Friday, August 07, 2015
Saying Goodbye
After 5 days in the hospital, a final goodbye to fantastic nurses at Hunterdon Medical Center (Michelle and Holly). Hello to home! 
The Wound that Will NOT Heal
This wound looked worrisome. Our orthopedic was just not worried about it. He said it was just granulation tissue.
These pictures were taken 7/23, 7/27, 7/28, and 7/31. I took him into the doctor on Thursday the 23rd and Monday the 27th and the doctor said he felt like it was "within the range of normal". I finally went to get a second opinion on Thursday, the 30th. The (new- primary care, Mitev) physician had been a wound care doctor and said he was worried it was infected. He scraped all the dead tissue away and collected a culture sample to send away. We took him to a new orthopedic the next day (Nenna) who sent him straight to the hospital for admittance and performed surgery the next day to irrigate the site. At the time, he wasn't sure if he was going to have to remove the hardware or not. Thank goodness he didn't have to! He had 3 different strains of bacteria at the site that he had contracted when he was injured. Dr. Patel (the surgeon in Illinois) had warned us this was a potential threat given what the bones had been exposed to on the street.
It Was All Fun and Games Until...
Garett was having a wonderful time with Jackson…until he wasn't. They went out for a longboarding ride (fast, downhill skateboarding). Jackson hit a pothole and Garett tried to go around him and hit one himself. Jackson called 911 because Garett's arm was not supposed to look like that. :) Jackson's mom was in Chicago dropping off a friend and so the pair went to the hospital (parentless!). Kevin was in Connecticut and immediately hopped in the car to get down there. Jackson's parents stayed with him as did our dear friend, Julie Bridge. Two broken bones, compound break through the skin, and an additional fracture. He endured a 3 hour surgery to insert 14 screws, 2 plates and irrigate to prevent infection.
Fun Times for Bekah and Marissa
The girls got to be on TV when they went to the Summer Concert Series for the Today Show in NYC! They went to see Fifth Harmony. 
Marissa Finally Getting to See Her Best Friend, Bekah
I drove Garett, Marissa and Tate (and his friends) to EFY in Kirtland, Ohio. We dropped off Tate and friends to attend the camp. We met Marissa's friend (and her mom, Nikki) at Kirtland. They drove up from Illinois to go home to spend the week with us. Nikki's husband took Garett back to Illinois with him so that Garett could hang out for the week with Jackson, his best friend.
High Adventure
This group of Scouts hiked the Presidential Traverse in New Hampshire. It was quite a feat. 20 miles at tremendous elevation. 
Lloyd Reasor
Kevin went to Marissa's school to do a presentation to her class about WW II. We collected some pictures from Linda of her father, Lloyd Reasor who was a fighter jet pilot during the war. 
