What Did Dr. Duke Do Today?

Hmm... Good question. Dad came back from surgery, some skin was taken from his legs, and the mid-section is believed to be grafted (but it's covered). We haven't heard from Dr. Duke so we know only what mom can see with her own two eyes. Hopefully he was able to build his "ledge" and hopefully it will the key to successful grafts.

In Surgery

Back to surgery this morning around 7:30

Mom had the chance to talk to Dr. Duke yesterday evening, and his plan is to graft again this morning. We were a bit surprised by this, but apparently a light bulb went off in his head and he came up with a slightly different game plan. He has found some "material" and he plans to build somewhat of a ledge in attempt to minimize leaking onto the graft. I'm sure it's not as easy as it sounds, but this ledge idea sounds good to us! We aren't sure which leg he plans to take skin from (there is possibly some left to take on the leg he used last time), but it's nice to hear he's trying something a bit different and hopefully this time it will work!!! I'll try to update again later when we know something. Our PA (who tends to be our main source of contact) is off today, so we'll have to wait and see if Dr. Duke himself comes by to give a report.

Until later -

Tracy

#92

Things seem to have not been going dad's way here lately. He had a rough weekend, followed by some respiratory issues that have caused him to panic, next a urinary tract infection, a few failed IVs (that will soon be replaced with another Central Line), and many extremely difficult blood draws. Relative to the "rough" he's seen since January this might sound minor, but this isn't like those rough days. He's awake, he feels the pain, the frustration (even though he still is very patient), the fear and some days it just seems like nothing will go right.

On a more positive note, surgery went well, the 25% percent remaining of the middle graft looks to still be making it, the Central Line will fix the IV issues and will allow for much less painful blood draws (no more sticking the arm, the leg, the foot, etc repeatedly), and they are doing a culture to find the right antibiotic to treat the urinary tract infection. I guess things are looking up, but sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. Of course we just want him to continue to recover and in the process be as comfortable as possible.

A fitting quote from I'm not sure who:

"If you want a rainbow you have to put up with the rain."

Continue to pray for sunnier days.

-Tracy

Update #91

From Ruthie:

Got a report from our PA Denise who works closely with Dr. Duke. She was able to tell me that the about 25% of the grafted mid-section is intact. While this was disappointing she did remind me that we have two areas completely grafted, the entrance and exit wounds along with some of the middle so we moving slowly forward. Monday, Wednesday, Friday washouts will continue as the area is once again prepared for future grafting.

Patience - It's a virtue that I have never associated with myself. Louie has always had much more, so hopefully he can hang in there. I read a quote recently that i like.

"Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out."

We need each of you to help us accomplish this--keep praying!!
Love to all, Ruthie


Note from me (Tracy):

Visitors are allowed again - for those of you who have not been able to make it, feel free to drop him a note to:

Louis Buzek
Hermann Hospital
Jones 644
6411 Fannin
Houston, TX 77030

He always loves to hear from his friends at home. He's eager to get back there himself.

Weekend Update

The weekend didn’t go as planned at all, and we are still waiting for Saturday’s surgery… which has been rescheduled for this morning. Saturday was supposed to be the day we found out the fate of the middle graft, however there were many other traumas Saturday morning even though Dr. Duke waited all day for an available O.R. he was never able to get dad in.

This was frustrating considering dad had already had a really rough night on Friday where he nor mom got any sleep. Between a blocked catheter, a collapsed IV, veins that would not cooperate with blood draws, and a malfunctioning wound vac, the night was quite a disaster.

Today we hope he does go to surgery very soon, and we pray that the top of the graft is still intact. I’ll update again later when we know more.