The Boy You Once Were

Surgery today. Went well. It's interesting. Every time I see your surgeons I have this overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I am terribly grateful for your doctors and nurses. The love and care and concern they show you is unlike anything I have ever seen. Today, before you went to surgery your nurse, Stephanie, was giving the anesthesiologists all the info they needed to take care of you in surgery. Watching her was like watching a little mother. It was like she was your mother and she was sending you away and needed to make sure those taking care of her child were fully capable. It didn't bother me. It was a wonderful. I truly believe that when you are in her care you mean to world to her and she would do just about anything to keep you safe and healthy. I have a new found respect and understanding of the health care profession. As for your surgeons. . .I have a tender spot for them. They saved you! And they continue to do things for you to heal you and put you back together to be the boy you once were (with some added scars and experience). I think they love you. On whatever level. I see their concern for you and their need to "fix" you. One of your resident surgeons, Nate (the one that we first spoke with last Friday night, and has been helping with all of your surgeries), came back tonight and watched your numbers, made suggestions, fixed your tube that is sucking out the contents of your tummy. Showed some extra care and concern. They are doing a darn good job. At least, from my limited understanding. So, here is what they said about the surgery:

• They put your belly back together. They only sewed up your fascia. It goes skin, fat, fascia, muscle, tummy. By leaving your skin and fat open it allows the wound to heal from the bottom up and lessens the risk of infection. If they were to close you all the way they were pretty sure you would develop an infection under the skin. It should take several weeks for it to heal. They didn't see any signs of infection or dead tissue. So, they don't plan on you having any more surgery for another 6-8 weeks. Then you will come back and have another surgery to put your small intestine back together and probably get your appendix out. The surgeons feel that it would be good to take this out because all it could do is confuse us to your symptoms. And, if at some point, you would need to have it taken out it would only further damage the areas they have been working on this week. You will have to stay in the hospital for another 5-7 days, after your future surgery, so they can monitor your digestive process.
  
• They also took about 4 oz of fluid off your right lung. There was a sack of fluid between your lung and rib cage that was causing pressure and making it harder to breathe. They removed it with ease.

You seem to be doing well now. Having some problems with blood pressure and heart rate, but doctors are on top of it. So, we have hope that we are getting closer to seeing you, who you were. I miss you. I miss you like crazy. That has been hard. Aunt Ali set up music and a slide show on the blog today. She showed me it this morning and I cried. I cried harder than I have yet. I saw pictures of you before all this and I ache for that little boy. But as some of the lyrics in one of the songs say "Don't you know the hardest part is over?" I think and hope that is true for us. That little by little, day by day I will see more of you. And then, someday, you will be home with us and as Lance said "we will be a family again."

I love you, little man!