when he did, my friend immediately called 911.  The EMTs came and took Mike to the hospital and my friend and her children followed.  The sad reality is that Mike never returned home.  It isn't clear if he died in the hospital or in the ambulance.  


I was awakened this morning by a telephone call from another friend who shared this shocking news with me.  She and I got dressed and immediately went over to my dear friend's house -- way earlier than I ever would have went if I were going alone.  Can I just tell you, that I was almost at a loss for words with my dear friend whom I am never at a loss of words with.  I think she is in shock, and I think shock is God's way of getting you through those first few days of the unimaginable.  I wanted to freak out for her!  Instead, I sat mostly paralyzed by the fear of saying something totally wrong.  So, I let her talk, and not talk, and talk, and not talk.  We hugged, we cried.  We will no doubt hug and cry as the days go by.

In the meantime, I want EVERYONE to share information which I think Mike's physician should have shared with Mike and his family.  A broken leg may not immediately kill you, but the potential for a blood clot following such a surgery is real, and you should be aware of the potential symptoms.  After discussing this situation with more than one friend of mine, I heard at least three stories of some relative or friend of theirs who died after surgery on a broken leg.  This is apparently more common than I would have ever imagined.

Be someone's friend and share word of this very real danger!