9/28/08 Lacey Update

Since my last writing on 8/3, Lacey has been doing very well. She recovered from the dermabrasion and the scaring continues to fade.

We treated Lacey's knight in shining armor, Glenn Hogan, to a trip to Ketchikan recently. He arrived on 8/28 and left on 9/2 with a nice little fish box. We had a wonderful time with Glenn, showed him all the sites of Ketchikan, fed him good and let him feed Kona, our dog, lots of treats. They became fast friends. Mike, Lacey and Glenn went fishing and of course Miss Lacey had to show all the boys what fishing is all about by beating them with the big 14 pound Coho she caught. We brought Glenn to church and to Lacey's office and introduced him to many of our friends where a few tears were shed when they met the man responsible for Lacey's existence. Praise God for Glenn.

Lacey had her last day of work on 9/12 and we spent Saturday packing up for her big move to Portland. We left on Sunday the 14th, Travis Tinney picked us up at the airport and took us to the Tinney home in Kent where they stored Lacey's car. Thank you for that Rosie and Larry and thanks for the ride Travis. You are a very good driver. We drove to Whidbey Island that afternoon and stayed the night with Janet, Manny and Joe Rojas, Mike's sister and family. We had a wonderful time and visited with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Meryl.

On Monday the 15th Lacey drove us from Whidbey to Portland to the Heisler household. Lacey is attending Portland Community College, Rock Creek, which is just 5 minutes from Jamie and Linda's house.

We went to see Dr. Downs for a check up on Tuesday and he was very impressed with Lacey's progress. The next surgery is scheduled for December 12th, which is the day after winter break, so Lacey will be able to recover for a week and then come home for Christmas to finish recovery and be home for Christmas. He plans to do the upper lip connection to her nose surgery at that time. We still aren't really sure what this entails, because the language if foreign to us, but it connects the surgery where he did the reconstruction work above her upper lip to her nose and will narrow the nose and the projection of the nose will be better than it is now. Dr. Downs is a perfectionist and will not do any procedure unless it is in his master plan for an ideal outcome for Lacey.

We spent the remainder of the week outfitting Lacey's room at Jamie and Linda's with all the amenities she needs. It took the entire week, but we got it done.

I want to say thank you so much to Jamie and Linda for everything they have done for us and for having Lacey into such a loving family. And thank you Tommy for being that big brother. The Way is awesome according to Lacey. And Jamie Kay we love you.

I will update again in December after another successful surgery.

Take care and God Bless!

Mike and Shelly

8/3/08 Update

Hello Everyone,

Just an update to let you know how Lacey's latest procedure went. We are in Portland right now at Jamie and Linda's. On Friday August 1st Lacey had two scar revisions to her face and a full face dermabrasion, which took several layers of skin off of it. It has been very painful for Lacey, but today has been a pretty good day and she has been able to keep things under control with her pain medication. Every day it gets a little bit better.

Dr. Down's elected not to do the nose/lip surgery yet. The upper lip where he did the corrective surgery several months ago, has not softened. For the best outcome to connect the lip to her nose and correct both, it has to soften a little bit more. So, she is probably looking at having that surgery around the holidays.

Lacey has her post check up with Dr. Downs on Thursday 8/7, then we will drive to Gig Harbor and park Lacey's car at Liz's, then home on Friday.

Slowly but surely we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support. And thank you so much to Dr. Down's for his gentle hand and wisdom in this field. Thank you God for your guidance to all who have touched Lacey and have helped her through everything.

God Bless,


Lacey and Shelly

Lacey update 5/13/08

Hello everyone,

Just an update. I know people still read this blog, but everyone does not have to make a comment. However, we thought you would want to still be updated. Lacey started back to work at Southeast Stevedoring in the office with all the girls. She is very happy and we believe they are very happy to have her back after a year off. We are so very happy that SE Steve kept her job open for her return. Can you believe it!!! It will be one year ago in one week that Lacey's accident occurred. We continue to be so very thankful to the Lord that she is with us to this day.

Lacey has a little time off before the next surgery August 1. At that time Dr. Downs will do a complete facial dermabrasion, narrow her nose and more lip surgery. Lacey has also requested more surgery to her brows to make them more symetrical. Dr. Downs agreed by email that this can be done, so we are thankful for that.

Thank you to all who are still keeping in touch via this blog site and thank you Jennifer and Russell for keeping it going. We love you all. God Bless.

Mike, Shelly and Lacey

Lacey Update 4/14/08

Hello Friends and Family,

It has been a long time since you have heard from us. Lacey and I drove to Portland last Thursday from Liz's at Gig Harbor. Surgery was set for Friday at 08:00 am. We were up at 4:30 and checked in at OHSU by 5:45, when in walked a nurse to deliver the bad news that surgery was cancelled due to Dr. Downs having a bad case of the flu. Dr. Down's was well by today, Monday and did a 2 1/2 hours surgery to Lacey's scar above her left brow and connected her eyebrow. He did scar removal to a large scar on her right cheek and also did laser removal of tiny veins all over her face which were caused from trauma. He elected to not do the dermabrasion until these latest scars heal and then he can do a full face dermabrasion. At that time, (first part of August) he will narrow her lower nose and do more work on her lips. All went extremely well and we are very pleased with the outcome and prognosis for upcoming treatment.

Yesterday we met Glenn Hogan and had a wonderful brunch in Rickreal, which is a small town next to Monmouth where Lacey went to college. It was so great to see Glenn. Thank you for the fantastic brunch Glenn!

After that we drove to Elmira, which is an hour and a half drive just outside of Eugene and we visited Colton Haag and his mother and father. This was the first time Lacey has seen Colton since the accident 11 months ago. It was a very positive meeting and brought healing to both Lacey and Colton. Thank you Haag's.

We are heading back to Seattle tomorrow after the check up with Dr. Downs and will take the late flight back to Ketchikan.

Take care. God Bless and thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.


Mike, Shelly and Lacey

Lacey update 2/20/08

It has been 9 months today since Lacey's accident. She had her nose cast and ear pack removed yesterday by Dr. Downs, who by the way, is so very pleased with her progress. We are scheduled to return for surgery on April 11th and will only need to be gone from home for a week this next time, as the procedures will be minor compared to her last two operations.

Thank you all for your prayers. And most importantly to the medical professionals who have gotten her to where she is at and for the almighty one for his guidance to them.

We are heading to Gig Harbor tomorrow and home on Friday. Hope to see you soon.

God Bless,


Mike, Shelly and Lacey

Lacey update 2/14/08

Happy Valentines Day!



Lacey had her surgery yesterday. 1 hour to seperate her lips and do some contouring and 4.5 hours on her nose. If you didn't already know this, Lacey lost most of the cartilidge in her nose and if we were not to have the surgery done, she would have had a collapsed nose and it would appear flattened. So, Dr. Downs did his amazing work on her and took the cartilidge from her left ear and put it in her nose, where she had no cartilidge and then used a composit material to build a strut to hold everything together and it turned out great. We are so happy. Her lips are totally swollen, but we can already see what the great outcome will be and her nose too. Lacey has her nose cast and the packing in her ear removed on Tuesday. We are excited to see the outcome of the nose without the cast. We will be driving to Gig Harbor on Thursday and then Liz, Lacey and I will fly home on Friday. We will be going to Jared and Sam Cockrum's wedding reception on Saturday.

We will be coming back to Portland in two months for less invasive procedures. Face scar revisions, derm-a-brasion, another little bit of nose work and Dr. Downs hopes to connect Lacey's left brow together.

That's it for now. Take care.

Lacey & Shelly

Lacey update 1/29/08

Sorry for not writing sooner, but we really don't have a lot to say. Lacey is having her last physical therapy session on her neck on Thursday 1/31, but only for a month or so. Her therapist wants to see how she does on her own, as far as exercising her neck and getting it to the range of motion as it should be. She will be checked in a month and if further PT is necessary that is what will happen. Lacey has really looked forward to going to therapy every day, so she will miss it.

Lacey and mom will be leaving on Friday 2/8 and go to Liz's in Gig Harbor. Mike is staying home to take care of the house and pets. Lacey, Liz and I will be getting our hair done which we will all need desperately. Liz just had surgery on her knee and all went well and we are hoping she is well enough to drive us around to get the essential treatment the Dunn girls need. Ha! If not, Shelly can always drive with directions. We can always count on Auntie Liz, can't we!!!

We will write more later after the successful surgery and give more info at that time. You can expect something from us right after the 23rd of February, when we get home.

Thank you all. God Bless.


Mike, Shelly and Lacey

Lacey update 1/3/08

Thank you for reminding me to update the blog AW. I appreciate it.

Lacey is doing so well. She learned to adapt to eating from the corner of her mouth and drinking all sorts of smoothies and milkshakes, so she did not lose the weight we thought she would. Thank goodness, because she had no weight to lose. Ha!

Anyways, I made a dinner for Glenn at Jamie and Linda's and we were waiting for his arrival and he called to say he was in an accident on the highway. Thank goodness he was not hurt and the driver of the other vehicle was not injured. It was such a shock for us that the man that had in our minds saved Lacey's life, was coming to have a dinner with us at Jamie and Linda's and for him to call and say he had been in an accident. We are just so thankful it was not any worse than it was.

Thank you so much Jamie and Linda for taking care of us again. We so love you and appreciate you.

Also, thank you Rosie and Larry for putting us up. You are such great friends.

We will be traveling south again in mid February as Lacey has her lip contouring and nose reconstruction at that time. Will be back home probably toward the 20th of february or so. Will keep you informed.

Thank you all for your concerns. Keep Lacey in your prayers, as we know you do.

Love and God Bless,

Mike, Shelly and Lacey