John taking the skilled nursing facility by storm...

Folks,

John got settled today at Lytton Gardens in Palo Alto. It seems like a nice place near University Ave. It has a nice courtyard area and after being stuck inside the hospital for almost a week, John is happily hanging out in the courtyard!

On to a New Home-away-from tomorrow

John will be leaving Stanford Medical Center tomorrow for his "new digs" at 11:00 a.m. He will be driven there in his own "limo" - a hospital transport vehicle. He is moving to Lytton Gardens described as a "senior community" but they have a skilled nursing wing which is where John will be for the next two weeks. It is located about two miles from Stanford. I think he will be happy to get out of the hospital, but I'm not too sure he is going to be loving his new place. Time only will tell.

He is up and walking around without assistance and only has one drain that has to go with him. We will be seeing the doctor on Tuesday for the removal of the drain and some of the stitches.

Both his primary surgeon and his associate were in today and they are super pleased with his progress and so are we. More tomorrow from the "new digs". Mom

John wanted me to share these pictures....

Folks,

For those of you who are interested in what the doctor's have done to John's hand, and how it is attached to his groin with a skin flap, click on the link below. These pix are pg-13 and yes the skin flap has been formed to look like a tube.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103993023124576807918/JohnSHipBoneExtractionAndSkinFlap?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO3xtaKlq-q40QE&feat=directlink

John is in good spirits today... He is a little frustrated by how he can't get his left leg to work right (consequence of the bone graft donor site in left hip - it should get better) and a little anxious that he is now in charge of positioning the flap/tube so that the blood flow continues. The blood flow through the flap/tube is checked every hour and thus far there have been no show stopping issues.

Everyday John gets a little better, a little stronger, and with the doctor's telling him everything is looking good, a little bit more at ease with the decision he has made.

Monday 4-16

John had a great day today. Dr. Chang was into see him last night at 11:00 p.m. and told him

everything looks just the way it is supposed to be. Hearing it from the primary surgeon was just what John needed to hear. This afternoon they got him out of bed and he walked to the door of his room and then back to a chair at the bedside. He was much steadier on his feet today. Even was able to get up and walk a bit more later in the day. Spent about 3 hours out of bed which was huge. The doctor removed all of the sutures holding his hand to his body so now he just has to work at keeping the tube straight. This is a it of a challenge but he is working hard to comply with instructions. Doctor did tell him last night that he will be in the hospital until at least Friday which is fine with me. He is getting incredible care there and I'm not suffering from anxiety when we leave in the evening - a true blessing.

A New Day

Much better day today. It's amazing what a good nights sleep and a visit from his sister Jennifer and her husband Brian can do. They drove up last night, spent several hours with John and then headed home. Talk about a "turn-around trip". PT and the nurse got John up again today and he was able to shuffle about four yards and then back to bed. Getting him up and down is the worst and he was sweating by the time he was back in bed. Think he felt it was one big step toward recovery. Also a nice long chat with his friend Bill in Arizona really helped. Thanks Bill! One of the doctor's came in just as we were getting ready to head back to the house and he said that the flap was looking much better, but added that it wasn't bad to begin with. This really helped as well. Tomorrow is another day. We have faith that each day will be better than the last.

Tough Day Today

John slept well last night, but today was a different story. PT tried to get him up and walking only to realize that he couldn't stand up straight due to the placement of the sutures holding his hand in place. Very disappointing for him. The good news is that standing wasn't as painful as he thought it would be. After some readjustments from the doctor and having several sutures removed he is much more comfortable. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Comments are appreciated as John knows I am trying to update this daily. Thanks. Mom

Second Day

Mom here - John didn't get much rest last night as they are waking him up every hour to check the blood flow in the flap with a Doppler. It is very noisy but only takes a minute or so, but enough to wake him up. They are going to every two hours on Saturday so that should give him a bit more time to rest. His pain continues in the area of bone harvest, but they have hooked up a button by his toe and he can get his pain meds on demand. Also put a pad by his right shoulder and he can call for a nurse by tapping it. Sure makes it a lot easier for Bernie and I to leave him for a few hours during the day and at night. Still is on liquid diet, but hopes for some "real food" on Saturday. All in all life is good. Keep the good thoughts and prayers coming his way.