Wordless Wednesday

What is surgery?

A lot of people will ask us how many surgeries Ryan has had. And the truth is, I've lost count. I feel like it's something I should know when people ask me. I've been there for every single one.

But I'm having a hard time defining what is a surgery and what isn't. Is it cutting into Ryan's body to remove, repair, or reposition something? Does it require general anesthesia? An overnight hospital stay? A combination of these things? Is it not a surgery if they use a laser, but he was under general anesthesia? Is it not a surgery if they use local anesthetic, cut away at a part of his body, but he sleeps through it and walks away feeling fine? It's getting complicated to define "surgery".

All I know is Ryan has had a number of "procedures" this summer since the time I posted about his eyebrow transplant. (Was that a surgery? Local anesthesia, cutting and stitching, drove himself home?) In July, he had a graft to his right palm and releases in the tendons in his fingers. (General anesthesia, cutting and stitching, home that day.....surgery, check!) A couple weeks later he had laser resurfacing of his face and left arm. (General anesthesia, no cutting and stitching, home that same day.......surgery?) On his birthday in August, he had skin cut away from the titanium posts on the sides of his head in preparation for his prosthetic ears. (Local anesthesia, cutting and stitching, went to other appointments that same day and drove himself home....surgery?) And on August 18th, he had another eyelid release to both of his lower eyelids. (General anesthesia, cutting and stitching, overnight hospital stay....surgery, check!)

I don't exactly know how to define surgery and it doesn't REALLY matter. I just kind of wish I had an answer to the question when someone asks me how many surgeries Ryan has had. I guess being in our community that question comes up more often than you would think. Regardless, Ryan's having another procedure tomorrow. General anesthesia. Laser. Home. Call it what you want.

Wordless Wednesday

Camping at Canyon Lake

Wordless Wednesday

We are family

My sister and her kids came for a long weekend once we returned from our road trip. It's always so much fun to get the cousins together. Even though we had a house full with kids aged 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, & 14, everyone had a blast! We love it when they visit!

Something to raise an eyebrow at

We got home from our trip on a Wednesday and Ryan went in for surgery on a Thursday. This time he worked with Dr. Limmer to get some new eyebrows. Dr. Limmer and his staff are so wonderful and welcoming. And they do amazing work. It was all done in the office with local anesthetic. It was completely pain free. Ryan slept through most of the procedure. They removed a section of skin from Ryan's beard and sewed him back up. (I was in the office and watched them do this. First time I've ever been allowed to watch a surgery. Wow!) Then they put the skin under the microscope and removed each hair follicle. Next, they planted each follicle in Ryan's eyebrow region and Ryan had eyebrows! Apparently, the hair will grow for a few weeks and then all the hairs will fall out. It will take another 3 or 4 months for the hair to grow back and then we'll see what worked and what didn't. We expect he'll have another round of hair transplant to fill them in at that time.

Before

During

After

Less than a week later, on July 1st, Ryan had surgery on his right hand. They put a small graft on his palm, did some z-plasty between his thumb and index finger and index and middle fingers, and released some tendons inside his hand. Surgery went well and Ryan is feeling fine. He has a cast on his right hand to immobilize and protect the graft. He'll have the cast until the 23rd.

Road Trip part 3

We had so much fun in North Carolina that it was a lot more difficult convincing everyone to get back in the car for the four day drive home. The only bargaining chip I had was our visits with friends in Beaufort, SC, and Pensacola, FL. And still, I had no camera to document these visits.

Both families we visited were friends from college that continued on to the Marine Corps. It was funny to see how much our families had grown in the time since we'd last seen each other. We did our best to catch up with all the significant events of the last few years and spent some time laughing over old memories from days long past. It was wonderful and Ryan and I left feeling blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives.

There's nothing like old friends.

Can you tell that my girls want a dog?

When we left Pensacola, I remembered we'd eaten at a place in Mobile, AL, on one of our cross country trips 5 years ago. They had these batter dipped fried crab claws that were to die for. I didn't know the name of the place, but I knew it was right off the highway and near a bridge (Ha! How's that for details!). Surprisingly, when we got to the exit, I knew we were there and we drove right to it. The name of the place is Felix's Fish Camp and it's worth stopping for, even if you don't know where you're going.