Well, not exactly. Mark was given clearance on Thursday to start putting weight on his right leg, where the femur is healing from a very serious break. This was the news we were hoping for. But because his muscles have atrophied over the last two months, he is really only able to put a very small amount of pressure on the leg without having intense pain. Surprisingly, the pain is not from his break, but actually in his knee and ankle joints, and in the ball of his foot from not having been used. So for the time being, he is using his crutches to move his right leg in the motion of walking, without really putting weight on it. Next week, he’ll start the intense physical therapy to help him walk independently again. But for now, as someone said to him yesterday, it’s just good to be “vertical and breathing”.
The doctor gave Mark a good prognosis on Thursday. The main concerns at this point are watching how the right leg heals. Right now, his right leg is about a half-inch shorter than the left, due to the injury. His leg is also misaligned, so that his knee and foot angle to the right. The hope is that these issues can improve during physical therapy, but they could pose some long-term problems with walking and back alignment. There have been so many miracles so far, so we’ll keep praying for a full recovery!
keepon trucking!