Dr. Wax Followup

We saw Dr. Wax this afternoon for the followup on Curt's eye surgery last Tuesday. Curt is happy he does not have to put drops in his eyes all the time now. He only put some in a couple times this past week. Curt's only complaint with the left eye now is that his upper peripheral vision is slightly blocked. When Dr. Wax pulled up his eyebrow that helped. However, Dr. Wax said he does not want to do surgery on that for another month or two. Dr. Wax also said he can pull up Curt's lip a little to help with drooling, talking, eating, etc. That also needs to wait a month or two. Dr. Wax said he grafted a nerve in the mouth area that is not working yet. He wants to see if it will "take hold" eventually. We were going to see Dr. Gross and Dr. Wax on March 3, but Dr. Wax said he doesn't need to see Curt again until we see Dr. Gross after the March 3 appointment some time in April or May. So we are off to Arizona tomorrow until February 29th.

Eye Surgery

We just returned from Portland where Curt's surgery went well. We met with Dr. Gannon on Monday afternoon and then went to Pre-Admissions. We learned Dr. Gannon is spending his last year as a Fellow under Dr. Wax. We then did a little shopping before going to Angie and Jef's. Tuesday morning we were supposed to be there at 9 with surgery planned at 11. Angie met us there. Curt didn't get called back for preparation until about 10:45 and didn't leave for surgery until about 1:15. Drs. Wax and Gannon were delayed because an earlier surgery took longer than they thought. We were able to stay with Curt while he was waiting. When the anesthesists came to get him, they gave him a shot and Curt doesn't remember much after that. We saw Dr. Wax after 2 as he was leaving the surgery. I think he was at the surgery to supervise and left the "cleaning up" to the other doctors (Gannon and residents, etc.). Dr. Wax said they really pulled up his lower lid, but it would eventually sag again. If this procedure does not work, they will put a piece of cartilidge under the lower lid. He wants to see Curt again next Tuesday. We leave the next day for Arizona and will be staying at Bakers' again Tuesday night. Dr. Gannon thought they would not need to see Curt again until his appointments with Drs. Wax and Gross on March 3. Dr. Gannon also said the one eye drop we were using was more for allergies and said to just use Artificial Tears. So far Curt hasn't needed any drops. I think he has 2 sets of stitches. One is underneath the skin and the other is on the skin on the corner of eye. We are to use Bacitracin on the stitches for about 3 days to help with the healing. They are disolvable stitches. He is not supposed to lift heavy things and generally take it easy for a few days. However, it is hard to hold him down. He was able to leave OHSU about 4 PM. I drove up and they brought him down in a wheelchair. He was able to walk though. He slept a little when we got back to Bakers' and then had some Cream of Rice cereal. His biggest complaint about this surgery is that they stuck a breathing tube down his throat and that has irritated his tongue some more. So he is back to liquids or very soft food again. He had been chewing a little more before this. He felt good enough that night for Angie and I to "let" him and Jef beat us at bridge (quite soundly). I drove home this morning and we stopped for a little shopping in Albany on the way. Finally, after just a few days, the exercises suggested by the therapist in Corvallis has helped reduce the restriction on his left shoulder.

Physical Therapy

Today we went to see the physical therapist about Curt's left shoulder - he has restriction when he lifts his arm. After taking several measurements, moving his arm around, and feeling around the area, the therapist agreed that some of his shoulder (especially in the back which involves some posture) and rotater cuff muscles had atrophied. The therapist gave him a couple stretchy things and we bought another stretchy thing for over the door for Curt to use in exercises at home. Curt has a protruding pouch on his stomach from the operation. When he mentioned this to the therapist, he told him how to reduce this by contracting his stomach muscles while lying on his back with his legs bent in order to strengthen the stomach muscles. Dr. Wax removed some of the rectus stomach muscle to put into his left cheek (this was inserted behind his left ear) to fill in where they removed his facial nerve, etc., during the surgery in September. Curt will see the therapist a couple times before we go to Arizona (assuming it is okay after his eye surgery next week) and then see him a couple times a week until March 21 after we return.

Dr. Gannon

I was going to write this on Monday, but was waiting to hear from OHSU. Curt was supposed to see Dr. Wax last Monday at 3. However, he was in surgery and we saw his associate, Dr. Gannon. Dr. Gannon was part of the operating team but did not recognize Curt at first. He said I looked familiar though. When he remembered Curt, he was amazed at how much Curt's face has "shrunk". He looked at Curt's eye and decided the lower lid should be "tucked up" to meet the upper lid. I thought the lower lid looked droopy. I don't think they wanted to put a heavier weight in his upper lid because it could possibly come down over his eye and obstruct his vision. This will be an outpatient surgery at OHSU. We finally heard from them today to see when this will be. Curt will see Dr. Gannon next Monday at 2 PM and then see the Pre-Operation Admissions at 3. Tuesday he will check into OHSU at 9 AM and the surgery will be about 11 AM. We are going to spend both Monday and Tuesday nights at Angie and Jef's place. Hopefully Curt will be able to golf when we go to Arizona February 20-29. We will have to see about that. Curt will see both Dr. Gross and Dr. Wax on March 3 when we return.

Dr. McGowan plus

We saw Dr. McGowan, and she thought Curt was healing well (and maybe faster than "normal"). Curt thinks his tongue is slightly better, but it could take 6 weeks. His saliva glands are gradually returning and might be the last to fully recover. She (and the dietician) want him to gradually eat more things. He is still mostly on a liquid diet with lots of supplemental drinks. His weight (159.5 lbs) is about the same. His skin is healing well, but Curt still puts on Aloe Vera quite liberally. We will see Dr. McGowan again in 3 months.
Dr. Wax's office called yesterday to schedule a quicker appointment (we had another appointment scheduled for Feb. 11). We will see him on Monday (Feb. 4) at OHSU at 3 PM. Curt's left eye is bothering him more and more. It does not close completely. We are putting in lots of drops and he started taping it shut at night. Dr. Gross's office indicated a doctor might put in another gold weight in the eyelid.
Curt is going to see a physical therapist next Friday for his left arm. It hurts when he raises it above his head. Dr. Gross thinks he needs to build up some muscles in his neck and arm area.
We are seeing Dr. Gross again on March 3. Curt also scheduled an annual checkup with his primary Corvallis doctor in March too.
We are looking forward to a vacation in Arizona from February 20-29!
Joan and Curt