One Year Anniversary!

One year ago today (Nov 20, 2017), Bob went into the hospital for a medically necessary surgery, a right ascending hemicolectomy. We never imagined the operation would lead to him very nearly losing his life. It was the scariest Thanksgiving we'd ever experienced. 

A year later, we have so much to be thankful for! Bob has spent the last 52 weeks overcoming rehab obstacles, recuperating, healing and learning to live his "new normal". We were fortunate to spend much of this past year reuniting with friends and family - some that we hadn't seen for many, many years. We are sharing pictures of some of those visits on today's blog post.

It's difficult to always remember that life really is precious. For us, this one year anniversary is a reminder to look for the good things; to be grateful for the people in our lives and the experiences we live. 

Day 61

Nothing but Good Stuff
   *Today is the end of the first week Bob has been back to work. He has stayed at the office for anywhere from 4 to 7 hours each day! When he begins to have some abdominal cramping and aching, he leans back in his desk chair (semi-reclines) and is also taking walking breaks every hour or so to change from a sitting position. He's quite sore and tired when he gets back home, and sighs a big sigh of relief when he lays back in his hospital bed. But he's a real trooper and I'm very proud of his determination!

2018 selfie taken in front of a white board at work.

   *I do his dressing change each morning after his shower, and he's very meticulous now about documenting daily wound measurements. BIG news...the depth of his wound now measures ZERO, because the wound bed has filled in and meets up to the level of his skin! Now just waiting for the length and width to close up completely.

(click to enlarge)

For the metrically challenged, here's a healing comparison in inches:

Today (1/19/18): 3.7" long x 0.75" wide x 0" deep

Day #8 (11/27/17): 8" long x 3" wide x 2" deep

Day 51

Returning back to "normal":
   Today Bob and I visited his office to get paperwork arranged for his return to work. He's starting back tomorrow (Wed, 1/10) to try things out, to see how many hours he can comfortably work while being "vertical", and to start catching up on what he's missed over the past almost two months. We'll see how he does. Of course he'll have to build up his endurance and stamina to working full-time hours again, but mentally he needs to get back into a groove of schedule and purpose, and this will be the start.
   As the home health care nurse visited our house today to do Bob's final wound assessment and complete his official discharge, she reminded him that his body is not yet completely healed (he does still have an open wound that gets a dressing change every day), that he needs to avoid large crowds and people who appear to be sick, and remember that when he feels tired or sore, to listen to his body and not overdo it. 
   Note: Today Bob wore the T-shirt that Jessica & Bruce gave him for Christmas!

~ Visiting with friends at Aeronix today ~

Day 47

Sayonara, sponges!
   After a visit with Bob's primary doctor yesterday, and his surgeon today, the consensus is no infection, but rather just sloughing of some dead tissue (gross, I know). In fact, today his surgeon said he sees epithelial tissue growing around the inside edges, so NO MORE VACUUM DRESSINGS! Bob still has an open defect, but it is now less than 0.5cm deep, a little shorter than 14cm long and fewer than 2.5cm wide. We'll be doing daily gauze dressing changes from now on (and more frequently, when needed) and using topical antibiotic ointment in the wound bed. Surgeon told us the final scar could take up to one year to totally close and fill in to be completely level with Bob's existing skin! But hopefully he won't have to wear continuous dressings for more than the next 2 to 3 months.

Lunch!
    We celebrated Bob's freedom from "the leash" and went out to lunch together today. He's steadily increasing the number of hours he can spend in a vertical sitting position, defying the odds and continuing to improve each and every day.

~Out to lunch at Apollo's Diner~

Texting with the home health care nurse to let her know 

doctor ordered discontinuation of vacuum treatment!

Day 45

Happy New Year! ~ Adios, 2017!

Wound

   Vacuum sponge changes are still happening every 48-72 hours, but there were a few instances over the holidays that the time between nurse visits was prolonged due to staff scheduling. So we hit a small speed bump during this morning's dressing change, and are going to see the doctor tomorrow to confirm if there is or is not a slight infection brewing (which could have happened due to the extended times between dressing changes over the holidays). Bob's also having some skin breakdown, which is likely a reaction to the skin barrier liquid that is applied to the skin before the clear draping is glued down to hold the sponge in place. 

   With the possibility of a wound infection combined with the skin breakdown issue, the nurse decided to remove the vacuum dressing until tomorrow morning's doctor visit. So for the rest of today, there is only a wet-to-dry gauze dressing on Bob's wound, which gives his skin a chance to breathe for a bit.  

Today's bandage shows how the wound has really decreased in size!

Overall, the wound's healing has been progressing great. Here's the latest measurements as of 1/1/18 (depth is under 0.5cm now!):

Happy 2018!