Surgery Day: Hours 2-5

This section of time has been the waiting game. I have been texting, blogging, Facebooking, emailing, visiting, walking around, playing cards etc. Ryan read a Field and Stream magazine, an environmental health magazine, and then has been watching a movie on Netflix. Ellen has been stitching a hand towel and then played some card games with me. Clair has been reading. I tried to get him to play cards with us... but the book is getting good and so he opted out of the game.

The nurse called back once more after the Neurosurgeon came to talk to us. She let us know that everything was going well and that the Plastic surgeon was piecing the skull back together.

Surgery ended just before 12:30, right around the 5 hour mark. It is so impressive when you think about everything that is involved. The Plastic surgeon met with the four of us in one of the consult rooms. He said everything went really well. Pierscen only ended up using 1 unit of blood which isn't bad at all. The doctor brought out the recessed side about 18 millimeters. That is pretty dang significant! That will give the brain quite a bit of room to grow. I asked him if he was able to get any pictures during surgery. They were able to get one that was towards the beginning of the procedure. They were going to take more, but everyone kind of forgot once they got going on things. Can't say I blame them. I am glad they were so focused. Still, I am excited to see the picture he did take.

They placed a drain and wrapped his head in a thick bandage that looks like a turbin. Both will be in place for at least three days. We learned that he will actually be numb from about the eyebrows up for up to a couple of weeks. He will still have pain, but the surface numbness will help alleviate some of that. He told us to expect lots of swelling and gave us a little glipse of what to expect on the return home in about 3-5 days. The biggest thing is to keep him from bumping his head. Thankfully he isn't too mobile, but I will have to be vigilent to keep him from rolling into hard surfaces. The good news is that the doc gave us the go ahead on our trip to San Diego at the end of June. We are really excited for that.

Pierscen was transfered to the ICU while we were talking to the doctor. He will be there for at least 24 hours. They will keep him mostly sedated during this time. They do have a couple of sleep rooms here, but they are a first come, first serve basis and depend on a few different factors. Each room only has one twin bed. If we get one, either Ryan or I could sleep in the bed and the other could sleep on the recliner in the room. We won't know if we get one until 9 pm tonight. However, we do have a room at the Ronald McDonald house. I originally felt determined to stay in the room with him, but now realizing that there is nothing I can do to help him at this point, and knowing I can't hold him or anything, it might be better for us to both go to the Ronald McDonald house and get some decent sleep so we can be strong for tomorrow. Especially since Ryan has to drive back to Wyoming in the afternoon. Decisions, decisions. I can't wait to see him. They are going to let the nursing staff get settled for a bit, and then they will let us come see him.

Updates to come.