Hand Surgery Recovery

It's been one week since Caleb's hand surgery! I took Caleb to see the surgeon last Thursday, and he'll go back next Monday. I think he'll get his bandages off at his next appointment. He seems to be doing really well. He hasn't needed any Tylenol the last few days, and he doesn't ever mess with the bandages. It probably helps that I keep the arm bandages covered most of the time, and the groin bandage is covered by his pants.

(Sorry for the poor-quality iPhone pics) 

Syndactyly Surgery

Caleb had his syndactyly release surgery on his right hand this morning. We arrived at the hospital shortly before 5:30 and were taken to a pre-op room shortly before 6:00. After getting his vitals checked, we spent time playing, reading, and taking photos (cue eye roll from Brad).

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb seemed like an appropriate book to read before surgery. 

Above is one last look at his right hand before surgery. We won't see his "released" hand for at least a week, maybe two.

He was taken back to the OR at 7:00. It took about 30 minutes to prep him, and the surgeon started at 7:30. The surgery took about 2.5 hours. The surgeon came out to the waiting room afterward, and then Brad and I were both able to go back to recovery and be with him around 10:30. 

He was very fussy for quite a while during recovery, and we thought it was just because he was waking up from anesthesia. We tried all sorts of things to get him to calm down. Offering him juice, offering him water, breathing in humidified air, breathing in some supplemental oxygen, covering him with warm blankets, rocking, bouncing, etc. Eventually, the nurses decided that he was probably in some pain. A dose of Tylenol/codeine and he felt quite a bit better. Sorry it took us all so long to figure that one out, Caleb! 

We were able to take him home around 1:00. Caleb has slept off and on for most of the afternoon/evening. When he has been awake, he has been wanting to eat and drink. He hasn't had any pain medicine since 11:30, but we will probably give him a dose right before bedtime. 

Thanks to everyone who prayed for Caleb and for those who sent us thoughtful messages today. Thanks to Jen for giving us some BabyLegs that her son no longer needed. I was able to modify them with my sewing machine, and now they're cute bandage covers for Caleb's arm! Thanks also to our sweet neighbor who prepared a delicious dinner for us this evening! 

Caleb's One Year Photos

Here are some of Caleb's one year photos, as well as a few family photos we had taken during the same session.

 





 

 

 

 

MMR Reaction or a Virus?

When Caleb was a few weeks old, we had the vaccine conversation with our pediatrician. Should we vaccinate? Should we follow an alternate schedule or the one recommended by the AAP? Do vaccines cause Autism? You know... all those things you hear about on the evening news and at the "natural baby" stores. As expected, our pediatrician recommended the traditional vaccination schedule and said that the vaccine/Autism research has been discredited. We considered her thoughts and decided to follow her recommendations.

Caleb had his one year check-up on Tuesday, October 29th and received several vaccines (MMR, varicella, flu, and another one that I can't remember right now). Aside from a few tears during and immediately after the shots, Caleb did fine. No fever or other issues... until Sunday, November 3rd. He sounded a little congested Sunday morning and a little "hoarse" when he cried. He took a brief nap before church, and he also took a nap in the church nursery. The nap at church isn't abnormal but definitely strange since he had napped before church too. At lunch, he refused to eat and was very irritable. Brad and I took turns holding him, and eventually, he fell asleep. Nap #3 before 2:00pm. Caleb's pediatrician is a partner at two pediatric after hours clinics in OKC, so I called both to see if she was working that day. She wasn't, but we decided to go ahead and take him to the location closest to our house. The triage nurse thought he had croup, but I knew he didn't. He had croup before, and this was definitely not the same thing. The doctor said his throat was very red and swollen. He tested negative for strep, so she said it was probably a virus.

The sore throat, hoarse cry, and irritability continued for a few more days, accompanied with very restless nights and a low-grade fever. On Wednesday, Nov 6th, a rash appeared on his torso. Brad called the pediatrician's office and spoke with a nurse (not Caleb's regular nurse). She said "That's his MMR reaction." She said it would run its course in a few days and to give him Tylenol to keep him comfortable. The rash spread to his arms and legs the next day, so I called the nurse again. She still insisted it was a reaction to the MMR. No mention of a possible virus.

By Sunday, Nov 10th, he started feeling a little better. The rash started going away, and he hadn't had a fever for a couple days. Even though he was improving, I took him to the pediatrician's office on Monday, Nov 11th. Caleb's hand surgery pre-op appointment was scheduled for the next day, and I wanted to make sure the pediatrician thought he'd be okay for surgery the following week. She examined him and said that she couldn't say for sure if it was a reaction or a virus. Since his throat was fine and the rash was going away, she diagnosed him with an "improving virus" and said he'd be fine for surgery.

It's been 2.5 weeks since Caleb received his vaccine, and it's been almost two weeks since symptoms appeared. He seems to be feeling fine and is back to sleeping 11-12 hours each night (thank goodness!). We don't know for sure if Caleb had a reaction to the MMR vaccine or a virus, but all of his symptoms do line up with what we've read online about MMR reactions. Who knows.

I don't blame Caleb's pediatrician for the vaccine recommendation she gave us, and we don't regret the decisions we made based on the info we had at the time. We don't know yet how we'll approach his vaccines in the future, but we've got time to figure that out. For now, we're trying to catch up on lost sleep and prepare for Caleb's hand surgery on Monday.

Hand Surgery Pre-op

Caleb's third surgery of 2013 is right around the corner... next Monday, Nov 18th! Caleb has syndactyly, and the surgery is to separate his middle finger and ring finger on his right hand.

Caleb had his pre-op appointment this afternoon. We completed all of the registration paperwork and got the surgery day instructions. We have to arrive at the hospital at 5:30 Monday morning. I don't know what time the surgery is scheduled for, but my guess is sometime around 7:30-8:00. The surgery should take about four hours. It is an outpatient surgery, so we should be back home Monday afternoon/evening. 

Caleb also has syndactyly on his left hand, and he'll have surgery on that hand sometime in early 2014.