"I'm a tough guy!

Thursday, November 7th was Owen's third eye muscle procedure (second on his left eye) at Akron Children's Hospital. He took the picture above the morning of the surgery. He told me "I'm a tough guy!" and wanted me to take a picture of his muscles. 

We had to arrive at the hospital at 11:45 for a scheduled start time of 1:15 for his surgery with Dr. Hertle. 

 We got to admitting and checked in and then had to go upstairs to check into the surgery floor. When we got there, the Nurse started the usual questions and examination. Owen was doing fine until she put the blood pressure cuff on his arm. He did not like that and got upset and cried. He quickly calmed down, but I know he could sense something was going on and he kept telling me "I want to go home."

It was mentioned at his 3 year well visit on October 31st that Owen has a heart murmur. It was brought up one time, when he was 2 weeks old and taken to Children's for his first asthma attack, but never mentioned again until last week. So, the Nurse practitioner listened and said she could definitely hear one but that she didn't think it was that bad and had she not been told to look for one, she doesn't know if she would have caught it. 

Anesthesiology had to clear Owen for surgery and once I mentioned that the Nurse who called for his pre-op questions cleared it, they agreed it was okay to proceed with surgery without him going through a Cardio work-up. 

The operating room Nurse came back to get Owen a few moments later and he grabbed her hand and walked right back. No problems, no fuss. I was so proud of him! I wanted to kiss him before he walked back but when I saw how easily he walked away with the Nurse I didn't want to draw attention and give him a reason to get anxious so I let him go. He went back into surgery almost a full hour before he was scheduled to, so it was nice we didn't have to wait around very long.

The blessing of these eye muscle procedures is that they don't take very long. Owen was in surgery for maybe 25 minutes at most.

Dr. Hertle came up to us in the waiting room and said Owen did very well and was on his way back to recovery. He told us that Owen said "I want my Mommy" when they were putting him to sleep but he handled everything like a champ. 

When we made it back to recovery he was still sleeping. The Nurse had to forcefully wake him up, which he was not happy about. Once I was holding him and we were snuggling he was okay and went back to sleep. We were moved to Phase II recovery a short while later and they monitored his vitals a little while longer and then released us to go home. 

Owen was a little cranky and quite lethargic the rest of the day. But, I did manage to get a smile. We laid on the couch most of the day and watched Monsters University. I gave him a dose of pain medicine and had to sneak it into his sippy cup. Addison had basketball practice so I left to take her to that and when I texted to check on him, he was passed out. 

When I got home I snuggled him a little while longer and then moved him upstairs to his bed. He didn't even budge. He slept almost 11 hours too. He desperately needed it! He was so tired from the events of the day. 

Yesterday you could barely tell he had surgery done. He didn't look swollen or bruised and you couldn't even see the red on his eye. But today, you can definitely tell. 

 We have his follow-up appointment at 8:30 in the morning with Dr. Hertle. I am hoping to hear this was the last eye muscle procedure, but ya never know. 

 Owen was given a stuffed animal dog by his Phase I recovery nurse and he named him Copper. He desperately wants a puppy and has been asking for one for awhile. This will have to do for now.

Surgery #4

Owen went to see Dr. Murthy at Akron Children's on September 16th for his yearly check-up. Everything is good and there is nothing of any concern right now. We'll go back next year in September for a CT scan and he'll go through developmental testing to check where he is and to ensure he's on track for his age.

We also had to go see Dr. Hertle for a check-up on September 30th and it looks like we'll be going through another eye muscle surgery. His fourth surgery overall, third on his eyes. We're on the books for November 7th at 10:30 am.

Owen turned three years old on September 21st. We did a Spongebob birthday theme for him. He was certainly spoiled. He's developed an obsession with all the typical boy stuff... Toy Story, Cars, Spongebob, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thomas... he loves it all. He is so much fun.

We've now been post-op from his CVR/FOA for almost 2.5 years! It amazes me to think of everything he's gone through in his short life. He will have one amazing story to tell his children someday!

The other side

Two years ago, on May 27th, 2011, Owen had surgery to correct his birth defect... right coronal craniosynostosis.

The day of his surgery was the most afraid I had ever been in my life. I didn't know what the future held for my sweet, loveable little boy. As his Mother I felt like a failure. I felt like I let this happen to him and it was supposed to be me who fixed it but the reality was, I was powerless to stop it. My husband and I had to trust two surgeons we had just met with our precious baby boy. We had to trust them with his life.

Dr. Ananth Murthy (Plastic and Reconstructive surgery) and Dr. Roger Hudgins (Neurosurgery) are miracle workers. What they did for our Owen that day.... there are no words to express the gratitude.

A year post-op we faced two eye surgeries to correct lazy eye issues in both the right eye and left eye. My little boy did it all with a smile. So many people told me how resilient kids are before the first surgery, but until you witness your child going through something like this, you can't understand what they mean. But it's true. Kids are amazing. MY kid is amazing.

Two years post-op, Owen is a typical two year old little boy. He loves Toy Story, Cars, Spongebob, Thomas the Tank, splashing in the mud, playing outside, snuggling with Mama and giving hugs and kisses to his Daddy and Sissy. He's everything I dreamed of when I heard the words "It's a boy!"

The past two years have been quite a ride, but the for the first time in a long time, I am not afraid of the future. I am excited for what comes next.... and with this little boy in my life, I know it will be incredible.