Sunday, October 22, 2006

October 17, 2006 - Day After Aiden's Surgery


6:00 am: Aiden got an early start to the day today! When he woke up, he was pretty groggy, and really just wanted to sit in the rocking chair with me and relax. But, before we sat, Aiden posed for this cute picture to show that he still has a smile, even early in the morning the day after surgery. :>

Aiden's nurse came in a couple of times, took his vital signs, and thought everything looked good. Aiden actually sat with me in the chair and watched a bit of Canada AM (He MUST have been groggy, because he ususally has no interest at all in TV. Or, maybe he just likes Shamus :>). Aiden's new IV doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. It is in his forearm, and the IV nurse put a board on it and wrapped it up with a terry facecloth and tape, so that seems to be working for him. He does play with his head bandage a bit, but it doesn't seem to be causing him too much discomfort.

7:30 am: Okay, now Aiden has really woken up and wants to be on the go! He has NO interest in sitting with me anymore, or hanging out in his crib. However, he is attached to an IV line and cord that are only about 3 feet in length. So, the distance he can travel is frusteratingly short (for both of us!). Plus, with only one dose of antibiotics to go, I don't want to take any risks of losing that IV again.

8:30 am: Breakfast time! I ordered Aiden pancakes, syrup, cheese and a banana from the Room Service menu (so cool!!). I actually figured that he might eat a little bit, and then I could finish the rest. But, he ate the WHOLE thing!! After breakfast, Aiden played a little bit and then the nurse came in to give him his last dose of Antibiotics and take his IV out. Taking the IV out went considerably smoother than putting it in. Once Aiden was free of his IV, there was no holding him back. He was on the go and wandered out of his room, and up and down the hall of his wing (much to everyone's amazement!).


10:30 am: I put Aiden down for a nap, and went downstairs to get a coffee. When I got back, my Mom was in the room with Aiden, and he was wandering around again! Does this boy EVER get tired? I was really starting to wonder. Aiden's nurse had told me about a playroom for their overnight guests just down the hall, and so all three of us went for a walk down there.

It was at the playroom that I found a computer with an Internet connection, and posted the following quick message on this Blog (which some of you have seen). It is so clear that I wrote this in a hurry (nice spelling and grammer Nicole!) and was so disjointed that I was going to delete it. But, I changed my mind. One day Aiden will likely want to read exactly what I had to say to let everyone know how he was doing. So, here it is again:

Everything went amazingly well with Aiden's surgery!

When the surgeon first met with us, he was pretty sure that Aiden would just be having the Mastoidectomy. But, when he went in, the Mastoid bone was free of fluid and infection, and he went ahead and did the whole implant surgery!

Aiden is doing really well today. Actually, we are in the CHEO playroom right now and Aiden is playing with my Mom. I found and internet connection here, so I'm taking a minute to let you all know how well he's doing. He just had his IV removed, and so he's happy to be out and about moving around.

The actual surgery yesterday went very well. The surgeon actually called it a textbook implant. The Audiologist was in the operating room before they closed him up to test the implant, and it works really well already. She even got some responses from the auditory nerve that she wasn't even expecting.

Aiden spent 2 hours in the recovery room where he mostly just slept with Ric and I holding him. Then we were admitted into his room, and he had a pretty unsettled evening. He lost his IV line, and getting a new one was pretty tramatic (for everyone involved!). But, after that (and a little Codine) he slept fairly well overnight.

This morning he woke up happy and hungry - he ate pancakes, cheese and a banana. They actually have a really cool way to serve food here. There is a room service line and menu, and when your child is hungry, you just call up and order something off the menu. It's then delivered to your room in under 20 minutes. Too bad the parent's can't order too!! I was joking with the nurse that I was going to order Tacos and Chili Fries for Aiden. She said maybe I should start with something a little lighter. I don't thing she got my joke :}

Well, my Mom is chasing Aiden down the hall, so I better sign off. Needless to say, his recovery is going well. If all continues this way, we should be going home tomorrow.


11:30 am: Aiden has played and played (and totally charmed the Playroom volunteers) and walked and walked. So, Mom and I ordered him some lunch with the intent of putting him to bed right after. The last cute picture above is of Aiden having his lunch of Kraft Dinner, carrots and grapes - which he wolfed down (singing to himself all the while!!). After lunch, we managed to get him to sleep. We had to stand outside of the room so that he couldn't see us to actually get him down.

12:30 pm: Mom bought me lunch at the hospital cafeteria, and we brought it back to eat in the room. Then, after a whole 45 minute sleep, Aiden was up again. There was more walking, and more playing in the playroom. We even had a couple of visitors.

3:15 pm: Ric and Noah met up with us on our way back from the playroom, so we went back and played some more! This child of ours is supposed to be a bit tired and lazy from a SEVEN hour surgery yesterday right? Not a chance! Noah gave Aiden a very cute little John Deere Combine that he picked out from the gift store :>

4:45 pm: Mom and Noah headed home.

6:00 pm: I headed home, and left Ric with Aiden for the night. I think when I got back to my Mom and Dad's that I was asleep by 7:30 :> I was so tired.

Overnight: Aiden and Ric had a great night. Aiden had a sound sleep, and by the sounds of it so did Ric!!

4 Comments:

At 10:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I entered Aiden's room this morning he was lying down and I think sleeping. My heart went out to him and blanketed him with love as it has done so many times before. I had only been there a few minutes when I turned around and he was standing up in his crib. I picked him up and held him but really he was more interested in walking. He was quickly getting back to his old self. He only wanted to get out into the hall and explore. It was just amazing to see this little determined guy persevere from one room to the next. Aiden has only been walking about three weeks if that and to see him walking with both hands up in the air for balance as he teetered from side to side was almost more than I could bear. He is so fragile, so relilient. I was ready to catch him if he fell but he just kept on, one step at a time and it wasn't long before his gait became more relaxed and confident. To see him walk up and down and around the ward was like seeing someone on a marathon. His determination and independence is something to behold. He smiled at everyone and of course they all smiled at him. The nurses kept remaking at how well he was doing one day after his surgery. Time for lunch and he was certainly ready for it. He had a spoon in one hand and a fork in the other and just kept the food coming. The little guy must have been starving! He certainly enjoyed the feast, sitting cross legged on his crib surrounded with little containers of his favorite foods.
Aiden is so easy to please. He is curious about everything and loves to touch new things as his way of checking them out. If there is something to climb on he is going to try it. The linen cart was obviously made just for him! It was in the hall empty and made the ideal playtoy. All the cupboard doors became his personal challenge. He saw people coming and going from other patient's rooms and he was wanting to do the same. We drew the line at that however. The play room was a great place and the volunteers there took as much interest in us as Mom and Grandma as they did Aiden. They were most kind and we welcomed their care for us all.

Of couse this has been a stressful time for us all. We have seen Aiden go through much and we so hope and pray this can proceed without complications or further delays. It is nothing short of miraculous what this new technology offers to deaf children and adults. The people involved at every level have so supportive and kind and encouraging as we have learned to walk this new journey. We know there is a long way to go but we go on from here with renewed hope and optimism and gratitude.
The first post-op day has been a good one.

 
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