The last few days...

The last few days have been taxing to say the least. Here is a recap.

Saturday and Sunday were great. Savy was in Austin with her Papaw for Spring Break, giving Kimberley and I some much needed alone time and ample opportunity to visit with Cash. We spent about 4-5 hours with him each day, finished getting the last of the baby stuff and enjoyed a great dinner of Crawfish!
Sunday we slept in, and after visiting Cash, came home and relaxed. Good times!

Monday started like any other. Not 3 minutes after Kim walks out the door for work, she calls me to tell me the nurse told her Cash had developed an issue at the entry point of his shunt to his brain. There was always a bit of a bump, but now it had turned red and swelled up causing the surgeon to get him on the docket for surgery to make a minor adjustment smoothing the shunt out on the head and resewing him to provide more skin over it. I rush to the hospital. It's now about 9:30 and I'm waiting for a 2pm surgery. Kim should be here by 1. The seconds go by slowly as I watch the nurses prep Cash for his second surgery in 35 days. I am assured by the Fellow that this is minor and quick. There will be no change to the entry point or movement of the shunt and will not take more than 30-45 minutes. The worst part is he will have to be intubated again, which is a risk to get back to the nasal cannula he is on, and as always there are the risks of anesthesia. This has been done before, but the fear is still there.

My cousin Merry hears that I'm at the hospital and takes time from a friend whose son was just admitted to come see us. After her visit we have lunch with her friend, and I explain our issue, listen to hers and prep her for a sometimes bumpy road here at TCH. Poor thing is scared out of her wits, but has a good face about it. Its strange how the wheel of bad luck is spun and lands on good folks. 12pm arrives and so does Kim.
Cash looks great. No fever, awake but hungry, no food til 3 hours after surgery.

2pm finally arrives, but they still arent ready for him. 2:35, the Surgeon and the Resident arrive. They review the procedure, which sounds a bit more serious than we had expected after the Surgeon tells me he is concerned for infection and that the red spot has gotten worse over the last few hours. I begin to get pissed. If an infection is even possible, and it can get that much worse so quickly, why are we not getting him to surgery sooner? Even on time? After all, even their own time has passed. It's 3pm now, and I have an African transplant trying to explain the disclaimers etc to me but I cannot understand one damn word. I'm steaming. The doctors sense my anger. Kim takes over the discussions and I step aside. I see nothing but red. So as they poke and prod at him, I finally say; "If this is so urgent and time is of the essence, after all we are discussing an infection on my sons brain, why are you just standing here ? Get him to surgery now! Apparently hours and minutes count and we are already over an hour behind!" I ask about the length of the surgery, am told 90min to 2 hours. What? I was told earlier 30-45 minutes!! Livid is an understatement. I pop an aspirin to thin my blood, go find a seat and wait. Pastor Bob arrived at some point, not sure when, but glad he did. He sits with us and gives me the chance to vent a bit to someone other than Kim.

2 hours go by, now nearly 6 hours into my hospital visit, and the Surgeon stops by to tell us he is doing well. The immediate culture shows no infection and he is hopeful all will be fine. We sigh in relief and he says, "Don't celebrate and pop the champagne yet." and leaves. Kims sister is here now as well. Cash is in recovery, needs to get back off the ventillator and wake up from anesthesia. They say it could be another couple hours til we can see him. Pastor Bob says a prayer with us and leaves. I turn to Kim and say, "Celebrate? I need to get drunk! Pop it." I jest of course.

45 more minutes goes by and I'm toast. Kim stays and I'm headed home. "I will see Cash tomorrow, but send me pics!" She does and I've attached it as the first pic below. The second pic is of the stitches. He looks great! My boy is a stud! What a strong little boy he is. Like his mother, he's a rock.  Kim holds him for an hour plus and comes home around 9:30. Long day.

Well my boy dodged a bullet, finally he catches a much needed break without infection. We both sleep well. Can't wait to see him tomorrow!

to be continued...