I will start with the Birthday. Randy's 18th birthday is on THIS Friday (April 10th). Surgery is NEXT Thursday (April 16th). If you would like to send a card or a note of encouragement his way, his address is:
Randy Bultena
1979 Mikkelobe Pl. NW
Salem, OR 97304
Meeting and Surgery - Randy had a choice between an amputation below his knee or to take the tumor out, and fuse the ankle to his Fibula bone with 12 cm of a cadaver bone. He chose to have the tumor out and fuse the ankle. This choice will cause complications, most likely to limit his movement to only side to side, but will be able to walk on uneven surfaces, loss of feeling in the bottom of his foot, loss of a vein and tendon. He will most likely have a skin graft on his thigh, which I guess is very painful as it heals. This is all depending on what they find in the surgery. They need to get the tumor out, and have a clean margin around the tumor. If there is more complications during the surgery, they will choose to amputate his leg - knee down. They could even go for that choice later on after the surgery, if things were not going well for him.
It should be a 4-5 hour surgery, which is long and complicated. With pre and post surgery, it should be about 6-8 hours. They are doing it at OHSU and now that he is turning 18, he will be treated like an adult. No more babying him at Doernbecher. When they need to do something with him, they will wake him up, and do it. At Doernbecher, they come back later when he was not sleeping. They can be strict with him, but his mommy can still baby him :)
After the surgery, things keep going. They will take the tumor to pathology and see how chemo affected it. He should spend about a week in recovery, then 2 weeks healing at home. Then it is back to chemo. The healing from surgery will be slowed because of chemo and will probably be about 1 year. He is also planning of going to the Prom on April 25th with a black cast to match his tux - how cool is that?
He is feeling ok right now. Earlier in the week he was fighting a fever for a few days. They found out is was a few ingrown toenails. He is on antibiotics to fight that infection and want to keep him clear until surgery. He does have some mouth sores which make it hard to eat. He needs to gain some weight. So, whenever he feels like eating anything, his family gets him whatever he wants - tonight is was a pepperoni pizza from Walery's.
His CT and bone scan showed no other cancer in his body. They did have a scare though, when they looked at the scan, Rick saw a bright spot on his chest, usually caused by the liquid they put in him to check for masses. They had to re-check the scan, but the doctors called today and confirmed that it was just a spill of the liquid on the outside of his chest and it only showed up on the front scan and not the back. So, his lungs and other bones are clear - GOOD!!!
Now fundraisers: Not sure if I have all the info, but I will try:
Randy Bultena
1979 Mikkelobe Pl. NW
Salem, OR 97304
Meeting and Surgery - Randy had a choice between an amputation below his knee or to take the tumor out, and fuse the ankle to his Fibula bone with 12 cm of a cadaver bone. He chose to have the tumor out and fuse the ankle. This choice will cause complications, most likely to limit his movement to only side to side, but will be able to walk on uneven surfaces, loss of feeling in the bottom of his foot, loss of a vein and tendon. He will most likely have a skin graft on his thigh, which I guess is very painful as it heals. This is all depending on what they find in the surgery. They need to get the tumor out, and have a clean margin around the tumor. If there is more complications during the surgery, they will choose to amputate his leg - knee down. They could even go for that choice later on after the surgery, if things were not going well for him.
It should be a 4-5 hour surgery, which is long and complicated. With pre and post surgery, it should be about 6-8 hours. They are doing it at OHSU and now that he is turning 18, he will be treated like an adult. No more babying him at Doernbecher. When they need to do something with him, they will wake him up, and do it. At Doernbecher, they come back later when he was not sleeping. They can be strict with him, but his mommy can still baby him :)
After the surgery, things keep going. They will take the tumor to pathology and see how chemo affected it. He should spend about a week in recovery, then 2 weeks healing at home. Then it is back to chemo. The healing from surgery will be slowed because of chemo and will probably be about 1 year. He is also planning of going to the Prom on April 25th with a black cast to match his tux - how cool is that?
He is feeling ok right now. Earlier in the week he was fighting a fever for a few days. They found out is was a few ingrown toenails. He is on antibiotics to fight that infection and want to keep him clear until surgery. He does have some mouth sores which make it hard to eat. He needs to gain some weight. So, whenever he feels like eating anything, his family gets him whatever he wants - tonight is was a pepperoni pizza from Walery's.
His CT and bone scan showed no other cancer in his body. They did have a scare though, when they looked at the scan, Rick saw a bright spot on his chest, usually caused by the liquid they put in him to check for masses. They had to re-check the scan, but the doctors called today and confirmed that it was just a spill of the liquid on the outside of his chest and it only showed up on the front scan and not the back. So, his lungs and other bones are clear - GOOD!!!
Now fundraisers: Not sure if I have all the info, but I will try:
Friday, May 15th -
Northwest Kids Club off Hawthorn in Salem
Benefit Concert (11 bands appearing)
5:00-11:30 pm
BBQ,beverages a night full of music and more
Will post more as I find out more.
Saturday, July 18th
FUNDRAISER car wash at
West Coast Bank West Salem
for Randy and Lisa
T-Shirt orders
$10
Shirts are shown in other post
Sizes - YouthS, YouthM, YouthL
S, M, L, XL, XXL
Contact Mariah @ 503-361-7899
3 comments:
I think this blogspot Rocks... As does my nephew Randy. I appreciate all the work you do to keep everyone informed with all the detailed information. Thank you!
Thanks for the encouragement. I love helping the Bultena Family. They all have a special place in my heart.
Beth Tinseth
Thanks so much for keeping this blog going. Dan & Jodi Sherwood
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