We’re still here in the hospital. Patrick is kicking ass by sleeping nonstop and doing his little thing to get better post sagittal surgery. The neurosurgeon and the plastic surgeon both said he’s looking great. They took the bandage off his head Wednesday morning and I thought I was going to throw up. Patrick has a drain in his head, which I thought was in the incision, but it’s not and it’s coming out of the top of his head. As the doctor kept unwinding the bandage and unwinding and unwinding, the blood underneath became more and more apparent. If you think about times you’ve ever cut your head, it bleeds a lot, so I suppose lots of blood is to be expected but you still don’t want to see that on your kid.
The swelling really peaked on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and then just started to improve over the course of the day. I was able to get Patrick to eat twice yesterday (some of which he kept and some he felt the need to unload all over my SIL) and I was able to hold him for a while, which you don’t know how much you miss until you can’t do it anymore. Then, the best sign yet, Patrick cracked open his right eye this morning. It was just a tiny little bit but a HUGE step in his recovery. Also this morning, they took out the drain in his head which was fairly unnerving for me. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was just glad I hadn’t had breakfast yet. And who am I to complain, it wasn’t in MY head and Patrick was quite the trooper when they removed it.
The word on the street is that we’re going to go home today. YAY!! Patrick’s still sleeping most of the time but that’s to be expected. He’s taking Tylenol with codeine, although we’re going to cut that back some, and I think that helps in knocking him out. Hopefully we’ll be home by dinner, I would really love that. I miss Courtney terribly and she misses her “baby Patrick.” I think we’ll all be more comfortable at home and I know that I’ll be able to sleep better in my own bed. Or maybe not. It’s almost like he’s a newborn again and you just keep listening for the breathing, the baby noises and you stare at him, waiting for the rise and fall of his chest. Yeah, maybe I won’t sleep better.
48 hours after surgery - his eyes are really swollen but he's looking for those feet, a sure sign of normalcy
Patrick discovered his feet a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad to see he's rediscovered them.
I cannot stop looking at these pictures. I feel very grateful that you’ve posted these (and warned me about them). And I’m also glad you aren’t sugar coating a thing, no one in our situation needs that in my opinion. If it sucks, which I’m sure it does/will, I want to know. I am floored by how much better he looks today compared to these pictures. I was compelled to grip onto my little man tighter all day and gaze at his beautiful head. I know his new head will be improved (and medically necessary), but until then I adore his long peanut head. Keep kicking butt little P!