Saturday update...Praises!!!!

Hello All,

Well, so much has been going on the last couple of days, so I have a lot to update.

We'll start with Thursday. We are finally down to seeing the ophthalmologist every two days. When we saw him on Thursday, he said that the ulcer had completely healed (prayer answered!) There are still lacerations which are causing dryness and irritation, but God is healing Dan's body. After that appointment we went to another hospital, Wilford Hall. (This is where Macy was born.) At this appointment, we saw a maxillofacial prosthodontist. This is a doctor who makes facial prosthetics. Dan had to have something called nasal splints made. He will wear these in his nose to keep the shape correct and his airway open. It was a pretty long appointment, but Dan got the nasal splints (that were sewn into his nose after surgery) taken out and got the new ones that are removable. It was a big relief for him. He could finally blow his nose and feel clean. (Oh, the things we take for granted:)

My last post, I talked about the pain Dan had been having in his left shoulder. It was more bruised than the other. Well, Tuesday, during another Dr. appointment, Dan's surgeon just walked in to check on him. We showed him the shoulder and he said that it wasn't just a bruise, it was a hematoma. A hematoma is when the blood from a bruise clots and does not dissipate naturally. Dan's hematoma started just behind his shoulder on his back and went halfway down his chest. This is dangerous because if that blood does not go away on it's own it could cause infection or at the very least the doctor would have to go in and surgically remove the tissue expander and clean out all the old clotted blood. This is a praise b/c we were able to be proactive about it. For the next two days, Dan used a heating pad to help clear it up. It made a big difference. OK, back to Thursday night....Dan's shoulder started bleeding a little bit out of the suture line. It looked like old blood, so we weren't too worried.

On to Friday....We had an appointment with Dr. Thomas, Dan's plastic surgeon. He agreed that there was much improvement in the shoulder, and as he touched it, blood shot out of it and across the room. He insisted to us that this was good news, and told the nurse to "milk it". And that is what she did. She massaged the area and was able to get all the old blood out of the area. Sorry if this is a little gross, but this is a praise as well, b/c we had been praying for no infection and no complications. If the blood hadn't come out this way, it would have taken surgery, putting us behind schedule. During this visit, quite a few stitches were taken out, specifically in his eye. They were bothering him and making his vision blurry, so I know that was a relief!!

Speaking of surgery....Dan is scheduled to have his second surgery this Thursday, August 21. During this surgery, he will have his left eyelid released, the large baldspot closed and his nose "trimmed down" (I finally found out what "tweaked" meant:) This one should be a "short" one, 1-2 hours and he should only be inpatient for a day or two. Dan's parents will be here again to help with the kids, hospital visits and caring for Dan.

Speaking of the kids....they are handling this so well. I was a little concerned what the kids responses would be to seeing their Daddy. He looked pretty beat up and his nose was really swollen and bulbous looking. It's as if Macy didn't even see it and Trey laughed and said, "Those silly Doctors...What did they do to your nose???" They are so precious and it is such a relief to all of us that they don't seem to have any "issues" with all that is going on in their lives. To them, this is normal. Trey's best friend, Maya, has a Daddy who is burned too, but is also a below the knee amputee. It was cute to see them discussing that the first time.

We are doing great here. Dan and I are so lucky to have such great family who will drop everything to be here for us. (My mom came in for two days this weekend just to be an extra set of hands, and b/c of that my kids were fed breakfast this morning, dressed and will have clean clothes this week:):) Often people ask what they can do for us or if we need anything, and the honest answer is : PRAYER. It is so beautiful to witness all of your prayers being answered. I hope this little blog encourages you, b/c our all-knowing Lord is watching over ALL of us and desires to answer your personal prayers as well.

Thank you again for keeping up with us, leave a comment and let me know you were here. It is such an encouragement to me. I will keep you updated this week as things progress with Dan's surgery.