Casts

Home is where the heart is.
I bet ya'll have seen that on a billion signs or plaques or pillows. I think that in the South it's kind of a motto.  I haven't really every thought about what it means until just now. I guess that home isn't really where you live its where you stay at the moment.  It's where you find love and comfort.  It might not be at the house you pay for every month.  It may be at your work if you have a wonderful work family, or in your car if you love driving, or maybe its your hometown.  It could even be in a small little hospital room in the burn unit of LSU. It's where you would find countless pictures of loved ones and drawings from children and cards of comfort on the walls.  It's where you'll find chocolate in the corner and an I-pod playing familiar songs on the table.  It's also where you will find family members gathered around a hospital bed visiting just like it was a dinner table.  That's where we have called home for the last 71 days. 

Since last Monday, after the surgery, the donor site was giving Heath so much pain.  The pain wasn't being relieved because of a couple of reasons.  When you are on pain medication for such a long time you will eventually build a tolerance to and also whenever you have harvested 3 times from one site in the last 60 days, the site might be a little tender. To help with the pain, the wonderful doctors and nurses decided to "install" a pain pump.  This pump delivered I.V. pain meds continuously and then Heath controlled when he needed a "boost" and with a push of a button he had some small relief.  During these days the pain was about as unbearable as it has been.  It's never fun to watch someone hurt, but watching someone who has already had to endure some of the worst pain imaginable, it just seems plain old unfair.  Time sometimes is the only thing will heal some pain and that is exactly what happened.  The pain has subsided some and he is able to walk and continue on with physical therapy.  
When burns heal there is a complication that will arise if physical therapy does not counter it - contracture scars.  These are scars that could become very detrimental if left unattended.  What happens is this- normal elastic connective tissue is destroyed and what grows back in its place is inelastic fibrous tissue.  These scars will resist stretching and will limit mobility.  If physical therapy isn't done then these scars will become very hard and surgery will have to be done.  Sometimes even with stretching and physical therapy, surgery will still have to be done.  This week Dr. Sattig and Shannon were worried that his arms are developing contracture scars so they decided that he would need a cast on his arms.  As of Tuesday he has been fashioning a cast on the right arm.  It will help to hold the arm straight and keep the contracture scar from becoming hard in the bent position.  Tomorrow, the right cast will come off and they will put one on his left arm.The left one will be left on until Monday.
His burns are healing nicely and there are only a few that are covered with dressings.  This is a huge change from the Michelin  Man we are used to seeing.  Now that he is so close to coming home the staff is preparing him for that day.  Heath is like their baby in a way.  They have seen him at his most vulnerable and have nursed him back from the brink of death.  They have seen him through the most horrible experience of his life and they all have a close bond with him.  71 days with a patient is a long time to become acquainted with your patient and their family and it didn't take them that long to fall in love with him.  I told them from the beginning that they would love Heath and they all do.  They care about everything he does - right down to his beard growth.  I know that Heath can't wait to get out, but I'm sure leaving a place behind that has cared for him when no one else could is a bittersweet moment.  Heath will be home in just a few short days and we cannot be more thrilled. Lord willing - it will be next Friday.  We are about to get what we have been praying for : Sweet Homecoming - our hearts will be home. 

'Til Tomorrow