It was worth the pain

12:55pm

Taylor's surgery went very well. It lasted a couple of hours longer than what we thought. He was in for about 6 hours. Dr. Adelson said that mitigating the Trach scar was a little trickier than he expected because the skin had attached to the muscle beneath the scar so he had to do some extra cutting to get it fixed right. The quarter size scar, that was about 1/8" deep is now completely gone. He'll have a hair line scar from the stitches, but it will turn out looking more like a tiny crease in skin than a scar. All total, there are a hundred or so stitches. There looks to be about 40 in one 3" incision, but they were done with magnifying equipment and are so tiny they are really hard to see.

In the Post Op room, Taylor was in quite a bit of pain. He was given Dilaudid to make him more comfortable, but then he had to deal with his nose itching. That's a side effect that he had every time he got Dilaudid when he was in Lakeland Regional. He has painkillers to make him more comfortable now, but the pain has subsided quite a bit so he's trying to tough it out rather than take medication. He'll be doing a lot of nothing for the next week.

Even with the swelling (and there is a lot of it), it was obvious that this procedure has taken out the droop. When I asked him to smile, it looks almost like his pre-accident smile....a HUGE difference. It was enough to trigger watery eyes.....in us, not him. He asked me to take a photo to see how it looked, but Suzie had a mirror and handed it to him. He said the results were worth the pain.

Before this procedure, someone who didn't know Taylor would realize that something had happened resulting in the facial paralysis. Now, I don't think anyone will have a clue. He will just smile more out of one side his mouth than the other. His mother reminds him that's how Harrison Ford smiles naturally.

When we visited the Doctor today before we left, he found that some blood had pooled in the jaw area, so removed that with a needle and syringe. He said it's not uncommon to have to do that, but he didn't expect it would be a problem after today. He said the swelling will be worse tomorrow and should start going away on Sunday.

We'll return on Monday for the Doctor to check everything just to make certain there is no residual blood and to check for infection. There is a small risk, since there are foreign objects in there now. He's wearing a "jaw bra" - an elastic binding that keeps a large bandage pressing on the left side of his head. It kind of looks like something Curly of The Three Stooges would come up with to relieve pain from a tooth ache. Very fashionable!

Then, next Friday we'll return for the stitches to be removed. I think we may go back one final time the week after that, and that visit will wrap this procedure up. His last surgery will be the muscle/nerve transplant that he'll do sometime early next year that will help restore movement in the left side of his face.

I'll post a photo of him as soon as the swelling is gone. The difference is really remarkable.

Surgery Finalized

7:20am

Yesterday Taylor met with the Doctor at Shands so he could assess Taylor's health, finalize plans and have Taylor sign the medical releases for surgery next Thursday. This will be Taylor's 5th surgery, but the first one where he was well enough to sign the release. As with all surgeries, there was a long list of things that could potentially be a problem, but the procedure is overall a safe one. And, compared to what he's been through, it rates pretty low on the risk scale.

Although he initially decided against having it done now, he's decided to have the Doctor work on the Trach scar, which is about 3/4" in diameter. The Doctor offered during Taylor's last visit to work on that while he was undergoing the sling procedure for his face, but Taylor thought that would be too much at one time. Yesterday he changed his mind and wants to get it all done next Thursday.

He was given the choice of using a banding material made from a cow fetus or a human cadaver. He said "I'll take the cow".

The surgery is planned for 9am, but Taylor has to be there at 7am. The procedure will take about 3 hours and he will be in the Recovery Room for a couple of hours, so it will be a full day at the hospital.

Suzie's cousin, Emily Simmons, lives nearby so we'll stay with her Wednesday night and again Thursday night. Taylor meets with the Doctor at 8am on Thursday and then we'll make the drive back home. The Doctor gave Taylor a prescription for pain killers, so he probably won't mind the ride back.

Keep Taylor in your prayers next Thursday!

No change in vision - Surgery 2 weeks away

Today Taylor met with his Opthamologist, Gary Schemmer, who checked his double vision and found no change since his last visit a few months ago. The Nystagmus (involuntary shaking of the eyes) continues to be a problem that causes blurred vision. If Taylor turns his head to the right a couple of inches, the vision clears up.

Fortunately, it's not a real inconvenience for him and he's able to compensate for the Nystagmus by just turning his head a little. When he was in the hospital and in rehab, the shaking of the eyes was much more severe. And, for weeks his left eye only moved 1/4 inch or so. Now, you can't tell there is a problem by looking at him. The shaking is not evident to anyone but Taylor. And, it's enough to still cause some blurred vision unless he turns his head while continuing to look straight.

Dr. Schemmer is going to consult with Dr. Susac, a Neurologist, to determine if Taylor may be a candidate for surgery to correct the Nystagmus. He said that at 15 months after the accident, he would have expected to see further improvement if it was going to happen.

Next week, we return to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville for the pre-operation meeting with Taylor's Doctor there. Taylor's final in his the Accounting class (the Accounting class that he has an A in, by the way!) he's taking this summer term is on June 18th, so we'll leave after school for Gainesville and stay the night. The surgery schedule for June 19th isn't finalized until late in the day on the 18th. The hospital notifies patients the evening before the scheduled surgery what time to be there, so rather than take a chance on having to get up at 3am and make the 2 1/2 hour drive, we'll go early.

The surgery will last a couple of hours and he'll stay at the hospital for a while, but be released later that day. We'll stay overnight on the 19th and he'll see the Doctor before we head back home.

Taylor is really looking forward to this surgery. The left side of his face is pulling to the right, and this procedure will help correct that and take some of the droop out of the paralyzed left side. There will be quite a bit of cutting done, so he'll probably be pretty sore for a few days.