[mdrn1]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression Surgery #1074438

Hello….this is Pat’s mom again and I just wanted to let you know that Pat’s blog has been updated with a new picture of him. His blog is battlewithgravesdisease.blogspot.com. He looks so good compared to when he first started on his journey. The U-tube Pat’s Orbital Decompression Surgery has not been updated yet, but hopefully we will be able to do this soon.
He is doing well today. He did start to freak out about a month ago when one of his eyes started to get red and swell. He got ahold of the surgeon and he said it was probably just an eye infection and called in some medication for him. Cleared it right up. With all that he had been through, I never thought of a simple eye infection!
Hope you all are doing well.

Michelle

[mdrn1]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression Surgery #1074413

Hi Tamara,
I’m Michelle, Pat’s mom and you may have seen his Blog as well as his U-tube sites. He had both eyes done on the same day (doctor’s had only planned on doing one, Pat originally heard two- long story) plus, the sinus doc did his part- so because of that, his surgery lasted almost 8 hours. The doctor said the surgery usually lasts 4 hours per eye. Because of the long surgery, he stayed all night at the hospital and went home the next day. Because they did both eyes, he stayed with me for almost 2 weeks. The Dr. made a bottom lid for the right eye, but because of the swelling, he didn’t do his left bottom eye lid, so he did that in November when he did the muscle surgery. We took him home the same day from his muscle surgery. Both of those surgeries were in the hospital, but his next one in a couple of weeks, will be at the Dr’s office. They will be removing the excess skin above his eyes.
This surgery has come such a long way over the years. Even though it’s not an everyday surgery like your gallbladder or something done more often, they do have Dr’s that now specialize in this surgery. We are so grateful for that!
Learn all you can about it. That’s what my son did as well as asking a ton of questions. The more informed you are, the better. I went with him to all his appointments (he is not married) and that way we both heard the same thing. Sometimes with the Grave’s disease, he was not remembering all what the doctor was saying about things- like one eye instead of two! ” title=”Wink” />
Take care,

Michelle

[mdrn1]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression Surgery #1074404

Dolores….sounds like you have already started a prayer chain! Your family, friends and you have started it. If you belong to a church, ask others to pray for you and your son. If you have e-mail friends, e-mail them and ask them for prayer. Work friends, etc., etc. Before you know it, you have a prayer chain going. You will also have many people asking how your son is doing. They will be thinking of him and wondering if their prayers are being answered. Make sure you periodically let people know how he is. They need to know that God is hearing their prayers and they need to hear how God is moving in your son’s life as well as yours. This is such an encouragement for everyone involved. You will also begin to see the effect prayer is having in your lives and it will enable you to have such a sense of peace about your situation and to know and trust that God is taking care of you.
The one thing that I have seen with my son and Grave’s disease, is the way he has changed emotionally with this disease. He is not the "laid back" Pat I use to know. I hope one day, he will not be so stressed out by all of this, but it is he who is dealing with this disease every day and not me. I’m so proud of him for being able to cope as well as he has been.

[mdrn1]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression Surgery #1074402

Hi Delores….
When Pat had his Orbital Decompression surgery done, there was also another surgeon in on the case. He was board certified in otolaryngology- head and neck surgery. He was fellowship trained in rhinology and endoscopic sinus surgery (I just read that from his card). He did his part of the surgery first (creating more space like you described in the sinus area), then the other surgeon did his part. He followed up with both surgeons after the surgery. It was the best case scenerio to have both of them doing the surgery from what I have heard. They are both amazing surgeons. We are very pleased with the outcomes so far. The surgeon who did the surgery for the sinus area actually used Pat’s surgery in a talk in Greece last year. What part of the U.S. do you all live in? We are in OH and Pat’s doctors are both here as well.
How did I stay positive and strong during all of this, I have a strong faith and trust in God and I had to let go and let the Lord take care of my son and me. My son has been on prayer chains not only in this country, but Europe as well. That is how I stayed positive and strong for my son- though the power and strength of others and God. It has been such an amazing journey. My son lives almost 3 hours away and the day he came home and I saw those eyes for the first time, I cried the whole weekend. I felt his fear and pain. I feel yours now. You all stick together and love him. Love him and give him to God. He is the Great Physician. And pray. Ask other to pray for you, your son, and his doctors. I will keep you all in my prayers. I have such a peace about all of this now, mainly because I am letting go and letting God. Take care, Michelle

[mdrn1]

in reply to: Orbital Decompression Surgery #1074399

Pat’s next surgery will be on March 9th. He will have reconstruction done on both eyes. Getting rid of the excess skin on the top of the eyes. The doctor said he wants to wait about another year or so before he does the bottom of his eyes. For those of you who viewed his videos on U-tube and saw his blogsite, I know the first few days after the surgery look pretty bad- like he got beat up or something, but he is so happy with the results. Before the decompression surgery, he couldn’t even close his eyes. He had one of the most severe cases we had seen. He was seeing double at times, usually when he was tired or when he first woke up and tried to focus his eyes, but after his last surgery to correct the muscle in his left eye, he now sees one. We will update his pictures after his next surgery. For those of you who would like to ask him more questions, he said you may e-mail him at docrates1@aol.com and he will get back to you. The surgery may not get you back to the way you once were before the disease hit, but it can make you feel better about your appearance and you can see! That’s what Pat wanted more than anything. His doctor is amazing. We have been truly blessed!

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