My fifth month anniversary was celebrated at the Grossman Burn Center having my 7th surgery. I had not mentioned this before in the hope that the 2 dime sized holes that popped up through a scar line would heal on its own. A month went by and these conduits to my skull would not close. On August 19 I got up once again with my faithful wife at 3am and headed to the halls of surgery. It was fun to see so many of the great care givers from before. So friendly, so kind.
The problem with these little unhealing spots was that my scalp around them was very unforgiving and not flexible. You would think a little office visit and a shot of Novocaine would have done the trick but no, I had to get on that familiar table and go off to lala land. The day after the surgery I was having more pain than expected for what I hoped would be some minor incisions, stretch and restitch. On Friday I went back to the GBC for a checkup and peak at the wound site. Much to my surprise I had a "new" stitched area that looked like a plus sign with 4 inches on each length of the "plus" ( see photo) Woah! No wonder this "little" surgery hurt so much. I thought I was getting kind of soft there for a minute! ha. The docs said it was quite difficult to get this stubborn area closed. Basically a mini muscle flap rotation was performed. I suppose I will be healing for another month. I was also tested to MRSA staff and it was positive. The docs are not sure if the colony of staff was part of why my scalp popped open or not. I am on some new anti-biotics to help kill this staff. As you may know, many of us have staff on ourselves. When the staff "colonizes" it is fairly harmless. When it gets infected is when you see the gooey sores that people get. That's no good for sure. At this moment I am not sure what I have. Monday will reveal more. You know, if you wouldn't mind, could you pray that this MRSA stuff goes away for good. This MRSA could be a link to the lengthy healing process....I don't know for sure.
Having a chin strap and head full of gauze wrap with a vessel drain for 2 days was a solid reminder to be thankful for the open air my head had enjoyed for the last couple months. On Saturday I will be back to bandannas and washing my head every day.
I had been wanting to write something for this month resembling the "greatest hits" of the last 5 months. The all time greatest hit was and is...You. I still shake my head and am amazed at the love and care I have been shown. My whole notion of God's love has expanded from Santa Barbara to Uganda, from Oregon to Tanzania, From college campus' to churches and everywhere in between. I am still being approached by people I don't know who say they were and are praying for me. Pretty cool!
Another highlight was learning to appreciate the little luxuries in life. Food, showers, and to lay my head down on a pillow. As I mentioned before, if you are feeling a little sorry for yourself that you didn't get to go somewhere or do something that you really wanted to do, just don't eat or shower for a few days and eating and showering will become some of those really cool things you get to do. I tried it and it works. ( I can't wait to put my head under the shower head on Saturday..Wahooo!)
What does it take for you to be humble? Does it take some kind of failure. Job loss. Realization of what and who God is? Another way is to get hurt. Its humbling to essentially get your butt kicked by something. This experience has softened my heart to Him and to people. Yes to people. Before the injury I enjoyed spending 'some" time with friends but now I really really enjoy it. So much that the night of my surgery I was at some friends house having a great time...I didn't want to miss out. Thanks Todd and Bonnie! Another funny thing was the realization that we were having 14 young life staff at our house from Wed. surgery day through Saturday. You might be thinking it was really hard to do this but no, it was and is a joy to have them. Of course having a wife with the gift of hospitality makes this a bit easier as well. Thank you Heather for all your love for all of us, including our new Young life friends from Austin Texas ! Great bunch of godly men and women. It has been a sweet encouragement to our family just to be around them for this short time.
Oh and yes, what about this idea of not whining or complaining. I have to admit that I have caught myself complaining a couple of times since my injury. Bad boy Todd. Complaining and whining is so unattractive and gets us no where. Be thankful, Be strong, Be kind. This no whining idea kind of leads into one of my favorites, be a SURVIVOR not a victim. There really is no more room for any more victims in our world. What happened has happened and you and I are alive. We are here, we made it. I Survived!
Contentment. I think pre injury I was less content. I wanted to do things I wanted to do and do them now. I even think I had this "angst" about doing the things I wanted to do. The Lord has taken the place of that angst and yes, I still do things I want to do but if I don't do them it's more Ok, no big deal, I'll do that later. What a blessing it is to feel content.
This next one might seem silly but I still have this strong sense of the joy it was to ride a bike for the first time post injury. It was like being a little kid again. Remember when you learned to ride a bike for the first time and how cool it was to just ride around and around? It was a little interesting to ride post injury for the first time due to my Neurological balance issues I was having. I decided to go for it and thankfully I kept my balance and had a wonderful time.
Its those little things in life that make us smile more often than the huge blessings we may receive from time to time. Don't forget to look for those "little" things when you go out and about this week.
I can go on and on but won't. I surely hope things are going well for you. If not I hope the Big picture will give you cause to be thankful, content, and enjoying Him.
Later-------Todd
PS__Please keep praying for Jacob. Jacob's Journey He has a long road ahead of him. Another reminder of how easy my injuries have been comparitively.
