Friday, November 21, 2008
Surgery hiatus
Ryan met with his plastic surgeon today for a follow up of his November 5th surgery. Dr. Thomas is thrilled that everything is looking so good. Ryan still has a bit of healing to do before he's completely closed up again. But he's almost there. Dr. Thomas agrees that anything else that we'll want to do (more eyelids, a little upper lip revision, maybe some dermabrasion) can wait until after the holidays. So we're looking forward to having a couple months break from the OR. Surgery is exhausting! It will be nice not to think about it again until the new year. There's still so much to do and it will be there waiting for us.
Around the Services featuring Ryan
I got an email from our friend Rebecca letting us know that she saw Ryan on a segment from "Around the Services" on the Pentagon Channel in Okinawa. (Thanks Rebecca!) So I went to www.pentagonchannel.mil and found the episode from November 12th, downloaded it, and extracted his appearance out of the 22 minute piece. Ryan was part of a two minute feature about care for our wounded warriors.
The technology that they are using to create Ryan's new ears is truly remarkable. And Dr. Villalobos might actually be the nicest man I've ever met! Ryan plans to have the surgery to remove what's left of his ear cartilage and place the implants in his skull in January. After that it will be about 6 months before they will uncover the implants, attach magnets, let that heal, and then attach Ryan's new ears. It's amazing what they can do!
Nice day to swing
San Antonio has finally cooled off enough that we can wear long sleeves and pants. It's been such a nice change, especially for Ryan who can't stand being out in the heat. Now taking the kids to the park is a treat we can both enjoy. Look at those faces! Wouldn't you just hate to miss that?!?
Daddy even took a turn on the swing! Yay!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Recovering at home
When I came in to see Ryan on Thursday, he was already planning on coming home. He had a little trouble with nausea that morning, but managed to keep his lunch down. And he didn't have any problems eating the cake the Marines brought him to celebrate the Marine Corps' 233rd birthday. LtGen Flynn (CG MCCDC) and his wife were in town for the cake cutting ceremony, and visited with Ryan and I beforehand. LtGen Flynn had visited the last time Ryan was in for surgery in September, so he's been getting to know us pretty well.
Ryan was discharged at 5:00 and was very happy to be going home. Even though he had his own room this time, he never sleeps well in the hospital. Nurses come in every 4 hours to check his vitals and volunteers and chaplains are always popping in to say hello. It's very nice of everyone to want to visit with him, but after surgery, Ryan needs sleep more than anything. And he's too nice to ask anyone to leave.
We went in for a follow up appointment with Ryan's surgeon on Friday. Dr. Thomas is very happy with how everything is healing and anticipates good results. It's hard to tell what looks good and what doesn't when he's covered in blood and stitches. And you can't see the grafts under his eye and above his lip at all because they are covered with pressure dressings. Those will come off on Monday, so for the weekend he looks like he has a yellow mustache above his lip. It's actually quite comical. So we tease Ryan to enjoy it, since it's the only mustache he'll ever have. He hasn't been in very much pain at all, so that's been very nice. He's been up watching college football today and I got him hooked on Sudoku. (Thanks Rebecca!) He's been playing with the kids and offered to watch Noah for an hour so I could take Maya to gymnastics. He even changed a dirty diaper! So, all in all, he's doing pretty good for having had surgery 3 days ago.
Ryan was discharged at 5:00 and was very happy to be going home. Even though he had his own room this time, he never sleeps well in the hospital. Nurses come in every 4 hours to check his vitals and volunteers and chaplains are always popping in to say hello. It's very nice of everyone to want to visit with him, but after surgery, Ryan needs sleep more than anything. And he's too nice to ask anyone to leave.
We went in for a follow up appointment with Ryan's surgeon on Friday. Dr. Thomas is very happy with how everything is healing and anticipates good results. It's hard to tell what looks good and what doesn't when he's covered in blood and stitches. And you can't see the grafts under his eye and above his lip at all because they are covered with pressure dressings. Those will come off on Monday, so for the weekend he looks like he has a yellow mustache above his lip. It's actually quite comical. So we tease Ryan to enjoy it, since it's the only mustache he'll ever have. He hasn't been in very much pain at all, so that's been very nice. He's been up watching college football today and I got him hooked on Sudoku. (Thanks Rebecca!) He's been playing with the kids and offered to watch Noah for an hour so I could take Maya to gymnastics. He even changed a dirty diaper! So, all in all, he's doing pretty good for having had surgery 3 days ago.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Another surgery day
So, I've been terrible about blogging the last few weeks. And I've been meaning to catch everyone up on Ryan's trip to Europe and my quick (and unexpected) jaunt to DC, but for now I'll just have to settle for telling you about today. It's late, and I'm tired, and I just got home from the hospital.
Ryan was originally scheduled to have surgery on Monday, but his surgeon's daughter deployed to Iraq that day and he took the day off to say goodbye. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long and got in today. Ryan was second case and didn't have to be at the hospital until 8:00 a.m. They did all his prep work and rolled him back for surgery at 10:30. I didn't know exactly how long it was going to take, so around the 4 hour mark I was starting to get nervous. But that's just when Ryan's surgeon arrived to tell me everything went well. He was able to put a full thickness graft under Ryan's lower right eyelid and above his top lip. They took a little piece of cartilage from what's left of Ryan's left ear and put it between his nose and lip to give it structure. They removed a scar on the left side of Ryan's nose and one along his left jawline, and advanced his cheek and neck accordingly. They removed some bulky skin between the inside of his right eye and the bridge of his nose. And they dermabraded the right side of his face and a few areas on his chin and left cheek. I think that's everything. No wonder it took 4 hours!
I was able to see Ryan in recovery at about 3:30, but he was mostly sleepy and recovering from anesthesia. I had to leave at 4:30 to pick up the kids and get them settled at home with dinner. I went back to the hospital at 6:30 to find Ryan sitting up comfortably and asking for ice cream. I ran downstairs and got him two ice cream sandwiches and a Gatorade. We sat and talked while nurses came in and out and then he took a little nap. He decided he was ready for food when he woke up and sent me out for McDonald's at 9:00. When I came back he was feeling a little nauseous but, with a little medication to help counteract that, he was certain he was going to be eating his meal. Visiting hours end at 10:00, and at that point, I was definitely ready to go home. Ryan's nurse is taking excellent care of him, and his charge nurse tonight is my very favorite!
Even though Ryan said he felt like he got punched in the face with a scalpel, he was already asking if he could go home tomorrow. And as long as his pain can be managed with oral medication, he can. The dermabrasion is the most painful part because it is open and raw. So, we'll see how he's feeling tomorrow, but hopefully, we can take him home. Please keep us all in your prayers. Thanks so much!
Ryan was originally scheduled to have surgery on Monday, but his surgeon's daughter deployed to Iraq that day and he took the day off to say goodbye. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long and got in today. Ryan was second case and didn't have to be at the hospital until 8:00 a.m. They did all his prep work and rolled him back for surgery at 10:30. I didn't know exactly how long it was going to take, so around the 4 hour mark I was starting to get nervous. But that's just when Ryan's surgeon arrived to tell me everything went well. He was able to put a full thickness graft under Ryan's lower right eyelid and above his top lip. They took a little piece of cartilage from what's left of Ryan's left ear and put it between his nose and lip to give it structure. They removed a scar on the left side of Ryan's nose and one along his left jawline, and advanced his cheek and neck accordingly. They removed some bulky skin between the inside of his right eye and the bridge of his nose. And they dermabraded the right side of his face and a few areas on his chin and left cheek. I think that's everything. No wonder it took 4 hours!
I was able to see Ryan in recovery at about 3:30, but he was mostly sleepy and recovering from anesthesia. I had to leave at 4:30 to pick up the kids and get them settled at home with dinner. I went back to the hospital at 6:30 to find Ryan sitting up comfortably and asking for ice cream. I ran downstairs and got him two ice cream sandwiches and a Gatorade. We sat and talked while nurses came in and out and then he took a little nap. He decided he was ready for food when he woke up and sent me out for McDonald's at 9:00. When I came back he was feeling a little nauseous but, with a little medication to help counteract that, he was certain he was going to be eating his meal. Visiting hours end at 10:00, and at that point, I was definitely ready to go home. Ryan's nurse is taking excellent care of him, and his charge nurse tonight is my very favorite!
Even though Ryan said he felt like he got punched in the face with a scalpel, he was already asking if he could go home tomorrow. And as long as his pain can be managed with oral medication, he can. The dermabrasion is the most painful part because it is open and raw. So, we'll see how he's feeling tomorrow, but hopefully, we can take him home. Please keep us all in your prayers. Thanks so much!
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