It is late and I am finally home but wanted to get an update out to everyone before I try and get some sleep.
I apologize if I haven’t returned your call or text or email. I am getting them all and feel the love and support that is coming from all of you. The power of all the prayers being said on our behalf is truly undeniable. Thank you so much and please keep them coming.
I got to the hospital this morning at . Dallin had been taken for an MRI and was waiting to hear back from the doc. He had last eaten at the night before and was finally allowed some ice chips. He is so used to drinking water that dry mouth has been his biggest complaint. He could fast forever if he needed to but the water thing is another story.
An internal meds dr came to make sure he had no abdominal injuries and he does not. He said they found 3 cysts on his liver that are not connected to this injury and will need to be followed up in a few months down the road. Nothing to be concerned about.
Dr. Boatwright came in after and explained the 2 options for surgery- going in from the back or from the side. He said they were looking for a hospital that would take him since he was not trained in moving the diaphragm which would need to be moved if going in from the side which was the preferred route. But they were making plans to transfer him either to Savannah Charleston Savannah
Our dear friend Mark and KC came and gave Dallin an incredible blessing which really put my mind at ease. After they stayed for a short visit, Dallin left via ambulance for Savannah
I went back to church to make arrangements for the boys for the rest of the day then picked up some things from the house and drove in.
Then it was the wait game. Since it was a trauma hospital, they start from scratch, drawing more blood and they put the neck brace back on Dallin. That really ticked him off. It was hot and uncomfortable and his neck had already been cleared. 4 hours later, it was taken off by Dr. Suh (rhymes with moo). This guy is awesome. He explained how the disk was compressed and the pros and cons to both entries for surgery. Then he took me to see Dallin’s scans so I could completely understand what he was saying. Wow. It made me remember why I wanted to be a surgeon once upon a time. Basically, Dallin’s L1 is about half the size of the other vertebrae and it protrudes into the spine canal. So they go in from the side, pushit back into place and build a support around the disk and drill it into place. The ONLY concern with this approach is that he has a small blood clot in the disk that they would need to screw into, possibly weakening the stability. If they found that it was not stable, they would have to go in from the back and attach a plate. Two surgeries, Going in from the back means stripping away the already torn ligaments and clearing a path to the spine plus flipping him over and so the big preference is to do it from the side.
The general surgeon will come see Dallin during his rounds tonight or tomorrow morning, make a final decision and schedule him in for surgery sometime Monday. Hopefully! I’d hate to see him lay there another day without progress.
After seeing the scans and talking extensively with Dr. Suh as well as what was said in Dallin’s blessing, I strongly feel, have no doubt really, that they will choose to go in from the side and there will be no problem in stabilizing the support. As can be expected, the whole idea of surgery especially to do with the spine makes Dallin nervous but I reassured him that if I have learned anything from my twin experience is that I completely trust my intuition and feelings on what was discussed. I’m sure it will be one of those surgeries where the docs look back and are completely baffled by how perfect it went and how amazingly quick he healed. Everyone is calling him the perfect surgical candidate because he is as healthy as a horse.
Once Suh left, Dallin was cleared to eat and drink and I was happy with how much he took in before I left. The meds they had been giving him really hadn’t been cutting it all day so they gave him percocet which kicked in and really made a difference then he will be on a pain pump for the night. I left around 930, he had eaten, drank and peed and was comfortable on meds and looking forward to getting a good sleep.
The nurse will call me tonight when he gets scheduled and we will go from there.
The boys are doing great. They think life is just one big play date party these last few days. They went to church then back to Langfords and came home to their own beds where a couple friends stayed with them til I got home. We are definitely being looked after and are so grateful for all of you. Thank you and keep it coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment