Watch out for the door!

I am tired tonight but joyfully so. We had an interesting day at the Center for Reconstructive Surgery - also known as plastic surgery. Gotta love the new nomenclature! We were planning to stop at the beauty salon to get T's hair washed but at the last minute, he remembered that he wasn't supposed to stretch his neck too much. So we canceled. Good call because that no excess stretching directive was reiterated this afternoon! The surgeon used some veins in T's neck to keep the imported flap alive. Dr. S is a real character. I can't remember what T said to get the doctor to respond the way he did, but it was something about the drain in his arm. I think T asked if it was coming out today or not, and the doctor replied, "Oh yes, we'll tie it to the door, slam it, and run like crazy!" We knew we had a kindred spirit in Dr. S. We started laughing and honestly, it just got better and better.

The drain was removed, without the use of the door. Then the doctor removed the heavy cast from T's arm, the flap donor site. I was surprised by the extent of the scar - not the flap scar - but the long cut that went from the inside of his wrist almost up to the inside of his elbow. It must have had something to do with that drain. We will need to treat and bandage this, plus wrap it with an ace bandage. It appears that this is something he will be doing for the next several weeks.

The next step was to remove the bandage on his thigh and check out the site of the skin graft donation. Dr. S wasn't all that happy with the way it had been bandaged and proceeded undo everything, add a different kind of pad, plus a certain kind of cream - silver something. As he showed me what to do, I remarked that it was like frosting a cake, and he agreed. After putting the pad over the wound, it also needs to be wrapped with an ace bandage.

I asked about cleaning all these wounds, and the doctor informed me that T could take care of this himself in the shower! Yay! He is also allowed to shave, as long as he uses an electric razor - something about his numb face and a blade not being a good combination.

Tonight we'll go to sleep knowing that all is healing well. We have an appointment with Dr. M, the head and neck surgeon. He was the guy who removed the cancer and surrounding tissue. Thursday we'll go back to see Dr. S and find out all the limitations that may be facing us. We will rest over the weekend, try to see a Dr. E (our original surgeon) on Monday morning, and fly out Monday evening. We are thanking the Lord for the strength he provides as we walk through each day of appointments. He is so faithful to provide peace and healing. Now, to rest.