Gather your things... He's out of surgery!

We just finished meeting with Dr. S for a post-surgery consultation.

Wow. That is about all I have to say. Our meeting opened with Dr. S telling us that once the rods were placed and straightened, his neurological monitoring improved. Definitely not expected! The goal was to maintain his neurological function, and keep it from getting worse. So, clearly this was amazing news! The thought is that the straightening of his spine has relieved some of the pressure on the spinal cord, which apparently may have been affecting him. We will continue to watch him, however, we know that the way he is made is perfect for Isaac. I (Kristi) still maintain the stance that he will still get around like Isaac does, and likely won't walk unassisted, but we'll just have to wait and see. His pelvis is very discombobulated (the NICU doc's words from when he was born), so we know the likelihood is
low, but we'll definitely continue to let him develop as Isaac does - on his own timeline and to his own ability.

Back to the surgery - we also got to see the x-rays they took of Isaac after they got the rods placed. Another wow. He is likely a half an inch taller! Dr. S was able to straighten out a portion of the kyphosis (hump) in his back, and there is some hope (keep all fingers crossed), that this will help alleviate some of the strain on his stomach, and he will tolerate eating better, and we'll be on the road to recovery from both the surgery and back on track eating wise. Long shot, but it wouldn't be the first time he's surprised us. :)  Isaac will likely be at CMH until Monday will the goal of him gaining as much strength as possible before going home.  The surgery went so well that Isaac only lost about 50cc's of blood (a tablespoon and a half) and thus didn't require a blood transfusion.  He also will not need a breathing tube tonight as he did so well in surgery and going to the recovery room that it is not needed.  It really is amazing how well he did.  Dr. S was relieved to get the rods portion of the surgery done and get him stabilized.  There is now no real timetable for his second surgery, which might be pushed off a bit based on how he does these next few weeks.  Everyone agrees he needs to gain a little weight, and recover fully before proceeding with the next surgery.

We are so thankful for the doctors here at CMH (there were about 12 in the OR for this procedure).  Everyone has been great throughout.

We will update the blog one more time tonight, hopefully with a pic of our little guy and then will update over the next few days as we have any news.

Again, we can't express how much gratitude we have for all of the thoughts and prayers that have been offered up on Isaac's behalf. We feel your presence!

*** Gather your things - one of the staff people in the waiting room would continually call families that their kid's surgery was completed, and basically yell "Isaac's family ....  Gather Your Things..." It's time to go see your child!