Update #177

No more dressing changes!

The second part of Dave's surgery is done, and Dr. Kitzmiller was very pleased. After Dr. Muskat finished taking down the fistula, Dr. Kitzmiller took the skin flap that has been the bulge on the right side of Dave's body for so many months and cut its thickness in half, separating the muscle from the skin. He managed to stretch the muscle across most of the right side of Dave's abdomen to replace the muscles and supportive tissue he lost when he hit the guardrail. He then used the skin layer cover the area, leaving only a small space between his breastbone and his bellybutton without supportive structure. The stitches and staples will be in for ten to fourteen days and will require some minor care, but after that, NO MORE DRESSING CHANGES! No more drainage leaking everywhere, no more tape tearing off Dave's skin, no more Baza cream making him smell like a medicine cabinet. Yeah!

After at least three months of recovery, we will begin to talk about continuing the reconstruction by covering the last small unprotected layer and beginning to smooth out the mountains and valleys that make up Dave's abdomen. For now, we're just enjoying the fact that surgery is over and Dave is doing very well.

One more thing, total sidenote: my girl Liz's bone marrow came back clear of any new leukemia cells, her blood counts are back to normal, and she is back on track with chemo...in fact, she is walking distance from us right now for a one night stay at Children's Hospital! Thanks for praying for her too.

It will probably be another hour before we get to see Dave, so I'll post more later. Thank you all for your prayers!