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.