Charlie and her Daddy spent some time yesterday watching “Yo Gabba Gabba” on Daddy’s special TV computer.

The week was made even more special with visits from High school friends, Jonathan and Greg. They traveled from the Washington DC area to spend time with John.   The visits were really appreciated because John is still confined to lying flat. All remaining stitches from John’s surgeries will be removed tomorrow. He has developed some contractures in his arms that we hope can be worked out with more advanced PT at the Rehabilitation Institute.   A contracture is a hardening and shortening of muscles and tendons.

Yesterday, John’s doctor inspected the flap surgeries. About one third of the stitches have been removed but the doctor wants john to remain completely flat for another week. John will be spending the weekend watching “The Final Four” basket ball games. John and Jack Sheehan plan to join him here to watch part of the games. The company makes everything more fun.

Sorry for the many days between posts. We simply have not had any new news to share with everyone. John continues to be limited to resting completely flat on his back. The flap surgeries are slowly healing with the exception of one small area. This area is not getting worse, so for now, the doctors are just keeping a close eye on it.  His bed is the fanciest one yet. The fluid sand it the mattress improves circulation and lessens the number of times that John’s hips need to be pillow adjusted. John still receives his main nourishment through his stomach tube, but he is allowed to eat or drink anything that he wants. He does not choose to eat or drink often, because it is difficult to do so while lying flat. He does eat tiny cookies that Charlie enjoys feeding him. April and Joe spent the weekend days with John. Joe extended the capabilities of John’s computer and now he can watch T.V & movies  and manipulate the channels without help.

They have moved John back to VIBRA  where he will stay until his “flaps” have healed and he is able to sit up for long periods of time. His doctors will continue to meet with him here. Physical and occupational therapists will work with him while he remains flat.

They have replaced John’s traec with a smaller metal one. It is capped and is only in place so that his lungs can be suctioned. He can talk normally and breath in and out through his mouth and nose. They will remove the traec when John feels that no more suctioning is needed. John wants to keep it until he is able to sit up. Other than one small area that the doctor is watching closely, the flaps are healing well. John is not enjoying having to lay completely flat. He can not work his computer without being able to sit up a little. Soon John will be moved back to VIBRA for the remainder of his flap healing time. The sergeant will continue  to see John and monitor his healing while he is at VIBRA.  When John is able to sit up for 3 to 4 hours, we hope to get him to the Rehabilitation  Institute of Oregon, (RIO) for physical therapy.

This is John’s favorite hospital yet.

Late Friday, John had his flap surgery to cover the sacral wound. The procedure took over 5 hours, but John did well and remained stable.  He has a few bruises from being in an awkward position for so long. He needs to remain completely flat on his back until all of the flaps have healed.  This makes trying to eat and clear lung secretions a challenge. He remains off of the vent but connected to a hose with warm moist air. He hates this device and takes breaks from it when ever possible. He still has his peg tube for nourishment and medicines. They will not remove this until he is able to sit up and swallow better.

John just got finished with a four hour surgery. He had two surgeons do a double hamstring flap procedure. The surgery went very well and John is now in recovery.  The surgery for his sacral wound will be in the near future. We will be here at Legacy Emanuel for recovery then move on to rehab. There are no set timelines for procedures, recovery, or rehab at this time.

The surgery went very well. The doctor cleaned away all dead tissue, filed down  sharp areas of the tail bone and said that everything looked good. The next surgery will take place next week and will involve moving a flap of skin and tissue from a nearby area to cover one or two of John’s three wounds.

John’s wound surgeons have come up with a plan to repair John’s 3 bed sores. On February 27 John will be taken to Legacy Emanuel’s burn unit where his first surgery will take place. There will be a total of 3 or 4 surgeries, each about one week apart. They will be maneuvering flaps of skin, muscle, and fat from nearby areas to cover the wounds.  He will then have to be completely flat for 3 more weeks. Part of that time he will remain at Legacy Emanuel and part of that time he will be back at VIBRA. Legacy Emanuel is the same hospital that April was treated at after the plane crash. After the surgeries and healing time, when John is able to sit up for a few hours at a time; it is our hopes to get him into RIO ( Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon).