The O.R. is OVER! Next stop... pain.

Dr Mackenzie let us know that the surgery went well from his standpoint: grafting, cabling, fusing, and halo fixation. He let us know that Dr Campbell's part went well also: laminectomy and widening of the foramen. Apparently there were some abnormal responses recorded with the SSEP (testing for motor and sensory); however, changes during procedure are what they are really watching for and the responses remained the same throughout, meaning no apparent cord damage during procedure. Kial did end up needing a little more than a unit of blood during procedure. Again, we were told we need to follow-up on his newly diagnosed anemia.

Didn't get to talk to Anesthesia, but apparently it went well. They were actually able to extubate (take the endotracheal tube out that helped him breathe during surgery) prior to him going to the PICU. This is not always the case, so very happy about that. FYI to my RN friends: He arrived to the PICU a bit acidotic (metabolic acidosis actually with pH of 7.27, don't know what that's about). Will recheck in AM.

It took forever to get to the PICU to be with him. Eric gave me a hug while we were waiting and told me that my heart was racing. I'd done pretty darn good all through the procedure, but I was over it! It had been six hours since we'd seen him and it was time to lay my eyes on my boy. My heart WAS racing! It still ended up taking another full hour before we ever got to see him. But now, we've officially moved into the next phase and the O.R. is behind us! More later...