Tuesday was a big day for the big man - back in the OR for an airway checkup, reflux testing, and an overnight stay at CHOP. The full force of the anxiety, nerves, and worry hit me when I opened my eyes Monday morning but I kept reminding myself that it could be worse, there are lots of parents who are dealing with much worse, and regardless of what they find it is not going to take away his huge smile and happy life...it didn't really work well though! Finally I went to the old stand-by "this isn't about you Melissa, Jackson is the one going through this and doing the work, you are only his cheerleader on the sideline". I tried to keep my dramatics in check, we have done this 5 times before, but this time was different. He is my baby now, he lives in his home with me, he is a happy little boy who in my eyes is healthy and just fine. This time I was handing over my happy, healthy baby to a surgeon, not walking down to the OR with a team of NICU nurses and a very sick little boy. All of this experience brought back a lot of very bad feelings, even down to hearing the sounds of the monitors and alarms again.
Jackson knew none of this and was happy as a clam all morning even when they gave us the purple gown for him to wear. He pulled all of his usual hospital tricks, not allowing them to get his blood pressure, kicking too much for his monitors to work, smiling and luring all of the nurses in with his sweet self. He tolerated my squeezes and got lots of playtime with Elmo in his big bed. (He looks so big there right? But too tiny to be in that hospital bed!)
It was over in about 90 minutes and the surgeon was very pleased with the results. All 4 of Jackson's issues have either improved or stayed the same. He has less swelling, less irritation, no scar tissue or permananet damage was found. Dr. Javia stressed that more than anything else Jackson just needs time to grow and get stronger. He was so pleased to tell us that right now he thinks that Jackson has a chance to outgrow his airway problems and could avoid reconstructive surgery. We have a few things to work on at home but mainly our babe just needs time! We won't get the results on his reflux testing for a couple of weeks so will update on those at a later date.
It was over in about 90 minutes and the surgeon was very pleased with the results. All 4 of Jackson's issues have either improved or stayed the same. He has less swelling, less irritation, no scar tissue or permananet damage was found. Dr. Javia stressed that more than anything else Jackson just needs time to grow and get stronger. He was so pleased to tell us that right now he thinks that Jackson has a chance to outgrow his airway problems and could avoid reconstructive surgery. We have a few things to work on at home but mainly our babe just needs time! We won't get the results on his reflux testing for a couple of weeks so will update on those at a later date.
Our little man had a hard struggle with recovery and we ended up spending a very long afternoon and night in ICU. When the rounds of morphine and respiratory supported started coming it felt as though we were back in the nightmare of months ago. By Wednesday afternoon he started to really perk up and we were able to get him back home! However we learned a lot of important lessons on what Jackson needs and how to best help him through these procedures. Life is back to normal now though and he is back to his happy loving self! Thank you to everyone for your support, it means the world to know that so many people are pulling for him on days like that!
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