Bastien’s Cranial Vault Reshaping Surgery Day

6:45 PM {{{Big Head}}}

We got to see Bastien in the recovery room for a few moments, then followed him up to his new space in the PICU. It really was shocking to see his new, big head. Additionally, his whole body looks a little more swollen than usual. It is going to take a while to get familiar with this new and changing look, that’s for sure. Happily, he has been sleeping the whole time since surgery and they are really managing any indications of pain with morphine. While we were with him in the PICU, he briefly stirred and opened one eye and I was so glad he got to look right at me and know that I was there.

I can certainly see why the plastic surgeon said people will think he looked better before surgery (he said we may be thinking this for 6-8 weeks, but we will be glad once the swelling goes down). The first thing I noticed, besides his little Frankenstein forehead bulges, is that his eyebrows now are in more of a line across his forehead, rather than dipping to the sides. His eyes also look longer and his eyelashes more pronounced.

His nurse encouraged us to go to our hotel room and get some good rest tonight, since the following days will be less than restful. I am in our cozy spot now, waiting for Jim to return from CVS with Sudafed (this place is really aggravating his allergies) and some dinner. I can barely keep my eyes open thanks to 3 hours of sleep last night. I don’t think either of us will have any trouble sleeping tonight. I feel really confident that the PICU will call for us if he’s up for more than a few minutes, and that really puts my mind at ease. I would like to add that I have met a lot of staff today involved with this surgery and they are all very likeable, intelligent people. Thank God for that! Also, we are grateful for your abundance of prayers (I am certain this is where all my confidence and strength came from today), for my parents for coming to wait it out with us and make the day go by super fast, for the visit with Kristy from craniokids.org whose now cranio-corrected son was checking out today, for the visit from Brian from church, for the blog love from Marie and Ed, and for Mary Jo (Mom) for reminding us that today is the feast day of St. Sebastian!

Have a peaceful night–we will post again with updates tomorrow.

4:20 PM
We just met with the neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon. Surgery went well–he has no foreign matter in his head (screws, plates) as they were able to use a “tongue and groove” technique to shape his bones. His swelling should begin within 24 hours and then the eyes will probably swell shut (worst part). He can go home when he 1. has no fever 2. can keep food down and 3. can open at least one eye. Last word is that he has been in the recovery room for a half hour. We’re hoping to get up to see him soon.

3:00 PM
We were told about 20 minutes ago that it won’t be long now! When asked for clarification on how long is “not too long”, the receptionist said it could be an hour. But still, an hour is so much better than three. We also checked into our on-site hotel room and got our name badges, so we are ready to bolt to pediatric intensive care when they give us the green light.

1:00 PM
We just found out that the neurosurgeon has completed her portion of the surgery and the plastic surgeon has taken over. The report is that everything went smoothly. They usually say the neurosurgeon takes 2-3 hours and the plastic surgeon takes 3-4 hours. That means the surgery should be complete by 5 or so. We managed to have some lunch. I’m more nervous/anxious than Jessica for some reason. I guess one of us has to be.

11:20 AM
They actually started the surgery around 9:30 AM. We got that update around 9:45, and I’ve been trying to update this post since then. Hopefully, we’ll get another update in the next hour or so.

9:00 AM
They’re very prompt around here. He was wheeled off in his wagon right at 7:30, paperwork in hand (he insisted on carrying it). So now we wait. We expect that they will be starting the surgery right about now, and we might get an update after the neurosurgeon is done around 10:30.