Post-Surgery

Things have been busy since our return from Denver, thus the late-ish post.

Zane is still on the mend from his surgery. Unfortunately, he managed to get to his eye and do some major rubbing (which was a huge no-no). I'm hoping he didn't release the sutures and undermine his whole surgery as his eyelid (today) seems a bit droopy again. There is a tad bit of swelling that remains along with bruising, so maybe it's just that. The surgeon said to call the office if the left eye didn’t completely match the right by Monday 8/6. So I’ll give him a call tomorrow. I doubt there’s anything he can do.

The Friday after surgery, Zane and I returned to the hospital for a digestive emptying scan. It was a part of the investigation into his retching and vomiting. It was pretty much a disaster. The plan was to feed him his formula with a nuclear medicine added to get pictures of his upper digestive system to see how slowly or quickly food moves through. It was imperative that Zane not vomit the contents of the formula/nuclear medicine combo or the test would be ruined. The trouble began with the quantity they planned to give him. Zane normally receives 160 mL over an hour. They gave him 240 mL in a matter of two minutes. I warned them it wasn't a good idea to give him that much. They did it anyway. Only moments into the scan, Zane coughed. That was quickly followed by vomiting. They restarted the test after he stopped, but the test results were considered skewed. Zane continued to whimper and grimace for the next forty minutes—all the time attempting to rub his eye for comfort. The whole test was filled with stress. I was glad to be done with it all.

Since arriving home, Jeff and I were able to get away for chunks of time on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. His parents came to watch the boys so we could bike ride, tube down the river, and have dinner in town. Unfortunately, Zane wound up with a fever. I blame the visit to Children’s. This will be the third time he’s picked up a bug after a trip to the hospital. He’s still fighting a fever as of today. Though it’s low-grade, Zane is quite miserable and mainly wants to sleep. I haven’t given him any medication to fight the fever, hoping his body will fight off whatever virus he has. I just hope he improves by later today. He has an in-town appointment tomorrow to have another TLSO made. Sounds like grand fun, huh? Poor kid.

Surgery Date Is Scheduled

Zane is scheduled for kidney surgery on September 12^th at Children’s Hospital. He and I will make the drive, and I will stay with him in the hospital since he will be in-patient. Jeff and Justin will remain at home.

I tried to coordinate the surgery consultation for his ptosis for the same trip, but of course things could not be so easy. The only appointment they had was a week before his surgery date. There is no way I am paying for hotel rooms for additional week for a simple consultation (there are rarely rooms available at the two Ronald McDonald Houses in Denver when I call) . Zane’s eye appointments will have to wait until 2012.

Please keep thoughts for him as his surgery approaches.