Surgery is Under Way

Life has been a crazy whirlwind of commotion and preparation all leading up to right now! Right now David is in surgery and with God's grace....hopefully on the road to walking!

As a mom....this last week has been one of great emotion for me. After the last surgery and almost losing him and then almost losing him again in October after his seizure, it was all I could do not to have a complete breakdown thinking about this impending surgery. There was a part of me that wanted to grab hold of him and say...."No more! He's been through enough! We've been through enough!" Then I would remember the big picture and know that I couldn't see him in that wheelchair and look him in the face in the years to come if I didn't give him every possible chance at an independent life. So here we sit.

It feels as if I haven't slept in weeks. Truthfully....I haven't slept for more than a couple of hours at a time for a good two weeks and my mind and body are both starting to feel it. I am thinking that maybe towards the end of January I will get to have a night of complete, stress free and uninterrupted sleep, but until then......I will survive on coffee and mom adrenaline!

I think David knows that something has been up for awhile. I have not really talked to him much about it as I didn't want to raise his anxiety but the back and forth trips to St. Louis and the poking and prodding have definitely caused a change in his attitude.

Last night David could have nothing to eat or drink after midnight. He was asleep by 9 and when he woke up this morning he was more than a little thirsty. His lips became more and more chapped as the cold morning air hit them and he was not allowed a drink. Needless to say this did not put him in the best of moods and I was afraid we might have a knock down drag out fight when it came to IV placement. Irritated as he was....he just didn't have much of a brawling spirit and the IV stick was pretty much a non-issue.

We had a constant barrage of nurses, anesthesiologists, residents and the doctor in and out of his pre-op room. They decided to put in an epidural to help with pain management after the fact in hopes that this would keep his heart rate down. We don't need any off the chart heart rates after surgery. They are also anticipating some blood loss, so blood products are ready. The doctor is also leaning highly towards putting him in a cast from hips to feet to help insure a successful outcome after the fact. However....it will depend on what he finds during surgery.

They gave us an approximate surgery duration of 4-6 hours with no definites. It could be shorter or longer but their best guess is within those parameters. We were given our own private waiting room cubicle and are given updates every hour to hour and a half. Our first update was at 9ish (after going to surgery at 7:30). He had been put under, had been given the epidural and they were beginning on his right hip! After surgery he will either have the breathing tube removed and be taken to post op and then the floor OR....if his heart rate is too high or there is any kind of complication....the breathing tube will remain in and he will be taken to PICU. As you can well imagine....I am praying for option 1.

Finally....our hospital stay can be anywhere from overnight to 2 or 3 days. It all just depends on how well he does and how quickly he seems to recuperate. I am thinking best case scenario will be about 2 days.

So I am sitting here intellectually knowing that he will be fine...and trying not to vacation in the negative. David has worked too hard and waited too long for this surgery to be anything but a success.

Please keep my boy in your prayers and know that I will keep you all posted in the hours, days and weeks that follow!