Thursday, November 25, 2010

Surgery

Happy Thanksgiving! Bryce and I are spending the day in Phoenix Children's Hospital.

Yesterday morning Bryce and I arrived at the hospital at 6AM. On the way to the hospital we passed the airport and it made me wish we were heading there instead. But...not this time. We checked in, did all the paperwork, met with everyone who would be involved in the surgery and then at 8:00 I gave Bryce a kiss, handed him over to the nurse, and went out the other door to the waiting room.

Here is my adorable boy with his bunny that he received when we arrived. He also has the stick with colors that we could choose for his casts.


While I was waiting for Bryce, I got a text message from a friend of mine from our ward. She said that she had seen our van and wondered if we were in the hospital. It ends up that she and her husband were here with their oldest son who was having a procedure done. I ended up going back into the admitting room to see them for a bit. It was good to see them, but sad to hear what they are going through. Hopefully everything will go well with their son.

About 9:00 Dr. Schrader came out and told me that the surgery was successful. He said that once Bryce was asleep he realized that most of the tightness Bryce is experiencing is not because of his muscles, but rather due to his brain not telling his muscles to relax. So, again his main condition is what is causing this problem as well. So, that meant there was some good news and some bad news. Good news was that the Dr. decided not to clip and lenghten the Achilles tendon since it would not really make any difference. The bad news is that the clipping of the adductor muscles may not even help his hips. He decided to go ahead with that part of the surgery though with the hope that the clipping and the casts will actually help. It kills me to know that he might be going through all of this for nothing, but I'll just keep praying that something worthwhile will come from this surgery.

About 9:45 I was able to go back with Bryce. He was just waking up and was quite cranky. I couldn't hold him so I just rubbed his little face and arms and talked quietly to him. Soon he calmed down and slept until they took us up to our room.

Shortly after arriving in our room Tiger, the dog, came around to say hello. That really made Bryce brighten up.





Tiger even got a slight smile out of Bryce.


Here is Bryce resting with his new bunny. Bryce was given a shot in the back that numbed him from the waist down which really helped with pain for the first 5 hours or so after surgery.


One of the nurses suggested we go with Christmas colors for his casts. Since he will be in them for 6 weeks, he will have them right through Christmas. I'm glad we went with that. I think they are cute. He may be uncomfortable this Christmas season, but he sure will be styling!


His legs are spread so far apart that he will not fit into his wheelchair. We were given a loaner, but that will not work either. A physical therapist came in to help us figure out how we will get him around and after trying many different options, we decided that using a wagon and lots of pillows is really the only option for him. So, they gave me a special car seat to borrow for him and once I get home, I will go out and get Bryce an early Christmas present...a wagon!


Last night Bryce had a very rough night. He was having trouble keeping his oxygen level up and his heart rate down. A little after midnight, Bryce threw up. The nurse left to go get new sheets for him and he began choking. Luckily that nurse and two others came rushing in and helped me get Bryce turned to his side and he threw up some more. He was still having a lot of trouble breathing, so they had to suction his mouth and nose. He really hated that, but it seemed to help. Since he had choked though, they decided to do a chest X-Ray to check for aspiration. Unfortunately he had, so they started him on antibiotic right away to help ward off any infections or pneumonia. He was also very uncomfortable once the numbness wore off. He has been on round the clock pain meds since then.

By this morning, he was doing much better. His levels have been fine most of the day. He is still on constant pain medication and the antibiotic, but he has been able to rest a bit more today. He has been asleep basically since about noon today.


Multiple doctors have been in to check on him today because of what happened last night. They considered sending him home this evening, but have decided that since he is such a fragile little guy anyway, they should keep him through the night. As much as I would love to go home and see the rest of my family, I am glad that we are staying one more night. I would be really nervous taking him home right now. Hopefully it will be an uneventful night and he will be ready to go home tomorrow morning.

On an up note, I went down to get dinner tonight and not only did they have a wonderful turkey dinner spread, but they were giving it away for free. I missed sharing Thanksgiving with family, but at least I got my turkey and pie! I have also had time today to go through our pictures from Bryce's MAW trip, so I am just about ready to blog about that wonderful trip!

2 comments:

Dacia said...

Tammy, the casts are cute! I'm sorry that Bryce has to go thru all of this. Hopefully, it will help him in the long run.

Becca said...

Maybe it is in part because of having just recently been through surgery myself, but reading all of this just makes me want to cry for Bryce and for you. You have done a great job of accentuating the positive, but I know it must have been a difficult few days. We will certainly keep you all in our prayers. We love you! I wish there was more we could do to help.