Recovery Day 24

Follow Up Visits Galore!

Today was post op appointments Day 1. Three more days of post op appointments between now and the 21st. And then more I'm sure after that!

The morning started with blood work at 8:30. Then it was off to the wound ostomy clinic. After two calls with them over the weekend and this week, they had moved up the appointment from next week to today. The good news is we discovered the cause of the pain he's been having! The bad news he does now have an open wound bed sore! Everyone is pretty sure this is from the 17 days in the hospital and the massive amount of time he was unable to move much. They taught me how to dress his wound. And now we have an additional follow up with them on the same day as his plastics post op. 

After that appointment, he had his post op with Dr. Fournier and his team. After meeting with the nurse and PA, his nutritionist met with us. Due to the burning his internal organs took and his bed sore, Alan has to focus on eating between 120-130 grams of protein. It's the only way his insides will heal. So while he has done well focusing on 5-6 small meals a day, now we will be upping his protein intake to at least 20 grams in each. 

Then Dr. Wise One came in. He is so pleased with how Alan is doing. He was surprised with Alan has a bed sore. He wonders if it isn't a bed sore but shingles. So I will keep a close eye on it. In the meantime we will dress it and handle it as a bed sore! So grateful for a fabulous nurse friend who walked me through the supplies I have and the two different ways to treat it. 

Tonight after he showered, I dressed his drain that is still leaking fat necrosis. Then I cleaned and put antibiotic ointment on his incision. Dr. Fournier was thrilled with how his incision has healed. He thinks they could come out next Monday or the following. Then I dealt with changing his colostomy bag and dressing the bed sore! All told from the "I'm ready to take a shower" comment to complete was an hour and a half long process. Just when we thought we were getting to a point where we might get faster at this process...

After 4 hours at MD Anderson's Med Center location, we headed back home. The morning was long and took a LOT out of him. 

In other news, the girls and The Woodlands High Band had two competitions from Saturday to Tuesday in San Antonio. They placed 2nd in the Bands of America Super Regional and 4th in the UIL 6A Marching Band State Championship. 

Sadly upon coming home, Audrey wasn't feeling well, along with many of the other band members. Wednesday, Audrey was diagnosed with strep. Today Rebekah came home and was diagnosed with the flu!

So now the pharmacy on my kitchen counter and the medical supply company on my bathroom counter have both expanded greatly. 

Prayer Needs:

• Girls to heal and not get each other's illness. 
• Alan not to get either of their illnesses. 
• Me to stay well and able to care for the three of them. 
• Girls to be able to get all their school work done. 
• Alan's bed sore to completely and quickly heal. 
• Exhaustion is definitely real - sleep for Alan and I both. 

Everyone is isolating from each other and masking when around Alan. Erie Covid vibes... but we are all trying to protect him. 

Thank you all!

- Mel

Recovery Day 17

First day home! It was a good day! We are settling in, and yet I am still overwhelmed. 

Alan slept in, while I did the carpool run for Audrey and ran to the office. Some checks needed signed, plus I was trying to pick up a functioning laptop. Sadly when I got my laptop back home, for the third time the same problem occurred. IT will work on it again tomorrow. 

The key today was to start establishing an at home routine. Today we got a good rhythm going on his small "meals."  Alan told some friends that he is eating little kid portion sizes.  In addition to that, we got his medication routine planned. It seems to have worked well today. There are a lot of meds and a lot to keep straight. So Excel to the rescue! 

For almost three weeks if it wasn't mission critical, it is been on the back burner. So today I tried to knock those items out. I got 4 or 5 things plus some laundry done. 

Susan and Sarah came by to check on us and brought Alan got some cool Astros drawstring pants! Plus some more pants he ordered last night arrived today. We haven't gotten everything organized yet. The medical supplies are still just hanging out in the big bag they gave us. That's a project for tomorrow. 

This evening before dinner we went on a walk down the street. It was nice to speak with neighbors Jim and Jennifer. We went on to walk 0.6 miles. Tomorrow we will start doing more short walks to continue to build back his strength. We enjoyed seeing squirrels on the walk and joked how the 10th floor needs to hide some stuff squirrels around for patients to find as they walk!

I will probably reduce down to more random updates for this longer at home portion of recovery. We are trying to be prepared for the hills and valleys of this journey. 

Please pray for continued progress. Slow and steady is the goal. Pray for Rebekah, Audrey and The Woodlands High School Band, as they leave around 5 am Saturday morning for San Antonio for the 2 biggest and last competitions of the year. They return home late Tuesday. So safety and for wise choices! Pray that they all perform to their very best! Pray for patience for all of us!

- Mel

Recovery Day 16

HOMEWARD Bound!!! Yep, we broke out. After 16 days of recovery and a day long surgery, he is home! Praise Jesus!

We are emotionally and mentally preparing for the remainder of this roller coaster recovery. All the doctor teams have reminded us all day that this recovery is a marathon roller coaster which seems only appropriate for a Cold Brew Shake N Bake! Bubbly (Dana on Fournier's team) said today that it could take as long as 6-8 months for Alan to be back to his base line. 

BUT Dr. F told us yesterday that while he did have that setback and will probably have another 24-48 round of his innards shutting down again, he is not worried about Alan going home. "Most of his patients, whether inpatient 10 days or 21 days, aren't as dedicated to doing everything as you." That quote made my wife heart so proud. Alan has worked so hard. Yes he has a long way to go, but he has an amazing spirit and will be completely successful! He's already an incredible warrior and survivor! So grateful for him!

Tonight the girls don't have band! So we are looking forward to a night at home with them, watching the Astros win!

Recovery Day 15

Another good day. He ate real food! With no problems! 

He slowed down the amount of walking yesterday, having realized how much he had overdone it for the previous 3 days. So he walked 5-6 times but not as far as before. Today we did the same. Taking it easy. 

I think the key is he is learning patience with himself. The doctors are all cautioning him to be patient. He has a long recovery still to go. 

One thing I am watching is a drain spot. The doctors are not concerned but it's still oozing some, so we are changing that dressing still. I've been thrilled that the nurses have let me help more. It has made me feel more prepared for when he does come home and it's all on me. 

The next 10 weeks will probably still be tough! He's going to have to have a ton of help. And I'm sure I will not be the best nurse but we will get through it. 

Sorry for the super late update but it was busy with lots of people in and out, shower, walk, and then the Band's Send Off to state! Go Band!

- Mel

Recovery Day 14

2 weeks ago he was in the LONGEST surgery! 

Thank you for the prayers! Today has been fabulous! He has movement! Everything is working again!

He got the tube out this morning! He started back on a liquid diet!

He had a shower! And we went to the observation floor again!

He also admitted he has overdone a little bit the past two days. He walked like 9 times yesterday for a total of 2.67 miles. So we are taking things a little easier today!

Pray he continues on a successful recovery and release with no setbacks. 

Recovery Day 13

Thirteen Days! He's doing AMAZING! Over 2 miles walked yesterday. Amy and Alan enjoyed the Observation Floor and the Astros win!

Today Keith came and hung out during the morning, while I got the house back in order and went to H‑E‑B. Before I got here, Alan had already walked 1.34 miles over 6 walks. We have walked twice more, including a lengthy visit to the Observation Floor. We had a great view of the NRG! 

The big news of the day is that at 9 am, he started a gravity test on the NG Tube. A gravity test is where they disconnect him from the suction for 4 hours. And then for an hour, they connect him back to suction to see how much is removed from his stomach. The goal was to have less than 200 ml suctioned out. He passed! He only had 50! But we still haven't seen much out of the end of the bowels. So Dr. Ylu (Classy) and we agreed to keep the NG tube overnight. We would rather not have to redo it again! So he is back on ice chips now and waiting for movement!

Before I leave for the night, we will walk at least once more, maybe twice! Pray for everything to move along and for more progress tomorrow!

- Mel

Recovery Day 12

So not going to hide anything. Today sucked. We are struggling. Both of us. The waiting game is hard. The body has its own schedule and it doesn't match what we wanted or expected. 

Early on we were told that the average stay is 10-11 days. But they always plan for at least 14 days inpatient. Alan told me his goal was 9, and I admonished him that his goal is whenever is best. Dr. Wise One told us the other day that his patients have the longest stays of any surgery.

Alan is struggling with nothing happening. I am struggling with nothing happening. We are struggling with it being the finals of band season and him being in the hospital and not at competitions. 

So tonight I FaceTimed Alan and his sister, Amy, from UIL Area Finals, which I raced to from the hospital. 

We are trying to focus on the positives. While that has been hard today, here are my positives. I successfully changed the colostomy bag!!! We went to the observation floor again today! And then when I could tell he was really not good, we went outside! He will have walked over 2 miles today! And some really good buddies texted and called to encourage him! 

So while I would give the day a C overall, we can always find bright spots. We just have to look!

And Go Astros and Go Aggies!

- Mel