Fun the day before surgery

Tyler was so excited to ride the train to Seattle! He loved it and watched out the window most of the trip.

Once we arrived in Seattle, we spent a few hours walking around downtown. We rode the monorail and sat in the very front next to the driver. She was very nice and even let Ty honk the horn. He had a permanant grin for the entire ride after that.

Tyler's pre-op appointments went well. His x-rays appear to confirm my opinion that he is not as straight as he was 6 months ago, but are not conclusive because he is standing in a slightly different posistion in the previous x-ray.

Surgery is scheduled for 9:30 today, and I will post updates later when I know how he did. Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes for a safe surgery!

All Aboard!

Tomorrow Tyler and I will catch the early morning train to Seattle for his pre-op appointments. He is so excited to ride the train that he actually told me that he is excited for his surgery. I know that he is actually not excited about the surgery. I'm not excited about it either but if he does as well as last time I will be happy. Tyler's surgery is Tuesday at 9:30, so I will post updates as we get them.

Last June...

     I realize that after Tyler's last surgery, I did not update his progress.  Here it is!

Tyler and Daddy walking out of the hospital.  Look how straight Ty looks!

     At home Tyler continued to recover quickly.  He needed Tylenol for pain, but he only needed it occasionally and for only the first few days following surgery.  His incision was about 2.5 inches long, and was glued instead of stitched.  Although he was making a quick recovery and he felt good enough to play as he did before surgery, he couldn't do what he wanted to do the most: swim.  Tyler was not allowed to be submerged in water for 3 weeks following surgery and he did not understand why.  It was very emotional for him because it was the beginning of summer and we usually spent most weekends at my sister's pool.  To help him through the tough situation, we bought large waterproof bandages and a friend sent us some dermabond.  We used those and allowed Tyler to float on pool floats and sit on the pool steps as long as he did not submerge his incision. 

Tyler sitting on the top step in Aunt Vanessa & Uncle Jim's pool just a few days after surgery.

               We immediately realized the error in our plan to schedule surgeries in the summer and winter.   We asked Tyler's surgeon, Dr. White to shift the schedule of future surgeries so they did not fall in the summer.  He was very understanding and assured us that it would not be a problem at all.  We felt good that Tyler's emotional well being was important to his doctor and planned to schedule the next one in late January or early Febuary.  That catches us up to thepresent! : )

     I'm sorry that it took me so long to update.  Tyler recovered so well that I just got caught up on the every day dealings of life, but I did feel that it was still important to post.


     

He's out!

Tyler's recovery went better than we could have hoped for. After he ate lunch he became more and more active. We knew it was time to check out after we took him down to the kids playroom. Tyler spent his time riding a trike around and around the playroom dinging the little bell all the way. He actually began running down the hall on the way out! We had to call him back and remind him that he needed to slow down.

We decided to stay near Seattle despite his remarkable recovery. It turned out to be a good plan. Out good friends invited them to stay with them, and the hour drive up to Lynnwood was about all Tyler could take. So far he has only had two doses of Tylenol and one dose of Ibuprofen at bedtime to manage the pain. We were sent home with Oxycodone, but I don't think we will be neeeding it. It is such a blessing that his surgery went so well and that the recovery has been so smooth so far.

After surgery

We are waiting in the room for Tyler to come up. The nurse just poked her head in and said she heard that he is doing well and should be up soon. This waiting to see him is hard! I am anxoius! Later: Ty arrived around 10:40. He is sleepy but much more alert than the initial implant surgery. Tyler even climbed from the stretcher to his bed all by himself! His incision is bandaged so I couldn't get a look at it. The nurse offered him a popsicle and he gobbled it all up. Now he is resting and watching Thomas the Train. He really wants the IV line out but we need it in until he is eating and drinking without any problems. We think he will be able to be released today.

Expansion time

Tyler is in surgery right now.  Today is his first VEPTR expansion.  He was such a big boy this morning.  He was calm and energetic.  I know that sounds like a weird combo, but I guess I just mean that he was not acting too worried about the events of today.  Yesterday Joey gave Tyler a new LEGO jet plane and that was the toy Tyler decided to bring with him into the OR.  He flew that jet all around the hotel room and waiting areas at Children's this morning.  I took a before picture of his back, but I can't download it to this computer.  I guess I will just have to put it on later. 
We are slightly more at ease having done this before, but it is still incredibly difficult to walk him back to the operating room.  Tyler had visited with Nancy (the child life specialist) as we waited and she gave him stickers to decorate his mask.  He took it into the OR and told the anesthesiologist that he wanted a root beer mask.  I was impressed at how well Tyler stayed still as I held the mask over his mouth and nose, and he just went to sleep. 
Dr. White expects this expansion to be pretty quick, about 45 minutes.  I expect to be getting a page from the OR nurse pretty soon to let us know that all is well and Tyler is almost done.  Then we will meet with Dr. White and he will give us the clip that has been holding the rods in place.  We should get to see Tyler in a couple of hours and he may be discharged today.  Tyler was relieved to find out that the doctors expect him to walk today.  That is one of the things that bothered him most after the VEPTR implant, having to use a wheelchair and the fear of walking.  We will see how things go.  I don't want to drive all the way home today, so if we are released the plan is to stay somewhere close to the hospital and make the 3 hour drive home tomorrow. 

Tyler's first expansion

Trrow at 7:15 we will check into Seattle Children's hospital for Tyler's first VEPTR expansion. We met with Dr. White yesterday and he expects the surgery to last about 45 minutes. We are nervous but it is nice to know that this time the recovery should be quicker; about a week.