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.
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.
1 comment:
Great news...so happy for your results. Go Indiana =)
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