Willborg

Update: I spoke with my dad earlier today (Tuesday), and the surgery went really well. He says he is in less pain now than before the surgery, and he is only on oral pain medication. He should go home in the next day or two. He could use continued prayer for the recovery, and so can my sister Molly who will be giving him injections every day for a week to keep his blood from clotting. Thank you for all of your prayers. Really. It means a lot.

Ever since my dad had his hip replaced several years ago, he has referred to himself as Willborg. Part human. Part machine. Sometimes he says it as a joke. Other times it is with a sob and even a note of horror. You see, all things medically related have an elevated urgency with my dad. They are extra painful. Extra scary.

He was born with Legg-Calve-Perthes (a rare disease causing deformities in the ball and joint of the hip socket), and spent a good portion of his youth in leg braces like Forrest Gump. He has always lived with pain, but rather than learning to cope with the pain, he has grown to fear it.

Today he is having another surgery. This time to correct a defect in the lining of his artificial hip, which has been releasing bits of plastic that his bones have been absorbing and then rotting. It has been incredibly painful, and this surgery will be, too.

My family is going through a very difficult time right now, this surgery aside. It seems like everything is crumbling down around us, and this surgery is just the awful icing on top.

Please, pray for my dad today.