The Ghost Inside’s Zach Johnson Facing Another “Major Surgery”
Things have been looking up for The Ghost Inside of late: although the band won’t be able to play Warped Tour this summer — which they’d previously pledged to do in March of last year — they all got together on the one-year anniversary of their bus crash and were recently spotted at an LA Kings game. The storm of medical updates has slowed to a trickle, and no news is good news.
Unfortunately, though, now it seems guitarist Zach Johnson’s broken femur isn’t healing as hoped. Last summer he revealed he had opted for an alternative treatment, going in for a “small surgery” to be followed by an “array of meds/injections, and [I] will use a machine that stimulates bone growth daily,” although warning that “There is NO guarantee this will work, but with my history [the doctor] recommends this before the last resort.”
In a new Instagram post Johnson shares that the alternative treatment didn’t work and it’s now officially “last resort” time:
“So I’m sure some of you know my femur hasn’t healed. I had a small surgery in September, and since then it’s hurt like fucking hell. Our plan of action didn’t work. April 13th I’ll be going in for my twelfth surgery (a major one). They’ll take all the hardware out of my right leg, take bone from my right tibia, and fuse it where the break is. Then put a metal plate over it, put a new metal rod running the length of my femur, and 2 screws in my knee, and 2 in my hip. I’m honestly not that stressed about the actual surgery, I’ve had so many it just seems normal to me now. What DOES suck is I’ll be taking huge steps backwards in recovery, and will be off my feet for a few months. But I just want to get it done, and in the past. From there I can finally make permanent progress. I can’t thank you all enough for being in my corner throughout this fight. It means the world to me! #TGIforever”
The “huge steps backward in recovery” is the biggest bummer here but, as always, it’s remarkable to witness the positive attitude that Johnson — and the rest of his bandmates — has maintained throughout all of this.
Best of luck in surgery, Zach; get back on your feet soon.
[via The PRP]
