Arch Bar removal/insurance

Today was a great day for Trent! He had a CT scan done and his arch bars removed by the oral surgeon! The CT showed he's healing well, however, the fratures are still very visible. Dr. Wong told us it will take at least 6 months before they fully heal. However, even in spite of that, he'll soon be free to play basketball! He said it (his face) may hurt, but that he'll be stable enough for it. Amazes us! And now we can see why it hurt the other day when he tried to run a few steps! The plate on the roof of his mouth has also healed well. He could not even feel it when he examined him.

Then, we got home and opened the mail. Surprise! Bills have started coming in from Billings. And guess what they said? "Submitted to Blue Shield. Denied. Patient not enrolled in the Billings provider managed care plan on the date of service." Over and over. Grump! So tomorrow I will call the insurance and try to get them to pay!

Next week on Monday Trent sees the spine guy and gets his neck brace off!

Back to School Update

Hello Everyone! Trent Peterson here and blogging for the first time!

Progress: Well it has been a little over a month since the accident and surgery and recovery has gone very well! The neck brace is more of a pain now than anything and I can't wait to get it off. I actually haven't had any pain in my neck at all-they put the brace on asap when I was in the hospital and I hope it has been healing since. My face is still numb in a few areas but not too bad. Now that everything is stable and well into healing I am working on making all the faces I can to work on "rebuilding" the nerves to get rid of the numbness. Fortunately if there was this numbness with an adult, even as young as late 20s, the numbness might be permanent, but thanks to youth (again and again and again) it should completely heal in time. For the most part, swelling has gone down. In the morning my right cheek is still swollen, and  there is just a little bit of puffiness around the eyes and bridge of my nose, but that will just take time as well. The only problem is putting in contacts! That’s a new challenge for sure! Even the bleeding in my eye (I think it scared a few people when I looked at them from that side!) slowly went away and now there is no coloring at all.

So  two weeks ago we went to an Oral Surgeon for a follow-up/consultation appointment. Nothing new or out of the ordinary there but he was really nice and informative. It looks like I will be getting the arch-bars (braces, wires, whatever you want to call them) off by mid-September so hopefully not much time left with them in! They are not all that bad, nothing different from braces really, except they are wired INTO my gums, not glued to my teeth but I am doing just fine with them in. Around the time of removal I will also have follow up appointments for my spine at an orthopedic doctor. I hope those go well and they find that everything is healed. If everything goes well at the orthopedic appointment then I will be cleared and I can take off the brace!! That would be nice for sure! Just this week I had an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) appointment and it was just a checkup to see how my cheeks/nose are healing, and nothing to report except progress. They just want to make sure everything is healing as it should so again I'm wishing it goes well!

Now here the unbelievable part-this isn’t for sure at all but I am hoping to be fully cleared after 8 weeks which would be about the end of September. This would be a complete clearance that we are hoping for, which means full-contact and EVERYTHING…ya know what that means? I am going to get a full season of basketball in! Now that is exciting, at least for me! Its going to be hard getting back into shape, especially after missing so many workouts and losing so much weight, but it will be worth it when the season comes around.

So school has started! Well it really started with the training for freshmen orientation-getting up early, going around the school, and I admit it was really tiring! But the couple of days of training, then the actual orientation, kind of helped build up some energy! I just finished my second week of school as a junior and everything is going well.

Thanks again to everyone!

Dr. appts

Today we had the first of many doctor appts! We got the 4 referrals that we need, and hopefully tomorrow we can start getting appointments made. The orthodontist, oral-facial surgeon, and Dr. Griffeth will be in touch and will decide how to proceed from here in regards to getting his bite correct again. He may need braces again, even though his teeth "look" ok, because his bite is quite "off".

He is eating a lot better now, but the reality check at the dr.'s office today was that he's still down 15 pounds from pre-accident. We are giving him high calorie foods so I know he'll get it back once he's able to start working out, etc.

His face is still numb. We notice a lot of his expressions  aren't quite symmetrical yet (kind of like when you get back from the dentist and are numb on one side...your face doesn't quite move right), but  that will come back. I think this remaining swelling will take a long time to completely go away. Most people would not notice his swelling, but we know that chubby right cheek isn't really "him"! He's competely off the pain meds now, so he's still improving by leaps and bounds!

What a Wonderful Welcome Home!!

When we arrived Friday night, we turned into our court, and crossing the street by our driveway, was a line of people holding balloons and cheering! It was an awesome feeling to be home, and then to be greeted like that made it ever so special! Friends and neighbors were out, and once again, we couldn't believe what people have done for us! After some hugs and tears, we went inside only to find a big "Welcome Home, Trent" banner, flowers, a huge teddy bear (complete with a band-aid on his nose) ,a huge dinner, a stocked fridge and freezer, gifts for Byron (his birthday) and Jared (just because). There was a stack of cards for Trent that had come in the mail, and after everybody left, as Trent sat and read them, we tried to digest all that has been done for us. Our crisis was so small compared to what so many people go thru...and yet so much has been done for us...far more than we ever imagined or deserved...and we all look forward to being able to pay it forward someday.

Home At LAST!

Well, they made it home!  Several of us were able to be there as they pulled into the driveway! :)  It surely was wonderful to see Trent step out of the van, neck brace and all.  He was a sight for sore eyes!!  Looks GREAT!!  I'm sure that being home will just make him heal all the faster.

Pictures

Day after accident. Not too swollen yet.

Day 3. His most swollen day. Notice the asymmetry of his mouth

Heading to surgery.

 

I can't remember how many days this was after surgery. See how symmetrical that face is now!

A gift from his team!

After about 5 days of not being able to eat, they decided to put in a feeding tube. Notice the rockstar eyeliner.

DISCHARGE

Such a great feeling!

And a kiss from Mom! :)

Not sure who was happier....the boy or the dog!

Now I bet you can all see Trent in this picture!! The doctors kept saying how amazed they were at how fast he was healing! We continue to be amazed! So happy!

Dr. Griffeth. The absolute BEST. Wish we'd have gotten one of Dr. Kennedy as well.

Dr appt, and CT scan

Our original appt with Dr. Griffeth was on Friday, but he didn't want us to wait that long.  This is not his normal day to be in the office, but had just told us whenever we could come, either Wed or Thursday, he'd meet us there. Talk about service! This morning I got a text from him and he had another big surgery he needed to go to, so the sooner we could get to Billings, the better.  He did another CT and Xray, and was very pleased with the progress. He did remove his splint in his mouth, but left the arch bars of course, so it will be so much easier for Trent to eat and talk now. With the plate securely in place holding his upper jaw in place, he should be ok without the splint.

Trent said it's time to post pix, so I'll include a few in the next post.

Today was a real "let-down" day. Any of you who have gone thru anything similar know what I mean.

Tonight we had a little birthday party for Byron. Grandma made a cake for him and we invited Steve and Kim and Brock and Willow over. Was so nice. 

Tomorrow (technically today) we hit the road!!!

Tuesday

Wow...what a difference a good night's sleep, a home environment, and Grandma's cooking have made! It's so good to see him with his spirits up, finally feeling like contacting his friends (he's been busy answering texts all day), and eating better.  When somebody tells a funny story, he tries so hard to not smile/laugh because it hurts his face, but it still thrills us to see him smiling and laughing!! :)

Today Mom and Dad came for the afternoon and evening. Was nice to see them one more time before they head home.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll see his one surgeon in Billing, and then start heading home on Thursday. :)

DISCHARGED!

I think I mentioned that last night I planted the seed with the surgeon that I wanted to take him home today. She wasn't quite sure of it, but I kept assuring her that we'd get home to Grandma's cooking where we could make high calorie food. This morning the primary trauma surgeon came in and ordered that CT of his neck (came back normal), his facial surgeon came in and once again kept saying "WoW!" and gave us a big hug, and his primary came in late afternoon and said we could TAKE.HIM.HOME!!! We are so happy!!! His palate surgeon called us as we were driving in here to Howard and Donna's. When he heard we had our appt with him on Friday (he's out of the office Wed and Thurs), he said he'd just come in on Wed whenever it worked for us!  Trent came home and ate more of Grandma's yummy food (nice and soft and easy to get down) than he has yesterday and today combined.  He was so happy to have the feeding tube out right before we left. We have had the BEST of care, the BEST of encouragement from everybody, and we are so thankful to be where we are today. I'll probably post some pictures tomorrow to show how amazing his progress is, and then a post again after our Wed appt, then I'll probably sign off. This has been a great way to communicate. Thanks again, Mary Jo, Jacquie, and Kerin, for setting up the blog and back posting all those texts, etc. XO

CT scan

Dr came in this morning and ordered a CT scan of Trent's vessels in his neck. He just feels that it's wise to check them because with the kind of force he sustained, sometimes a part of a vessel can sheer off, like a flap, and can cause blood clots, which of course would not be good headed to the brain! So he'll have that done this afternoon.  They did stop the feedings (he still has the tube), and he's been eating very slowly but surely. Got one pancake and about 1/3 of the scrambled eggs in so far today. We reallllly want to go home today!!!

Sunday's been such a good day!

We've had company trickling in all day..Kelvin and Leila and kids, both sets of grandparents, Chuck and Shir, and Steve and Kim and kids. Grandpa Howard asked Trent if he likes all this company. He said yes! It does seem like company really perks him up and gives him something else to think about.  When he wants to sleep, he just takes out his hearing aids and naps away in spite of the visiting.

Our doctors are fantastic. They both are off this weekend, but have still come in both days and spend a good half hour here. The palate dr was just leaving when the facial dr arrived, so he just sat down in the chair and stayed for that, too. It's almost like they come "to visit" now, rather than just do doctor stuff. The one is really pleased with how his bite is coming along.  Since they were able to put the plate in his upper jaw (instead of just the splint he has in his mouth), he said that he may be able to remove the splint and all the stuff in there a lot sooner. He is very confident about its healing since it has that plate (that's the part he'd never done, and usually people's anatomy makes it such that they can't use it). So he is so glad for that extra "rock solid" support of the plate.

The face dr just stands at the foot of his bed and says "Wow!" over and over. He truly looks like he had his accident a  month ago. His skin has healed up, his swelling is WAY down (some still left to go, but not at all what you'd expect at this point), and now he just has that punk rocker purple/black eyeshadow look. :)

The feeding tube has helped immensely!!! His energy is better, he's walking faster (this morning after his walk, he almost passed out on me, and it was all I could do to get him to the bed, but this afternoon he was really walking well!). His spirits have lifted a lot! He got his pureed tray but was only able to eat a few bites.The dr agreed to soft food for tonight, so we'll see if more palatable food will go down. I am so wanting to take him home tomorrow (to Bridger) and feed him some soft, high calorie food! But I know he HAS to prove he can eat enough before we take the feeding tube out and take him home.

All in all, it's been a great day, with great progress. Every day is better and better! By the time we go back to CA, I think the only noticeable battle scar will be the neck brace! Amazing, the way these young kids heal!

Sunday morning...a new week

Good morning to all,

Again, thanks to all who've posted and reached out. It means so much to us. Trent did take a peek at a few yesterday but soon wore out, but I know he'll appreciate reading them all so much as he gets better. He's had so many stop by:  grandparents,  uncles and aunts with families, cousins,  ministers, friends we've known from years ago, etc. etc.

I definitely think it was the Ativan they gave him for the procedure that made him so carefree yesterday afternoon, but it was great to see while it lasted! He was really tired after that all wore off, and did some long napping! We did order his first tray of food last night to try get him started on real food so they can wean him off the tube feeding. It was pureed chicken, mashed potatoes, and pureed corn. To make it look more appetizing, they put the pureed item in a mold that looks like that item...so, for instance, rather than a plop on the plate, the corn looked like corn on the cob. He only took a few bites, but it's a start. His mouth is so sore inside from all the incisions and work they did there (they did all the facial repairs thru the mouth, even the plate that goes beside his eye!) so naturally it's pretty swollen and sore. Also it's hard to eat with that splint in place. We did end up taking out the bands that hold his teeth pretty close together, as it was went better using a spoon that he could barely get in, than a syringe. Also, the dr showed me how to put them back on, so he can have them off for eating.

Robert and kids will be in this afternoon after they go to meeting. Our hearts are with them there.

He had a good night last night. There were alarms on him for different IV's, and feeding tubes, going off hourly (they do that for safety)  and nurses coming in for meds, etc, but I think he slept through most of them.So...today is a new day, a new week, and the beginning of the rest of our lives. So let's make every day count. xo to all

Feeding Tube Placement

Hello all.Here is an update for you. Trent has really been down the last couple days. Since finding out last night that he needed a feeding tube, he has been really blue. This morning I felt so helpless as he lay there. The dietician came and said in spite of our best efforts last night Trent can not even come close to meeting his caloric requirements..so..they took him down to radiology around 11 and put the feeding tube in from his nose to his small intestine. They also gave him antianxiety meds...he came back with his spirits up, walked the halls with Rydel, and wanted to check the blog about him ( and comments) for the first time. Not sure if it was the " happy meds" or the relief of the procedure being done. We went from worry this morning to happiness seeing him perk up!!

Sat morning

Well, we've gotten a bit of nutrition in! I got up every hour and gave him  a 60 cc syringe of Ensure.  Any more than that was making him nauseated, since it's been so long since he's really eaten. The pain while swallowing issue seems to have resolved since he got all the packing out, so even though he's still running a big time caloric deficit, I'm hoping to talk to the nurse soon and see if she can call Dr. Kennedy and get an order to cancel to the feeding tube! I'm going to wake him up in a bit to start day...walk, eat, sleep! His mouth isn't closed with wires, but he did put some very tight elastics on the same way, so it's almost like he's wired shut, but that won't be a long term thing. I think it's just until his bite is together again. Even in 10 minutes while Dr. Griffeth hung around, his bite was moving.


You cannot believe how GOOD he looks! He's been on meds for the swelling as well, but his skin is looking so good. It's amazing how fast a kid heals! The abrasions are almost completely healed, and now he just has some chipmunk cheeks and purple "eyeshadow", but he is definitely starting to look like Trent again! Even after they brought him back from OR we were so shocked at how much better he looks. Amazing how much getting those bones back in place changed him!


So...I have big plans for him for today! Guess I better wake him up and tell him about them! He'll be thrilled! ;)


Thinking of so many this morning at a special gathering in Sacramento. 

Feeding Tube...or not?

Here's the scoop for today.Trent is looking great, but still has not been able to eat, so he's getting weaker and weaker. This last walk, he was so unsteady and dizzy. Trent had  a real hard day eating due to the severe pain he feels in all his nose etc when he swallows.(This has been an issue since the accident)  Dr. Kennedy ordered a feeding tube put in tomorrow. That didn't go over well, as you can imagine. But she took out the nasal packing which seems to have helped the swallowing immensely.(Allows the pressure to equalize when he swallows).  THEN Dr. Griffeth came in and said his bite IS off but that happens some so he brought wires and elastics and ended up using elastics to try get his bite to shift. They had to take the muscle off the jaw so that jaw is really disrupted so not surprising. Anyway, he doesn't really think he needs a feeding tube, and he got a syringe and basically fed Trent some chocolate milk thru it. But with the packing out, seems like the pain in his nose with swallowing has lessened, so it went way better than it has been going. So we've ordered several Ensures and are going to give him some hourly thru the night in hopes of staving off the feeding tube.

Hustling (to recover)!

A gift from all his basketball team!! A card signed by them all ( very touching), hustle socks, and a basketball signed by them all. He said he'll never use it. He wants to keep it perfect and buy a stand to put it in. :) Notice the bed extension, and keep in mind this didn't get put on the bed til Wed night!

Post op day 1

Good Morning!

Trent arrived back to the room last night late evening.  Even in the hallway he was trying to tell me, "They didn't get my bite right!!" He was in a lot of pain, and was very distraught that his jaws didn't seem to line up.  As for how he looks,well, let's just say we were shocked at how GOOD he looked!!! He was SO much better! Amazing how bones being a little off in your face can really change the appearance. Also, all his abrasions on his face that had been so disconcerting were healing so well, that when she was cleaning his face for surgery, she just took the scabs all off, and it is amazing how well they've already healed! Youth....

But back to his jaw. After he got settled in, he was showing us that when he bites naturally, the upper jaw was way off to the left. To get his lower jaw to fit into the splint, he had to jut his lower  jaw forward and over. Naturally, he felt like surgery had been a failure, and our euphoria went to worry.

This morning Dr. Kennedy came in at 6:45. When we explained to her about the jaw, she assured us that that upper jaw went together beautifully. She said it was rock solid and exactly where it should be, and that the reason the jaws aren't fitting together is because swelling is actually pushing the lower jaw out of place, so what seems like his "natural comfortable" bite is not really correct. She said absolutely no more surgery is needed on that palate, and that perhaps Dr. Griffeth will wire his teeth together (or use rubberbands, hopefully) to bring his jaws together. So that was great news!  She said his nose was really hard to put back together because it was so crushed, and that he'll likely need more surgery on that in the future.

His job today is to EAT. Since the accident Monday (which was before breakfast), he's had the sum total of one ice cream cup  (and you know how tiny those hospital ice creams are!) and one small pudding. Due to all the nausea, vomiting, and such, he's had no appetite.  So he is very slowly eating an ice cream. I told him I would not let him rest until he's eaten it! It would normally only take him about 3 swallows to get one of those cups down, and he's been working on it for about 1/2 hour.

As far as putting pictures on this blog, Trent is not ready for that yet. He's going to look just fine, probably no different than before, but as he gets closer to his usual appearance, he'll likely be ok with putting some photos up. But for now, we'll leave those off.

We continue to feel so grateful for all your love and support, for the excellent care we are receiving, and for the help from our Father. I am sorry I've not been able to answer you all individually, but we are ever so grateful!!

He's OUT!!!!!! Surgery was successful!!! Surgeons said the palate went better than expected! He DID use the method he had never done before and came out smiling! She said his nose is like crushed cornflakes so that was the least successful but that can be repaired later. He did NOT have to have his jaws wired shut as originally thought. So happpppppy!

It's been over 4 hours. When we asked how long it would be one surgeon thought about 3 hours, but the palate surgeon said his part is so intricate and he wouldn't rush. Been 4 hrs.

Waiting Room Support!