Updates: (11/15/2025) PM
- Lida Walsh
- Nov 15
- 2 min read
Today’s main focus was repairing his femur. His surgery was pushed back several times, so he did not go in until about 1:30 in the afternoon.
The procedure ended up being more complicated than the orthopedic surgeon originally expected. He initially believed the break was clean, but it turned out to be a displaced fracture. Because of this, the incision had to be larger.
When he was first brought into the hospital, he had two large open gashes on his thigh. One of them was stitched up the day he arrived. During surgery, the team realized that these gashes were actually caused by the displaced fracture itself.
They reopened the cuts that had been stitched, cleaned the wounds thoroughly with several liters of cleaning solution, and placed special antibacterial beads inside to lower the risk of infection.
To repair the fracture, the surgeon placed a rod into his femur, along with an additional plate for support.
The doctor is very confident that the femur will heal well. He mentioned that young adults with similar repairs often return to sports, running, and other activities without long term issues.
His entire leg is now bandaged, and he has three total incisions from the procedure. The good news is that he no longer needs the traction device, which makes it much easier for doctors and nurses to move him.
Tomorrow will be an important day. He will finally be able to have an MRI to assess the damage to his neck and spine. The doctors are fairly certain that surgery will be needed, but they do not yet know how many fractures he may have or whether his ligaments are affected.
They also plan to begin lowering his fentanyl and sedation tomorrow. The goal is to gradually work toward getting him off the respirator.
More updates to come tomorrow. ❤️
Lida, thanks for keeping us updated. We will be praying for Eli and his continuing healing!!🙏🙏
So glad they were able to make the fix and prognosis for full recovery is so good ! One down 👏💕 thx for keeping us updated, hope all can rest a little easier tonight knowing it’s on the right path - love and prayers 🙏🙏🙏💗💗💗
Thank you Lida, I know there are a lot of Walpole friends following this and your excellent work is greatly appreciated. Tons of love, prayers, and good vibes for your family!
Thank you Lida, it's been a long day for all of you please take care of yourselves, it looks like Eli is in good hands. Sending Love & good thoughts..❤️B
Thank you for the update¡!!!!!!! It has been a long day for you guys! My sister when she was younger had slipped on some ice and broke her ankle and ended up with plates and rods and she's doing fine and that was several years ago. I'm sure procedures are different and better now but she recovered well.
Thoughts and prayers tomorrow goes excellent. I'm sure everybody's looking forward to having him be able to talk again. It may take a few hours after he hasn't removed but it'll nice to have interaction.