Grandpa and Lauren: Update 12

Grandpa Ottley returned to work last week after being cleared by the doctor. By Thursday, he was feeling pretty worn down and that night he started having shortness of breath. Friday morning he felt like he should go to the hospital. We went to the emergency room and they put him through all the standard tests. They think that due to his high activity that week, he started to build up fluid in his lungs and it caused the shortness of breath. They ruled out another heart attack and just felt like his working that week was a bit too much for him. Since then, he has not worked this week and has been trying to get his strength back. They prescribed medication for him to take to help get rid of the fluid and also started him back on regular breathing exercises again. Hopefully he will rebound soon and be able to get back to work if even on a limited basis.

Lauren has been doing wonderful. She is healing well and hasn't been slowed down at all. We had the expander fitted back into her mouth and she'll have to wear that for another month or two. We are planning to have a CT scan done here locally for her jaw in the upcoming month. We want to send this to Dr. Urata in California to get his opinion of her jaw distraction. He did see her in his office when Lauren was having the surgery last month. He felt that he would probably wait to distract again for a couple years unless we are able to fix it orthodontic ally. Other than that, things with her will slow down a bit. We will continue to post photos of her to show the progress of the healing to her ear.

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 11

Grandpa Ottley met with Dr. Jones today. He is the surgeon that performed the triple bypass just over a month ago. The checkup went very well and he said he is showing very good signs of recovery. He removed many of the restrictions that were given when he was originally discharged from the hospital. He feels he should be ready to go back to work as soon as he feels strong enough to do so. He has still been having pain in his left arm and fingers. The doctor feels this is not from the stroke as we first thought but rather the nerve near his elbow was irritated during or after surgery and it has become inflamed. He recommended taking anti-inflammatory medication for the next few weeks and if it doesn't improve, he would like to set up some rehab therapy for him. His vision is still limited in his left eye and that is a result from the stroke. We are hopeful that it improves over the next few months. He is continuing to get stronger and is trying to walk each day. The doctor gave us the impression he is ahead of schedule in his recovery and left it up to him to gauge his limits.

Lauren had an appointment with Dr. Yamashiro at Primary Children's Hospital so that she could be fitted for another expander device that will be put in to place next week. I am not sure how long she will have to wear it this time. This is the same device she had to wear earlier in the year. It is a bit uncomfortable for her but she adjusts pretty quickly to it. Her ear is healing nicely and we will continue to monitor it and send pictures to Dr. Lewin so she can evaluate them.