Saturday, March 14, 2009

Surgery Successful!!!

Whew. We got home Thursday night, and I have been so busy I completely forgot to update here. Just checked my email and Jennifer reminded we left a lot of people hanging...thanks Jennifer.

Surgery went very well.....only one minor issue...Bryan contracted THE FLU on the day of his surgery...we did not find out until Tuesday. He was more lethargic than he should have been and because of this they ran some tests and discovered the flu. Although he had a few days where I was very worried about him, he is doing great now.

We didn't do much for his bday yesterday, we still have an ice cream cake in the freezer...but we have had a great weekend of resting, watching cartoons and root beer floats. Bryan still wears down pretty easily, but right now his Grandpa is pushing him around the house in his new coupe car that we got him for his birthday and he is loving it!

Brandi will come back to Houston tomorrow to pick him up, then back here in 2 weeks for a follow up, then a month later for a CT scan. They went ahead and gave him a CT scan before left the hospital, as he was vomiting and they didn't know whether it was the shunt or the flu. The CT looked great...it was the flu.

You can already tell the shunt has made a difference. Bryan doesn't get tired of holding his head up for long periods, and his fontanel, which was bulging so much you could see his hair pulse with each heartbeat before surgery, is now soft and sunken like it should be. The veins around his forehead which were very prominent before are now much less so.

Bryan has 2 stitches in his stomach area and from my estimates about 7 in his head behind his ear. (Dr. Dauser said "a stitch or two"...so I was taken back a little when they changed his bandage to a clear one.) The shunt was hardly visible the first day, but as the swelling has gone down you can clearly see the valve behind his ear, and because his chest is so small you can see the tube under his skin on his chest cavity which runs down to his perinatal cavity. Once his hair grows back, it won't be noticeable on his head unless you know he has had the surgery.

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers, and for your patience waiting on my updates. Hopefully it is all downhill from here out. :0)















9 comments:

Alex said...

I am so glad to hear that he's doing well!!
He is so cute, I love his little face!!!!

The Johnson Family 5 said...

Thank you for an update! So great to hear that his surgery was a success! I will keep my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery! BTW...Happy Birthday Bryan! I thought of him on Friday :)

Sarah said...

So glad it all went well even with the flu. He looks so cute in his new car!! So glad to see he's doing well and can enjoy this new presents already!!

Jennifer said...

Yay Bryan! So glad all went well. Enjoy that Crazy Coupe. Poor Grandpa doing the pushing!

Bobbi said...

Yeah!!! I'm so glad to hear the surgery went well. I hope he has a quick recovery...and from the looks of him in his 'coupe,' he's well on his way!!

Unknown said...

Happy belated birthday. Glad to see the surgery went well and on the road to recovery!

Destini said...

What great news! Bryan is such a cutie in his new coupe - Trace would be totally jealous! Just a small warning - we got totally freaked out about a week or so after Trace's surgery becuase his soft spot had initially done the same thing, then it filled back in. When we were there for the 2 or 3 week check-up we were sure the doctors would say something was wrong, but that was to be expected - they drain some of the fluid during the surgery and it comes back with normal production. Not sure if it will be so obvious with the shunt though. Hugs to Bryan, Happy Birthday!

Caden and Mommy said...

Candi!
I am so happy to hear Bryan's surgery went well! I hope he is back to 100% real soon!
Caden has that same car at daycare and he LOVES it. I've been debating to buy him for our house but I'm not so sure we have room for it!
Happy Late 2nd Birthday BRYAN!!!!

Kim said...

I am so happy the surgery was a success! He is just a dollface. You won't notice anything once the hair grows back. it must be wonderful he can hold his head up for much longer periods of time!