The Big One

Three days after Jude was discharged from the hospital, Jakob went in for his big jaw surgery. Jakob's mom, Judy, was able to fly out and stay with the boys so that I could be at the hospital with Jakob the whole time. We went in early Wednesday morning and went through all the surgery prep stuff. Jakob wasn't feeling too nervous about the surgery, but got a lot of anxiety about getting the IV. They began his surgery at 11:00am and didn't finish until 5:00pm. A six hour surgery! The surgeons came out when it was finished and told me that everything had gone very well, but that it was a very difficult surgery. The movement of his lower jaw was smooth and easy, but his upper jaw was very difficult. He basically had no upper jaw. His teeth were just fused to his skull bone. So they had to saw from the skull to move the teeth, and then build him an upper jaw with a bone graft from his hip. Complicated!

After an hour recovery I was able to meet him in his room. He was still super medicated and not all there. The top picture is what he looked like. It was so sad. The technical name for the ice pack holder he's wearing around his head is 'The Jaw Bra'. The most challenging thing for me (since I'm sure you're all wondering how I got through this challenging ordeal) was not being able to laugh or joke with him at all. I think that's how I must cope with scary situations, but laughter would surely be the most painful thing for him. We had a very down-to-business German nurse who kept asking him how his Jaw Bra felt, and if he needed more ice for his Jaw Bra. I literally had to turn around and walk out of the room for a moment not to bust out laughing. I'm so immature.

I wasn't sure if I was going to stay overnight with Jakob in the hospital or head home to help with the kids. But then the night shift nurse came in - a young, skinny little blond thing - and I knew I wasn't budging from that hospital room. If I wasn't there, I knew she'd be hitting on my man all night. Who could resist! We stayed in the hospital two nights. They needed to slowly transition him off of his IV fluids and antibiotics and get him drinking and 'eating' on his own - through a tubed syringe. Pain management was also a huge struggle, and still kind of is. The Morphine makes him sick, the Lortab doesn't cut it. It's going to be a long recovery.

We're home now. Jakob's jaw will be wired shut for 6 weeks, so he'll mostly be eating Boost/Ensure drinks through a syringe. His puffiness hasn't gone down much, but the doctor said that days 3-5 are the worst, and then there will be gradual improvement. I'm trying my best to be a dutiful nurse and refill ice packs, crush pills, serve him his liquid diet, and side-track the boys from going in the room. I feel like I have a newborn again!

As far as his appearance, the doctor says that there will be very little change. But because he moved the lower jaw back a bit, he will have a little less profile. It's hard to envision what he'll look like because of all the swelling. Right now he has a strong resemblance to Jon Lovitz. So even if he stayed like this forever, that would be fine. Who doesn't think Jon Lovitz is sexy? But I do think he will have to develop a stronger sense of humor. You can't pull off a look like this without being VERY funny. And, even though Jakob was voted 'Class Clown' in high school, he's been working as an accountant with other accountants for about five years. And that has definitely sabotaged his comedic style. No one could walk away from that monotony without being a little jaded. :)

Jakob has to communicate with us through writing. And Kobe is having a fun time writing notes to Daddy. Here's one he wrote. He's so sweet. This is what it says:

Love Kobe
That must hurt but you were brave. But I love you and I’ll take care of you.

To Dad

Then there's a 'before' picture of Dad's teeth before he had wires. And then an 'after' picture with all the wires. Then he drew a picture of his Daddy, paying special attention to detail by accentuating Jakob's swollen lips. So cute!

I would also like to say thank-you to Judy for all she did for us this week. Our house was still turned upside down when she arrived because of the last chaotic week. But by the time I brought Jakob back from the hospital, she had everything in order again. She did all our laundry, cleaned, vacuumed, made jam, pulled weeds, vacuumed out our car, AND took care of the kids, too. I'm sure there are other things I haven't even discovered yet. Thanks, Judy!