E-mail update sent on April 11, 2001:
It's been a long time since I've sent out an update on my health and well-being. I suspect it's been almost a year or maybe more. Several friends and family members have asked how things were progressing during my recovery and, since there have been a few new developments in recent months, I thought I'd try to bring your up-to-date.
I've had a few computer problems over the last year, which resulted in losing my update e-mail list, so I've tried to reconstruct it as closely as I could to the original. If you know someone who'd like to receive these e-mails, or if you would not, I'll direct you to the links at the bottom of the page where either preference can be sated.
Since I'm not sure where I left off exactly, I'll start with last summer. On the last day of July 2000, I went into the hospital so the doctor could lift the skin graft flap he had placed on my right foot shortly after the wreck. The graft didn't seem to be healing properly therefore, he tried to determine why by surgically lifting the flap. He found a bone fragment that had been there since the accident and removed it. He also said he saw what might have been osteomyelitis (infection in the bone). He scheduled an MRI of the foot to look closer. The MRI didn't conclusively prove infection so we left the foot to heal on it's own without the irritating bone fragment inside.
By this time I had begun to walk with a cane having graduated from the walker, so the surgery was a slight step back in mobility. However, it appeared to be only a temporary setback.
As the summer wore on, I got some better and was able to walk with great ease using the cane. But toward Thanksgiving I had begun to have pain in the foot once again and several times it got so sore I had to revert to the walker for any mobility whatsoever. During this time, however, the wound, which had been draining since the graft placement a year before, had started to heal up and quit draining.
Then around Christmas things began to change. The wound opened back up. Since there was a change in my medical insurance at the first of the year, I was forced to go to a new doctor. After an evaluation period, they had a bone scan done and another MRI, both of which indicated the presence of infection in the bone. So the new doctor started me on a course of IV antibiotic treatment that lasted six weeks. Because there was nothing in my hospital records regarding the results of any cultures done during the last surgery in July 2000, he merely guessed that the same infection I contracted in intensive care was the offending infection now. He started me on the same drug they were giving me in intensive care for six weeks while I was comatose.
During the last few weeks I had been able to walk on the foot much easier, albeit still with a cane, but without as much pain. The wound had healed once again and things looked well.
Until last week ---
Last week the wound opened up again. A visit to the doctor revealed the previous 5 weeks of the IV administered vancomycin antibiotic was apparently all for naught. The infection had not gone away as I had hoped. Rather, it seems the guess regarding the type of infection was incorrect. Now, I've been referred to another orthopedic group to see if they can determine a) what the infection is, and b), how to treat it. Just finding out the type of bacteria causing the infection may require a surgical procedure. I should know more about that after my appointment on Friday of this week.
So how has all this affected my work? Well, I'm not working. My former employer terminated me in December. However, my doctors have not released me to return to work, so my employer didn't have many options. Fortunately, I was able to continue my insurance coverage under COBRA for another 18 months. Whether I'll ever return to work is still to be decided although my primary doctor has stated he doesn't think I'll be able to return, ever. If the disability insurance is as I think it is, that isn't all bad, however. There are still some loose ends caused by decisions yet to be made.
So I'm spending a great deal of time at home these days. I've started doing some computer classes in a couple of different programming languages. One leverages the Internet and was the reason I moved this list to a regular e-mail list. I figured I could put some of the new ability to work for me if not for anyone else. :-)
Well, this has grown quite long. Now that managing the list isn't quite so difficult (thanks to the programming tricks I've learned), I'll try to keep you updated more frequently without creating junk mail in your in box. You'll notice a new e-mail address on this e-mail. I have set up a new web site and domain name at http://www.johnghormley.com. E-mail there is john@johnghormley.com. But the old e-mail address of ghormley@waymark.net is still valid and will remain so. I'm finding it hard to change addresses after having the same one for so long a period. My web site is nowhere near finished as I've been doing behind the scenes stuff instead of the fancy display stuff that's easy on the eyes. I'll try to get around to updating it soon.
Have a happy Easter. My best to you all.
John