Plastic surgeon appt. report .....

My appt. w/the plastic surgeon this morning went well. He was extremely thorough and wanted all the details on my flap surgery in San Antonio. I spent over two hours with him going through everything. There is some hardware that is very close under the skin to the area that is open, so that was the first possibility for cause to the problem.

We took new x-rays and he carefully looked over old MRI pics that I brought with me. There were a few things on both the x-rays and MRI that he questioned and noticed were not “right.” We looked at the pictures together and he explained 5-6 things that he was somewhat concerned about. He wants to make sure there is no deep bone infection, so this afternoon he received a former MRI report from the radiologist & he was going to see if he could learn anything further. He will call me early next week and will likely order a new MRI. Closing the incision is the easy part, but he doesn’t want any surprises during surgery as to a hidden infection or something …. this would be unlikely, but sometimes they take a long time to surface.

If there is no infection, it is an easy & straightforward skin closure surgery (likely less than 1 ½ hrs). If it gets complicated with something else, hardware issues, or a bone issue, everything quickly becomes much more involved. So, we will likely talk on Mon.-Tues. and see what he thinks.

At any rate, I really liked him & was super comfortable with him … he was personable, professional & would be good to work with. His West Co. office is in the same building as my hip surgeon at Barnes West hospital. His nurse gave me her direct phone number, which is always good. He normally does big cases like chest closure, open heart closure & lots with breast cancer reconstruction, so my situation is very tiny in size, but very significant with “past medical history.” I don’t think I would have gotten to see him if it had not been from a referral of someone at church – very grateful (it was a parent of a past student).

I have a crazy busy week next week. On Tues-Thurs. noon, I have a JA conference at work with 45 people (all from out-of-town) & I am responsible for evening entertaining, dinner, snacks, & making sure all are happy. We leave for Dallas late afternoon on Thursday & return Sunday night.

Thanks for your e-mail notes, calls, and prayers this week. I am okay and I am confident that God will continue to lead, direct and open doors as needed.

Headed to IL for the weekend ….. hope it is a relaxing one for you, too!

Love & hugs,
jenny