Andrew's Surgery

[Ebag333]

So as some of you already know, my son was going in for surgery today. He has something called craniosynostosis, which is basically one of the sutures of the skull prematurely fusing.

The surgery is a pretty major one, won't go into the details here but suffice to say it's pretty intense.

Anyway, he's through the surgery, and they're getting him prepped to be moved to ICU. The surgery went well, very routine (which is a good thing!), and took less time than they originally estimated. Hospital told us up to 6 hours, our doctors staff estimated 2 to 3, ended up taking about an hour and a half to do the surgery itself.

We'll be down in Phoenix until the 23rd, so back just in time for Christmas. How long Andrew's in the hospital depends on how well he does, typically 3-5 days.

 

[TOY350]

Wow, didn't know that's where you were headed. Glad the surgery went well and hope the recovery is fast. Wishing Andrew and you both the best.

 

[dILzNAK]

Glad to hear that things went well!!

 

[retrofive]

Very good, glad to hear it went smooth.

 

[Russ in California]

Prayers and good thought to you and your family, especially the young one.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

I like this! Give your boy and Charise (did I spell it right that time?) a hug for me!

Very very happy to hear that Gabe, I've been thinking about you lately!

 

[Ebag333]

Thanks ya'll. You're a good bunch.

And J, did you really have to travel all the way to Antarctica just so that you can brag that you sent the furthest well wishes? ;p

Bring back a rock or something for the boy (baby seal skin?).

 

[mobydick]

Glad to hear all went well. Never heard of that condition before. How's he doing now??

 

[Ebag333]

It's not a super common condition. Guesstimates put it around 1 in 6000 (though that number varies a lot depending on who you listen to).

That's for the condition as a whole (craniosynostosis). Most types of cranio are one of the major sutures (coronal, sagittal, lambdoid, etc), I don't know the exact number but would guess 80%+.

Andrew's is a minor suture (frontosphenoidal) which is kinda good, kinda bad. Good because it means he's extremely unlikely to have brain development issues (running out of room to grow), bad because it's even more uncommon.

Doernbecher (children's hospital up in Portland, part of OHSU) only has one doctor that operates on cranio, and she's never operated on a frontosphenoidal. We visited a doc up at Seattle Children's Hospital, he's only done two. We called around to a lot of other doctors (John Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Texas Children's Hospital) and found out that many of them weren't as experienced as we would have liked.

Our doc here at Phoenix Children's hospital is one of the oldest in the business, and has tons of experience under his belt. The first CT scan we got didn't show the area that Andrew had fused very well, he was the first doctor (out of a dozen+ we talked to) that refused to diagnose him based on that CT scan and wanted a new one. That new one showed that Andrew had been misdiagnosed by the other doctors (which in their defense was not clear).



Anyway, Andrew's doing great. He's sleeping a lot (which is both expected and good). He's holding down clear liquids which is good, we'll probably try some formula next time he wakes up. He'll spend at least tonight in ICU, we'll get a better idea in a day or two of how long his stay will be and how he's doing.

 

[Kief]

Wow, keepin' it in our prayers and thanks to for the so good so far..

 

[gnob]

best wishes.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

I will bring something back for your boy Gabe!

 

[mobydick]

Just checking in here. How's your boy doing today??

 

[Ebag333]

He's doing great. Swelling is starting to drop, he's been able to open one of his eyes just a crack. (After a while it tends to swell back up and he can't see any more, very frustrating to him.)

Day before yesterday he got to meet two Cardinal's players (#82 Mike Leach and #94 Sam Acho). They both signed a Cardinals team bear.

Today he got to meet Diamondbacks #44 Paul Goldschmidt, who signed a photo for him.

None of that matched up to him meeting Hana, a therapy dog. He loves his dog (Kruiser), and as soon as he figured out that she was a dog (as he can't see) he got real excited, and laughed. First time he's laughed since before the surgery.

We might get released tomorrow. More likely to be Saturday, but it depends on how well he does.

 

[Ebag333]

Andrew's been released!

Everything is going well. One eye is still swollen shut, but the other is wide open. He's been up since 6 am playing, so he's feeling much better. Not quite himself, but doing much better.

 

[retrofive]

Andrew's been released!

Everything is going well. One eye is still swollen shut, but the other is wide open. He's been up since 6 am playing, so he's feeling much better. Not quite himself, but doing much better.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I'm so glad to hear it...

 

[TOY350]

Great!

 

[mobydick]

Wonderful news. Christmas at home then??

 

[Ebag333]

We're flying home on the 23rd. He has an appointment the 21st and 22nd for follow up and staple removal. So we'll be home on the 25th, but just barely.