Last Week Sucked...continued

Friday-Kims dad is still here, Kim is stressed out, I'm hopeful all goes well and Savy is smiling. So far not too bad considering the big surgery is just a few hours ahead of us. I drop Savy off at school and head to Katy to swing by Anchor Dental for the first time in 10 days. Kind of hard to run a biz when you can't be there. Anyways, after I make the round trip, I pick up Kim and off to the hospital we go to be with Cash before the shunt is placed.

We get to Cash around 11, Kim changes and holds him. He is calm, sleeping and now has an IV for the surgery. Sodium levels are good, the surgeon says we are a go for a 1pm start. Around 12:45 the Anesthesiologist arrives with two nurses and they have us sign forms, give us more details, run through the risks of sedation and prep him for the OR. Kim puts Cash back in bed, they take him off CPAP(which he takes well) and Dr. Whitehead comes by for a final look at him. Everyone assures us he is in good hands, but we are heart broke. There's a weird sort of calm that sweeps over me. This is going to happen, no big miracle is going to change the fact that my son will have a lifetime of dealing with this foreign object in his body. I'm torn between hating it and knowing it is providing relief for my baby's little brain. It's 1:30pm.

Will his body reject it? We have to take the chance. Will he develop an infection? We have to risk it. For every concern I have, there is a clear answer; we have no option. This operation, although the worst case scenario until now, is our friend in an odd way.

Kim and I don't talk much, while finding our way to the furthest waiting room from others. Peace and quiet is our hope. Fat chance, instead we hear a kid scream for a solid hour plus for his mommy who is just inside the NICU visiting his sybling. Dad is worthless. We are about to start screaming ourselves.
I posted about this on FB and caught a little flack, but never the less listen up: IF YOU HAVE A FUSSY CHILD AT A HOSPITAL FIX IT! It is extremely inconsiderate with all the stress those around you are already dealing with. Take them outside, shove candy down their throat or whip their butt, but settle them down asap.

Lunch, Pinterest and Angry Birds fill our time as we anxiously, nervously wait for some news. The kid finally shuts up. Probably lost his voice. The waiting room phone rings and Kim answers, it's about 3:15pm and the initial update is the surgery went well, they will be bringing Cash back to his NICU 3 pod "soon". We hug and let out a deep sigh of relief. My first set of texts to update family go out. Knowing how a hospital clock ticks, "soon" could be an hour or more so we settle back down and patiently wait to see our little booger. Twenty minutes later I go check to see if they are ready, and am told they need a few more minutes, but that he is back in his spot, and just getting the CPAP back on.
I head back to Kim and let her know we will see him soon. Another 15 minutes later Dr. Whitehead finds us and gives us the play by play. All went well and he feels confident the placement of the shunt in Cash' ventricle is good. We can expect to visit with him a few times throughout the year, another surgery by age 2, checkups annually thereafter. Also, surgery to repair/replace the shunt approximately every 4-5 years for life. Thanks doc for the update.

So we finally get to go see Cash! He looks really good all things considered. He is still a bit under the anesthesia but is coming out of it. I shed a tear, Kim is welling up, the nurses all say he did and looks great. My boy toughed it out. Again, Cash handles the situation better than his parents. We say our goodbyes after a half hour and go out to fight Houston traffic. Kims dad got Savy from school for us and they take all the news about the surgery well. Goodnight Moon. We all sleep well.

Saturday- We check on Cash and he had a fair to middlin' night. Still trying to wake up, he had a decent night on the CPAP, little fussy but all in all pretty good. Kims dad heads home, we decide to lay low and spend the day cleaning house and decompressing. We could visit, but not hold Cash, so instead of driving another couple hours, we feel it best to "heal" ourselves. Cash does better as the day progresses.

Sunday-We have a lot of things to be thankful for, and decide Superbowl Sunday will be Cashtastic with a visit after church. The visit goes well, he is doing very well, awake and generally in a good mood. A couple apnea's and Brady's accompany Kims hold, but we are just so happy at his progress so far we don't let it bother us. Savy gets to see him and brings him a mason jar of little paper flowers she made. I watch these three in amazement at how far we have come. I cant wait for this scenario to be played out at home. My kids and my wife huddled together as I watch from the side. I love to be close by when they are unaware of me watching. These times mend my soul, even though I'm alone. It was a horrible week, with a great finish. Something about a Sunday, that makes a body feel alone.

I leave you with a little Cash.