Well....thank goodness surgery day is over. Yesterday at about 330pm we were sitting in the waiting room and in walks Braden's surgeon. For a moment my heart dropped and I didn't know what to think because the last update we received about and hour and a half prior that they were about 1/2 way done. Although I had a brief moment of panic we sat with Dr. Stanley(the surgeon) and discussed Braden's surgery. Dr. Stanley was VERY pleased with the surgical results and all went smoothly with minimal blood loss and no complications and Braden's vital signs remained very stable throughout the entire surgery. Dr. Stanley was impressed by Braden's functioning kidney and how well it responded to all the stress of the surgery and it regained adequate blood flow following the grafting and restructuring of the kidney. Although going into surgery we thought that Braden had a "nub" of a left kidney in actuality he does not have a left kidney. So Braden has a functioning right kidney that the arteries going from his abdominal aorta were repaired and the stenotic(or narrowed) part of his abdominal aorta was grafted with a teflon graft. In the future Braden will need antibiotics prior to any dental appointment or doctor visit with procedures, but overall things look optimistic. Dr. Stanley is concerned with Braden's bowel activity due to the amount of movement and manipulation of the bowel during surgery. So he is NPO(which means cannot have anything by mouth) until his bowel sounds are active.
So following surgery we went up to the PICU(Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) waiting area and were quickly brought back to see Braden. He looked awesome compared to what we had prepared ourselves for. His face was puffy and he was pale but that is to be expected after major surgery like he had. He was very groggy and sleepy so we had some family time, just Braden, Ian and I. Then my parents and cousin Jane came in to see Braden and visit. Braden was so cute...as we each told him we loved him he smiled and said I love you too! SO SWEET! So we settled in for the night and mommy stayed with Braden and Daddy went back to our hotel to get some things and then returned to the hospital. The accomodations at the hospital are that one parent is able to stay at the bedside and the other is able to sleep in the waiting room. So Mommy stayed at Braden's bedside and daddy slept in the waiting room. Throughout the night Braden became more awake and aware and started to have pain :( He has an epidural in his back for pain control and the Nurses (whom by the way are phenominal) gave him a little bit extra to help with the pain. I (Mommy) was able to sleep off and on and at about 330 am I awoke to Braden calling my name. Braden had an NG(nasogastric tube) in his nose which goes to his stomach to empty his stomach of bile and other stuff so his intestines are given time to rest and recover. Well....he had woke up and was more alert than prior and didnt really understand what he had in his nose and pulled it out...so we had to reinsert another NG(which by the way is not a comfortable process at ALL!) and he was such a TROOPER and the nurses got it on the first try! So after this ordeal, Braden wanted Daddy and I went to get Ian in the waiting room and now Ian and Braden are resting.
Ian and I cannot express our heartfelt gratitude for the thoughts, prayers, kindness and generosity of all of our friends and family! We fill truly blessed by all of the love and concern that has been expressed for Braden. We still have a LONG journey ahead of us and continued prayers for fast and an uncomplicated recovery would be much appreciated.
Love to all who are reading this!
So following surgery we went up to the PICU(Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) waiting area and were quickly brought back to see Braden. He looked awesome compared to what we had prepared ourselves for. His face was puffy and he was pale but that is to be expected after major surgery like he had. He was very groggy and sleepy so we had some family time, just Braden, Ian and I. Then my parents and cousin Jane came in to see Braden and visit. Braden was so cute...as we each told him we loved him he smiled and said I love you too! SO SWEET! So we settled in for the night and mommy stayed with Braden and Daddy went back to our hotel to get some things and then returned to the hospital. The accomodations at the hospital are that one parent is able to stay at the bedside and the other is able to sleep in the waiting room. So Mommy stayed at Braden's bedside and daddy slept in the waiting room. Throughout the night Braden became more awake and aware and started to have pain :( He has an epidural in his back for pain control and the Nurses (whom by the way are phenominal) gave him a little bit extra to help with the pain. I (Mommy) was able to sleep off and on and at about 330 am I awoke to Braden calling my name. Braden had an NG(nasogastric tube) in his nose which goes to his stomach to empty his stomach of bile and other stuff so his intestines are given time to rest and recover. Well....he had woke up and was more alert than prior and didnt really understand what he had in his nose and pulled it out...so we had to reinsert another NG(which by the way is not a comfortable process at ALL!) and he was such a TROOPER and the nurses got it on the first try! So after this ordeal, Braden wanted Daddy and I went to get Ian in the waiting room and now Ian and Braden are resting.
Ian and I cannot express our heartfelt gratitude for the thoughts, prayers, kindness and generosity of all of our friends and family! We fill truly blessed by all of the love and concern that has been expressed for Braden. We still have a LONG journey ahead of us and continued prayers for fast and an uncomplicated recovery would be much appreciated.
Love to all who are reading this!
Shannon, I am so glad to hear that Braden's surgery was successful. I pray that he has a speedy recovery and gets to come home soon. You are truly blessed with a beautiful little boy and family! You guys hang in there and know that many people are thinking of all of you!
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