Bob's Consultation and a Movie Review - Sun., Aug. 7, 2016

On Friday, Bob met with the neck surgeon and the plastic surgeon. They prodded and poked his wound so they would have an idea of what surgery is needed next.

The neck surgeon said he will have to remove part of the muscle that controls the shrug response. They will have to carefully keep nerves out of the way.

When Bob had his surgery on Wednesday, the doctor's office did not give him any post-surgical instructions. Bob had me change his gauze dressing a couple of times, but we didn't do anything special. The wound is huge - about 4 inches across and two inches tall, plus it is over 1/2" deep. He wanted me to take a photo of it to share with family. I told him no.

Sunday morning Bob woke up telling me he had a headache. Bob NEVER gets headaches. I told him he needed to call his Mohs surgeon to make sure everything was okay. He wasn't going to call the doctor.

However, when he went to take his shower, the gauze pad was stuck in his neck wound and he couldn't get it out. I told him to take his shower and let the water run on the wound and it would probably come off. Wrong.

While he was in the shower, he asked me to cut off as much of the bandage as I could because it was waterlogged and heavy and was pulling on his wound. When I tried to cut the bandage, the scissors pulled on the bandage and he let out a scream. Apparently the bandage was stuck onto a nerve; the nerve that goes into his head and is causing the headache. I got sharper scissors and was able to cut the bandage off.

When he got out of the shower, I put another bandage over the wound. He called his doctor, but got the answering service. Thankfully his doctor called back quickly.

The doctor told him he needed to get back in the shower and soak the bandage and wound. He also reminded Bob that we should be using Vaseline in the wound and a non-stick bandage. In the shower, Bob was able to pull off the small piece of gauze that was left, but it really hurt him. 

I went to Walgreen's to buy some Vaseline. When I returned, I put Vaseline on a non-stick pad and taped it on his wound. Bob is much better now.

This afternoon, we went to see a movie called "Hunt for the Wilderpeople." What an interesting and good movie. It is about a 13-year-old boy (Ricky Baker) in New Zealand who was lost in the Child Protective Services system, being shuffled from foster home to foster home. Considered a problem child (thievery, graffiti, running away, kicking stuff, and a wannabe gangster), he didn't last long in any home. Finally a couple was willing to take him in. They lived near the bush in New Zealand, far away from a city.

Bella made him feel more at home than anywhere else he had been in his life. He started to feel loved.

When an unexpected tragedy occurred, Ricky ran away into the bush. This movie is about how he ran from Child Protective Services and survived in the bush. You will enjoy the humor and the story as it unfolds.

As we left the theater in the Wonderland of the Americas Mall, the San Antonio Model Railroad Association (SAMRA) members had their display trains running. We spent a few minutes watching the trains go around and looking at the sets they built. We enjoyed that.

Whistle Stop Cafe - SAMRA train display set

SAMRA model trains

There were even a number of camping sets!

As we were leaving the mall, Bob's doctor called back to make sure he was doing okay. That was very thoughtful of him.

Our quiet evening at home consisted of eating dinner, watching 60 Minutes, and HGTV's Beachfront Bargain Hunt, Mexico Life, and Island Hunters. Bob is still having headaches from the exposed nerve in his neck, but at least the bandage isn't sticking to it anymore.

That's all from here. Have a good week.