Monday morning, June 13th, Aidan had Van Nes Rotationplasty surgery on his "little leg". Aidan is doing great! Everything went better than we could have hoped. He wasn't afraid at all and was his charming little self like he is almost all of the time. Thank you to all who have been praying for him and for us. Even mom and dad did better than anticipated. We can attribute this to the prayers from so many family members, friends, as well as strangers that have been offered up on our behalf for the past two and a half years. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers as this is the start of a new journey for our family.
We wanted to share with you some of the highlights of the day. The next chapter begins...
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| One last Bob the Builder movie before we leave home. |
7:00 am --Checking in. What a miracle! Despite leaving the house a few minutes late and waiting in traffic for a bridge lift on I-5 we made it to the registration desk a few minutes early. Aidan was immediately delighted with the view from his room looking out over the city. He spent the first 2 1/2 hours in the hospital in the window sill watching the cars below and playing with his toys, his parents, and the staff.
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| Oh, look, cars! |
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| What a view! |
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| Daddy needs some Versed, too. |
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9:40 am --The pre-op medicine. We had been told by a mom of another little boy about her son's response to the oral Versed routinely given to help calm and relax kids before surgery. It is very bitter even when mixed with a sweet syrup. After having the medication at the beginning of his hospital stay he associated all medication syringes for the rest of his stay with the first one (which was to him strongly repulsive). This made giving his pain meds and everything else quite a bear. Knowing this, we played the "time to take your medicine game" while we waited. Aidan would give us (and anyone else who dared to venture into his room) our medicine with an empty syringe. After accepting the imaginary elixir we would scrunch up our faces and say, "Yuck!", or something of the sort. Then we would say, "But I need to swallow it!". After a pronounced "GULP" we would then admit, "Oh, I feel much better now!". Aidan followed through with taking the real medication like a dream! He swigged it right down, said "Guck!" in a playful voice and then followed it up with, "I feel better now". Let's just say that before long he was feeling really good. He had a blast pretending that the warmers on his hands were Buzz Lightyear.
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| Before Versed |
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| I think I'm feeling kind of funny. LOOK! Buzz Lightyear hands! |
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| "COOOOL" -- Hello Versed! |
10:25 am --Letting him go. After a short time in the holding room upstairs it was time for last hugs and kisses. Aidan went to the anesthesiologist's arms without a fuss. Another answered prayer! We knew that in a few short minutes he would be snoozing. After he was asleep his I.V. would be placed, lab work drawn, and epidural placed.
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| One last kiss. |
10:55 am --Surgery starts. The next best thing to being with your child during something hard is knowing someone who is. Knowing their work habits, heart, professionalism, and compassion. We were blessed to have a former co-worker of mine working with Aidan in the operating room as the circulating nurse. Everyone here at Shriner's is so great, but this was just the personal touch that this mommy needed. Knowing he was with someone that knew who he was since the day he was born gave me (the one usually being the nurse) a calming reassurance. Thanks, Beth!!!
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| A visit from Beth at the end of the day. |
3:15 pm --Surgery is done. After keeping us very well informed of the progress being made via regularly phoned messages, Aidan was on his way to the recovery room. Thank you Jodi and Bob for keeping us company during what could have been a very long four-plus hours!
3:45 pm --Big owie! We were able to go into the recovery room pretty quickly. Aidan's nurses Katie and Nan had been keeping busy managing his pain and nausea. He was still having pain when we got in there. The first thing that they did was to put him in my lap for mommy comfort. I don't know who felt better, him or me. Within ten minutes he was relaxing from the effects of the I.V. nausea and pain medicines as well as an increase in his epidural medicine.
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| Finding comfort in the ones we love. |
4:45 pm --Back to our room. That pretty much says it. We both held our sweet boy for two hours each after getting back into our room. The angle of his spica cast (up his left leg and around his body) and the multiple lines and tubes (I.V., epidural, BP cuff, 2 pulse oximeters, a wound drain, and bladder catheter) made it a little tricky to pass him off. That was a three person coordinated effort. What a relief to have him back in our arms though. Aidan was sleepy, as would be expected, but had his same sense of humor. He would occasionally "eat" our noses, fake sleep, and snore. At one point he suggested, "We get out of here--go to Dutch Brother's?". The kid really likes his smoothies!
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| Mommy time |
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| Daddy time |
The look of that foot is going to take a little getting used to. We think that we should get him a t-shirt that says, "Hey, it IS fixed!".
The Short-term Plan --Because of the severity of Aidan's shortened femur, Dr. Krajbich was not able to rotate his leg as far around as would be desirable without risking a dangerous decrease in blood circulation to his leg. We knew from the beginning that this was a possibility. He will go back to the operating room Friday. After removing his temporary cast under anesthesia, they will then try to rotate his leg the rest of the way, possibly put a pin in it, and place a new cast that will stay on for six to eight weeks. We are really hoping and praying that they are able to get the optimal rotation desired so that being active will be as easy as possible for our little guy. For now we will try to rest when able, see our other kids, and keep a casted two year old on bed rest entertained. They say you watch a lot of movies!
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