Never had such a good day!!

Well, we had our appt up at the University of Utah hospital burn center on Thursday. We were so worried about the new development on his back. The doctor told us that he just had an unusual amount of scar tissue and that there was nothing wrong with it. I was very happy to hear that news, but the best news (for Brandon that is) was that he could play football again. I know it sounds crazy, because it sounds crazy to me, but they said he could play positions like kicker, safety, etc. They told him to start

living life and that if he got reinjured that that would be his sign to back off of that activity. As a mom, I am a little nervous, but mostly happy. If you could have been in that room and could have seen his face. He lit up the whole floor!

They gave him a new compression vest that fits him much better and some new foam things that fit underneath the vest to put over the worst areas of scarring. It is supposed to put more pressure on the wound to help minimize scar tissue. They ordered him two more vests. He is so much happier since that appointment. We are happy for him too!

The picture above is of him on game day. He is in the SHHS shirt. Even though he didn't play on Friday, he got to be a part of history. It was the first football game ever played for this new high school. Pretty exciting.

Frustrated

Brandon's back isn't looking a whole lot better. I've been in contact with the U sending them photos and updates. It actually looked quite a bit worse last night, but didn't seem to be infected or anything. I don't know what it is. I'm worried that it is irritation from working out with the football team. It will crush him if he can't do anything. It's already hard enough. We couldn't get an appt today, but have one on Thursday. We'll know more then.

A small bump in the road

Things have been going pretty well for him, but for some weird reason he has developed a weird rash on his back. It started right after he got his compression vest. We are hoping he is not allergic to it. His donor site doesn't look too great. I emailed pictures to his therapist at the U of U. They gave us some ideas of things to try. We hope they work. It doesn't seem to be affecting the healing process to much though.

Brandon has been really active this past week with football practice (no pads or any type of physical contact), & a little bit of soccer. He has really regained a lot of stamina. He is almost back to being able to keep up at the same pace he was before the accident. He is amazing! It's hard to believe, but the doctors say that it might be possible for him to play football mid to end of September. I have to admit, it scares me a bit.

More trek pics and videos

Check out more trek pictures at our family blog: http://www.keepnitsunnysideup.blogspot.com

Thank you emergency responders!

Well, a couple of weeks ago I called the Mayor to ask how we could thank the emergency responders that saved Brandon's life. He suggested that we do it prior to the Salem City Days pageant. My first response was no because I thought Brandon wouldn't want to be in front of that many people, especially talking about something that was still a hot emotional topic. When I told him what the mayor said, he immediately said that he wanted to do it. I called the mayor back and told him we would be there.

My dad helped us prepare a picture to present them and Brandon prepared a few words to say.

It was so wonderful to be able to have to have the opportunity to recognize those wonderful volunteer firemen, police officers, & EMT's who were there at the scene of the accident. There is no way to ever repay them. I hope they know what a wonderful thing they did and how much we appreciate their service to help protect our community.

Click on this site and it will take you to our family site that links to the video and pictures from that night.

http://mahaffeyshandor.com/Pages/Cousins%20pages/Shannon/brandonspages/Brandon.html

Compression Vest is in!

Brandon is so happy that his compression vest is in (to the right of him on the tray). He will probably have to wear it 1 1/2 - 2 years. The purpose of the vest is to give the graft support and to minimize the scar tissue. The PT told us that we will see a big difference in the scar when we take it off for the first time. It will be more flattened, but after a little while (I got the impression it was a matter of minutes), it will look like it was before. I guess over time it does stay more flat.

The great thing about having the vest in is that he is able to do more activities (lifting with the football team is okay & he tried to bac to work half day today). It also will be much better than being wrapped in ace bandages. This first vest is a trial one (I guess they are quite expensive). They took measurements, he is supposed to try it out for a week, then they will order a couple more with all of the adjustments. We should have them by the end of the month. It will be so nice!

Brandon did open up a few little areas on his donor site at the trek and they are a little infected, but the doc showed us how to take care of them and they should heal up just fine. Everything is looking really well. As the graft heals, he gets really stiff. He is going to have to do a lot of stretching each day or his back will heal stiff. He is determined to not have that happen. I think his work will help with that too.

Well, it is quiet at my house, so I'm going to take advantage of it by doing some brainless stuff. I can't believe the summer is over!

He's home

He made it home!! He had a great experience and was even able to trek the last day. It was supposed to only be 4 miles, but turned out to be over 6 miles. His graft did really well and the nurses took exceptional care of him. He learned some amazing things while gone and we are so happy he had the opportunity to go. Here are a couple of pictures from when he arrived home. All the families were there to greet their children and were waving white hankies.