Friday, February 10, 2006
MAY....2004
I was totally amazed with Rocky’s recovery from the surgery. He is a very strong man and a big guy….he bounced back quickly. We had repeated check-ups for a while and then Dr. Ferguson told us there would be no need to see him for six months and we’d have another look to see how healing had progressed.
Rocky was disappointed to have to stay on medication to prevent any further seizures. He talked to the doctor a few times about it but considering the problems he could run into IF he had one while driving, falling on concrete or down stairs…..the results could be catastrophic. Not only to him but to others as well. When he lined it out like that, Rocky gave up and will probably be on the medication the rest of his life. Though disappointing to him, I feel the doctor is probably right. My mother always had a saying for everything and she would have said, “Better safe than sorry.”
Naturally Rocky’s sibling were worried about him and Marie and Harold were able to drive down to see him while he was in the hospital. Richard and Helen live a good deal further away and so it was agreed that the three couples of us would meet in St. Louis for Richard’s birthday in May. Rocky’s recovery was so good that we knew we would be able to make the trip. However, there was one little fly in the ointment.
Rocky began getting a sore throat. He mentioned it a few times and he isn’t a complainer so I didn’t think any more about it. About the time we were to meet the Rockenbach’s in St. Louis, it suddenly became worse. He couldn’t figure it out because he said he’d never had a sore throat like this one before. When I was near him I began noticing he had terrible breath odor. Poor guy was using Listerine mouth wash by the case and it wasn’t helping. It was embarrassing to him and he feared getting around anyone.
We decided to go on to St. Louis and enjoy the weekend….then see his local doctor once we were back. Eating and swallowing were difficult for him but he did his best. Rocky was pretty miserable by the time he saw his doctor. One look and doc made an appointment with an ear, eye nose and throat specialist in Springfield, ASAP.
On the appointed day we reported in and was seen by Dr. Snow. He was a jovial man like I would imagine an old country doctor to be. He looked in Rocky’s throat and said, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this!!” He continued looking in his mouth with his light and using a tongue depressor……then he said….. “Well, it isn’t your throat at all….it’s your tongue. Right where it bends to go down your throat, there is a big rough ….it looks like something has gouged the meat out. It’s putrid back there and a holy mess.”
He picked up some long scissors and began clipping the dead tissue from the tongue….he kept on until he had it all cleaned out and then put some medication on it. The whole time he was studying about how it could have happened. He asked if Rocky had surgery lately and Rocky said he had. Dr. Snow thought hard for a minute and said, “ I think this is damage from someone trying to put the line down your throat before your surgery. It looks like they gouged it where the tongue makes the bend to go down your throat…..they must have pushed too hard and took the meat with it.”
Rocky remembered the anesthetist asking if he minded two students watching the procedure and he said they could…….we thought maybe one of the students tried to put the tube in his mouth and didn’t do too well……conjecture. We will never know. The funny thing about all of it…..was the fact the tongue thing was much worse and lengthier than the brain surgery……he had suffered with it for over a month before we found out what the problem was.
Well, life isn’t fair……brain surgery is a snap but having a groove gouged out of your tongue takes a while……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Rocky was disappointed to have to stay on medication to prevent any further seizures. He talked to the doctor a few times about it but considering the problems he could run into IF he had one while driving, falling on concrete or down stairs…..the results could be catastrophic. Not only to him but to others as well. When he lined it out like that, Rocky gave up and will probably be on the medication the rest of his life. Though disappointing to him, I feel the doctor is probably right. My mother always had a saying for everything and she would have said, “Better safe than sorry.”
Naturally Rocky’s sibling were worried about him and Marie and Harold were able to drive down to see him while he was in the hospital. Richard and Helen live a good deal further away and so it was agreed that the three couples of us would meet in St. Louis for Richard’s birthday in May. Rocky’s recovery was so good that we knew we would be able to make the trip. However, there was one little fly in the ointment.
Rocky began getting a sore throat. He mentioned it a few times and he isn’t a complainer so I didn’t think any more about it. About the time we were to meet the Rockenbach’s in St. Louis, it suddenly became worse. He couldn’t figure it out because he said he’d never had a sore throat like this one before. When I was near him I began noticing he had terrible breath odor. Poor guy was using Listerine mouth wash by the case and it wasn’t helping. It was embarrassing to him and he feared getting around anyone.
We decided to go on to St. Louis and enjoy the weekend….then see his local doctor once we were back. Eating and swallowing were difficult for him but he did his best. Rocky was pretty miserable by the time he saw his doctor. One look and doc made an appointment with an ear, eye nose and throat specialist in Springfield, ASAP.
On the appointed day we reported in and was seen by Dr. Snow. He was a jovial man like I would imagine an old country doctor to be. He looked in Rocky’s throat and said, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this!!” He continued looking in his mouth with his light and using a tongue depressor……then he said….. “Well, it isn’t your throat at all….it’s your tongue. Right where it bends to go down your throat, there is a big rough ….it looks like something has gouged the meat out. It’s putrid back there and a holy mess.”
He picked up some long scissors and began clipping the dead tissue from the tongue….he kept on until he had it all cleaned out and then put some medication on it. The whole time he was studying about how it could have happened. He asked if Rocky had surgery lately and Rocky said he had. Dr. Snow thought hard for a minute and said, “ I think this is damage from someone trying to put the line down your throat before your surgery. It looks like they gouged it where the tongue makes the bend to go down your throat…..they must have pushed too hard and took the meat with it.”
Rocky remembered the anesthetist asking if he minded two students watching the procedure and he said they could…….we thought maybe one of the students tried to put the tube in his mouth and didn’t do too well……conjecture. We will never know. The funny thing about all of it…..was the fact the tongue thing was much worse and lengthier than the brain surgery……he had suffered with it for over a month before we found out what the problem was.
Well, life isn’t fair……brain surgery is a snap but having a groove gouged out of your tongue takes a while……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
