All were incredulous. A fractured tibia should be very painful yet Greg continued to report his pain level as zero. What a blessing! Especially when the doctor manipulated his leg and we watched as the bottom half of his leg moved as an independent unit while the section above the break remained still.

Kimberly and I left the hospital at 1:30 a.m. and slept for a few hours at a nearby hotel before returning first thing this morning. We are hoping that someone is working on a solution. The orthopedic doctor last night told us that their top sarcoma surgeon would be in contact with the surgeon in Oregon. We may be traveling for the repair. Please recall that Greg tumor was resented and the implant placed January 11, 2011. From 2012-2014 Greg’s doctor in San Francisco was the man who has designed this type of prosthetic and he was thrilled to see it being used in the tibia. At the time Greg was the only person worldwide to have this.

Because it is so rare no one could really tell Greg what types of activity would be allowed and he has always been very careful. Always low impact. So what happened yesterday? He was in Salt Lake City for a day of training and had just dropped off his rental car. Walking toward the airport he heard a loud popping sound. He checked all of his joints to find the source of the sound and was fine – until he attempted to walk forward. He called me to say he thought he had broken his leg. We decided that he would call his best friend to pick him up from the airport while Kimberly and I drove the 70+ minutes to the hospital.

Despite all of our hospital adventures we have never really entered through the emergency room. Wow! Terrible! Three hours of waiting in a room packed full of mask-wearing individuals, none of whom were happy to be there. As usual we found a way to enjoy ourselves and I think the security guard enjoyed us as well – we were a break from all of the somber faces he was accustomed to guarding.

We finally got an ER room of our own where we entertained ourselves for the next four hours. We enjoyed the shocked expressions on each person who viewed his unique X-rays. His case was truly a mystery. Finally a very nice orthopedic doctor came to splint his leg. Because he was able to move himself with crutches he was allowed to spend the night in the ECU where he could be observed and have minimal care without being admitted.

Kimberly and I were so happy to have such comfortable hotel beds. Our other option was to fight over the plastic recliner next to Greg’s bed. This is where I am now sitting – Kimberly scores the little chair by the sink. We are thinking that it would be a good idea to keep an emergency kit in each car with toothbrush, hairbrush, deodorant, etc. You just never know what is going to happen next!