Day 17: April 23, 2012

Day 17                                                                                                    Written Apr 23, 2012 3:03pm

This morning around 6am, the doctors came in to get Dallas. Throughout the night, he was able to get some rest, but not enough, not what he should be getting. They gave him a dose of Versed prior to taking him down to the Surgical waiting. It was supposed to calm him down and somewhat sedate him so that he didn't realize what was going on (as he is terrified to go back to surgery). Unfortunately, it didn't do anything for him, as he has built up a tolerance. So he knew exactly what was going on, and was scared. Once he got to the surgical waiting, they gave him Ketamine. It calmed him a little, but not to the point where they told us he would be. We were assured that he would be almost completely sedated before going back to surgery, and he wasn't. Again, when they wheeled him away from us to go to the OR, he was scared, and was saying "no" on the way back.

Surgery went well. They didn't have to leave him on the ventilator, so he was able to breathe well on his own. Yay. They replaced the cadaver skin on his face and said that the areas they were first worried about on the cheeks and temple are looking better and may not require grafting. It may (hopefully) only be his forehead that will require the grafting; which they are almost 100% sure that area will. They said his ears are doing great, which is wonderful news, as they were somewhat worried about them before. They aren't too sure about the areas on his neck and the back of his head (as they look like they may need grafting). But there has been some positive news with his face. They did end up having to use two different colors of cadaver skin on his face, so the top half is African American and the bottom half is tan with lots of freckles. He looks like a superhero who's wearing a mask. :)

They checked his cadaver skin on the different areas of his body. They are pretty sure that all the areas that were going to need grafting before, will still need it come surgery day. There are a few spots that are beginning to heal, but for the most part, it's going to require the same amount/areas as originally thought. His new grafting surgery date hasn't been set yet, however, it may be as early as Wednesday, but if not, it will be Friday.

After Dallas woke up from surgery, it was really rough on him. He began breathing very erratically, he squirmed so much and began hallucinating. He would say "Mommy/Daddy, save me" he said "they are putting me in water, I am drowning, I can't breathe", he said that there were bears trying to get him. He had a look of terror in his eyes, which was terrible. He moved so much in the bed, he began to make himself bleed. His heart rate went up to the mid 160s, his blood pressure raised drastically, he would stop breathing... it was awful.

Finally, they gave him 2 doses of medicine and his Methadone, and he relaxed after about 45 minutes of pure terror. After some time had passed, he went to sleep, finally starting to get some rest. Even though he is sleeping, it is still very restless, as he is having bad dreams, shaking at times, etc.

Hopefully Dallas will get some much needed rest. We hope that over the next couple of days, his methadone levels out and he is able to become more comfortable again, and be him again.

Please continue to think about him and pray for his recovery, his strength, and getting through this terrible ordeal. We are ready for Dallas to be DALLAS, to see that playful, joyful, strong little boy we all love and remember. We know it will be a long road, but every day is a day towards recovery. We have to take the bad with the good, and know there will be ups and downs. As one of the doctors put it, "this is a marathon, not a sprint".