Medical update from Mike

Nov. 5 ready for surgery

Note: Mike had an appointment with Dr. Gruss, the plastic surgeon, last Wednesday, Nov. 4. He scheduled him for surgery the next day. We arrived at Harborview early in the morning--6:00 AM for surgery at 7:30 AM. He was in recovery by 10:00 AM and we left to come home just after noon.

Nov. 5 after surgery

From Mike:

Nov. 8
The surgery went well but produced more pain and swelling than I would have liked.
He opened up my left maxillary sinus through my mouth and scraped out a bunch of impacted infected stuff. The maxillary sinus opens into the nasal sinus and apparently wasn’t.
He also removed two of the 6 titanium plates and about 14 screws thinking I no longer needed them and they were maybe interfering with my teeth. I will bring it in for show and tell.
As I sit here Sunday evening the pain is significantly less but the swelling is a bother.
I have an appointment with the ocular plastic surgeon Monday AM.
We’ll see what he wants to do.

Nov. 9

I am back from appointment with the Ocular Plastic Surgeon.
It was a mostly pleasant visit, although the news today was all wait and see.
He wants to see me again in 4 months (March) before deciding if plastic surgery to eye lids is necessary.
That by itself is encouraging because last time he wanted to install gold weights in my eye lids right away. I guess I dodged that opportunity.
The Ocular Plastic surgeon referred me to a Retina Specialists to look at why I am seeing squiggly lines.
My appointment with him is Nov 17th AM.
My next appointment with the Craniofacial Plastic Surgeon is Dec 9th, so I have plenty to keep me occupied with the holidays coming.

Nov. 9 (today) at Eye Institute

Sunrise

I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise while I was on a walk with Teresa yesterday morning. Isn't it crazy that we walk early enough to see the sunrise--even after changing from daylight savings to standard time?

The Past Month--Mike's Surgery and Recovery

(from Sue's point of view)

One month ago today, Friday, September 11, Mike had surgery on his face to repair the injury caused by a softball hitting him on Thursday, August 27. Mike’s parents came Thursday evening, and Mike’s Dad and our home teachers, Trent & Mykel Hainer gave Mike a wonderful blessing. Mike was promised a “quick and complete recovery” depending on his faith. Mike looked and felt pretty good Friday morning.

Sept. 11

Mike, his parents, and I went to Harborview on Friday morning arriving there about 10:00 AM for surgery at noon. About 11:30 we decided to do a puzzle that was in the waiting room since it looked like it would be a while before we left that room.
Finally at 1:30 PM they called him to get ready, so he actually went to surgery about 2:30 PM. Mike’s parents and I went to get some lunch then went to a different surgery waiting room. At 3:20 PM I received a call from Nadine saying that her water had broken and that she was on her way to the hospital (about 900 miles away from the hospital I was in). Mike’s surgeon came to tell us that his surgery was completed and considered successful at 6:50 PM. Scott (Nadine’s husband) called at 7:15 to say their baby Braden Glenn Sundblom (see http://scottandnadine.blogspot.com/ I forgot how to put a link in a blog.) had been born about 25 minutes earlier at 7:51 PM Utah time…just as Mike’s surgery was completed. Mike was able to go to his hospital room a little after 8:00 PM which was the first time his parents and I were able to be with him since before his surgery. He had 3 incisions for his surgery—one under his eye, one outside his eye in the smile lines going onto his upper eyelid, and one inside his mouth from side to side between his gums and his cheeks. That way he won’t have noticeable scars. We stayed with him for a couple of hours and then went home.
Saturday morning I arrived at Harborview just after 9:00 AM and the doctors had just left. Mike was very worried as the doctors said he might have to go into surgery again if he couldn’t move his eye. They were concerned that one of the eye muscles might have been stapled or was attached in some way to the materials they had put in him during surgery so that he could not move it. An opthalmologist came in 3 hours later to determine if that was true. She used an instrument to open his eye, then asked me to hold it in place (thanks a lot!) while she used what looked like very pointy tweezers—she called them forceps—to move his eye around. His right eye was looking forward, but his left eye was being moved up and down, left and right by the ophthalmologist. It looked pretty strange. The good news was that she was convinced that his eye had mobility, so she would contact the plastic surgeons and tell them of her findings. We played the waiting game again. At Mike’s pre-surgery appointment, we were told he would be coming home the day after surgery about noon or so. Now it was close to 1:00 PM and we hadn’t heard from the plastic surgeons yet. Mike hadn’t eaten anything except some juice Friday night since Thursday night before surgery since they weren’t sure if he would require more surgery.
Mike’s parents came to the hospital at 2:30 and I left at 3:00 to go home and finish packing to catch my flight to Utah to see Nadine and her new baby. Here is the view from the hospital as I left. Mike received dinner at 5:00 PM and they took his IV out and told him he would not need additional surgery. Mike’s parents stayed with him for several hours then went back to our home to be with Hannah. They were back at Harborview Sunday morning to hopefully take Mike home soon. It turned out that Mike was discharged at 9:30 PM that night. He threw up as he got into his parents’ car—good thing he had asked for a bowl to take with him! They went home and hoped he would be able to heal better at home than in the hospital. Monday evening Mike called the community nurse at Harborview to tell them he was dehydrated and couldn’t eat or keep anything down if he could eat it. The nurse told him to call 911 and take an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital to be rehydrated. He was taken to Valley Medical Center and given 2 bags of IV fluids. They sent him home at 4:00 AM or some time around then (thanks to the Harris family for bringing Mike and his Dad home at that crazy hour).
Tuesday morning was Hannah’s first day of school (the Kent School District teachers had been on strike for 10 school days so school was starting Sept. 15 and not Aug. 31 as we had planned), and her Grandpa and not her Dad gave her the traditional back-to-school priesthood blessing (thanks, Grandpa) before they went to the hospital since Mike wasn’t feeling up to it. I didn’t learn about the emergency room visit until Tuesday morning when Mike’s mom called and let me know.
Miriam came from Pullman on Tuesday and Mike’s parents went home to Portland exhausted. It was so wonderful of them to be here to take care of Mike so that I could take care of Nadine with her first baby. I really appreciate their help.
Since Mike had been rehydrated Monday night/Tuesday morning, he was doing better. Miriam made a chart of his medications and wrote down what food he was able to eat. Mike called me to tell me he was so glad he was able to eat a potato and chicken. Miriam had texted me to tell me he had eaten half a small baked potato and the inside of 2 popcorn chicken. I guess that was a lot to him, but I don’t that was very much. On Friday, Mike had an appointment with the plastic surgery nurse to talk about his surgery healing. Miriam took him to the appointment. When he got there, they realized he was still very sick and from his symptoms Dr. Wheeler suspected Mike had clostridium difficile (C. diff), a bacterial infection. Mike had been tested for C diff at Valley, so they called to get the results. Valley said the tests had come back negative, but Dr. Wheeler kept looking at his symptoms and said he really felt like that test was wrong (apparently this test often gives a false negative), so they sent Mike to the ER again. This was the 4th time in an ER in 3 weeks! They gave him IV fluids and did all kinds of tests and decided to treat him for C diff even if he didn’t have it—it turns out he did. They sent him home with new prescriptions. The medicine to treat the C diff (Flagyl) is apparently very nasty, and he threw up the pill when he first took it. It was better going down when he put it in a spoon of yogurt. Miriam helped through the weekend and left Monday evening just before I got home from Utah. Mike was very worried and anxious throughout this time—both because he thought he might be going back to work that next week and also because that was the side effect of some of the medications he was taking. Miriam got out our family movies—including the super 8 films that we made in the mid 1980’s when we lived in Berkeley—to take his mind off of being ill. Over the next 2 weeks, Mike watched every family movie we have—hours and hours of movies! It did help him feel better. Miriam was very helpful! Thank you Miriam for all you did!
Mike is concerned with his eye not completely closing, but it keeps getting better. It is a slow process.
Last Wednesday, Mike had an appointment with the surgeon who performed his surgery, Dr. Joseph Gruss. He was pleased with the healing that has occurred. He approved Mike to go back to work gradually. He went to work for 4 hours on Thursday and Friday. He’ll work 4-hour days Monday-Wednesday of this week, then 5 days of 6-hour days, then back to full time.
Thank you for all of your love, help and prayers. I don’t know what we would have done without our family and friends.

Sept. 23

Sept. 28 With Katy on Oct. 2 October 7

Medical Update from 9/25

So, I am told people would like to hear a medical update. Hope this isn’t too long or detailed.

A lot has occurred since the update I sent in the wee hours of September 11th.
Surgery occurred and for those friends who discredited the warnings that my pain and swelling might be equal or worse than the actual injury, you are nuts. J The pain was way worse. Let me quantify. The day or two after the injury had me taking 10 milligrams of Oxycodone every 4 hours. Within a few days, I reduced that to 5 milligrams and stretched the durations as I could. Well, after surgery I was on 20 milligrams of Oxycodone every 3 hours and for the first two days that wasn’t always enough so they gave me morphine through my IV.
Initially I was unable to move my left eye due to pain and they were worried that something was catching inside. After what seemed like a near death experience, they opened my eye and using some fancy forceps verified the eye was not trapped. WOW, was that wild.
I was able to be discharged Sunday evening, which should have put the worst behind me. Not true. By Monday evening we had to call 911 and I took an Ambulance ride to the Renton Valley ER for dehydration and intestinal distress. They gave me two units of IV and did as many tests as they thought necessary before sending me home. Again, that should have meant I was on the mend.
The nausea and intestinal distressed continued. Friday I was again admitted to Harbor View ER for dehydration and other unknown ailments. This time they checked everything: liver, gall bladder, appendix, blockages, blood, etc. They suspected a disease called Clostridium Difficile. It turns out Renton Valley had concluded the same but received a false negative when they did the test.
Without waiting for final results they prescribed two types of medicine and sent me home. The nausea and intestinal distress began to decline, if only in baby steps. Unfortunately, something new was developing. It turns out one of the medicines was attacking my mental frame of mind and I suddenly felt overwhelmed with anxiety and feelings of panic. By Monday I was given a new med and I soon felt like the sun had re-appeared in my life. Finally the healing process was ready to begin.

So, here is the engineering stuff: I have a copy of my post operative CATSCAN which shows 6 titanium plates and by my count 35 titanium screws. It also shows a biomedical material called MEDPOR in my eye socket that allows the eye to rest on something resembling tissue. I still cannot completely close my left eye due to swelling and suture so my eye tends to dry out (try sleeping with your eyes open). Consequently, my left eye sight is not very good. The Ophthalmologist assures me that it is due to the dryness. Once I can close my eye, things should return to normal. I have been able to hydrate the eye at times with eye drops and I have had momentary glimpses of what seems like full vision. The colors seem a little off but that is also likely due to the lack of hydration. Oh yah, I should mention that since my left eye lids don’t close quite right yet, you can see more of my left eye than my right. That is a little weird and un-nerving (just ask my teenager). This Sunday I get to start massaging the eye, eye lids and muscles around the eye. That should help make the lids close better and then make the eyes look more symmetrical. My wife says I look a little like Eye-gore.

All in all, I would say I am doing well and I consider myself very blessed and very lucky.
My Grandson was born while I was in never-never land and mom and baby are doing great."

Mike's Update of 9/10/09

Thank you for the many prayers and well wishes.

The hospital called and reviewed some of the “craniofacial surgery post-operative instructions.”
The surgery will begin Friday (9/11/09) at noon and will last 3 hours. I should be able to come home Saturday afternoon (9/12/09).
I have to admit to a little anxiety as I read the instructions and noted what to expect:
Risks: “You may be numb near the lips, cheeks, nose, teeth and forehead due to bruising or damage to facial nerves from the fractures and soft tissue damage. Numbness may last for months, and can last up to a year.”
Swelling/Bruising/congestion: “Expect swelling and bruising after surgery greater than or equal to the same swelling experienced at the time of injury. The second night after surgery will have the worst swelling.”
Incisions & Care: “You may have multiple incision sites including lower eyelids, under eyebrows, or intra-oral (inside the mouth) which will be closed with sutures. Coronal incisions (from ear to ear across your scalp) may be closed with sutures or staples”
What? Nobody told me about being cut from ear to ear. The doctor said it is unlikely but if they need to it is an option. Cool thing is if they do the incision it will be a zigzag from ear to ear. Maybe I shouldn’t have paid for a hair cut until after surgery.
Exercise/activity restrictions: “Some activities to avoid after surgery will include: nose blowing, sneezing, bending over at the waist, and heavy lifting greater than 15 lbs for two to four weeks.”
Pain: “After surgery your face will be sore, similar to when you were initially injured. Most of the discomfort after surgery will be related to swelling around your surgical sites. You will be given pain medication after surgery, but it is our practice that by two weeks post-operative you should be weaning off of the pain medicine.”
Two weeks? I expected only one week. Maybe I won’t be back to work as early as I planned.

OK, enough scary glamorization already. It probably won’t be even close to that bad.

While I admit to some painful anticipation my faith and trust is that everything will be fine and that the 2 week wait was sufficient to make sure the eye is ready for the experience.

Oh yah did I mention the coolest thing is that my second daughter is being induced early Friday morning and will likely deliver her baby boy sometime while I am out in never-never land. By the time I am brought out of my slumber, I may well be a grandpa, again.
That will be a nice pain killer.

Thanks again for everything and look for some before and after pictures.

Mike's Update of 9/8/09

Mike wrote this update a couple of days ago, and I just decided to post it on our blog.

Life continues.

I am feeling much better but I find that even that good news brings with it a double edged sword. I feel like I should be able to get off the couch and do more. I was even contemplating coming back to work. However, Sunday showed me I wasn’t ready to be on my feet for extended periods of time. Hence, here I sit and waste away. At least I am allowed to do some reading. I am thankful for ESPN, how about those BYU Cougars?

I am scheduled for surgery this Friday. They are going to give me a plastic eye socket and a face full of titanium plates and screws. They tell me the surgery will cause me as much pain as the original accident (Ooooh that sounds fun - I can’t wait). The good news is I will at least be starting the full-fledged healing process (versus waiting period). My eye sight is about the same. The last ophthalmologist appointment gave me a lot more information about the healing process. I understand why waiting two weeks for surgery was necessary. The vitreous material in my eye is what seems to be a little out of sorts. Until it settles down, the slightly blurry vision may continue. :)

Mike's Softball Injury

Last Thursday, I went to watch Mike play softball. I was late to the first game since Hannah had cross country practice, and I needed to drive her home. I was there for a couple of innings and saw Mike get a good hit and also throw some strike outs. It turned out that he had struck out 10 batters, an amazing thing in softball, but he said it was due to the sun being in their eyes. In the second game, Mike pitched a ball, and the batter hit it hard back at Mike. It hit him on the left side of his face. He went down on the ground, and someone said, “Call 911.”

Thursday, August 27 about 7:45 PM
I found out later that Mike asked Paul Munoz (the coach of his team) for a blessing right there on the field with a whole bunch of people who are not members of the church right around them. The ambulance came and took him to Highline Hospital. I wanted them to take him to Valley since it is close to home, but they were very worried about his eye, so they took him to Highline as it was a lot closer than Valley. He got there about 8:00 PM and had a CT scan there. Paul Munoz came to the hospital. Trent & Mykel Hainer came to give him a blessing. Mike was bleeding a lot from his nose, and it was draining into his stomach. He threw up blood several times (about a pint or more). After reviewing the scan, the emergency room doctor called the ENT doctor for advice. He had broken most of the bones on the left side of his face, and his eye was injured as well. The decision was made to transfer Mike to Harborview Hospital so specialists could treat him.

Thursday, August 27He was taken by ambulance around midnight to Harborview, and I drove and met him there. We were there until 5:00 AM. Most of the time spent at Harborview was a very long eye exam. The ophthalmologist did an exam in the emergency department, but then they moved him to the eye clinic with better instruments. They looked at his eye for about an hour. Fortunately he could move his eye up, down, left and right; some ways not as much as he should. The doctors confirmed that he did not tear or detach his retina, but that there was a lot of bruising (commotio).
Mike came home with me Friday morning—we left the hospital about 5:00 AM and got home a little after 5:30. When we got home, we realized that they had left an IV in his arm (he had one in each arm and they took one out, but not the other). Mike wasn’t worried at all, he just said that Carolyn Robbins (our friend and neighbor who works in the ER at Overlake Hospital) would take it out, and she did take it out later that morning. I went to sleep right after we got home, but the phone calls started around 8:00 AM, so I only got 2½ hours of sleep.
Mike had an appointment with the ophthalmologist Monday afternoon. He said the swelling and the blood on the eye had improved but that his vision wasn’t back to what it should be. The swelling in his face has gone down quite a bit. We met with the plastic surgeon this morning. He showed us the CT scan and all of the broken bones. They will be repaired with titanium plates and screws. He will also have a plastic orbital socket put in. Amazing medical technology! We went through all of the paperwork to get ready for surgery tomorrow—all that was left to do was get the okay from the ophthalmologist. The ophthalmologist said wait until next week so the eye can heal some more. The surgery is set for next Friday, September 11. He has another appointment with the ophthalmologist this Friday.I was scheduled to leave Sept. 10 for Utah to help Nadine with her new little baby. She is due Sept. 11. I have delayed my trip for 2 days, so I can be here for Mike’s surgery. His parents will come up from Portland to help for the first few days following surgery and then Miriam is coming from Pullman to help her Dad.

Friday, August 28

Friday, August 28 (afternoon)

Monday, August 31

Tuesday, Sept. 1