Bonk!

David took a very hard bonk to the nose this afternoon. Lil David zigged when David zagged and they crashed noggins. David took the full impact right on the nose. It didn't hurt all that bad, but it bled like crazy. After cleaning it up David thought it looked a little different on the inside so he called the surgeon. They were concerned so they called him in right away to be seen. The doctor said that the stitches are still in tact and that no damage was done. He has another appointment scheduled for Monday so it'll be looked at again soon.

While David was cleaning up, on the phone and at the doctor, I spent the whole time calming little David down. He flipped out and started sobbing hysterically when he hit Daddy's nose. It was an accident, but I'm pretty sure he thought he was getting in massive trouble. He was also scared to death of the blood. Thirty minutes of straight sobbing turned into on and off crying under the kitchen table. I'm no child psychologist, but I'm pretty sure he was just doing it to try to deal with everything. I sat on the floor and talked to him trying to coax him out. It eventually worked. After a whole lot of telling him that he wasn't naughty and I wasn't angry and Daddy wasn't hurt he finally came out. Seeing Daddy smile and getting hugs from him helped a lot and soon the whole thing was behind us.

After all the stress and chaos of today I'm really looking forward to bedtime. :)

Post op *update*

David's appt went well. The surgeon laughed a little again when he saw how David's nose is healing. He hoped the tip would be a little straighter, but it has improved a lot so all is not lost. He told us once again how "unusual" David's case is.

Taking the splints and packing out proved to be a painful ordeal, but at the same time it relieved the massive pressure and cold like symptoms he's been feeling. You can check out a picture of the splints here. These aren't his splints and they aren't fresh out of a nose so they aren't bloody. Squeaky clean and not gross at all. :) The flat side was against the septum and the tube part was what he was breathing through. They are about 2.5 - 3 inches long and about an inch high. How on earth that fits in someone's nose I have no idea. He also had a roll of gauze packing in each nostril that were each the size of my pinky. Unreal. How far back in there was this stuff?!? You couldn't see anything from the outside so I'm pretty sure they just jammed it into his brain. Yep, pretty sure.

He's in pain again from all that aggravation to his nose this afternoon so he took some medication and went to lay down. While it was necessary and brought some relief in one way it was also painful and horrible in another way. It's just not fun to have someone put tweezers up your nose and pull out large amounts of gauze that was otherwise resting comfortably in your brain.

Post-op

David has been pain free since Monday. He's feeling really good and is getting back on his feet now. He has been back to work for 2 days. The extra activity has been a little bit of a challenge and has given him some pain, but he's been able to handle it well with meds. We're slowly getting back into our normal routine. David's post-op appt with his surgeon is today. He'll be checking his progress, taking out the splints and checking for signs of infection inside. Right now we have no reason to believe he has an infection. He doesn't feel any of the symptoms so we aren't concerned.

In other news, Max has sweet potatoes for the first time this week. He really liked it though I think I may have to wait for a while until he has any more. It backed him up quite a bit and we didn't see any of "those" movements for 3 days. Since he's an every day dirty diaper producer that's somewhat of a problem. I'm going to have to back off a little bit on the fruit and veggies until his tummy is able to handle it better. I don't want to give him prunes like I had to with David. That was just no fun.

Night 3

David was able to spend the entire night in our bed and slept soundly. As far as I know he didn't take any medication throughout the night. His last dose of pain meds was last night at 9pm....and he's still sleeping!

SOOO much better

Today proved to be a much better day than yesterday. David has been awake today more than he's been sleeping which is a first. He's been really perky and alert. We were even able to watch a movie and he stayed awake for the whole thing. Yay! The drainage has slowed down a lot and the pain has been minimal all day. He was able to cut out the Motrin and at the last dose he cut down on the RX pain medication too. Seems like things are looking up. He got that pasta salad from his mom and ate 2 helpings and an apple pie from McD's. It's by far the biggest meal he's eaten since surgery. He's eyeing the blueberry pie his mom made for him right now too. He's planning on sleeping in bed tonight instead of the tilt back or couch.

improvement!

David did much better overnight last night. He got really good sleep in the tilt back (thanks Warfords!) and the meds keep him nearly pain free all night! Late last night he got a little hungry (a first) and actually wanted food. The only thing that sounded good to him though was his mom's pasta salad. Being that he just had surgery and all, we're letting him be a little spoiled and his mom is bringing him a fresh batch this afternoon. :) The swelling in his upper lip has gone down considerably so he's able to eat from a fork now. The swelling in his nose is also looking better though it still has a long way to go.

He's talking about cutting out the Mortin today and even easing back on the RX meds. We'll see if that's even an option later. He just got up and took a shower and cleaned up the clotted blood in his nose. It wore him out so he's sleeping again. I hope it didn't aggrivate the pain too much.

I'm feeling much better today than yesterday. I got more sleep last night and only had to get up twice during the night. I started the day with a big breakfast and a cup of coffee to get me going. So far so good. :) My mom came to pick up little David and take him to church and lunch at her house. It's nice and quiet around here right now. We're really hoping for a laid back day.

Pushing through

David still isn't doing fabulous. Good, but not great. Right now he is feeling the best that he has all day, but that isn't saying much. He's been alternating his Rx and Motrin and that's helped him sleep some. He's gotten 2 naps of an hour and a half each. I think at this point good restful sleep is doing more good than anything else. We're borrowing a tilt back chair for him to sleep in tonight. He's still achy all over and has muscle cramps from being propped up in one position on the couch...good thing this chair has built in massage and heat capabilities! I'm hoping the chair and change of position will get him some better rest.

He's awake right now to eat and take meds and is reporting that he's pain free for the first time since surgery! Looks like the drug cocktail is working! Yay! He says he can even eat without it hurting. That's big. He's been on a diet of cheese, crackers, lunch meat and flat things because it hurts too bad to open his mouth wide enough for a fork. He's getting pretty tired of Wheat Thins...and *gasp* he's even getting tired of eating nothing but cheese!!! Now you all know how crappy and un-Dave like he is really feeling.

I'll report back in the morning. I'm off to bed now. Zzzzz......

Not what we hoped for...

The doctor returned my call and said that for the most part he needs to just hang in there for a few days. He can have some Motrin in between doses of his prescription pain meds if that helps. Other than that he needs to stick it out. If he's still in a considerable amount of pain on Monday morning he needs to make a trip into the office to be checked out. They would want to rule out an infection at that point.

Pain, pain and more pain

I have a call in to the doctor to see about changing David's pain medication. It just doesn't seem that the one he has right now is managing the pain very well today. He is still miserable. We'll see what comes of that when the on-call doc calls me back. I hope they can change it to something a little stronger. He's not one to complain and he doesn't have a very low pain tolerance so I know this is seriously hurting him. :'(

Today isn't going well

David is in a lot of pain today. He had a dose of pain medication at 9am and has been restless and holding his head in pain since 12:15. He isn't allowed any more medication until 1pm and it takes about an hour to take effect after that. I feel so bad for him. At this point though I can't do anything else for him. It's going to be a very long day around here. Because he isn't feeling well, he's been very easily irritated with David and really can't tolerate much crying from either of the boys. It's pretty hard to avoid when he's on the couch in the central room of the house. Our place just isn't big enough to get the kids away from him. :( I may brave the heat and try to take a walk with the kids to give him a break after lunch.

Overnight

We had a very rough night. David was up often unable to sleep. Sitting straight up on the couch just simply isn't the most comfortable option. Now that the meds from surgery have completely worn off he is in a good deal of pain. He's taking the maximum dosage and still not feeling great. Prayers would be appreciated. His body is also very achy from sitting only in 1 position.

Little David woke up trying to be a helper and trying to be good, but so far everything he's done has just made it harder on me. He has the best of intentions, but being only 2 sometimes he's just not as helpful as he thinks he is. Max has been an angel and is taking a nap right now (right on schedule).

I was up 3 times last night taking care of my boys. I went to bed at 11pm then got up at 1am to give David medication, 2am to calm little David when he had a nightmare and 4:30am to nurse Max. It was close enough to David's 5am medication dose that I just stayed up for that too. I woke up with a headache from such a sleepless night, but I don't think it's anything that coffee and Ibuprofen can't fix.

I know that David is ultimately happy that he got the surgery, but right now, in the midst of the pain and discomfort, it's hard for him to feel grateful. He's in more pain this time than with the last surgery and with 2 babies in the house now, it's hard to get the peace and quiet he needs to rest. His nose is a lot more swollen than last time (and maybe a bit bruised to) and he's feeling discomfort as far down as his jaw. He says he can feel a difference and he knows that this surgery helped his condition more than the last so we're pressing on in faith that it was the right decision to make.

Thanks to everyone who has called to check on him. I told him about all the calls last night when he was awake and he was really touched.

Awake!

He's awake! He's awake!

David actually woke up for a while...like for an hour and a half! We talked and chatted while my mom gave lil Dave his bath. David didn't remember much about this morning or his time in recovery so I filled him in on how surgery went. He was really happy to hear how pleased the surgeon was with the outcome. David himself is also very pleased already. He told me that he can already tell a difference in his ability to breathe. It makes us really hopeful because that wasn't the case last time. Even with the splints, packing, swelling and blood he can breathe with his mouth closed. That is something that he couldn't do pre-surgery and has quite honestly been somewhat of a dream for him. He's been watching the clock closely and taking as many pains meds as he's allowed. The pain has been getting sort of bad when the meds are due, but other than that it's been well managed. We plan on setting an alarm and getting up during the night too to make sure he's not going without.

Little David was a superstar today and did really well with staying away from Daddy. We had to remind him very few times and he seemed to understand that this owie is serious. He's missing his playtime buddy, but having Grandma here seemed to help smooth things over. Speaking of which...my mom is a superstar too. I don't know what I'd do without the help. Thanks mom!

Horse tranquilizers? Probably.

I'm pretty sure they slipped David something stronger than the usual stuff for surgery. Ok, not really, I just wanted to make it sound like there was a reason for all this sleeping! :) He has been passed out for hours. I'm not talking about "he feel a little tired" type sleeping. This is "I can't wake him up for anything, passed out cold, they gave him horse tranquilizers" type sleeping. The first time he woke up enough to walk or go to the bathroom was about 20 minutes ago. Before that I think he opened his eyes maybe twice. The nurse this morning at the surgery center kept checking on him and shaking her head. Most other patients were coming back from surgery (various surgeries - not just what he had) and leaving within a half hour or so. David was there for 2 hours. He just couldn't seem to shake the sleepies. She finally told me she had no good reason to keep him so he needed to go. He stumbled his way to the car and we managed to get him to the couch before he conked out cold again.

Surgery update

We are home now and surgery is over. It went very well. The surgery center had wifi, but for some reason I couldn't log on so I wasn't able to update as things happened. We got there and checked in at 6am. They got him ready, prepped IVs, did the medical history questions and got him in scrubs. They started right on time at the stroke of 7:00. The doctor saw some excess bone at the back of his nose that was blocking his airway so they removed that and took away some excess cartlidge from the tip of his nose/bottom of the septum too. His nose was so crooked before that they couldn't even see that the bone was there. It was sort of a fun little surprise for the surgeon after he got in there. :) Dr. Milko said it was a challenge, but they have even managed to straighten the tip of his nose out. Once the swelling goes down, he'll be a brand new man!

David has a post-op appt set for next week. They will be checking on his progress and healing as well as taking out his splints and packing then. The splints are being held in place by a suture so they will have to clip that and then pull them out. I've read some stuff and watched a video of that...doesn't look fun. Blarg.

Little David is quite concerned with the suffer dressing on David's nose. He's been obsessing over Daddy's owie ever since we came home. It's also been very hard to explain that Daddy is tired and doesn't want to play. Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me keeping little David off of Daddy. The last thing David needs right now is an elbow in the nose. :'(

Surgery

David's surgery is tomorrow for his nose. He'll be having 2 procedures done.

#1: A septoplasty. This will be his second septoplasty. It is to straighten septum and increase airflow. Like the pictures show, it's a little difficult to breathe when the septum is so severely deviated. As I said before, David's doctor literally laughed when examining him. He said that David's nose is the worst he's ever seen and isn't the textbook case. We're still trusting that the Lord lead us to this surgeon for a reason and that he (and God) will bring improvement and healing.

#2: An endoscopic turbinate reduction. This will also greatly affect his breathing. Enlarged turbinates usually result from allergies or a cold (that's why you feel stuffy). In David's nose they are like this all the time. At this point there really is no other option than reduction surgery if he wants clearer breathing. Again, the pictures don't make this look like a fun problem to have either.

Normal:

And enlarged:

His surgery starts at 7am on Friday. I'll be keeping my blog updated with the latest news all day so check back often to see how he's doing!

P.S. You can click on the procedure names to learn more and the pictures to see them bigger.