Day After Surgery

I think I left off waiting for Curt to go home. He was really thirsty (he had no liquids since midnight except for a sip of water with a pill that morning) and drank lots of apple juice and some jello in the recovery room. We got back to Angie's after 5:30 and Curt ate some supper too. His left eye really bothered him for a while (watered), but finally settled down. He noticed the difference in his mouth too. His cheek does not feel so caved in. He bit his lower lip, but is not sure when that happened, and thinks eating will be better. He took some oxycodone when we got to Angie's and before bed (about 9). He had trouble sleeping with his head elevated to help with the swelling and used eyedrops a few times. He is used to sleeping on his stomach.
We had an exciting ride to see Dr. Downs this morning. It was snowing when we got up after 7. We left about 9:15 and Angie mentioned we might have trouble with about 1 to 2 inches of snow and the steep hill down from their area. I went slowly, started going sideways and managed to head into the curb. Some people standing there recommended we stay there, but other cars managed to make it down. A man standing there offered to drive it down (I was most of the way down and Curt is not supposed to drive) while a couple ladies held up the cross traffic at the bottom - so I let him. After we got down, a car coming down behind us went sliding across the road at the bottom and up over the sidewalk. Angie suggested we drive through downtown Lake Oswego and on Hwy. 43 along the river to OHSU's lower campus (instead of taking the Interstate). The traffic to downtown L.O. was stop and go. An ambulance passed us. We were almost 45 min. late for the appointment, but I guess some other people had problems too. Dr. Downs cleaned his forehead wound and thought everything looked good (considering). We need to keep the wounds lubricated twice a day. He will have swelling and bruising for several days, but his eye does close better now. They gave us the gold weight that was in his eye before - very interesting. Dr. Downs said to keep using the dry eye drops until the eye adjusts to its new configuration. It will take a couple weeks before we know if this will eliminate the pain. He cannot play tennis or do any heavy lifting, etc., for a couple weeks either. He took some oxycodone this morning and switched to Excedrin when we got home. By the time we headed back to Corvallis (about 11:30), it was just raining and wet. We stopped to eat in Albany and got home after 2. Curt wants to go to his class at church tonight. I will take him and he will get a ride home. I admire his resilience! He sees Dr. Downs again on February 5.

Surgery Complete

Dr. Downs came about 2:15 and said the surgery went well. He raised Curt's eyebrow, tucked the corner of his lower eyelid, and put in a heavier weight positioned closer to his nose in his eyelid. This should help with his eye closure - and hopefully the pain. He also was able to use the "aloderm" (sp.) that Dr. Wax used in the September 2007 surgery pull up his upper lip and did not need to use the Goretex and screw in his cheek. So the surgery only lasted about 3 hours. We are waiting to see him in the recovery room. Dr. Downs thought he could probably go "home" (to Angie's) about 4:30 or 5 and do and eat what he feels like doing. Curt will take antibiotics and can go back to his Excedrin tomorrow if he wants. We will see Dr. Downs tomorrow at 10 AM and will head back to Corvallis. We will return a week from Thursday (Feb. 5).

Beginning Surgery

Angie and I are in the waiting room. I'm using her laptop. Curt and I got here at 8:30, and Angie came at 9:00. We were able to wait with him in the prep room. Dr. Downs came by about 10:30. He said he might raise his upper lip using the sling Dr. Wax used during the operation on September 2007. He will have to see when he gets in there. Curt has been in a lot of pain with his eye and around it - especially since he could not take any aspirin after last Tuesday in preparation for the surgery today. He has been taking a lot of oxycodone and Tylenol and not doing much. The oxycodone has some side effects he doesn't like. He finally went into surgery after 11. Dr. Downs said he thought he might be ready to go to Angie's about 5 o'clock. I will write more tonight.

OHSU Visit

It was a beautiful day to drive to Portland and ride the tram from OHSU's upper campus to the lower campus by the river. You could see all the mountains and the sun was shining. We were late to see Dr. Gross from the Preadmission Testing Clinic, but everything went well there. Dr. Gross checked Curt's nose and throat with his "snake camera", and said it looked good. He thinks the surgery will help with Curt's headaches since most of his pain is around his eye. He also said that Curt's reading and watching TV could contribute to the dryness in his eye because he probably does not blink while doing this. He is still noncommittal about the "suspicious" spot. He wants us to keep in touch via e-mail after Curt's surgery and will contact us about another appointment. If Curt's headaches continue a couple weeks after the surgery, he will schedule another MRI sooner than April or May. We felt pretty good after seeing him. After a quick lunch, we saw Dr. Downs. He thought Curt's left eye looked irritated and slightly swollen in the corner of his lower lid, so he might correct that as well as raising his eyebrow and adding another weight to his eyelid. He will pull up his upper lip with 2 Goretex "strings" imbedded in his cheek and attached by a screw to his cheek bone. The surgery should take about 4 hours. We will spend the night at Angie's and then see Dr. Downs the next morning before returning to Corvallis. There will be another followup appointment in 1 1/2 weeks. After about 2 weeks, Curt can start to return to most of his activities (i.e. tennis).

The Next Operation

Curt has surgery scheduled for his eye and mouth with Dr. Downs at OHSU on Monday, January 26. We are going to OHSU next Tuesday, January 20, for his "pre-op" and to see Dr. Downs and Dr. Gross. He already had an appointment with Dr. Gross that was scheduled last November. Curt wants to have this done as soon as possible because his eye continues to bother him. He is now taping it shut at night to see if that will help. He substituted in my ladies tennis group yesterday. Because of his hernia surgery, he is supposed to wait 3 weeks before tennis (that would be next Monday), but I guess he is getting desperate and my tennis is not like his tennis.

January 6

Curt saw Dr. Hudson this morning to check on the hernia surgery. He gave us some interesting pictures of Curt's intestines. There was only about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of skin covering them (there should be some muscle and fat between the intestines and skin). Now there is some mesh to help keep them in place. Curt no longer takes pain medicine for that, but needs to take it easy for a couple more weeks. He will see Dr. Hudson in a month.
Late this afternoon Curt saw Dr. Downs at OHSU. When he came in, he said, so here is the famous Mr. Cook. (He had talked to Dr. Gross.) After looking at Curt, he said he can raise Curt's left eyebrow and put in a heavier weight in his eyelid to help his eye to shut and not get so dry. This could help with the pain he has been having in and around that eye. He is also going to put a screw in his cheekbone and make a sling with Goretex to pull up his lip. This might help with eating and talking. This will be outpatient surgery at OHSU that could take about 4 hours. It will be in about a month. We are spending the night at Angie's tonight since it is dark and raining (lightly).