Day 43 Update

Scott was moved from the ICU to his old room late this morning. He had a pretty good night thanks to some pain meds. He's having some pain in his jaw because they actually had to tighten his jaw muscles. After his flap came out, those muscles became looser and looser, so they have to tighten them back up. He said that his jaw muscle (up by his temple) is painful and also his head. He's swollen on the right side of his head, which is to be expected after all they did in there.

Despite the pain he was having last night and while I was there today, he seemed to be in pretty good spirits. I think there's quite a bit of relief to know that he's put back together again.

Diane said that he was able to sign his name on the surgery permission slip...this is great! His fine motor skills are really good. He was able to drink and eat soft foods today also.

The physical therapy specialists came into his room this morning, ready to get going, and he wasn't up for it because of his pain. I was surprised they wanted to get him up and moving so fast. Obviously, they know that the sooner he does physical therapy and the more he does it, the better and faster he will heal. I'm looking forward to seeing him use his walker since I haven't seen that yet. I keep teasing him about getting a couple tennis balls for it. I really should get a horn and an orange flag too! Ha! Since he wasn't using it today, my 15 month old son, Henry, had a wonderful time with it. :)

~Betsy

New Noggin

It's official....Scott's got a new look tonight. The surgery went really well, the fit was perfect, and he's doing good. He was in a lot of pain after surgery, so they had to give him some pain meds. But, it was nice to see him come out of surgery with no ventilator in. No IV meds except straight saline. It was nice to know he was able to wake up and talk after surgery. What a difference from last time. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for him today. Let's hope for a relaxing night and a wonderful day tomorrow!!

~Betsy

Post Surgery Update

I don't have a lot of info for you but can say he's in recovery right now. The doctor told Diane on the phone that the flap was a perfect fit. He was going into CT and then recovery for about an hour. That was about 30 mins ago. Then he'll be in the ICU overnight for observation. We can't wait to see him!!!!

~Betsy

Flap Today!!!

Scott's in surgery right now. They took him down about 12:30 and they said it takes about 1 1/2 hours. He was nervous about having this done but I think he was in pretty good spirits beforehand. It was good to see him before surgery and we're all just sitting here waiting. I'll let everyone know more in a couple hours.

~Betsy

Day 41 Update

Well, tomorrow is the big day for Scott! We are all very excited he is getting his head put back together and at the same time, we're nervous. I'll do a couple updates tomorrow on his progress for everyone. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers tonight and tomorrow.

By the way, he walked (with a walker) today! 10 steps! YAY!!!! Also, he left me a message on my cell phone today and it was sooooo good to hear his voice on the phone. It'd been way too long! Love ya!

~Betsy

GOOD NEWS, Diane

I have been sitting by Scott's bed side day after day pretty much being his nurse at this point and I just can't help it, I have to be the one to share this news!

Scott's bone flap is HERE. It goes in on WEDNESDAY!

Wow I can't believe it is finally going to happen. He will stay 48-72 hours for observation but with that being so close to the weekend the earliest he'll move on is Monday. He will be moving on to a Sub-Acute Therapy center most likely the Marysville area, close to my mom. (I wont be able to move in with him)

I need to clear something up. I posted a mistake...OPS! We were marked as in-patient/rush on the bone flap order. It takes 3 weeks at the soonest. We are 2 days shy of that so it really was fast. The reason for the time: The company is in Atlanta. The doctors here send a CT scan of Scott's head, they put the info into their computer and send back a 3D image of what it will look like. Scott's doctor looks the image over comparing it to the CT's they have of Scott and then send the signed off image back to this company. Now they are ready to use the 3D image from the computer put it into there machines and create a porex bone flap that will fit into Scott's missing piece of skull. They make and ship 2 just to be sure if something happens there's a back up. Ok Ok I get why this takes weeks now.
Hooray more steps forward....I don't remember if Besty said Scott stood up yesterday too :)

Day 39 Update

Long space between updates, huh? The weekend was pretty busy for Scott, especially today. He had lots of visitors and that was good. More people got to feel his head...yay! Farmer and I actually went camping this weekend (I know... I know....how could we? Believe me, it was hard) and didn't make it down to the hospital until late this evening. Scott was sleeping when we got there but I think the yelling of my children woke him up pretty good. Just kidding. He woke up and had Farmer feel his head too. :) Then, all of sudden he takes off his blankets and starts to sit up! Talk about really freak us out. Diane puts on his snazzy helmet and there he goes, swinging his feet over the side of the bed and just sits there. It was awesome! It just so happened that right after he did this little maneuver, his nurse came in to do vitals. We warned her his BP may be high after sitting up and moving a lot but it was good. Another great sign....he's getting better and better.

I'll try to keep everyone updated as we hear more on when the flaps going back on, it should be this week.

~Betsy