handsful

Tonight, on our ride home from the mall, it occurred to me that today is our FIVE month Gotcha-versary with Dylan :)

Obviously the big news this month is Dylan’s surgery is BEHIND US.  Yippee!  And, let me tell you, it’s acting as if nothing happened.  Cast?  No big deal.  Pain?  Only a teensy bit around bedtime.

Mobility?  He’s back up to speed, which I’m thinking the doctors would be frowning about.  He was scooting on his bottom, but now he crawling with his long leg behind him and the cast dragging right along.  They don’t want him putting direct pressure on it, and technically he’s not.  But, I’m afraid he’s going to drag a hole in it!  I want to find something I can put on the end (cut off end of a tube sock??) that will take the friction and I can replace if needed.

Dealing with this cast is SO much easier than his last one was.  Maybe because we’ve BTDT?  Also, this cast is smaller (not as fat around his waist, and obviously shorter than the other one).  So, his pants fit better.  And, I had an idea to cut the side seam of  his unders (1 size larger than usual) and use velcro strips to close it around the cast.  Problem…I don’t sew.  So, Gram came to the rescue and made 3 pairs for us to use.  Since he’s potty trained, I wanted him to be able to wear unders and not a pull-up (which he does wear to bed).  They work perfectly!

What else is new….

his favorite new word is “why”.  He asks it constantly.  I’ll answer one why question, and he quickly follows up with…”why mommy?”

loves waffles, noodles, pizza, and bananas.  Isn’t so fond of yogurt anymore.

wears his sister’s plastic necklaces whenever he gets the chance.

is crazy about getting haircuts.

What’s NOT new?  Still weighs 27lbs.  Well, according to the hospital, 27.15lbs.  Hey, he’s gaining, right??

Dylan, you’re such a joy.  Sweet, goofy, melt our hearts kinda kid.  Happy 5 months!!

Excuse the goofy shot.  He was being…well, goofy.  We had to bring his car seat up to the room to make sure his cast fit.  No problem there.

The doctors made their rounds EARLY.  7:10am to be exact.  He was given the green light to go home, so we spent the morning having breakfast and packing up.

He got his cast “tricked out” before we left.  They padded the edges with mole skin and then he chose a camo wrap.  He’s in very little pain, and is already scooting around on his bottom a little.

We are amazed that, less than 24hrs from his surgery, we were on the way home.  Our experiences at both the R McD house and Shriners in Greenville, SC could not have been any better…the staff, doctors, everyone was so caring.  We feel very comfortable there already.  Good thing, since we’ll be spending a good deal of time there off and on for a lot of years!

I think I may make Dylan a paper chain, so he can see how much time there is until he gets his cast off.  I need something to help him visualize these steps to getting his “new leg”.   We’re thankful that this particular step is behind him :)

Morning of surgery, snuggling with his panda pillow (thanks, Sandi, he LOVES it…)

While Randy feeds Dylan his dinner, I’m sitting in a lovely, open area with an indoor waterfall behind me, catching everyone up on Dylan’s day.

Surgery was scheduled for 10:45, so we arrived at 9am.  Dylan was in good spirits, until we put his gown on him.  He got kinda quiet at that point, wondering what was going on.  We could still make him laugh, though.

He took us loopy medicine, but only got wobbly.  No funny stories to tell…rats.  As a reward for taking the medicine (which we’ve heard tastes just yucky), the nurse wheeled in this huge wagon and told him to choose a toy.  It looked like Christmas in that wagon!  He chose a doctor kit, that he’s already gotten a lot of use out of.  He gave every nurse and doctor that came in a shot!

The time came to wheel him away.  Randy said a prayer over him, I kissed his little foot, and off he went.  I managed to hold my tears in.

We were told it would take 1 1/2 hours, so we went to the waiting room and then grabbed lunch from the cafeteria and brought it back.  Only about 40min into it, the surgeon walks in.  Huh?  It was a breeze, no complications, easy-peasy.   We were thrilled to hear that he’d done so well.

feeding him ice chips

He’s been awake all day, transitioning from ice chips to juice to crackers and now to dinner.  He’s literally eating and drinking as much as we give him.  And, wearing out the portable urinal.  Maybe this will push him over the 27lb mark?  Yes, that’s STILL what he weighed yesterday at his pre-op appt.

We’re told that, if he continues to do well, he’ll be discharged tomorrow.  Great news!  He’s beginning to have some pain in his leg, but they’re giving him medicine.  After dinner, he gets to leave the bed and we’ll pull him around in the wagon.

* added next day…after our walk, he decided to hang out in the wagon and watch a movie.  Looks like a great set-up, huh?

We left the house this morning at 7:15, arriving at our appt. at Shriners in Greenville, SC right on time.  We saw the child life specialist, nurses, anesthesiologist, surgeons, pain management specialist, and prosthetist.  Everyone was SO nice and welcoming, we feel very well taken care of here.  He received a stuffed dog at admission, his choice of Build-a-Bear (he chose the guy dressed up to go fishing…Ethan, you’ll love it), and then received another bear at the R McD house later on!

Some points of interest:

The surgeon said he would call Dylan’s deformity either a tibial deficiency or transverse deficiency.

He won’t have to cut through bone (GOOD news!), but will cut through the (fixed) joint instead.  Much easier, less pain, faster healing.

His surgery is scheduled for 10:45am and should take about 1 1/2hrs.  They expect he’ll only be in the hosp for 1 night.

They will give him a caudal block, which is similar to a spinal block – this will numb him completely from the belly down.  It’s given by injection at the sacral gap above his bottom.  This will last for 8 hours after surgery, which they say will help reduce the risk of phantom limb pain.  They will give him this when he’s already asleep.

He will come out of surgery already casted (his short leg completely incased in the cast), which will stay on for about 3-4 weeks.

After the cast is removed, he’ll be in a pressure sock (to help bring down any residual swelling) for another 2 weeks.

After that, work can begin on making his prosthetic leg!!

After his pre-op, we drove around downtown Greenville and were surprised to see how nice it is.  We parked and walked around, had lunch, and did a little shopping.  We then checked in at the R McD house, where we were given a tour and shown our room.  It’s actually a suite, with a living area, bath, and bedroom.

playroom…he’s loving the train table.

This place is wonderful, I can’t say enough about it.  Volunteers in the community bring a homemade dinner every night.  Tonight’s meal was provided by a baptist church, and we had mac n’ cheese, chicken patties, rolls, potato salad, sweet tea…all very good!  There is a huge pantry of food that we’re free to use, a great playroom and outdoor playset, big family room downstairs with TV (which, Randy is watching the b-ball playoffs right now), etc.  We’ve met some nice people staying here…one young man having surgery tomorrow right before Dylan’s and 2 families with pre-mature babies at the hospital beside Shriners.

Walking UP the slide.  There’s just nothing he can’t do.

he’s hopping so well lately!

daddy and Dylan slide races.

After dinner, we headed back out downtown for ice cream, then back to the room for Dylan’s bath (last one for 3-4 weeks!), and then it was off to bed for him.  He’s been asking all day to “go home”…I think he senses this is different and I expect him to be a little scared tomorrow.  We’ve talked about him going to the hospital, going night-night while they “fix” his leg, and then having a cast like last time.  (benefit of him breaking his leg in January is that body casts are BTDT for him…God does work in mysterious ways)   He asked for his new leg a few times today, and we keep trying to explain to him that other things have to happen first and THEN he’ll get his leg.  How do you explain time to a 3 year old?

Clean boy!

See you tomorrow with another update on our sweet guy.

Hollyn came to see us today.  She gave Dylan a glimpse into his future.  Almost 3 years ago, she went through the same surgery that Dylan faces on Tuesday.  She showed Dylan her short leg, and her prosthetic.  His eyes widened when he saw her leg was like his.

We met Hollyn’s family soon after we moved here.  We were amazed that God would provide this family for us!  Plus, her older sister and Abbey are great friends.  Sandi told us that Hollyn was very excited to have a playmate to have hopping races with.  So…

She kicked off her leg, and they hopped!

We leave tomorrow morning for Shriners.  I’ll be updating the blog while we’re there.  Lots of emotions right now…but, I’m trusting that God will hold Dylan and the rest of us closely during this time!

What?

You didn’t expect a photo of Ethan smashing a toilet with a hammer?  I guess you’ve never been to Gram’s for Easter.  All kids love a little demolition duty.

Randy had to get a swing in, too.

I had to include this shot….Randy’s brother on the throne, with his sweet son about to clock him on the head with a hammer.  Sweet.

Getting ready for the actual Easter egg hunt, Pa-Paul decided he needed a little practice for 4th of July.  We were all getting a tad bit confused.

Time for the hunt!  Dylan’s first.

Lainey was going so fast, all her pictures are blurry!

Dylan, feeling triumphant after a successful hunt.

The big kids (who hide all the eggs for the younger kids) work together to figure out clues that lead them to their BIG eggs full of treats.

Tony and Randy…doing what they do.  Making each other laugh.

Great shot.

The crew, minus 1.  We missed having Caleb here this year, but he wasn’t able to get away from college this time.

For the record, Abbey had on cowboy boots with heels.  Just sayin’

Time to open the eggs.  Gram has each egg coded with a sticker, one for his grandkid.  So, each child gets the same number of eggs.  I can’t imagine how long it must take to do ALL those eggs.

Skip forward to today…on our way to church.  Jesus is risen!!

Gram came home with us, so we can take Dylan to Shriners in SC for his surgery…she’ll stay home with the other 5.  What a blessing that is!

Easter carnival at a local horse ranch = horse rides!  Or, as Dylan says “poursie” rides.

They asked for days before, “how many night-nights till we ride horsies?”

they couldn’t stop smiling.

I guess we have more horse lovers in the family.

our knight on a white horse :)

A happy day for our littles!