Bye Bye Drains

It's been going great at home! B slept through the night last night... how I do know this, because I kept checking on him which of course means I didn't get much sleep again. We were on the couch last night so tonight we are trying our bed. I'm not sure if I'm ready for him to sleep in his own bed yet. His new ear is very protected with the white cup on it but his right ear has a sponge sewn to it from where the Dr. took skin so I'm afraid he will grab at it during the night. We'll see how tonight goes. I'm hoping to get some more sleep.
We had B's first post-op appt. today. It was a quick one to remove the drains. B wasn't too thrilled about being there and cried a bit when the drains were being removed. The doctor's assistant cut the stitches and slid out the drains. It is so wonderful to not have the drains anymore. B's neck is very tight from being tilted to the side for so 10 hours. He has been leaning his head to the left because of the drains that were in place. We are now working on neck exercises with him to get full range of motion back.
After B's appt. we went to the Nike store to purchase another skull cap to cover B's head. He fell asleep in the stroller and was out hard. Joel and I decided to walk around for a while and let B sleep. We went to lunch and walked around outside for a while. B got almost an hour and a half nap. He's just so exhausted and low energy right now. Poor guy's body is just trying to recover from the trauma.


Last night, enjoying a cupcake brought by Grandma and Papa!


Day 2 surprise from the 'Recovery Calendar' (a car which he carried around all day)



On our way to the Dr. appt to get the drains removed!

Reading a book in the waiting room

Waiting for the drains to be removed! B was excited to get them removed but didn't really like the process of having them pulled out. It was a quick appt. so B did great!

Asleep through mommy and daddy's lunch at CPK

Tourist picture at Rodeo Dr... with my sleeping boy :)

My good friend Susan came over and brought us dinner tonight! Her son, Chris, and B are best buddies! B was so excited to have a friend over. B was such a good listener too and knew he had to stay on the couch, so they watched a little "Tom and Jerry"

Excited to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed tonight. We'll see how this goes :)

Next post-op appt. is next Wed, 6 days away. So until then, we will be laying low and taking it very easy. I'm excited about the next appt. because we will see his new ear for the first time. The doctor is going to change his head dressings and clean his hair and new ear. It will be wrapped up again for another week, but we will get to see it!!! Don't worry, I'll try and get a picture!

As I type, B is snoring next to me! Now it's my turn... good night!

Surprise 'Recovery Calendar'

Day 1 after surgery... and he's smiling!
He had an okay night. He started asking for cheerios around 3 am. I wanted him to get back on routine so we waited until 6:30 to eat. He had about 6 bites and said he was full. Right now he is playing computer games, so I know he is feeling good!

Happy boy!!!

My friends Sunnie, Susan and Analiza surprised us with such a wonderful and thoughtful gift! They made a "Surgery Recovery Calendar" (like an Advent Calendar) for Brennan. It's a huge board decorated with so many cute scrapbooking details on it. There are 24 days for Brennan (for his 3 weeks of recovery). Each day is numbered on a bag and inside is a surprise gift for Brennan. Brennan's eyes lit up when I brought it out and today he opened the first one!

The handmade 'recovery calendar' and craft box for Brennan. And they didn't leave Faith out :) She has her own handmade box with fun surprises each day for her too!

Close up picture, look how creative it is!

Brennan's craft box full of craft supplies and fun things to do

Faith's box of surprises!

B looking through his craft box!

So happy!

Loving his new 'recovery calendar'!!!

Oh my goodness... the first gift... 'Agent P' socks from Phineas and Ferb (his favorite character and show!) Such a fun surprise! And it's the biggest smile he's given me yet :)

Pnut with her box!

Thank you so very much Sunnie, Susan and Analiza for creating this wonderful surprise for the kids. Brennan will be looking forward to opening a new surprise every morning, which will help out the recovery process even more! Love you gals!!!

'wee hours' update

It's the wee hours of the night...up with B... not for any other reason but because I can't sleep. B is doing great! He is sleeping on and off and just hanging out with me on the couch. He is such a good listener. The drains are really annoying but he is being good about not touching them or pulling on them. If he has an itch on his head or near his ear, he asks me to itch it for him. I just can't stop looking at my precious little guy. He went through so very much yesterday and here he is, just laying on the couch, with his full personality coming back to life. His little one liners are hilarious. I think he remembers the "one on one" attention he got from the last surgery so he is really 'milking it' this time :)

I'm just so thankful that everything went great yesterday and that he woke up fine. I'm so thankful that we live close enough that we were able to take him to the comfort of our home after surgery. I'm so thankful that his tummy seems to be taking the meds okay, so far. I'm so thankful for the friends and family that stayed with us at the surgery center to help the time go by yesterday. I'm so thankful for all the prayers yesterday, I felt so at peace! I'm also very thankful for the continued prayers as we get through the first few weeks of recovery.

B's head is wrapped and he has a cup on his new ear. He has a post-op appt. in a week where the doctor will clean his new ear and change dressings, so that will be the first time we get to see it! Yesterday after surgery, when Dr. Lewin came out to tell us how the surgery went, she showed us pictures she took of B. It was during surgery but it was when the ear was complete. So, B was still out and his eyes were taped shut (that was kind of hard to see). It was amazing to see his new ear! She showed us a side picture of his new ear and a front view showing his 2 ears on the sides of his head. It was so cool! I'm so excited for it to heal! That's a major prayer request right now, for his new ear to heal properly!!! All we can do is keep B calm and still as much as possible and let the new ear heal!!!

Okay, I'm going to try and sleep now!

Home

We are home. Are we ever glad to be home!!! I've been looking forward to this moment since we left at 5:15 this morning. We arrived around 6 am at the office . They prepped him and took him away at 7:15am. We went to the recovery room around 5:00pm... so it was a very long day for us. In a way it felt like 3 days but in another it felt like a couple hours. We were blessed to have some friends and family there at different times of the day, so Joel and I were never alone. There was always someone to talk with and distract us for a bit :)

When we went into recovery, B was just starting to wake up. He was obviously confused and irritated. He wasn't screaming or thrashing around like his last surgery so that was much better this time around. He just kept saying, "I wana get up" and I felt bad knowing he didn't quite understand why we weren't letting him go yet.

He had a couple popsicles and we changed his clothes to go home. He wasn't in the best mood but that's understandable. We left the surgery center around 6pm.

It was a long 12 hours and we are so glad it is over!

B has had more popsicles at home and a few ritz crackers. He is sleeping off and on. The most annoying part right now are the drains coming from his ear. We have an appt. on Thursday to have them removed. I can't wait for that!

We have to empty his drains when they fill up. We also have Tylenol with codeine and an anti-biotic to give him. We are laying low tomorrow and Thursday and hopefully he will be able to move around a bit soon.

And of course, yes, Monkey did get his ear fixed too :)

Waking up more and enjoying a popsicle

The cup protecting his new ear!

Giving his best smile! Sweet little boy!

At home, a little puffy and swollen.

CHEESE!

45 minutes

The nurse called and said there is about 45 minutes left and then the doctor will be out to talk with us! And then I believe we will be able to be with him in recovery!!!
AND... that was about 30 minutes ago... sooooo.... anytime now!!!

Update

Another update!
Dr. Lewin called from her bluetooth as she was working on B :) She decided that it would be best to take skin from behind his right "good ear" as opposed to his scalp. She is still using skin from B's left arm but she doesn't have to use as much skin from the scalp, which is good news. The bad news... it will be about 2 hours longer. Oh well, we want what is best for B even if it means a longer surgery. So now it's about a 10-12 hour surgery.
And she said B is doing great!

Surgery

And we're off (left at 5:15am) He asked for cheerios, poor guy...

Signing papers

In hospital gown, waiting... being such a good boy

Dr. Lewin!!!, the surgeon, talking about the procedure

Talking about skin grafts... as B plays his game oblivious to what is going to happen

Tracing his "good ear" on transparency paper

Comparing size to mommy's ear and tracing mommy's ear on the paper to determine the size of his new ear

Reassuring B that it is all going to be okay

Last picture of the 3 of use before the big procedure

We love Dr. Lewin! Right now she is working on B and I am so at peace! Must be all the prayers coming our way!!!

Bye Bye "little ear"

So happy, even after the 'loopy juice'

About 30 minutes after they took B away, Dr. Lewin came out once to tell us that B went "out" great and that she was about to get started!

We received a call from the nurse a few minutes ago and she said Dr. Lewin has been working on him for 20 minutes and that B was doing great.

And now we wait...

It's about an 8 hour surgery so we will be waiting for a LONG time.

While we are in the waiting room, he nurse will be calling us and updating us on how he is doing.

Keep the prayers coming!!!