Day 8 Post Op

Day 8 of post-op.... today was a good day! B had some visitors today!  Aunt Tracy, Uncle Kevin and his cousins came to visit. We also celebrated his birthday with them. They brought a yummy cake! :) Today he acutally got dressed in clothes and was up moving or should I say running around more. He knows his limits and knows what he can tolerate. We only have had pain meds 3 times today.. that is awesome! His head is starting to heal so it is itching more. Still have to use the special shampoo the doctor gave us. I know I am a day behind posting about being a week out from surgery so below are pics that mark post op day 7

His incision looks good!!!

Day 6 Post Op

Day 6 of post-op. Still trying to control his pain. Been working on getting him to move his neck more from side to side. His head favors one side. Don't want it so stiff.  February 13 we go back to the doctor for a check up. Below are some pics from his surgery. I forgot to post some of these!

Home.. so nice!!

2 full days of being home... so nice! We have been settling in with Brennan and making him comfortable as possible. He has done very well. Just trying to keep up with the pain meds and trying to get him to eat and drink more. His favorite thing to do right now is play with play dough and get on the computer to play Starfall. When his head starts to hurt he lays on the couch with Ben and Bailey.. his stuffed dogs. He also enjoys cuddling with Chris and myself. Sometimes he even will fit in a cuddle with his brother! :)  February 13 is the follow-up doctor appt. from his surgery. He will have a follow-up MRI sometime in the next couple months to make sure everything is good from surgery. We also have appt. to see our neurologist, Dr. Geller in March. Tomorrow is a big day for our champ! He turns the big 5! Crazy how time flies!!! :)

Going home!!!!

Hello all! Today is a great day! Brennan is coming home today!!!! Dr Lebowitz came in earlier to do an assessment and also took the dressing off the incision. It looks really good! He said he gave him the all clear from his end but we had to see what Dr. Elbabaa's assessment would be. After eating a good breakfast and taking a nap, Dr. Elbabaa came in and said he has done amazingly well and has taken this like a champ! Such a trooper through all of this! So.. discharge papers have been signed.. instructions given and should be leaving soon as Chris gets to the hosptial!!! :) We will be following up with Dr. Elbabaa in 2 weeks so he can check his incision. In 3 months he will have another MRI to check on the area of the brain that was decompressed. Also we will also be following up with Dr. Geller, our neurologist.

First day post-op

Today was our first day post-op. It has been a long day. We had some rough patches throughout the night. I think I was up every hour and half. Nurses coming in and out for vitals and meds. 4:15 am they came to get B for a CT scan to make sure there was no swelling or bleeding in the brain. Brought him back and slept for a little longer. Dr. Lebowitz came in to check B and stated everything looked good on the CT scan.. I was relieved of that news. Ordered more pain meds and told us 2 goals for today... get him out of bed to walk and he had to poop. Well.. it didn't take long for him to say the magic words.. I have to poop. Never been excited for poop! :) We could check that off our list as accomplished! He did get out of bed to walk and once that started, he couldn't stop! We have a window on our floor that faces towards the arch and he was so excited to see that! Dr. Elbabaa came in to do his assessment and was very pleased with Brennan's progress. He is rocking this like a rock star! He set some goals for Brennan also and once agian we have accomplished most of them. He even stated there was a chance we could possibly go home tomorrow afternoon! We also had a visit with Aunt Mamby and Uncle Brian today... all I have to say is thanks for the whoopie cushion! :)  Physical therapy and occupational therapy came in to assess and once agian, Brennan is doing so good he will not need to continue after we leave the hosptial. We will just have the excercises they send home with us. As the day went on, he walked alot more around the hallways and in his room. Took a little nap in between everything. Tonight as I write... we have been coloring with the markers and coloring book that Aunt Tracy, Uncle Kevin and his cousins gave him. He loves the magic markers that only show up on special paper from Crayola and this mama loves those too! :) Tomorrow I am hoping that when Dr. Elbabaa comes in to assess that we hear somewhere in a sentence we are going home! I am not pushing anything with B but he is definitely doing better than what I thought he would. He has been a trooper through all of this!

Rough night....

Well.. we made it through the first night! We hit some rough patches. He had alot of pain so morphine was given and seemed to help relax him. His vitals have been very good. Went down for his CT scan already this morning. Dr. Lebowitz was in already and checked B out. He said his scan looked good. Ordered more pain meds for today. Dr. Elbabaa will be in later to do an assessment. Goals for today.. walk down the hallway and poop! :)

Update....pain meds have kicked in!

Just an update... Brennan is doing well. Been drinking and taking small bites of food. Dr. Elbabaa was in to check on him and said he looked good. He is scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow. Pain meds have been given and he is totally relaxed.

Hallelujah... Surgery is over!

Hello everyone!  Today has been a rough morning. Lots of emotions running in our minds. Hardest part was saying good bye to Brennan. Watching them roll Brennan down the hallway to surgery broke my heart. It has been a long couple hours but I am happy to report that Brennan's surgery went well. He is out of surgery and will be in recovery. Dr. Elbabaa explained  to us what he did. He did a subocciptal crainiectomy with a C1 laminectomy and a partial split duraplasty.  He stated that he had a severe case of Chiari and it could have shortened his life expectancy or could have been fatal. he had tons of pressure in his head. We are relieved that the surgery is done and now we can breath. We are waiting to see him in recovery. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers more than you know. We will continue to update through the day and the rest of the hospital time.

Erika

Countdown is on....

Hello all! Well.. we are on countdown until Brennan's surgery. I have been busy making out my list for the hospital this past week. Making sure we have everything.. especially when you have to pack for a new baby!!! Brennan has been asking more questions about his surgery. Emotions are running wild and anxiety has started with this mama!! I will be updating the blog next Friday throughout his surgery along with facebook and texting those on my list. We appreciate all the prayers and thoughts we have recieved and continue to recieve.

Surgery date set!

Today we met with Dr. Elbabaa, the neurosurgeon. I have to say I was impressed with him and we feel that Brennan is in great hands! Not a person I thought we would be talking to in my lifetime! He went over Brennan's case and felt that surgery is definitely necessary to help Brennan. So with that being said... January 23rd is the set date for his surgery. We have to be at Cardinal at 6 am with a surgery start time of 7:30. He will have what is called a posterior fossa decompression surgery. Click on the link to see details about the surgery. http://www.mayfieldchiaricenter.com/chiari_surgery.php
He will be in the hospital 2-3days at the most and missing 2 weeks of school. Even though it seems so far away it will be here before we know it!

Waiting game...

Just giving a little bit of an update on Brennan... January 6th we see the neurosurgeon at Cardinal Glennon. I think the waiting is the worst part right now. We are ready to get this over with and move on. As we know there is no cure for Chiari, surgery may help. We pray it works on Brennan and we take baby steps forward to make life normal for him. He still has the frequent headaches and starting to stutter a little more. As we wait.. we have had some fun trying to raise awareness for Chiari.

Chris started making bracelets to help raise awareness of Chiari. He has done an awesome job. It is important to both of us  to help raise awareness.