I am making good progress. Sleeping well, less swelling, less pain in the arm.
That's it for now.
mike
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Hitting the road
I am making good progress. Sleeping well, less swelling, less pain in the arm.
That's it for now.
mike
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Short one for now
Please excuse the typing but I have a rather large bandage on my left arm to deal with. We got home around noon yesterday and have spent most of that time getting the Frazier Court MASH Unit back in order. While not as draining as last year, there is stll a lot to do. If i make good progress most of this will end on july 6. stitches and tubes out and trach removed.
i will post more soon. as you might expect, some interesting stories came out if this second trip to Hell in 14 months.
In the meantime this link sums it up nicely and is also my prediction for the opening song in tonight's historic Grateful Dead show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YSTeJOxiaw
Thanks to all on Team Mike. feel free to call or email me now. but no texts--if i don't do that with two thumbs, you got zero chance with one working thumb.
mike
i will post more soon. as you might expect, some interesting stories came out if this second trip to Hell in 14 months.
In the meantime this link sums it up nicely and is also my prediction for the opening song in tonight's historic Grateful Dead show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YSTeJOxiaw
Thanks to all on Team Mike. feel free to call or email me now. but no texts--if i don't do that with two thumbs, you got zero chance with one working thumb.
mike
Thursday, June 25, 2015
The countdown begins....
Imagine my surprise when I showed up this morning in Mike's room in ICU and he wasn't there? Somebody forgot to give me a call....
Sometime around 10 last night he got word he was being released from ICU and they allowed him to walk about 40 yards to his new room before midnight. Once he was all settled in his new room he had a really good night with much needed sleep.
Shortly after I arrived he was evaluated by speech and swallowing and was able to graduate to using a speaking cap on the trach and I was trained on how to clean the trach and given a refresher course on administering his drugs through his nasal tube. Before I left for the day, the cast was removed from his arm, the wound vac and remaining drain were also removed.
The plan is for him to be released tomorrow as soon as I recieve a refresher course on boulous tube feeding and home healthcare is set up.
Yippee!
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Day 5 in ICU and Counting
Mike continues to improve. He can talk if he covers his trach but was told to keep it to a minimum. Yea, right.....and it's beginning to look like he will be discharged from ICU Friday with a lot of home health care. He took a long walk around the entire 2nd floor and will practice climbing stairs tomorrow.
Keep the good vibes and prayers going. We're both tired and ready to settle into the next part of recovery.
Take care, Terry
PS....I'll let mike tell you about big brother who checks in twice a day and no it's not Jim or Dan.
Keep the good vibes and prayers going. We're both tired and ready to settle into the next part of recovery.
Take care, Terry
PS....I'll let mike tell you about big brother who checks in twice a day and no it's not Jim or Dan.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Day 4 in ICU
Despite still being in ICU, Mike had a great day. He was cleared to walk with assistance from PT and boy did he walk. One person was by his side making sure he didn't do a face plant and another assistant was dragging the portable oxygen tank and wound vac behind him. He managed to do two laps around the ICU unit before they parked him in his chair for the remainder of the day.
He's been cleared to move into a regular room, but as of 6:15pm a room had not become available so, I'm guessing he will remain in ICU until tomorrow. Along with moving out of ICU we were told that the cast on his arm should come off in the next couple of days; the trach will be replaced tomorrow with one that would make it easier for him to talk; and there is a possibility that if he continues to improve at this rate he might come home Friday.
Keep your fingers crossed.....
Terry
He's been cleared to move into a regular room, but as of 6:15pm a room had not become available so, I'm guessing he will remain in ICU until tomorrow. Along with moving out of ICU we were told that the cast on his arm should come off in the next couple of days; the trach will be replaced tomorrow with one that would make it easier for him to talk; and there is a possibility that if he continues to improve at this rate he might come home Friday.
Keep your fingers crossed.....
Terry
Monday, June 22, 2015
Day 3 In ICU and Hopefully the last day
Sorry, this will be short.
Mike's third day in ICU went well. He was able to sit up in a chair for 4 hours, which is 2 hours longer than he was told he needed to sit-up. All of his vital signs were good, the swelling decreased even more so that I'm beginning to picture the Kirk Douglas cleft.
He's really tired, (me, too) so we are going to limit visitors until he's all settled in a regular room.
Once again, thanks for all the well wishes, good vibes and prayers.
Take care,
Terry
Mike's third day in ICU went well. He was able to sit up in a chair for 4 hours, which is 2 hours longer than he was told he needed to sit-up. All of his vital signs were good, the swelling decreased even more so that I'm beginning to picture the Kirk Douglas cleft.
He's really tired, (me, too) so we are going to limit visitors until he's all settled in a regular room.
Once again, thanks for all the well wishes, good vibes and prayers.
Take care,
Terry
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Day 2 in ICU
Boring and uneventful sums up Mike's second day in ICU. All of the medical teams---ENT, Maxofacial, ICU, and orthopeadic are impressed with how good he looks. Even though he looks good they are following Wadsworths orders that he stay in bed with as little movement as possible until 8 pm Monday. He's down from two IV lines to one. The Foley catheter was removed as well. I know....TMI, but we measure progress in the decrease in tubes and lines being removed from his body. I counted three drainage tubes today, two in the neck and one in the left arm. Nurse Michelle thought that those drains might be removed in the next couple of days.
He gets flap checks every six hours around the clock by one of several ENT interns. Their average age is 18, seriously. This is the most important test they do all day and all it entails is a little pin prick on the outside and inside of his mouth where the skin tissue was grafted. If he bleeds all is good, no blood then back to square one. Extra vibes and prayers are needed at 6am, noon, 6pm and midnight. Set your alarm, please.
Mike is getting better at communicating with his body language even shooing one Doc out of the room when she told him that she really didn't have anything else to say because he looked so good. The poor, young, really young orthopedic guy made the mistake of mentioning that if he was still here in two weeks that they could do the follow-up visit in the hospital. Michael cocked his finger at his head as in "shoot me" if I'm still here in two weeks. The poor guy was so shocked that he looked at me and shook his head. I'm pretty sure we will not see him again.
Thanks to our niece, Mara, brother-in-law, John and good friend, Andy for visiting this afternoon and breaking up the day for both of us.
The good vibes, well wishes and prayers are really working so keep it up Team Mike! Can't wait to see the cards start pouring in. If you didn't read last nights post, I'm starting a funny, irreverent get well card contest. Mike will be the judge....
Take care,
He gets flap checks every six hours around the clock by one of several ENT interns. Their average age is 18, seriously. This is the most important test they do all day and all it entails is a little pin prick on the outside and inside of his mouth where the skin tissue was grafted. If he bleeds all is good, no blood then back to square one. Extra vibes and prayers are needed at 6am, noon, 6pm and midnight. Set your alarm, please.
Mike is getting better at communicating with his body language even shooing one Doc out of the room when she told him that she really didn't have anything else to say because he looked so good. The poor, young, really young orthopedic guy made the mistake of mentioning that if he was still here in two weeks that they could do the follow-up visit in the hospital. Michael cocked his finger at his head as in "shoot me" if I'm still here in two weeks. The poor guy was so shocked that he looked at me and shook his head. I'm pretty sure we will not see him again.
Thanks to our niece, Mara, brother-in-law, John and good friend, Andy for visiting this afternoon and breaking up the day for both of us.
The good vibes, well wishes and prayers are really working so keep it up Team Mike! Can't wait to see the cards start pouring in. If you didn't read last nights post, I'm starting a funny, irreverent get well card contest. Mike will be the judge....
Take care,
Saturday, June 20, 2015
On the other side of the rabbit hole....
What a difference a year makes. The experience between last year's surgery and yesterday's surgery could have happened on two different planets. Although the day was long, everything went smoothly----both surgeons were exhausted but pleased with their handiwork. Mike will have a Kirk Douglas cleft on his chin to replace the one that he lost last year.
The best news of all is the cast is on his left wrist instead of his right leg!
Stop reading now if you don't want to see the gory details.
Even though Roser and Wadsworth tried to prepare me and my sis-in-law, Aleisa for what he looked like, we were shocked. His face was really swollen with stitches running from the left ear through the original scar from last year which I expected, but there were additional stitches that they talked about, but didn't really register with us until we saw him later in ICU.
The affected bone was in the mandible, much smaller than they originally thought, so a small piece of the radial bone fit perfectly into where the dead bone was removed. Roser was very pleased that the native bone on the right and the transplant on the left from last year looked healthy. The biggest issue was the fistula in his chin had gotten larger and the radiated skin on his chin had gotten harder so they could not just simply suture the two sides together. One skin flap from the wrist covered the inside of the wound and the other was used to cover the gap on the outside in the middle of his chin. This necessitated additional sutures running from the neck incision around both sides of the transplanted skin and through his lower lip.
You can only imagine my surprise this morning when I showed up in ICU to find him awake and
communicating through hand signals, facial expressions and writing short notes on a pad of paper. He
has been seen by Roser and his surgical team, the ICU team and Wadworth's team this morning. They've already removed the ventilator so he's breathing on his own. The plan is to keep him in ICU for another two days then move him to a room on this same floor. Wadsworth says two weeks in the hospital but that could change depending on his progress.
Thank you to each and everyone of you who have kept us in your prayers, sent good vibes, kept your fingers and toes crossed and have kept the good thoughts streaming our way. Keep up the good work because it's still going to be a long recovery. To help keep Mike's spirit up, I'm starting a funny get well card campaign/contest. He loves getting cards---the funnier the better and of course sick, irreverent ones will work, too. You can mail to our home address. If you don't have our address
contact me at terry.metzler@healthmpowers.org and I'll send address to you.
I'll keep posting daily until mike can post again. Take care, Terry AKA Mikey's nurse
The best news of all is the cast is on his left wrist instead of his right leg!
Stop reading now if you don't want to see the gory details.
Even though Roser and Wadsworth tried to prepare me and my sis-in-law, Aleisa for what he looked like, we were shocked. His face was really swollen with stitches running from the left ear through the original scar from last year which I expected, but there were additional stitches that they talked about, but didn't really register with us until we saw him later in ICU.
The affected bone was in the mandible, much smaller than they originally thought, so a small piece of the radial bone fit perfectly into where the dead bone was removed. Roser was very pleased that the native bone on the right and the transplant on the left from last year looked healthy. The biggest issue was the fistula in his chin had gotten larger and the radiated skin on his chin had gotten harder so they could not just simply suture the two sides together. One skin flap from the wrist covered the inside of the wound and the other was used to cover the gap on the outside in the middle of his chin. This necessitated additional sutures running from the neck incision around both sides of the transplanted skin and through his lower lip.
You can only imagine my surprise this morning when I showed up in ICU to find him awake and
communicating through hand signals, facial expressions and writing short notes on a pad of paper. He
has been seen by Roser and his surgical team, the ICU team and Wadworth's team this morning. They've already removed the ventilator so he's breathing on his own. The plan is to keep him in ICU for another two days then move him to a room on this same floor. Wadsworth says two weeks in the hospital but that could change depending on his progress.
Thank you to each and everyone of you who have kept us in your prayers, sent good vibes, kept your fingers and toes crossed and have kept the good thoughts streaming our way. Keep up the good work because it's still going to be a long recovery. To help keep Mike's spirit up, I'm starting a funny get well card campaign/contest. He loves getting cards---the funnier the better and of course sick, irreverent ones will work, too. You can mail to our home address. If you don't have our address
contact me at terry.metzler@healthmpowers.org and I'll send address to you.
I'll keep posting daily until mike can post again. Take care, Terry AKA Mikey's nurse
Thursday, June 18, 2015
All Set for Camp Roser
T-minus 12.5 hours until I get my table in the Emory OR.
In addition to getting my head in the right place for what will happen tomorrow and beyond, I've had to make sure my ducks are in a row for being at Camp Roser (aka, Emory Midtown Hospital) for the next several days. It's not yet known how long I'll be in ICU--at the mercy of the 6-legged lizards--and how long it will be after that before I can function even a little bit. Terry did get me a larger white board this time, so I can express myself more fully while the trach tube is in and I can't talk at all.
Like last year's prep for surgery, we made a list of things to do and places to eat before our lives change again for the next several weeks. We got out to see Beth Hart in concert on Tuesday, and that was a real treat. The lawn is mowed, weeds have been pulled, and the back yard has been sprayed to ward off the swarms of mosquitoes we've had this year. I had my last drink for many weeks to come, an ice cold Gin & Tonic. Terry has finished the laundry so I can have clean undies for tomorrow--won't need those for long, but better to be prepared.
The most important pre-op decisions have been to get to as many of our favorite restaurants before I am sentenced to another long stretch of nasal feedings and liquid food for the next 3 weeks or so, and a soft diet for many weeks after that. Some of the highlights:
Oysters on Cape San Blas
Tacqueria de Vicenzo for the carnitas with green chili grits
Cafe Lily for (shit, I can't remember)
Antico Neapolitino for pizza (ATL's pizza Mecca)
Sensational Subs for Philly Cheese steak
Grindhouse for Apache Burgers
Daddy Dz for ribs
Northlake Thai for lamb chops
Aldo's Italian for veal (tonight's Last Supper)
And, we made some great meals at home.
Somehow we missed having wings and beef on 'weck when we went to New York State--but we did find a great BBQ place and ate there twice.
During this tour it became more and more obvious that the surgery needed to happen, and soon. My struggles to eat, chew and swallow have increased and it would not have been much longer before I'd have been on that liquid diet anyway.
If you are getting the sense that I'm just rambling on, and hoping that the clock will stop ticking, you are right. As much as I liked summer camps, Camp Roser doesn't have quite that same appeal. But, as much as Terry and I can be, we are ready for this, and hoping there are no surprises once Roser and Wadsworth open me up and see what my jaw looks like from the inside.
As I wlll tell Dr. Roser, if I wake up and it's Sunday, and my left arm is bandaged--I'll take that as a "win." If I wake up and it's next Wednesday, with my right fibula is in my right jaw, I'll be really pissed. Especially since I'll need to miss the two Grateful Dead concerts on pay-per-view next weekend.
So, as always, we are asking Team Mike to send some extra Good Vibes that this turns out as well as it can, and that I come back from Camp Roser without any new anatomical configurations in my body.
Terry will post here when she knows more and can get something out to everyone.
See you on the other side...
Mike
In addition to getting my head in the right place for what will happen tomorrow and beyond, I've had to make sure my ducks are in a row for being at Camp Roser (aka, Emory Midtown Hospital) for the next several days. It's not yet known how long I'll be in ICU--at the mercy of the 6-legged lizards--and how long it will be after that before I can function even a little bit. Terry did get me a larger white board this time, so I can express myself more fully while the trach tube is in and I can't talk at all.
Like last year's prep for surgery, we made a list of things to do and places to eat before our lives change again for the next several weeks. We got out to see Beth Hart in concert on Tuesday, and that was a real treat. The lawn is mowed, weeds have been pulled, and the back yard has been sprayed to ward off the swarms of mosquitoes we've had this year. I had my last drink for many weeks to come, an ice cold Gin & Tonic. Terry has finished the laundry so I can have clean undies for tomorrow--won't need those for long, but better to be prepared.
The most important pre-op decisions have been to get to as many of our favorite restaurants before I am sentenced to another long stretch of nasal feedings and liquid food for the next 3 weeks or so, and a soft diet for many weeks after that. Some of the highlights:
Oysters on Cape San Blas
Tacqueria de Vicenzo for the carnitas with green chili grits
Cafe Lily for (shit, I can't remember)
Antico Neapolitino for pizza (ATL's pizza Mecca)
Sensational Subs for Philly Cheese steak
Grindhouse for Apache Burgers
Daddy Dz for ribs
Northlake Thai for lamb chops
Aldo's Italian for veal (tonight's Last Supper)
And, we made some great meals at home.
Somehow we missed having wings and beef on 'weck when we went to New York State--but we did find a great BBQ place and ate there twice.
During this tour it became more and more obvious that the surgery needed to happen, and soon. My struggles to eat, chew and swallow have increased and it would not have been much longer before I'd have been on that liquid diet anyway.
If you are getting the sense that I'm just rambling on, and hoping that the clock will stop ticking, you are right. As much as I liked summer camps, Camp Roser doesn't have quite that same appeal. But, as much as Terry and I can be, we are ready for this, and hoping there are no surprises once Roser and Wadsworth open me up and see what my jaw looks like from the inside.
As I wlll tell Dr. Roser, if I wake up and it's Sunday, and my left arm is bandaged--I'll take that as a "win." If I wake up and it's next Wednesday, with my right fibula is in my right jaw, I'll be really pissed. Especially since I'll need to miss the two Grateful Dead concerts on pay-per-view next weekend.
So, as always, we are asking Team Mike to send some extra Good Vibes that this turns out as well as it can, and that I come back from Camp Roser without any new anatomical configurations in my body.
Terry will post here when she knows more and can get something out to everyone.
See you on the other side...
Mike
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