Day 13 post op

Ok, I think I need to give up on the idea that I will KNOW what healing looks like.  Just when I think that things are looking good in my eyes, they change and I think everything looks worse.  Weird.
I used to think the side looked really good, but now that I can zoom in on the side, it's ify at best.  There are just spots that to me don't look healthy, then they will surprise me and pink up and look good again. 

I've heard from a number of folks and I'm always surprised to hear that they had something similar, if not worse done to their ear/neck/lip and I have had no clue about it. I guess until you see it in action, you don't know it has occured. I'm a very visual person and looking through the internet on skin grafts for skin cancer were far and few between with NO detailed steps of "this is what it could look like during the healing process." That's what I wanted to see... I want to see what is "normal" what isn't. Is this right, is this wrong, should it look like this and if it looks like this, what is the true story. I like to be able to look something up and know for sure this is what it should look like if it's healing right. That the gross parts you are seeing here and there aren't the end of the world, that it will heal, that it will look better. Just somethign that would show me that at this stage of healing, you're almost on target. And if I'm OFF target, just how bad it is so I can prepare myself for what the outcome will be. I'm still not sure, looking at everything on the websites. I see some shots that look healthier than mine and there is talk of debriding the dead skin off of those... so I wonder at 2 weeks post op - is this normal.

I guess I'll know tomorrow morning as that is when I go back to the doc and they can tell me if this is normal, if I have to have any of the scab removed. If it's all healthy, or only partially healthy. And the countdown continues.

 Case in point, the back.  Just a few days ago, there was a VERY large dark red spot on the lower half that had me convinced that it was necrotic and dead... now looking at it, it's looking better.  Go figure.  My chiropractor will insist it's the light therapy that he gave me on Monday for healing.  Could be, could be.  I won't discount anything at this point.  It ebbs and flows.

Healing continued...

This view looks so promising... everything is looking healthy and happy.  Well, happier and healthier than it's looked in a while.  This is at day 11 post-op.  Sunday.  After a nice shower and a rinse as I have been told to NOT rub it.  Just let water rinse down on it - period.  Do not disturb the blood supply being created.  Yes Sir, I will do my best, Sir.  I have done just that - no touchy.  I have been putting on the antibiotic cream religiously and to keep it out of my hair, a very loose set of band aids overlapped with the sticky edge from the underside one cut off.  this way none of the adhesive is anywhere near the actual stitches.

Even with all these precautions, I have a sinking feeling that the other side is the horror of what can happen when grafts don't go well.

I keep thinking (hoping):

• It's not THAT bad
• It's getting better
• It may just be a process of the healing
• Really, there is some pink skin in there
• There's not that much blood on the band aids (almost daily)

When I look at the band aids after sleeping and know things are just not going so hot with this site. 
Things are NOT healing as they should.

I guess I just have to hold out hope that all things will work themselves out and that time will make things OK with the back of the ear and be very grateful it's the back and not the front that is looking this rough.  It could always be worse, right?  The whole thing could have died and looked like hell.  Right?
Be happy that it's looking as well as it does.

For love of my BIG yard! And yardwork too!

I decided I should be documenting Butch's work in the yard...only to come out and discover it's RAINING out there!

 Little ones were good and got out as soon as they heard thunder - and started to blow bubbles!

 Then it REALLY started to come down!!

 Butch decided to make a run for it *(Run Forest, Run!)

 An hour or so later and EVERYONE is still enjoying the yard - the big girls playing Boccie Ball in the back....

 The husband still working on his ditch - diligently

 And the little ones back in the pool for more sunny fun!

And where is the Mom?  Working on vinyl today - see the vinyl page :)

The "recovery" (such that it is...)

** note you can safely scroll down ONE page before you get to the gross stuff of the ear**
Look Ma - No stitches... it's been gooped up in this picture, so a little greasy from vitamin E or antibiotics... I can't remember which on that first day.

 Insult to injury the lip with a BIG cold sore.  As of today it's officially GROSS looking with a scab.  The good news?  I know it's almost over with now... scab is the sign that you're almost at the end of the misery.

Ok, you're on the cusp of getting to the gore - do NOT scroll down anymore if you have a week stomach.  It's not looking good and it's made worse by the goop from the antibiotic creams.  I need to take another from today as this was Thursday afternoon.  Maybe after my shower this morning I'll get in there and take another.  It's still bleeding on and off so I don't think it's "looking good" as the doc said.  I try to stay off of it... I try to be aware of what side I'm sleeping on - making for restless nights and it really is tender after being under a bandage for a solid week... being somewhat naked made it rough the last two night sleeping...

ON the plus side, I'm back to enjoying my GLORIOUS wonderful rain shower again :)  It's the little things in life isn't it?

I TOLD you it didn't look pretty - add to it the "goop" in my hair.  GAG.  Then again, this is the first day "in the open" after being in a bandage and having not been rinsed off in the shower either.
It does look a bit better after a good shower, but I swear it's "indenting" a bit more as time goes on.  I don't know if that's normal or not, but it looks horrible.  :(  One more week of stitches and I'll go back again to see if it's healed enough for them to get those stitches out.

You can see the "donor" sight on the back of the ear... it's a bit lumpy, but all in all looking good.

Easter - gone, but not forgotten

Easter was so low key this year, I didn't even remember to bring a camera, nothing.  I was on the mend still and not quite all "there" yet...
Angela got up and went to church with her girlfriend and I was invited to the mothers day breakfast there... but just couldn't manager to talk myself into going as I was on the "limited' hair washing and just felt gungy still  - this was the day I talked Liz into washing my hair later in the day as well... so it did get better :)
AND we went to dinner at Mom and Dad's house.  I managed to make some funeral potatoes for the girls.  I'm still seeking a good recipient.  I have tried a few, however none are that great yet..
The girls were surprised with an egg hunt just as we got to mom and dad's - and they were off!!

 Both diving for the SAME egg!

 Liz coming back with the final egg - the one with a $1 bill in it :)

There were little words of wisdom and change in the eggs.  It made for a fun start to the hunt.  Each also got a basket with a single egg with $5 in it from this Easter Bunny and a stuffed bunny as well as a chocolate bunny.  Liz chucked her "empty" egg at me when she shook it... I told her I would GLADLY take it back - ha!

Sunscreen and misspent youth

In the early 1930's, South Australian chemist, HA Milton Blake, experimented to produce a sunburn cream. The founder of L'Oreal, chemist Eugene Schueller, invented the first sunscreen in 1936. In 1944, Florida pharmacist, Benjamin Green invented a suntan cream in his kitchen that became Coppertone Suntan Cream. In 1980, Coppertone developed the first UVA/UVB sunscreen.

So comes the question – why did we never use it when we were kids?  Hard to know… maybe it’s because it’s touted as giving you a better than, not protecting you from the sunburns.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers day to all!

These flowers came yesterday from my girls - how pretty, eh?
However, the best present was for Liz to help me get my hair washed today :o)  Really is the little things in life, isn't it? 
Angela invited me to a breakfast at the church, however, 3 days of only dry washing just isn't something I enjoy in hair... and I now have a HUGE lip from a cold sore as well.  I tell you, it's insult to injury.  I guess my poor body is in an uproar from being sliced and diced and is going to tell me all about it.  You would think it could find a better way to express how disgruntled it is.  Ah, well - Lip meds and washed hair and this too shall pass.  I'm just too much of a mess right now to go out in public.

Where the Bolt was removed ;)

Well, the neck was unveiled on Friday and not as bad as all that - although the blue stitches leave a little to be desired.

I feel like Evander Holifield.....

Well, as you all know - it's Cinco De Mayo!  Happy Cinco De Mayo Day everyone!!!
 oh, wait, that is NOT the news you were looking for is it? 

Today was the Mohs day and not the good Moe's food place, Mohs surgery. Dr. Sharkey day, and yes, I still chuckle at that too.  I had been looking at some of the options on how they can repair after removal.  Most were noses and such.  Some of the ear ones were pretty drastic with pinning down the ear to allow for blood flow to re-establish to the transfer site.  Some were simple removals, others were not.  I started to get very concerned, so stopped looking.  There you go, way to solve a fear.  Avoid it!  Yep.  I played ostrich for a while there.  Plus, let's think about this logically.  What was I to do, really? Can I change the outcome, can I change the procedure?  Can I truly choose how they will repair was was damaged in my youth?  nope.  So I chose instead to wait.  Why worry about something that's not going to change.  Even *I* can feel the good sized deformity in my ear and my estimates turned out to be right on track on the size and just about how it would all look.

So, why all the rambling?  Well to drop all the VERY graphic pictures off the screen if you so choose to NOT look at them, of course!  Because I debated if the doc would take pictures for me, or allow a nurse to take pictures.  They quite happily agreed to do so for the gory side of me (and my family members).  So, you will get to the see the procedure in almost all it's glory.

You've seen the before, I had estimated it would be a good 1/4 to 1/2 inch of removal.  I was right on target for that.

All marked up and ready to go 

 The doc enjoyed getting up close and personal on these shots :D

 Quite the healthy CHUNK cut out, eh?  YIKES!  I thought INSIDE The lines - nope to the outside.

Good news?  They only had to cut the once (thank goodness) they checked and clean margins in and outside of the removal area.

 The white on the ear?  Well, that would be the piece of skin they had just removed from behind my ear.  Loverly, hu?  could have been worse, they did debate "pinning" the ear - where they take the flap, allow blood flow to remain and have it attached to the head.  Then they come back after it's healed to the ear, and cut it away from behind the ear and sew it all back up again.  Thanks, this looks worse from this perspective, but better than it COULD have been.

All stitched up and almost out the door.

They took an equal size chunk off the other side of my neck.  I didn't get shots of that, however had discovered I could "watch" using my cell phone to see the entire thing in reflection.  Pretty cool.

The WORST news of the day?  I have to keep the graft site DRY and covered in the SAME bandage for a WEEK.  GAG!!!  So - with it being on the ear, the natural thought is how am I to wash my hair?  Now this will be a good trick.  I think I'll get some help in a few days to stand in the shower with the ear covered in plastic and have someone else wash it for me... or maybe resort to the old talcum trick if it comes to it.  They wanted me to wait until the 16th.  Look at a calendar and tell me I didn't immediately say HECK NO!!  That would have been ELEVEN days with this issue of not being able to just jump into the shower.  Eleven days without my wonderful, glorious rain shower, that I will miss so early for the whole seven I will have to wait as it is.

Hair and Ear update

Linda wanted to see what I do with my hair now that it's MY hands and not the hair dresser... the answer is not a lot... I blow dry and go.  I do use a bit of shaping "wax" to get the part to behave, but other than that, it's blow and go.. It's a good thing I prefer a messy look.

The ear is healing nicely - now that it's on the mend just in time to get really wacked apart... poor ear.

Goal accomplished!

Front door frame painted! YEAH!

And what is everyone else doing while I'm painting?  Well, Butch WAS mowing the lawn, the took a dip to cool off.  Angela and her friend were swimming the whole time and rocking the pool :)  Fun stuff.

• Kitchen
•   Tile in the kitchen backsplash
•   Paint the kitchen (ok, these have to go in order – tile first – THEN paint
• Have the living room painted (by someone else)
•   I would LOVE to get some crown molding put up at the same time….

**I called to get a quote on the crown molding the other day... the guy who did our moulding in the dining room will take a look at it and give us a price sometime this week!
• Install screen door

**part way there, I had the men cut it on Easter Sunday to FIT the door frame... now to get it hung!!
• Paint the front door frame• Sprinklers:
•   Find the sprinkler box UNDER the ground from when the wall was put in a year ago…
•   Get the new sprinklers laid
•   Borrow the trencher and put the new sprinklers

The offender(s)

In some ways it doesn't look any worse that just having a biopsy done..

Then you get the side view and note there is a bulge to it... but still you wonder if it's not just the biopsy doing this.

Nope, it's not... it's just a whacked out ear.  I'm thinking that they'll take that whole red area, then another 1/4 inch above and below - I have NO idea how they will fix it, but from diagrams, I think it best NOT to think where they are going to get the skin to cover the gap, thank you very much!

The neck.. this is the strangest one... it looked like this before the biopsy with the slight exception of what looked to be an ingrown hair... so I figured I would just have it removed before it became a cyst like the other two spots I had removed had done (chin and arm)... yeah, good in theory - the skin looked pretty much the same as it does right this second...

The Little C

Why is the word cancer so wrought with fear and concerns.

Today was the results from my biopsy for my ear (aka – holes in my body post)… and it came back as Basal Cell Carcinoma.  I’m met with a lot of sympathy, but I guess of all the cancers, this is the one to have – slow moving – doesn’t spread.  What could be better, I mean if I MUST have it?  Better than the Melanoma since this is the red-headed-step child of cancers.

I can live with that… quite literally as I commented that I had been in last year and was corrected that it had been 2 years.  I guess that’s fairly fast in growth in my book.  2 years ago it was “pre” cancer.. This year it IS cancer.  Crap.

So… I had 4 spots removed.  Chin (non), Ear ©, Neck ©, Arm (non)  So.. I’m at the 50% mark now.  I had one frozen off today and one removed… let’s hope that this one does not go to 50/50 as that part that was taken in for exam (back) doesn’t ever see the sun.  If that one is cancer, I’m sunk!

So… there it is folks, the good, the bad and the ugly.  I’ll have a kid take a before picture of my ear… right now it still has the scab from the biopsy… but we’ll still get that one out here posted.

Summer has officially started!

Angela and Gracie having a big time!

Look Ma, .....

No more BRACES!!

Liz Birthday #2

Cake #2 - Southern Charm Catering did an awsome job with the death of Lizzies childhood. 

 Liz got to "bite" many a person today!  :o)  Paige was bitten!

 Lizzie is really infectect at this point...

 infecting Paige some more!

 Kayla was bitten too!  And proud of it!

 OMG, the teeth are starting to go now... (Paige and Angela)

 Bucket 'o Guts - yes, she does have a weird sense of humor :o)

 Mom - aka Grandma threw down the gauntlet that at my age I would NOT be able to skate.. that she thought she could too until she threw on the skates and found out that she had LOST that tallent.  Guess what - so have I!  That is one heck of rug burn on my knee.  OUCH!

 Bailey was fully infected when she got to the party... she had a rough time getting there, it would appear!

 They really tore into her :o)

 Round and round we go!

 Eating Pizza - note that very few got into the whole gore thing of the zombie aspect.  bummer... mabye for Halloween?

 Enjoying her guts...

Maybe a little too well?

 couldn't resist sneaking up on the little ones putting on more makeup!

 Rough night girls?  Ha!

 wipe out!

 Zombie's

 Not quite so Zombie-ish!

 Lizzie cutting her head off... er... cutting the cake!

 Just for giggles, I had them make it in red velvet :o)  Need a bit more "yuck" factor!

Let the presents begin!

Quite a few 16 dollars for 16 years type of cute home made cards!

 Liz has wanted this jacket from Think Geek.com for a LONG time... so I got it for her... what are birthdays for if not to get the hoodie you're always drooling over?  Zombie heaven - thus the theme for her party...

 Hugs and thank yous all around!

For NOT wanting this party, for finding out from someone that they couldn't make it to her SURPRISE party on Friday... for grumbling so much.  I think she had a really good time!!