The News

I hope I can write this. If you could see me typing away, you would see the tears down my face and understand the complete anguish I feel. To say that we received devastating news would be an understatement.

About an hour after Scott's surgery started the surgeon came out to talk to Janiece, Debbie (Janiece's Mom), Doug and Tamera (Scott's Mom and Dad), and Shaunie, Shaylie, and Mick (Three of Scott's kiddos-our Shelby was playing Softball in St. George at the time). The news was not good. Scott's leg was infected to the point where the tissue was no longer alive, his leg dead.

Three options were given:
1) Stop the surgery. Continue to give Scott antibiotics and hope that he would get well (this was NOT recommended because the doctor did not believe Scott could get well, with this option).


2) Try and save his leg by removing as much as the infection while still attempting to save Scotts leg. If this option was chosen Scott would likely need 25-30 surgeries to ensure the infection was gone and to reconstruct his leg. The doctor did not believe with Scott's liver impairment that he would have good success with all the needed surgeries. He was also concerned that due to the great destruction the infection had already caused, that there really was not much he could save.


3) Amputate Scott's leg removing all of the infection.


All options had to be given but truly only one option could be made. An option that the doctor said would save Scott's life, while we could only hope that the others would. Of course, we chose LIFE.

I can't express the emotion and the sadness that we all felt. So much of each of our lives is based on our appearance, our ability to do things, and how would Scott's LIFE be now? He went into surgery believing that his leg procedure would be minor. We were all so sad for him to wake up and find out what had happened to him. How do you tell someone that?

It's easy to say LIFE is so much better than a limb. We know that and felt that. We wanted Scott to live, to watch his children play ball, to help them with their steers at the fair, to see them graduate from school, for Scott to drive the tractor at harvest time, hold his grandchildren in his lap, and for Scott and Janiece to grow old together. It wasn't a hard choice to make, but the devastation, the sadness hung in the air like a black cloud.