Pizza!

The title of this blog can't help but bring up great memories of when it used to be pizza day at school! The best lunch in the cafeteria. I spent the last few days with my dad and it was an amazing time, as always. Me, Stacy, mom, and Robb ordered pizza and wings on Wednesday and we asked dad if he would like a slice, since his wires have been removed and he is able to eat solid foods. He is supposed to be sticking to soft foods with little chewing so it was determined he would give the pizza a whirl, possibly minus the bread and crust since it would require some chewing. Stacy, Robb, and mom were enjoying their dinner in the waiting room and I decided to see if dad wanted his slice. I asked him if he wanted it cut and he said no - he wanted to be able to hold it. So, in comes the slice of cheese and away he went. That slice lasted about two minutes, crust and all. He didn't seem to have any problem at all finishing every little crumb...well almost every crumb, we did find one or two under him later when we adjusted him for bed. He finished it so fast that his nurse Michelle stepped away for a few minutes and came back and asked where the pizza went? We all laughed and we asked dad if he wanted another. He said he was having a tough time deciding between another piece or Cheez-its and some ice cream. A difficult choice indeed. Stacy convinced him that the Cheez-its and ice cream would be there tomorrow and that he better take advantage of the pizza while there was some left - no pizza leftovers last long around the Ferraro clan. So, he opted for another slice! Regardless of how old you are, pizza day is still the best day in the cafeteria!

Thanks to all for your continued love and support of our family! The support hasn't subsided since day one, which is truly amazing!

Thanks,

Scott

The end of week 8

Today marks the last day of the eighth week. Wow! It is hard to believe how far Joe has come over the last few months. It really is amazing! He is sitting on the edge of his bed, usually with assistance. He has even started doing some exercises in that position, too. He's laughing, talking, and eating up a storm. His story has proved to be inspirational to his new "neighbors" who have just arrived and whose families are a little down in the dumps. They have saught us out (including my dad) to voice some of their concerns and ask questions. I guess as they say "misery loves company".
Today was a busy and painful day for Joe. A few days ago he had a neurology consult and it was determined that he should have some testing done using electronic probes to assess the damage to his fingers. From the beginning, when he "woke up" a few days after the accident he could not feel the last few fingers on each hand. Today they tested him using different voltages of electricity to see if there was any blockage or if the nerves had started to reattach themselves. He said it was brutally painful, and there were times when he thought it was really bad and the doctors would say they were going to turn it up a little. The doctors have figured that there is some blockage in each arm and different degrees of damage to the ulnar and median nerves on both arms. The good news is that they have pinpointed the problem(s). Now it is a waiting game to see if they will begin to repair themselves or if he will have to have more surgery down the line.
He is starting to sleep a little bit longer each night and is grateful for that. We are awaiting Friday's surgery for the skin/muscle grafts and to remove the rest of the hardware in his mouth. Hoping this will be the last surgery for awhile...
Thanks as always for all of the love and strength,
Stacy

Wheelin' Around...

Today was another step closer to Joe's recovery. The physical therapists came by and got him in the wheelchair again today. He's able to help a lot now and it gets easier for him with each try. After he was in the chair the girls made him go for a spin. He really did not want to (he is happy just to sit) but they are great about pushing him to the limit. So, with each therapist carrying a wound vac he rolled himself down the hallway with me, mom and Scott in tow. We were snapping pictures for his "long road to recovery scrapbook". It was kind of like a mini- parade with Joe as the Homecoming Queen. All of the nurses, whom we know pretty well by now, were coming out with all sorts of comments "hey now, look at you!", and "wait a minute, what's this your wedding are you coming for your bride?" (referring to a young, cute nurse waiting at the end of the hallway. Needless to say, everyone was impressed with this big step that my dad has made. He continues to amaze us. Keep up the great work, Popes! We love you!
Love,
Stac

A little chatty...

I was thrilled upon my arrival today to find my dad talking up a storm, pretty much to anyone who would listen. He showed me how he could open his mouth a little bit and told me all of the things that he has had to eat since they "freed" the jaw. It has mostly been soft foods but it has all made him very happy. He keeps asking for Cheez-Its. I don't know...Dr. Ferraro (aka Cindi/Mom) seems to think he should wait until Friday when he gets clearance from Dr. Da Fatta.. However, I personally know that one of my brothers (who happens to be tall, loves pizza & wings, and is married to someone named Arlene) smuggled in some chocolate chip cookies for him. I think they had to be crumbled into really small pieces but he still enjoyed them. So I'm not going to tell you which bro that was (I wouldn't want to get him in trouble with Dr. Ferraro), just know that he had good intentions. My dad is just craving real food, especially chips and snacks right now. It's about 10 PM and we're watching TV, and if he were home he would definitely be snacking on something...I guess if he had his way it would be Cheez-Its.

ALMOST DAY 54, SUNDAY EVENING

O.K., so it is just me again. Sometimes I get on a roll and there's no stopping me. But back to the day that we were feeling pretty confident again, only to be brought back to reality pretty quickly. Robb was giving Joe's sideburns a trim. It is a good sign that Joe is beginning to think about his own body and starting to try to take care of it himself. He is able to help out somewhat with the daily sponge bath and can shave himself with an electric razor. He's been doing this without a mirror and just recently he saw his reflection for the first time. He didn't recognize himself, but we think he is looking wonderful. But, when Robb was doing Joe's sideburns, apparently he inhaled some hair into his trach, and began coughing and choking and unable to catch his breath. His nurse began heading for the wire clippers that have been hanging above his bed in an event such as this. She had them ready to cut the wires holding his jaws shut if he began to vomit or was unable to catch his breath. We managed to get to some deep breathing and then back to some normal breathing and things got back to normal. It was only after a few minutes that Joe admitted that he had actually spit up a little bit, but managed to swallow it back down the right tube so that it did not enter the lungs. It terrified the family and rattled his nurse, but it did serve as a reminder that we are not home free yet. It left us feeling grateful that we had a boring weekend ahead of us. We have learned that little or nothing happens in the hospital over the weekend.
So, in the meantime, I had called Dr. DeFatta, his Reconstructive Facial Plastic & ENT doctor, to see whether his next surgery might be planned in conjunction with the Plastic Surgery planned for next Friday, in the hopes of possibly saving one surgery. He was not in the office on Thursday afternoon, and then in surgery on Friday, but it did not worry me, as I thought I would have time to call again on Monday. Well, lo and behold, Saturday morning Dr. DeFatta showed up in the hospital room, pulled out the wire clippers and started cutting. We were so excited, Dana was snapping pictures for the family photo album. Joe was so surprised, he did not know what to make of it. And then, TA DA, the jaws were free!! Very stiff and painful, but free. Dr. DeFatta explained that the plan was to unlock the jaws and see what happened. He admitted later that he feared that the jaw would slack back into the former position, but it did not. He was surprised and thrilled. He said that he couldn't have hoped for a better result and certainly didn't expect it. He already had Plan B and Plan C in mind. But so far, so good. Now comes the work of rehabbing the jaw. It is very tight, but open a little bit - enough to put soft food into the cavity. Joe couldn't wait. He's also excited about yawning with his mouth open (you try yawning with your mouth clamped shut - it's miserable) and being able to sneeze. Very small pleasures. Dr. DeFatta made his own little manual CPM machine for the mouth by stacking tongue depressors at an angle and taping them together. His first job is to slowly force the mouth open one tongue depressor at a time. When he reaches the top of the stack, he will be at about 2.5 cm. He will need to work up to 4 cm. So he has plenty of work to do, but he is excited about it and feels like he is making progress. It was a Red Letter Day. The plan right now is that on the 19th, the arch supports on the roof and floor of the mouth and the screws holding them in place will be removed and bands put in place to hopefully hold the jaws in place. Very encouraging.
I'm headed back to the hospital. Todd is with Joe now - I think they were into the Patriots/Dallas game when I left. Dana left early this afternoon and by now Robb is probably back in Greenwich. Todd will be leaving tomorrow a.m. for a business meeting in Scranton and Stacy and Scott will arrive on Tuesday, I believe.
It will be a busy week with the Wound Vac girls in on Monday & Wednesday, and physical and occupational therapy in every day and lots of exercising in bed and with the "2" CPM machines. We will do as much as we can these next 4 days, as the plastic surgery will temporarily put a halt to the leg exercises for a while. So we are excited and anxious going into this week.
Thank you again for all of the prayers and good wishes. They are definitely helping all of us.
Love, Cindi

DAY 53 - ROBB'S BIRTHDAY

Hello, everyone! It has been a long time since I have had a chance to blog. Many, many thanks to my children and sister for keeping up with it. Not only does it keep our friends updated, it gives us some sort of order and foundation, because somehow these last 53 days have disappeared and I don't know where. We are busy all the time. Now that Joe's life and death vitals and wounds have pretty much stabilized, we are busy concentrating on the next phases of recovery. However, every time we are feeling confident, we have a little wake-up call that reminds us that there are still many dangers. Of course, the first problem being the infections in the right thigh. He is now on day 32 of the first 42 day regimen of the very strong antibiotics to control the infection. And while his tests show that he appears to be doing well, the continued danger of the infection being so close to the metal rod in the femur and the metal in the hip remains. If the infection should reach the metal, it would all have to be removed. So, the longer we go giving the bones a chance to set, the better, just in case they should have to remove any or all of the metal that is holding Joe together. So far, so good. My girlfriend, Lorraine, a registered nurse by trade, reminded me long ago about re-introducing good flora into the body when you have had to be on long-term antibiotics. It had honestly slipped my mind, with so many other things going on at all times. In the meantime, someone I had met here at the hospital who had a loved one on the SICU, had told me about the fact that they had a small holistic office here and tried to explain to me where it was located. One quiet Sunday morning, while running down to the cafeteria for coffee, I was creeping around the deserted hallways trying to find this office when a very nice man asked if he could help me. I did say no, and then did ask him if he knew where the office might be. He said that he did not, but had just received a brochure on it. He very nicely took me all the way back to his office, found the folder and gave me the information. So nice. The very next day, I found the office (yes, it is small and housed in with the very small patient info cancer library). The serendipitous part about this whole incident is that, while I have passed this office hundreds of times, I have never before or since, seen the door open. This is the only time that I have ever seen this door open. Anyway, I went in and investigated. There was information on Reiki, Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, Massage Therapy and yes, lactobacillus (adding good flora back into the system). While I was at it, got the ball rolling on all of the above. Now, Joe, who always thought all of this was kind of mumbo-jumbo nonsense, is now benefitting from all of these services and loving them. He calls one of them his "sleep lady", another "the healing lady" and "relaxation lady". They are all doing a marvelous job and we were not happy to hear that they all have so many new requests, bec. we were enjoying those days when there weren't so many people who needed their services. Joe now sees the great healing benefit of blending the new, very high tech, kind of medicine with the more natural holistic approach. They are both helping him to become a new man in more ways than one. So, back to our old friend, lactobacillus. I'm hoping that the addition of this will help to avoid further immune problems down the line, because the length of time on these very strong antibiotics, while hopefully killing all of the infection, will also be killing all of the good bacteria in the body, making Joe susceptible to other infections. It continues to be a balancing act. And there is the possibility of being on another round of antibiotics after this first round is complete. We will keep our fingers crossed. For now, we continue to take one day at a time. This, in itself, is progress, because we have gone from taking one minute at a time, to one hour at a time, to one day at a time. We are feeling very encouraged.
Again, the gratitude we feel for the continued outpouring of prayers and caring from our friends and family is boundless. We cannot thank everyone enough and it really helps to keep our spirits up when, sometimes, the load seems to heavy for us to carry alone. Thanking you just seems very insignificant, but many, many thanks to everyone.
Love, Cindi
And, not to be forgotten, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our "Last but not Least" (as my mother called him) and "Fifth from the Top" (as he refers to himself), baby, ROBB. We Love You, My Darling! Happy Hunting! (Robb is bow-hunting deer today). Love, M and Dad