FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!

[271249horst]

Hello Edouard,

I pray for a good outcome of this intervention.

Sincerely.

Horst.

Translation from French.

[elagache]

Dear X-Air, Horst, and WeatherCat faithful,

It has been another difficult week, but let me try provide a decent update.  The last of the three surgeries in grafting new skin onto my nose involved completing the separation of the skin flap from the forehead here it was taken.  As reported earlier, That surgery was Tuesday at the amazingly late start time of 4:40 pm.

Alas as before, things did not go to plan.  I was supposed to go home right after the surgery.  When it was time to leave the recovery room and try to come home, my legs simply were not up to it.  I could barely walk around the bed.  I certainly wasn't going to make it to the house.  So I had to spend a night and part of the day in the hospital.  The simplest hypothesis is that the anesthesia they used was sufficiently strong that it interfered with my motor skills beyond the normal recovery period.  Anesthesia for facial surgery is more difficult than for other parts of the body and adjusting this is something of an art-form. 

The surgeon was pleased at how the procedure turned out, but it was another round of rough treatment.  There are several new lines of stitches and it is going to take a while for everything to calm down and the swelling to subside.  Completing the separation of the graft included new stitches on my forehead and there is a line of stitches going from my forehead to my nose passing very close to my left eye.  That eye is once more irritated which makes using the computer difficult.  Normal strategies to reduce the irritation like applying ice don't work very well at that location.

That's the Thursday update.  Hopefully, I'll feel better as my body copes with the latest blows.   Definitely feeling overwhelmed at the moment.

Edouard

[WeatherguyNH]

Edouard:

You are in my prayers for a speedy recovery.
Better times are ahead, so hang in there and just rest.

Rich

[xairbusdriver]

Sorry you had to show the professionals some of the extremes of their procedures. Maybe they will give you a discount as a “Beta” user! The human body is a miracle at healing after such manipulations! Take as much down the me as you can get! Have you considered hiring some short term help while you take care of your family’s needs?

[Steve]

Normal strategies to reduce the irritation like applying ice don't work very well at that location.
Edouard

I'm glad to hear that things went well, and that you are on the road to recovery. A tip: From my experience with surgery near the eye, a bag of frozen peas or corn work *much* better than ice! Bang the bag to break up any clusters, and it conforms easily to your eye socket and surrounding structure. This helps keep the inevitable black eye to a minimum, too.

[Blicj11]

Edouard:

Thank you for taking the time to keep us updated. You are in my prayers! And prayer works.

[WCDev]

Hang in there Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear Rich, X-Air, Steve, Blick, Stu, and WeatherCat faithful,

Thanks for your prayers and kind wishes.  I am doing better and the bruising is starting to subside.  Vision in my left eye has improved.

A tip: From my experience with surgery near the eye, a bag of frozen peas or corn work *much* better than ice!
. . . .

Yes Steve you are 100% correct.  Sadly at this house there are so many health-related problems that we have a large collection of medical ice-packs cluttering up the freezer.  The ones I have been using are pliable even just out of the freezer and sized for locations like the eye socket.  Unfortunately, the eye doesn't take cold very well even if the surrounding facial tissue needs it.  It is one of those "attempt the best compromise" situations where I apply ice more often for shorter periods of time.

The first post-operative appointment is Monday.  I'm sure at least some of the stitches will come out then.  That could be a very long appointment.  There sure are a lot of stitches to remove!

Thanks again,

Edouard

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally wagon,

It is May already and sometime between the 3rd and 7th of May 1965, Biquette rolled off the GM Fremont assembly plant.  I hadn't washed her since December 2020!  I finally rectified that yesterday.  There is a fellow with classic Mustang who parks it at a local micro brewery.  It made a decent backdrop for a few photos:



It was a partly cloudy day, not the best lighting for photography.  Here is two cars from the front:



Finally a view from the driver's side:



Those will have to do for Biquette's 57th birthday pictures! 

Cheers, Edouard

P.S. I can provide a quick nose reconstruction update.  It was hoped that after the surgery of March 22nd, the skin graph would reduce as the surgery swelling decreased.  Alas, it hasn't decreased much.  My nose is bloated inside and out.  As a result, my breathing is obstructed.  So at least one additional "thinning" surgery is needed.  Alas, with one surgeon out of action because of the bicycle accident of February, they remain shorthanded.  I'm waiting to find out when they can squeeze the next surgery into the schedule.

[Blicj11]

Love the car update.
Don't love the nose update.
Still praying for a full recovery for the nose; the car look like it has already recovered.
Hang in there!

[xairbusdriver]

Hoping that washing Briquette on this special day, “May the forth”, will portend successful battles with both age and recovery!

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat faithful,

Here is a quick update on my health situation.  I've had to wait for the UCSF Facial Plastics team to catch up on their backlog, but finally, I'm in the queue for the next surgery.  It is scheduled very early in the morning on this upcoming Tuesday, June 7th.  I don't know how they do this, but they are supposed to thin the flesh of the skin graft so it looks more like a normal nose.  I hope that means enlarging the interior of the left nostril so I can breath better and getting the bridge of my nose to the point that I can finally wear glasses once more.  They will probably have to do some work on the forehead wound leftover from taking the skin graft in the first place back in late January.  It still isn't fully healed after 4 months.

I'm back on the preparation treadmill, but you can only do so much.  Once more I'll just have to endure the ordeal and find out if it is enough to bring me back to an acceptable state of normalcy.

Oh well, . . . . . . Edouard

[Blicj11]

This has been an ordeal for you but we appreciate you giving us a peek into your personal life. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat faithful,

I'm finally catching up and recovered enough to give an update from the surgery of last Tuesday.  There was a last minute change of objectives caused by 3 lesions that had never healed properly from the first surgery of January 27th.  I started to suspect they might be leftover basal-cell skin cancer and the surgeon had come to the same conclusion.  So he tried to excise them.  The lab results confirmed that they were indeed basal-cell cancer.  I won't know if all the cancer was removed until my appointment next week.

After that, the surgeon attempted to return to original purpose of the surgery.  He still attempted to thin the skin graft on the left side, but could only do so much because he had to remove skin on the right side with the lesions.  He even surgically tried to clean up the wound on my forehead from taking the skin graft back in January.  So I'm back to stitches all over my nose and a modest wound area on my forehead.

Overall the procedure appears to have been a real success.  Even with the limited thinning of the skin graft, I am breathing significantly better and I'm happy that those suspicious lesions are removed.  However, this might set the stage for yet another surgery since the main objective of thinning had to be curtailed.  Unless there is more cancer to be removed, I would expect that I will back in a healing and waiting position to see how much the nose will recover from this surgery on its own.

Thanks for your support!

Edouard

[xairbusdriver]

Progress: It's either too fast or too slow! Either way, I'm happy to hear of yours! I hope you will soon look back at this ordeal with a smile!