Out

#72

In Surgery Now. The wound vacs have started leaking again, so hopefully they will get those working today in surgery.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. Mom washed his hair and gave him a clean shave, and I trimmed up his mustache a little bit. Man he looks good!

#71

Just a quick update - All went well in surgery this morning, and the first graft is looking very good.

Over the weekend dad had a few issues, but those seem to be getting better. First of all there was the struggle with the wound vacs which most likely led to the demise of the left skin graft. The vac leaked most of the weekend and a lot on Sunday. This fluid (the same stuff capable of breaking down the food you and I eat) is a nightmare for newly grafted skin (and it's bad for regular healthy skin too). While they weren't able to save the graft, they have been able to keep the wound vacs working and dad's skin dry.

Secondly, dad is breathing better. Over the weekend there was fluid on dad's lungs (more than we even knew), and dad was having a hard time breathing. Chest x-rays shows considerably less fluid and dad is feeling better.

Last of all they are still working to restore the balance of fluid intake and outtake. They are checking his creatnin and have also put him on some heart medication.

I wish I had a better explanations, but without having a complete understanding myself this is the best I can do.

Post Op

One step forward another step back.

The wash out itself was fine, but today graft #2 (the left side and smaller of the two grafted areas) is covered with the black sponge again. (similar to the middle area) Mom inquired about this and found out that graft number two did not take. We don't know Dr. Duke's plans for re-grafting - maybe he will try to do it again soon, maybe he will wait until the middle section is ready, maybe he will try to close up the tunnel that connects the two - we don't know... and I'm not even sure if he knows yet. We pray that when the time comes, the remaining grafts are successful.

On better note, the wound vacs are working today - Thank God!

#70

Surgery 70! Now that's a milestone that most don't hit in their lifetime. We're praying that today he comes back with a working wound vac. That thing was a constant battle this weekend.