Surgery Day

 We made it to surgery day!

The day before surgery went super smooth (mostly). I got a call from the kid's school that Colby had thrown up and needed to be picked up. Slightly panicked because if he had some sort of bug, that was the last thing Brody needed. I told Colby he was going to need to stay away from his brother and hang out in his room. Once he got home he said he was hungry and made himself two flap sticks and then stood at the counter eating Oreos. His appetite and behavior the rest of the evening reassured me that he did not have a bug, but we still kept our distance. At one point, I went and checked on him and he was putting on his inflatable halloween costume from a couple of years ago. I smiled at my "sick" kid and when he saw me he told me he had a great idea. He said he was putting the costume on, so he could give Brody a hug before he went for surgery. That kid makes my Mamma heart smile so much. When it was time to go to bed, I told Colby to come sanitize his hands and put a mask on and let him hug his brother before bed. Of course, Zoey needed a mask too so she could do the same. Everyone went to bed with no tears or meltdowns. I think the kids got out all of their built up emotions before the last attempted surgery which really helped it go better this go around. Since Colby threw up at school, he had to stay home the next day, so he got to spend the day with his Auntie. All of it was probably for the best because he just got to just relax with her, was treated with some Olive Garden for lunch and got to play with his cousin that afternoon. 

We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am and Brody woke up in a great mood. He was "talking" and clapping and helped put our nerves at ease. Once we got to the pre-op room, his demeanor changed a little and he became a little more reserved when we put him in the bed. We signed the rest of our consents and everything moved pretty quick. They gave Brody a medicine to help him relax, but I think it made him feel pretty out of it and disoriented. I was sitting on the side of the bed next to him and once they gave him the medicine, he was trying to crawl in my lap. We gave it about 5 minutes, gave hugs and kisses and then made our way to the waiting room. It was a long day, but we received updates every two hours which helped. 

• Update 1: They just rolled him on back. They gave him some meds to relax him and he was trying to climb into my arms for snuggles. He did great. They said our first real update won’t be until closer to 10.

• Update 2: They have all his lines placed and breathing tube in. Surgeon is working his way to the heart.

• Update 3: They have officially made it to the heart and have transitioned him to Bypass. Time for the surgeon to do his thing!

• Update 4: Surgery is progressing as planned. Surgeon is currently working on replacing the donor valve.

• Update 5: Operation is done and he is off bypass! They are going to start working on closing him up and the next update should be from the surgeon.

• Update 6: Just talked to the surgeon and he said everything went great and as planned. He replaced the donor valve, repaired the tricuspid valve and put a patch on the aorta to expand it. They are getting him settled now and said if things continue to go well they might start trying to wake him up tonight and take the breathing tube out. Should be able to get to him in the next 30-45 min.

• Update 7: Finally made it back to our boy!!! (7 has always been our family’s special number. I love that update 7 is when we are reunited).

Overall the day went smooth and the surgeon was very happy with the results and what he was able to do. Now, will be the real fun as we take a ride on the roller coaster called recovery.

Huge shout out to everyone who sent text messages and reached out through social media. All of the support for our family is always appreciated and means more than we could ever express. Extra big shout out to Auntie, Grandma and PawPaw for all the help with the middle and little. This our first go at heart surgery and an extended hospital stay while having two other kids at home and there is a lot of things to coordinate!

Feeling Good!

Something Seems Up

Post Surgery. I've never taken pictures of him after surgery because those images are always burned in my brain, and not something I really want a picture of.