Wednesday 10/18/09
I returned to Wichita last night from a long weekend in SLC/Pocatello. I arrived late on Friday the 13th and Bette picked me up from the airport. I saw Michael when we got to the Guest House. He has the same sparkling smile and voice. There were the same hazel eyes looking back at me. It was a happy reunion.

His eyes are more open, the kind that ladies pay big bucks for with the upper eyelids lifted. There were new grafts on the lower lids that are a little lighter that the rest of his face, which was red like he'd been sunburned. He had a lot of little scabs all over his cheeks, eyebrows and around the hairline including the top of his head. These were open sores that will take time to granulate in. His hands were covered by tight, isotoner like gloves and he had dressings on his forearms. There were some open wounds on his arms that will take time to heal, as well. There was also a spot on his back that looked very good by the end of my time there. The area between his elbows and where the deltoid muscle is (shoulder muscle that lifts your arm) was burn free and there were red grafted areas on those shoulders, extending to the back but sparing the area of the spine. The graft areas looked good but had the appearance of some bubbly areas. I can compare it to putting down contact paper on a shelf but not getting it perfectly flat with some bubbles under it, if you can picture that. It also had that appearance on his nose. These areas will heal better when he is able to wear his body vest, which is made up of the same elastic, isotoner type fabric. It is designed to compress the grafted areas and help to minimize the scarring. The vest cannot be worn until the areas on his forearms heal. The areas on his forearms split open every time he stretches and so there is going to be a long and annoying process of heal, stretch, split open, dress, heal, stretch, split open, dress...etc.
His hands were very interesting. He has nails that are rugged and split, trying to grow back. The range of motion on the left hand was considerably less that the right. His left pinky finger is twisted laterally and it is one that they have to really concentrate on stretching. The wrist doesn't extend back very far, only about one centimeter and he has to work on stretching that. Every area that was grafted needs to be stretched so it doesn't permanently reduce the range of motion. Again, I use the contact paper analogy, just think if you put some on from your wrist to your palm and then try to lift your hand while laying it flat on a table. Difficult? Very.
There were open wounds on the bridge of his nose that were painful to clean. Actually, his whole face and head were very painful to clean and debride. About a two hour process that had to be done daily. I took over that task for about three days and gave Bette and Mike a break from each other. I used tweezers and sissors to excise the unwanted tissue and make a raw, bleeding area that was later covered in antibiotic ointment from 1-3 times a day. While I worked on him, he asked me if I was getting back at him for all of the mean things he did to me when we were children. ha ha
Mike got a clear silicone mask to wear over his face to apply pressure and compress the grafted areas. It was a new acquisition and he tried it once while we were in Pocatello. He calls it his Phantom of the Opera mask. There was an area on one eye opening that poked his upper eyelid and created pain so they will have to make some adjustments.
His trunk and lower extremities have 2-3 inch strips of red healing areas where the donor sites were. They were itchy. One area on his leg was still healing from the last graft surgery.
We went to Pocatello on Saturday afternoon and stopped to have some lunch. Mike noticed the waiter looking at him and said "This is what happens when you cook with grease and have a house fire and try to put it out". Mike can wear a glove on his right hand and do a lot of things now. Bette told me not to help him do anything because it was therapy. He reminded me of it too and said he would ask for help if he needed it. It was snowing on the way up to Pocatello so the going was slow.

Even though I spent over twelve years in SLC going to college and working, it has transformed into a completely different city. I walked around the Guest House area and realized that I was in Fort Douglas, that used to be the small active military base when I was in college there. I recognized the commissary where I used to shop when I still had a student military ID. It was pretty trippy.

I will write more about our visit in Pocatello but wanted to let you know what's up so far.

One thing we did hear was about a very dear relative of ours who was diagnosed with cancer this week. If you could put Klaren Koompin on your prayer list we would appreciate it.

More later,
and so we go
JaCee