Released!

Dad had a follow-up appointment with his amazingly gifted orthopedic surgeon this morning in Lubbock. "Humpty Dumpty" is officially back together again! He has released to resume normal activities as tolerated. There was still a bit of skepticism regarding the Harley rides in the near future. We will keep you posted. There will be an additional follow-up appointment in September.


Love,

Alisa

We are HOME!!!

After a "minor" almost five month detour, mom and dad have officially arrived back in Wellington.  Dad quickly settled into scouting fields, attending farm shows and auctions.  Dad, Randy and crew are busy getting fields prepped for spring planting. We will keep you posted throughout the remainder of the year as he will continue to receive care for his fractured mandible.

Again, our sincerest and heartfelt thanks for all who have prayed for mom and dad and helped them while they were away from home.

Love,

Alisa

Unwired!

As you can see from the pictures, Dad's "braces" were wired to the teeth not glued. The wires ran between the teeth unlike our cosmetic braces that Dr. Astuto did for Cash and me. Our favorite Dr., Dr. Strasia, removed the "braces" and said everything looks great!!! Dad still needs to remain on a soft diet for the next 2-3 weeks. He has another appointment in two months. Again, they both just love him! He is a great Doctor.

Love,
Alisa

Dad is just fine!

Mom and Dad met with their new favorite doctor, the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (What a mouthful!). We just love him. Dad had surgery on February 2nd to correct his jaw. The reason for surgery on the right side of the mandible was because of a non-union with rejection of hardware that allowed the left side to heal as a malunion. For those of you that like to play Dr. Google, a malunion is a faulty union of the fragments of a fractured bone. To put this in perspective, we have all faced rejection at some point in our lives. Apply this same principle of rejection here.  Dad’s body rejected the hardware in his jaw. This is common with any “foreign body” when implanted in the body. End of story.

Moving forward, nonunion is a serious complication of a fracture and may occur when the fracture moves too much. Now remember when consulting Dr. Google, as with almost everything on the Internet, you must take it with a grain of salt. Therefore, we rely on our live MD’s for our medical advice.

The surgery went very well. As you read above, nonunion occurs when the fracture is allowed to move too much.  Therefore, Dad’s mouth needed to be ‘wired’ closed for a week-possibly two weeks at the most.  Thanks to medical advancement, they are able to ‘wire’ with strong rubber bands now. He recently returned for a follow up visit with his OMF surgeon and they removed the bands.  He is no longer wired closed.  Just have him show you his pearly whites and you will see that talk of being wired for two months and so on was just that-talk, and a rumor.

Please note that he just recently had JAW SURGERY so it hurts for him to chew, talk or move his mandible. It would be precocious to limit the amount of phone calls directly to him while he is healing. We don’t want him to have to go through a third surgery on his jaw due to another malunion, rejection, non-union, etc…

He still remains on a soft diet because he is still tender and healing. Just think of when you get done with the dentist. Do you want to bite down on a nice thick piece of steak? I think not.

Dad loves his Ensure milkshakes that Mom makes him. Anything with a little ice cream, liqueur, and protein powder makes the world a better place.

Enjoy the pictures.

Love, Alisa (The other Red Head) 

You're Cleared for Land

Dan had an appointment this morning with Dr. Dumais, his orthopaedic surgeon.  They took more x-rays and scoped him out thoroughly.

His orders were to continue with aquatherapy and he released Dan to begin baring weight on both extremities as tolerated and during 'land' physical therapy. 


Below are pictures of him today at aquatherapy and at his first day weight baring physical therapy.

Commissioner's Court

The red headed chauffeur loaded up Dan and they ventured back to Collingsworth County Sunday evening just in time for Dan to attend Commissioner's Court bright and early Monday morning.

After Court was over, they headed back to Lubbock for a week filled with doctor's appointments and therapy appointments.

So Long 2010!

365 days ago, we were underneath the Golden Gate Bridge ringing in the New Year.

We had lots of breaks, cracks and tears in 2010.  

We also had lots laughs, smiles and joy!

Happy New Year's to all!  May your 2011 be filled with health, happiness, lots of laughter and joy!