SURGERY UPDATE

Surgery went well...yea! :) So heartbreaking to see Max in pain and with his breathing tube AND with his large incision (yikes)...but the good news is that all the procedures went smoothly. He is on A LOT of pain medication right now.

He is in the cardiac unit of the ICU. Right now we are waiting for him to be extabated. We are HOPING it will be this morning. He is breathing on his own, but with the tube still in. The doctors are concerned because he is breathing so fast. These docs are not familiar with Max, so once I explained to them that "this is Max. Max breathes fast", they are feeling a little more comfortable. But first they want to run some more tests. I feel like I am always calming people down about his breathing! Every time he has someone new look at him, they are so surprised that he is ok with breathing that fast. Lots of work for him!

I met with the pulmonologists last night after they performed the bronchoscopy. There are a few minor issues they detected, but most importantly they determined his lung disease, due to prematurity, is slightly worse than they thought. This is one of the reasons Max breathes so fast...his lungs don't expand as well and as easily.

Many of you, who know my inquistory style, will get a good chuckle out of this. I was asking my usual million and one questions to the pulmonologist and then apologized for asking so much...and he said to not worry about it..."we love how interested you are...that's what is best for Max...," etc. He then followed up by telling me "you are developing quite a reputation in our department." How funny is that! But he promised me it was a very positive reputation and that everyone knows to come prepared when talking with me!!! He said they are surprised with how in depth my questions are...and have I thought about medical school. The nurse was in the room and agreed and said that actually I was developing that reputation in many departments. Mom and I got quite a chuckle from this. :)

The ENT said his nose is looking great...wide open! That is wonderful news! It is very likely he will need surgery again in the future...most likely several more times...but at least that is not an issue for now. YEA!

I haven't received the results back from the CT scan. This may provide answers on his hearing loss (is there a structure issue) and possibly give us an idea on his future balance due to the presence or absence of his semicircular canal. Quite anxious about the results! This is a study I have been begging to have performed for over a month!

I will keep you posted later today with his extabation status. I will be sooo excited to see his sweet little face without all the tubes. They are ALREADY using his GTube...just for medicine, but later today they MAY start feeds. WOW! And if all goes well, he might just be back in his room (which they have saved for him...he has quite a fan club on the floor) later today. The nurses are all excited for him to come back down! :)