Post-op Day #2 - Great Day!

SEE PICS ABOVE FROM TODAY.

Practically no "downs" today! EVERYONE got a decent night sleep last night. We started our day with the usual "parade of white-coats." Kahlial's pain has been totally controlled. He complains of his "leg hurt" occasionally, but still does so well. His IV fluid was D/C'd, so we're down to just one saline locked IV and no cords and wires... FREEDOM! We even got him into our stroller with PT and took a walk to see the fabulous electric train they have here at the hospital. There are also a number of people in various areas of the hospital whose hearts Kahlial has won over. They're always asking for updates, so we thought we'd take Kahlial right to them for today's report. Everyone has been so very sweet here.

Our PT, Betsy, and Dr Mackenzie agreed today that the vest was digging into Kial's legs too much when sitting and needed adjustment. We were looking to possibly cut and buff the bottom of the vest to allow more room for sitting. After talking to Dr Mackenzie further, it looked like we were going to end up having to remove the front of the vest which we agreed would be quite traumatic, especially so soon after surgery. Mackenzie's suggestion was to wait until Monday to do the trimming. This sounded great until speaking more with PT and considering the impact on his mobility progression, since most kiddos do better with sitting before standing or attempting to walk. If he isn't comfortable sitting it may set back his confidence and ability to get to the next steps. Anyhow, we went to visit our favorite guy in the prosthetics and orthotics dept (Ronald) and he had the perfect solution... He ended up being able to loosen the rods (makes me nervous, but I trust Ron) and moving the whole front of the vest up. We thought the vest seemed pretty low on his chest in the beginning, so it totally worked out. The vest looks to fit perfectly and the pressure is now relieved from his thighs and we're ready to "go to work."

From there, our day just got better and better. We strolled him all over the hospital, then went back to the room for a nice long nap. During Kahlial's nap we met Dr Mackenzie's social worker. She was super! She brought as a carseat for travel home (may or may not work, but we'll figure that out with PT tomorrow). She even offered to store our current carseat in her office until we returned in March for halo removal... HUGE! Would be so nice not to lug two carseats home, just to turn around and lug them both right back in a few months. Which reminds me...

NOTE TO MEGAN: I've got to give a shout out to our PT at home, Megan, as well as Shriners for helping us figure out additional equipment (walker, bathing station, seat, and table) ahead of time... Again, HUGE! So thankful not to be lugging all those items home from here. Looks like our stroller is going to fit well enough to work in place of a wheelchair, very nice.

We had a visit with Dr Mackenzie's nurse practitioner, Colleen, during K's nap. They (the orthopedic team) feel Kahlial's doing well enough from their perspective that he can be discharged TOMORROW! I was initially a little excited about the prospect, but now I have some mixed feelings. Not able to get outpatient PT on the weekends. If we were still in the hospital we'd be working with folks daily to progress his mobility. If we're discharged, then we're on our own until Monday. Also, we still haven't gone over the pin care. We'll see.

We've gotten pretty comfortable with maneuvering him, now that his pain is controlled and he's not quite so freaked out about being moved around. Still wondering how sitting totally upright, standing and walking is going to go over. Tell you what though, he has been absolutely amazing since his nap. He woke up and said he was "hungy" for the first time. He's eaten two more times since then and been drinking well. He's been moved around LOTS by us, placed completely on both sides, on his tummy on top of Papa's tummy, even asked to get "down" (This experience wasn't quite what he expected, but he tolerated being held/suspended in a semi-standing position). That's our boy!

It really does feel like our boy is coming back to us. Although today was the first time we all truly got a look at the back of his shaved and swollen little head... a bit of a shocker. We decided to let Kahlial see himself in the mirror. I was a bit nervous about this one. I didn't want it to scare him. Though he'd gotten to see the little girl from the RMcDH who'd had her surgery with Mackenzie right after him. She was in her halo (with traction) and he wasn't scared at all. He told her, "Bye Therese, Bye halo!" Poor little darling wasn't doing as well as Kahlial in the pain department though. We feel incredibly fortunate to have Kahlial in the state he's in and progressing so quickly.

Anyhow, we let him see himself in the mirror and we could not have gotten a better response... He gave himself a little grin and paused to look at himself awhile, then said, "Mama, Papa, Kial, halo" pointing out all the reflections he was seeing in the mirror. That's our boy... our hero! Always blowing us away by his strength and resilience!