Saturday, March 26, 2011

My last Appointment. HA!

I thought I should post a brief update regarding my last appointment at the burn unit,which I kind of thought would actually be my Last appointment. Wrong!

By now I kind of have the disrobing procedure down to a science. No more awkward fumbling trying to keep those ridiculous gowns from falling right off, just a simple pair of loose fitting gym shorts gives the doctors an unobstructed view of the canvas of scars that they need to observe while still maintaining enough modesty to leave my dignity intact.

The on duty Nurse Practitioner, Lee Moss, for the second time showed a bit of concern for what he called a rash, but what I call annoying ingrown hairs that can’t find their way completely through the thick scar tissue. Brother Moss thinks it could be some sort of infection that could require an antibiotic to clear up, but we didn’t get much further in the conversation than that. Again the main focus once again turned to my right elbow, which still continues to give me problems.

Dr. Saffel, who I believe was the surgeon that performed the original skin graft surgeries on my arms, was summoned to give his professional opinion and discuss options as to fixing my menacing elbow problems. He had me flex my arm while he held a firm grip onto the thick band of scars on my elbow, which reminded me that even though my arms feel numb they can still feel pain, and he believes there is enough good quality skin on either side of the bad, that he could probably just surgically remove (Hack Out) the scar then pull together and stitch up the void.

The problem is that I would not be able to bend my arm for a span of at least two weeks!
Who has time to sit around not bending their arm for two week, Not Me.

Now I am blessed with the challenge of finding a good time to schedule the surgery and then training myself to do everything with my left hand.

We had also started discussing the possibility that I might need to have releases done under my eyelids also but didn’t get much further in that discussion either.

I guess Ill have some things to discuss at my Next Appointment!