Wednesday, December 10, 2008

He made it back home

Terry came back home last night. He is able to resume his physical therapy with no limitations but his pain threshold. He has a blood infection localized in his ankle for which he is on IV delivered antibiotics for 6 weeks. He has a pic line on his arm, and IV antibiotics are dispensed via a portable pump every 4 hours. Very cumbersome for him, and not a pleasant situation, but at least he is home and mobile. This set up is similar to what diabetics use, so he is not confined to his house. We believe that the infection was introduced during some dental work that he had done the week prior. We now know that antibiotic treatment will be required prior to any more dental work due to the metal in his body, and mouth cuts are extremely open to introduction of bacteria to the body, and metal sites are receptors!
Posted by at

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to here the GOOD NEWS!

Can't lie and say I wasn't worried though! Welcome home Terry! (Again)

HeeHee

Kooz!

:)

December 11, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear of the bumps in the road you have been having. I'm glad to hear that you will be home with your family for Christmas. You and your family are still in our prayers. My boys (14 & 10)still ask how you are doing. It's so nice to see the new pic of you all, I'll share it with my family. Many blessings to you all this Christmas and may you have an incredible New Year!

Blessings,
Pam Cherioli
Kennesaw, GA

December 19, 2008 at 7:31 PM
Anonymous said...

SWEET Update Picture!!!!!!!

The "Ironman"

8)

Kooz!

February 4, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Anonymous said...

LOL I just noticed the "Thumbs up" Dana!

That's AWESOME!!!!

February 4, 2009 at 12:03 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

What Happened?

On Saturday, August 2, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Terry McDowell was involved in a head-on collision on Ormond Road in White Lake Township, MI.

An unknown young-adult fell asleep at the wheel, crossed over into the opposite lane, and struck Terry's van head-on. Police are still investigating.

Paramedics rushed Terry via helicopter to Beaumont Medical Center's Trauma Unit. He is in stable, but critical, condition and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit.

From what we know, there is no damage to the spinal cord or brain. He will undergo more X-rays and scans today to determine if there are further injuries. His injuries, as of Sunday, Aug 3 at 10:00 a.m. include:
> Broken right femur
> A compound fracture in his left femur
> A broken tibia
> A shattered ankle
> Slight cut to his liver
> Dissected aorta
> Fractured pelvis
> Unknown back injury
> Three broken ribs

Terry underwent 11 hours of surgery on Saturday evening. The first surgery was cardiac surgery to repair the damage to his torn, or dissected, aorta. They performed non-invasive heart surgery and used a stent to repair the aorta. The surgery was completed without complications.

The second surgery was orthopedic surgery to repair his broken bones. He came out of surgery strong, but remains in critical condition due to the complications that could arise from heart surgery and a compound fracture of the Femur.

He is expected to remain in the ICU for at least 48 hours.