Although Braden was fighting the gooey green monster bug starting this last Friday, we were scheduled Monday for Braden's mediport surgery. His white cell count was pretty high at 25,000 on Friday, but after 3 days of antibiotic shots, by Monday he was "cleared" for surgery, as his counts came back the lowest we have ever seen them, at a mere 8,600!!
The mediport is semi-permanent vein access for shots, IV's, or any time blood needs to be taken. We almost lost Braden a few weeks ago, as the lack of vein access nearly proved fatal for him, so this surgery is one that we really wanted to have done, and had already been discussing with our medical team for some time now. Braden is such a tough 'stick', they couldn't even get access to do the surgery itself! So what is normally a 15 min surgery became an hour, as they took extra special care to ensure there were no problems, and they ended up using the medi-port once it was in to give him fluids in post-op.
Braden gave them a little trouble coming out of anesthesia, but it was a successful day overall. The port sticks up from the skin like a little tumor looking thing, or like he has been working out hard on his pecs on the one side:-) He doesn't seem to mind it, or be bothered much by the incision either... his big fussiness these days are from the fifth tooth that still hasn't broken in. We think that will be the last in this group.
FOR SOME UPLIFTING NEWS... Braden has not had a seizure since we left the hospital from our strep B & pneumonia a few weeks ago, and we have seen some incredible changes and progress in him. He is now turning his head at his own will and even holding it mid-line more, and even trying to lift it up!! He can bear weight on his legs for 15 minutes at a time, and seems to really enjoy that. He is taking fewer naps these days too - probably due mostly to the large decrease in seizure activity. We are just savoring and soaking in every moment with him now, as we see more interaction and "play" (or at least tolerance for it) with him.
We hope to get Braden together with another special baby this weekend named Jackson. If so, we will post pics for you to enjoy. Thanks for checking in on us!
Kodi, Brad, & Braden
2 comments:
Super glad this surgery went as well as could be hoped for! A play date even - my my isn't Braden becoming the social butterfly. Sending love and prayers your way!
Victoria
Thank you Jesus for continuing to take care of Braden! I know that any success, or miracle is just a breath of fresh air for you guys. Keep strong, and I can't wait to see more pics!
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