From: Brendan Smith Friday, April 13, 2007 8:30 AM
Just a few more bits of news; I bought a car yesterday. It’s a 2006 Chrysler Sebring with 22,000 miles on it and I got it for 11,500. I’ve been looking for the perfect car for a while and I’m excited about this deal. I was expecting to have to spend about $18,000 so I’m totally stoked, and it’s a great look and fun car too with a V6 and it gets about 32 MPG on the freeway.
The second bit of news is bad news. I have to have surgery on my knee again. It’s scheduled for May 2nd. The bone from the bone plugs is healing perfectly from my surgery last year but the cartilage is not doing so great. Plus the doctor thinks I may have a new injury on the other side of the knee with a small bone spur on my knee cap on that side that my have torn some cartilage there. Anyway, it should just be a scope this time and should heal fast. The arthritis looks good and the doc thinks that this one could help me avoid ever needing a knee replacement.
From: Leslie Smith Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:36 AM
Just thought I'd let you know how it went with Brendan's surgery yesterday. It lasted about 1 1/2 hours, but we were there a total of 6 because the anesthesia was just really rough on Brendan this time around. He was really sick so they would give him nausea medicine, which in turn would make his oxygen levels drop too much so it was a long cycle of this. By the time we were almost home, though, he was feeling pretty good and had a great evening. He was able to eat really well last night and just rested all evening. Here is the knee stats: His original ACL surgery looks great. Last year's bone plugs are not 100% healed, but the Dr. said they are looking pretty good. This time there were two new things wrong...which we honestly don't know how or when they happened. He had a small miniscus tear which they fixed and the left side of his knee was raw bone and they took a bunch of broken pieces of cartilage that were just floating around. The Dr. wanted to try to take one of those pieces and grow it in a lab to make more and graft it back on, but the area is just too big and the procedure won't work. The next best thing he could do was to drill holes in his knee 1 cm apart which will cause it to bleed, form blood clots, which will form scar tissue which he said is the next best thing to real cartilage. Matt Harpring from the Jazz had this done 3 years ago and he's playing basketball just fine now. It will take about 3 months to see if it's going to work or not. The only other option left is a total knee replacement which would make it not possible for him to run or jump anymore, but the Dr. really doesn't want to do that because Brendan's just too young for that. Pain wise, he's done ok on just Tylonel and had a decent night's sleep considering the huge noisy storm that kept us up for most of the night. He's not on crutches and he should be somewhat back to normal in 3-4 weeks...just in time for our trip to Iowa. Last time the next day was the worst so we'll see how today goes. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. By the way...Jordan will be getting his patriarchal blessing today...so exciting!!!!
From: Leslie Smith Tuesday, May 08, 2007 8:17 AM.
Brendan is back at work and doing REALLY good. His knee is less swollen now than before his surgery. He is really optimistic about everything and other than walking a little slower than normal, you would never know he just had surgery…no crutches…no limping (only going up and down stairs.) Plus you wouldn’t believe that his surgery hasn’t stopped his working out. He still lifts weights every morning and his is down to 200 lbs!!!! I hardly recognize him and I see him every day! He has lost 40 lbs. in 4 months! He looks amazing! I honestly don’t understand his willpower and determination. I’m so proud of him.
Just a few more bits of news; I bought a car yesterday. It’s a 2006 Chrysler Sebring with 22,000 miles on it and I got it for 11,500. I’ve been looking for the perfect car for a while and I’m excited about this deal. I was expecting to have to spend about $18,000 so I’m totally stoked, and it’s a great look and fun car too with a V6 and it gets about 32 MPG on the freeway.
The second bit of news is bad news. I have to have surgery on my knee again. It’s scheduled for May 2nd. The bone from the bone plugs is healing perfectly from my surgery last year but the cartilage is not doing so great. Plus the doctor thinks I may have a new injury on the other side of the knee with a small bone spur on my knee cap on that side that my have torn some cartilage there. Anyway, it should just be a scope this time and should heal fast. The arthritis looks good and the doc thinks that this one could help me avoid ever needing a knee replacement.
From: Leslie Smith Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:36 AM
Just thought I'd let you know how it went with Brendan's surgery yesterday. It lasted about 1 1/2 hours, but we were there a total of 6 because the anesthesia was just really rough on Brendan this time around. He was really sick so they would give him nausea medicine, which in turn would make his oxygen levels drop too much so it was a long cycle of this. By the time we were almost home, though, he was feeling pretty good and had a great evening. He was able to eat really well last night and just rested all evening. Here is the knee stats: His original ACL surgery looks great. Last year's bone plugs are not 100% healed, but the Dr. said they are looking pretty good. This time there were two new things wrong...which we honestly don't know how or when they happened. He had a small miniscus tear which they fixed and the left side of his knee was raw bone and they took a bunch of broken pieces of cartilage that were just floating around. The Dr. wanted to try to take one of those pieces and grow it in a lab to make more and graft it back on, but the area is just too big and the procedure won't work. The next best thing he could do was to drill holes in his knee 1 cm apart which will cause it to bleed, form blood clots, which will form scar tissue which he said is the next best thing to real cartilage. Matt Harpring from the Jazz had this done 3 years ago and he's playing basketball just fine now. It will take about 3 months to see if it's going to work or not. The only other option left is a total knee replacement which would make it not possible for him to run or jump anymore, but the Dr. really doesn't want to do that because Brendan's just too young for that. Pain wise, he's done ok on just Tylonel and had a decent night's sleep considering the huge noisy storm that kept us up for most of the night. He's not on crutches and he should be somewhat back to normal in 3-4 weeks...just in time for our trip to Iowa. Last time the next day was the worst so we'll see how today goes. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. By the way...Jordan will be getting his patriarchal blessing today...so exciting!!!!
From: Leslie Smith Tuesday, May 08, 2007 8:17 AM.
Brendan is back at work and doing REALLY good. His knee is less swollen now than before his surgery. He is really optimistic about everything and other than walking a little slower than normal, you would never know he just had surgery…no crutches…no limping (only going up and down stairs.) Plus you wouldn’t believe that his surgery hasn’t stopped his working out. He still lifts weights every morning and his is down to 200 lbs!!!! I hardly recognize him and I see him every day! He has lost 40 lbs. in 4 months! He looks amazing! I honestly don’t understand his willpower and determination. I’m so proud of him.
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