Skip to main content

Day 2 post-op

So just a quick update: Leo is doing really well, considering he lost 4 times his body weight in fluid and blood. His team freely admit that this was the most extreme and drastic case that they have seen. Last night was a little touch and go with lots of tweaking of his systems, but today his room was pretty peaceful and mellow. He wants to be awake and starts wiggling all over the place and fights the sedation meds as only he can. What a trooper. He's had some milk through a NG tube, and things are really looking pretty good right now. He had a quick brain MRI last night to check on things, and not only did things look good, but it seems like just in the time since the surgery, his brain has decompressed even more, and his scan compared to the old one in April looks fantastic. He is just growing more brain!! Haha!
He's getting pretty puffy now and his eyes are starting to swell shut, but I think that tonight is the worst of it. Hopefully he will be taken off the ventilator sometime in the next couple of days.
Finally got a chance to get some pictures up...just a few from when we had to send him off, to what he looked like today...His head will get smaller too as the swelling goes down.
Thank you everyone for everything!!







Comments

  1. We are rejoicing with you that Leo is out of surgery and that his brain is expanding now that the pressure against it has been released. We will continue "fighting the good fight" with Leo and you in prayer.
    We love you all!
    Doug & Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. He truly is a miracle - he's just beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, look at him! I did a little mental photoshop - took away those tubes and wires and added back his awesome hair... amazing. I've never known someone going through a medical procedure that was both this terrifying and exciting at the same time. As glad as I am that that high-tech room in the picture above exists, I can't wait until you are all back in your cozy cabin together just hanging around enjoying an uneventful summer day...

    ReplyDelete
  4. We love you guys & are so happy that surgery has gone well and his latest MRI scans look so miraculous in comparison to previous scans! What wonderful news... Leo and your family continue to be in my thoughts and prayers as he battles the road to recovery XO

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! The post-surgery Leo looks more like Nika than ever! Michael is constantly asking to see the picture of "baby Leo with his very bad owie" and his "car-bed in the hop-si-al." I think it is a car-bed because it has wheels, but I'm not quite sure. We're sending love and prayers your way!
    Love,
    the Van Sickles

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't know you all but I found this blog through a friend on facebook and read through the whole thing. My family will be praying for you too.

    Lily Parascheva Rowe
    www.stylianosbooks.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. How marvelous! He looks just like an angel despite the swelling. Glory to God for all of his blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So glad to hear Leo is recovering well. Lots of hugs and prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Praying with you as we keep seeking, asking, believing for a good outcome-friends at Mid Vermont Christian School.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

With Mixed Feelings

So for the past couple weeks my feed has been filled with the "back to school" and "end of summer" and "beginning of parental freedom from their annoying offspring" photos. It's ok, I totally get it. Another year, another back to school pic, another notch in the door jamb, and another chapter of growth and development with junior. Look at him go! Or not, as the case may be for many children. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease control and Prevention) one in six children has one...a developmental disability. A stamp of "not normal" across their foreheads. A number. A check mark in a box. My kid is one of them. I heard a brief segment on NPR that enticingly started out with the title of developmental delays on the rise, a 17% increase over the last twelve years. And though I turned up the volume the segment only talked about how it's probably only due to poverty, and it's only the upper classes that actually pursue diagnosis...

Pharmaceutical Fallout

"Back to the hospital?! You're joking right?!" I'm sure you guys are wondering what's been up with the Lion this past week after our worrisome VEEG adventure.  To tell you the truth, I feel like I've been taking shots of Leo's drugs and consequently feel dull and numb and just plain depressed. That is now of course, two days ago I was running high on adrenalin and resembled a charging rhino. I'll tell you why: So after being put on his new drug, Trileptal, Leo definitely started having a cessation of seizure activity, unfortunately however, he also started having severe headaches, photophobia, inconsolable crying and then in the last couple of days, a rash on his thighs, face, and hands. Just as an FYI the word "rash" is a magic word that will open the doors of the medical castle faster and slicker than a trojan horse. It's true, one does not mess about with allergic reactions. Day 1 Day 2 (rash got progressively ang...

The School Bus As Metaphor

A school bus can mean all sorts of different things: dread, boredom, excitement, responsibility, change...it means something different to all of us. I was primarily homeschooled as a kid, and though I preferred that, there was still an element of desire and curiosity for me every time I saw a school bus when I was young.  I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to be part of the school bus world. Of course I didn't have to wonder about it for very long because I did, in many ways, have the ideal education. There was that time I took the winter off from school instead of summer to practice my extra curricular work which was...downhill skiing and snowboarding. Then there was the part-time jobs at the local farms that I was able to do because of my own set and very flexible school hours. To clarify, because it sounds like I didn't do any academics at all in the above two sentences, I did. Lots. Tons. But I did them efficiently and completely independently, e...