Les Fountain's Cancer Experience

"Hi everyone, I'm finished with my surgery, and my foot feels pretty good. Thank you for your prayers." ~Les Les recovering at home - Day '0' Les has a plate vertically along the bone on the outside of his left leg down near his ankle and then some screws on the inside of his ankle with some support straps horizontally between. It can remain in his leg forever unless there is future discomfort. His total recovery is projected to be 6-8 weeks. Under normal circumstances, a person with this surgery would get a walking boot and be able to start putting a percentage of their weight on the foot after a couple of weeks, but with the complications of his right leg being impacted by the cerebellar atrophy and not being able to control his ability to walk very well on his right leg, he will be non-weight bearing on his left leg for at least 4 weeks. Then we will explore the boot idea. This afternoon was fairly uneventful. Les came home and texted his friends about his surg...

Two Steps Forward... Things were looking up in late October and early November. We found a mobility device that seemed to meet Les’s needs and ordered it but it won’t get here for 4-6 weeks. Then we also started remodeling Les’s bathroom to make it “accessible” though not officially ADA. I’ll expound on these two items in future posts when there is something more to show you One Step Back… Then, last Sunday, Les tripped or twisted his ankle, we aren’t quite sure which, and he broke his ankle which will require surgery.  Of course, it was on his “good leg” so now he can’t walk and is bedridden. Surgery is scheduled for next week on Tuesday 11/21/23. And then 6-8 weeks of recovery - no weight bearing on it, so basically bedridden for that whole time too. 😕 In the last few days, we have learned much about moving a person without picking them up and without them putting weight on their feet. Les is becoming a champ at the slide board. It is exactly as it sounds, a...