SURGERY UPDATE

I haven't talked with many of you since Max's surgery last week. I was a nervous wreck, but fortunately, everything went smoothly. The medical team here is amazing! Can you imagine operating on such a tiny, tiny nose? The ENT doctor actually said it was one of the smallest noses he ever worked on!

The breathing tube had to be put back in for the surgery (that's never fun) but Max was successfully extabated on Monday. Hooray! The stints will stay in his nasal passages for several months and hopefully they won't close again. He will need at least one additional surgery to solve that problem.

So Max is busy recovering from surgery and also working REALLY hard at breathing. With his heart defect, his lungs have to work overtime...which really wears out Max! The doctors and nurses are also concerned about his weight. (But he has finally put some weight on - up 7 ounces since birth! So he now weighs a whopping 4 pounds, 9 ounces!) They are trying several different options to put some "meat on his bones." Unfortunately the more he works at breathing, the more calories he burns. And that won't stop until he has surgery, which can't happen until he puts weight on. Quite a dilemma!

We have a million photos of Max...but this is one of my favorites because I think his big purple goggles (for the jaundice lamp) and oversized, girly hat are quite a winning combo!!! This was right before he got wheeled away for his first MRI. In the midst of a very serious and sad moment, seeing him in that funny hat made me smile! :)