4-21-10 Praise the Lord!

Minutes after my last update, I received a call saying that Dr. Ahn was finished cutting the scull and was handing things over to Dr. Simmons for the reconstruction and closing. Ben and I headed back to the waiting room and figured we would have a few hours to wait for Dean to be finished. Instead when we arrived, we were told that everything went well and he was being prepared to be moved to the PICU. It was over! Dr. Ahn told us that things went very quickly because after they got all of the lines for anesthesia in place everything else went perfectly. There wasn't a single problem removing the scull- not a scratch! Dr. Simmons told us that the reconstruction went perfectly too. His scull was thin which made it easier to manipulate. They were both very pleased with how he was doing. They may not know that God was guiding their hands, but I do! We just spent the last few hours with him. They have already taken his breathing tube out and he is conscious but has kept his eyes closed. He is not very swollen at all, which is a relief to me. They said he might be a little more swollen by morning due to laying down, but he still looks like my baby and that is comforting. He has a line draining fluid from the incision site, and his head is wrapped up in a little cloth helmet, but he is aware of our presence and moving his arms and legs. It feels so good to be finished with the surgery. We know Dean was in God's loving and perfect care all day. I am so grateful for all of the answered prayer! Since I am not able to feed or hold him tonight, I will be sleeping at the Children's House. I trust that I will sleep well tonight, and I need to because I will be sleeping bedside tomorrow night. Thank you to everyone who contacted us today. The calls of encouragement started at 6am, and emails, calls, and even a surprise visit (from my aunt and cousin) continued throughout the day. We can not tell everyone how much this means to us. I am especially thankful for the strength and support from Ben today. We look forward to tomorrow, and pray for Dean to recover quickly and completely. I am confident that God will bring Dean home strong and safe!

4-21-10 Waiting and Praying

It is almost 4pm, and I wish that I was writing to say that Dean's surgery is over, but it actually has just started. Everything went beautifully this morning. Dean nursed at 2am (the latest possible time before surgery) and slept well. We got to the hospital at 6am as planned. We put him in his little hospital gown and actually went with him into the operating room to be with him until he fell asleep. They used a little gas mask and he drifted off with hardly any fussing at all. We were told that it would take about two hours for anesthesia and preparing him for the incision. The anesthesiologists wanted to put a line in at his neck, a breathing tube, and another line in a main artery. Unfortunately, about three hours later we were called up to the waiting room (which was packed, so we were roaming around waiting for them to call our cell phone.) We were told they had tried getting access to his artery in his arm, leg, and groin but were not able to get to one. We signed a consent for a mini surgery that would allow them to do a cut-in for direct access to the artery. They, of course, have to tell you all of the risks involved, the worst case being loss-of-limb. So, you can imagine that we were concerned and praying hard for our little guy! At 3pm, they told us they had everything ready, he was stable, and they were going to begin the surgery. I just received a call from Dr. Simmons (the plastic surgeon) saying that the incision has been made. We expect to talk with Dr. Ahn (neurosurgeon) around 4:30 when he has completed removing his scull. Please keep praying; we still have quite a few more hours to go. We are thankful things are finally moving along and that he is doing well. I was told that I should expect his eyes to be swollen shut for 48 hours or more due to the length of time he is spending face down; so, I am trying to prepare myself for that. I am so thankful for the Children's House! We checked in at 2pm and I have computers available to post my updates. When things are finished and we return tonight I will post again. Thank you all for your continued praying! PS: Please forgive any errors in my postings, I don't have time to proof read!