More progress, one looming setback, time to eat!

We had a great visit with the oral surgeon yesterday.  He is pleased with the healing inside my mouth--enough so that the nasal feeding tube was removed and the trach scar no longer needs covering.  That means I can take showers now as long as I can keep the PICC line area dry.  Terry and I will come up with some way to do that.  After nearly 5 weeks of sponge baths, even many from Terry, it's time to get scrubbed down all the way.

The PICC lines for IVs will stay in for another two weeks.  We have some relief with that, though.  The visiting nurse put in extensions to the lines so I can reach them now to do that myself--giving Terry a break from that.  I have my big test this noon to see if Nurse Terry approves my technique and certifies me for solo infusions.

No doubt, the biggie was the removal of the nasal tube, so I can start to eat orally.  Same progression as post-treatments in 2009.  I have started with Boosts, oatmeal, yogurt, and diluted Gatorade.  The next step will be pureed soups.  For all you smoothie fans out there--I hate them and will try my best to avoid them--so no lobbying for those things.  Milkshakes make much better alternatives.

The trick is to make sure I can get enough calories and hydration to meet my daily needs, and to keep my mouth as clean as possible, to reduce the chances of infection.

Yesterday.

Mike (to Dr. Roser):  What happens if I get infected again in that area?

Roser:  We'll put in another nasal feeding tube.

Mike:  You'll have to catch me first.

Roser (looking at my braced left leg):  You won't be hard to catch--you'll be running in a circle.

The left leg remains the wild card in all of this.  If the peroneal nerve is to come back at all, it will take a long time.  That greatly reduces my chances of walking the Peachtree 10K on July 4th, to the point of needing a miracle, so you Deadheads out there know which song I need your Good Vibes to go with.

I asked Terry to take pictures along the way, especially when I came out of surgery and was in the induced coma.  I am going to show you a photo she took about 24 hours after surgery, and one from yesterday after the nasal tube came out.  I will warn you that the first picture is pretty gruesome--then again maybe the second one is too:

You can click on a picture to make it larger.  What they show best is how far I've come since May 2, with the help of dozens of doctors and nurses, friends, family, Team Mike, and most of all Nurse Terry.

The next milestone will be the removal of the PICC lines (tucked under the sleeve on my right arm in the lower photo).  That will mean the doctor thinks I am safe from further infection, and it will rid Terry and I from the three infusions every day.  In two weeks, hopefully.

Special thanks go to my brother Dan and his partner Peg for their visit last weekend.  They were great company for us and helped with food prep so we could host my sister Marie and her family for a smoked ribs and wings dinner on Saturday--my first cooking since late April.  Well, Peg worked and Dan helped by staying out of the way.  We  went to the ATL Botanical Garden on Saturday with them--a great outing, but tiring for me by the end of it.

Now that our spirits are a bit brighter and I have more energy, I'll post soon some of the stories (some funny, others not so much) and more pictures from the ICU, hospital room, and home care.

Keep up the Good Vibes--still a very long ways to go.

Mike