Just a little update on the progress. Jack is in his surgery and all is going well. Dr. Lim has informed us that he is working on the second procedure and he will let us know when he is finished in about 30 minutes.
We got to the hospital at about 6 am this morning and they took us into pre-op within minutes. Pre-op took about 2 hours and Jack entered into surgery at about 8am.
Pre-op with the cute little hospital gowns
Jack has scheduled to have his bronchoscopy with Dr. Rudder first before the surgery with Dr. Lim. Our first update was pictures of the scope. Dr. Rudder came into the room and gave Matt and I a sheet of photos from the procedure. I was greeted with some photos like this…
Usually I would have responded with a “Ew, gross” thinking that the photos were the picture of trouble. I have now come to the point where I can realize that a gross photo of my son’s insides mean good results. Dr. Rudder went on to let us know that he is more than happy with Jack’s progress following his slide tracheoplasty. He said his trachea is rounding out nice and his ulcers from intubation are healing nicely. We won’t have to come back for another scope for another 6 months.
So, now we wait. Dr. Lim is expected in the waiting room in about 15-20 minutes to let us know that Jack has made it through surgery with flying colors. I will post updates to this blog posting so check back.
Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers. Jack is a fighter and damn good at it, too!
***UPDATE***
This will be two updates in one. Dr. Lim met Matt and I in a parent meeting room to discuss Jack’s surgery and his recovery efforts. He said that the surgery went well and the takedown was a success. As he had expected, there were a lot of adhesions that had to be removed but his small intestine was healthy enough for the repair. He is on Tylenol and a local anesthetic with the option of increased pain management if needed. We got an overall guide on how to care for him once he starts to poop from his bottom and we were off to see him in the recovery.
When we walked up to his bedside, he looked great! His color was…well…pale but appropriate for a Roettgers/Gantzer and he was starting to wake up.
It almost looks like he is pumping his fist in the air as to say “I did it! No more ostomy bags!” And his skin is starting to look a lot better already! I think he really needed a good cleaning and a thorough air-dry.
After a time in the recovery, Jack was moved to a room on the fourth floor for him to recover. The family who waited with us in the waiting room joined us in Jack’s new room where he continued his recovery sleep.
How peaceful does he look? Well, it didn’t last long. Jack is notorious for having issues with IVs and today is no exception. He has one IV in his foot/ankle and another in his wrist. Both are occluded. The nurses are currently working on getting one of the two to work properly. I will keep you updated.
We Know Jack 