Here is a run down of last week:
Monday: Mommy and Daddy took Benjamin to the hospital to have his blood drawn.
Tuesday:Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Bowling, and Benjamin woke up at 5:30 a.m. to drive to the hospital. This would not have been so bad except Mommy went to bed at 10:00 p.m. and woke up at 3:00 a.m. to give Benjamin his last allowed feeding before surgery. At 6:15 a.m. we all arrived at the hospital. Mommy, Daddy and Benjamin waited in a room in the First Day Surgery Clinic. It was very hard to just sit and wait. It was hard not to cry as we watched our son playing happily with his rubber ducky with no idea of the impending doom that lay ahead of him. Pastor Sharpeta came and prayed with us. The hardest part was when the nurses finally came to take Mommy and Daddy's little muffin from their hands at 7:40 a.m.We left the First Day Surgery Clinic and head down to the surgery waiting area on the second floor. Everyone dealt with stress differently. I know we all prayed a lot that day. After coming out of surgery Benjamin was taken to the Pediatric ICU. He stayed here all night with Mommy by his side hooked up to all sorts of machines and tubes. Needless to say Mommy didn't get much sleep. Daddy stayed in a "sleep room" provided for family members of PICU patients. Daddy didn't get much sleep there either. About 4:00 that night Mommy noticed Benjamin's eyes starting to swell and turn purple.
WednesdayBenjamin got moved to a regular room on the Children's Hospital Floor. This meant Benjamin got to have all of his heart monitors taken off. The only thing he kept was the catheter type insertions where IV's could be hooked back up if needed. Benjamin wanted to be held all the time because he couldn't get comfortable on the hospital bed with the sides of his head all swollen. Mommy got about 3 hours sleep that night. Daddy slept at home to get a good night's rest. All day we had to change his diapers and have the nurses weigh them to make sure he was having enough output of urine. Wednesday evening while the Grandmas and Daddy ate in the cafeteria, Benjamin had a bit of excitement. One of the nurses came in to give him Tylenol and he had just eaten. His stomach was upset and so he spit up all over Mommy, her pillow, her blanket and his gown. We tried to give him some medicine a little later and the same thing happened except this time he spit up over Mommy's shoulder and SPLAT onto the floor! After this the nurses decided to give Benjamin his medicine in suppository form . . . yuck. I forgot to mention that this day Benjamin had to have a new head bandage on 4 times because he kept wiggling and pulling it off. The last time it was wrapped by Brandon and he wrapped part of the bandage around Benjamin's chin so this one lasted until we got him home on Friday.
Thursday:Grandmas and Daddy arrived around 8:45 a.m. to stay with Benjamin. Mommy and Daddy went home to nap and rest. Mommy and Daddy came back about 2:00 p.m. Mommy couldn't stay away from her baby that long. The grandmas and Daddy stayed until visiting hours were over at 9:00 p.m. (which they did every night Benjamin was in the hospital). Benjamin was fussy for Mommy and refused to sleep anywhere but in my arms with his head on Mommy's shoulder. Benjamin finally fell asleep around 2:00 a.m. and we slept for a while in the recliner (a hospital recliner that Daddy helped to get put in our room). Mommy had a blowup mattress in the room as well, but the only time I was really able to sleep on the mattress was in the evening hours when Benjamin would sleep in the arms of one of his grandmas. Dr. Iskandar told us that we could go home when Benjamin could open his eyes . . . Mommy asked how far he had to open them and if it would count if she "helped" Benjamin to open them.
Friday:Dr. Iskandar came around at 7:00 a.m. to check on Benjamin (everyday both the plasticsurgeon Dr. Mount and the neurosurgeon Dr. Iskandar came to check on the bruiser . . . that's what the nurses were calling him). He asked Mommy if Benjamin could open his eyes yet and Mommy had to say, "No." He then asked if we wanted to go home . . . what a silly question! He said, "Then go home, you can go home." I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. Mommy waited until the family arrived at 8:00 a.m. to let them know we were going home. The grandma's had come prepared with soup for lunch since I had asked them to stay with Benjamin for the day so I could go home and get some sleep. We were back home by 10:30 a.m. Benjamin was so much happier. It was amazing how he changed. He started talking and laughing when he was on his changing table and when we put him in his saucer. Benjamin recognized all the things that make our apartment his home.
Saturday:
Saturday evening we saw Benjamin's blue eyes through the slits he had in his swollen eye lids. It was the best thing ever! We were all so happy and excited.
Tuesday-One week later:
Benjamin looks more like himself. His eyes are more open and his stiches are starting to dissolve. His eyelids are a little red and puffy, but not like they were.
Future-RecoveryBenjamin has a follow-up appointment on the 30th of October and then another appointment 3 months from the surgery date. After this he will be seen once a year for 5-7 years. He still is swollen, but we have our baby back safe and happy.
Sorry about the puke on his outfit . . . I didn't see it until I loaded the picture on the computer! Then I went over and cleaned him up . . . what a great mom, huh.
Here is a picture of the incision the doctors make from ear to ear. This was taken on Thursday I believe. He was semi-happy and playing with his monkey rattle.
This is the evening of the surgery in PICU. Notice his eyes have not yet swollen, but he has all the tubes and wires for monitors.
Here is a picture on Wednesday evening of his swollen eyes. He looks sooooo pitiful. 