Friday, December 5, 2008

Roto rooter

As many of you know, and as was mentioned previously, Shelby recently underwent a surgery which his ENT affectionately called the "Roto Rooter" treatment. It was a long time coming and we are so grateful for all the generous and wonderful support we have had from family and friends.

The surgery consisted of a much-needed septoplasty, turbinate reduction, and removal of some sinus bone. I've seen poor Shelby in better shape both before and after the surgery, but now, nearly two weeks out, we are beginning to notice the positive changes in his ability to breathe and drain (gross, but necessary) properly. Hallelujah! Stick it out, babe! You're doing great!

Here are some photos from surgery day, beginning with this pre-surgery cheese ball. You can't see it, but he had booties that matched his cool hat. SO stylin'.
Here is how he thought he would look after the surgery.
Here's how he actually looked after the surgery. Pretty close, huh? He doesn't remember much of this time. I had to keep reminding him to breathe. That was fun and not at all upsetting...for both of us.
Here's how I looked after the surgery, completely confident in my ablility to care for Shelby.
And here, we finally got him home where he could recover comfortably, and by comfortably I mean totally uncomfortably with kids yelling and climbing all over him and with his wife accidentally elbowing him in the nose in the middle of the night. It's actually a miracle he's recovering :) What a trooper! See how happy he looks?!
Thanks again to everyone for your help, prayers, and support. Thanks to you, Shelby will finally be able to breathe easily.

3 comments:

Tammy said...

Oh, so sad that Shelby had to go through that, and happy at the same time that he is getting better every day. Sorry we weren't here to be of any help.
The photos of him after surgery are a little scary! Especially if you click on them and they become gigantic. yikes.

Doug and Shayla said...

Wow, that does not look like fun. Had a similar surgery on my nose about eight years ago. Good luck Shelby!

Tiffany said...

Ooh...not so fun. Paul actually had a septoplasty done right before we got married. So he and Shelby can share gauze and salt water rinse stories. :o)