Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Emergency Surgery & Hospital Stay

Many of you know that Easton had a cyst in his brain. We have a great pediatrician that sent Easton to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for a CT scan because his head kept increasing in circumference (at a more than average rate). His CT scan came back positive for fluid in his ventricles. He had to have an MRI which showed he had a cyst in his brain.
CHOP is an amazing hospital and each section of the hospital had beautiful mosaics. This is the mosaic that was outside the PICU.
We had a 5 day stay in the PICU. Here is one of the only times that we could get Easton to smile. He went through so much. He had 2 CT scans, 2 MRIs, 1 neurosurgery, 1 seizure, many blood tests, and 3 intubations.
He did sleep a lot because of the ordeal and all his intubations.
The casts were covering his IVs, so that he did not pull them out.
We tried to keep him entertained with toys, and a Philadelphia radio station had a girl that made rounds singing and playing her guitar. I thought that was such a great idea!
This picture shows how tired & stressed I was for the 5 hospital days, but I included it because we love this picture of Easton.
Easton moves around so much and he constantly pulled out his cords and heart monitors.
He only has a scar that is an inch and a half long. The neurosurgeon cut a hole in his soft spot, then he cut a hole at the top and bottom of his cyst to drain it. Since the cyst is in his brain, they cannot remove it, but we are hoping that the draining worked and that the cyst will not come back.
Here is Easton with his favorite nurse, Melissa. She had two 12 hour shifts with him. We loved her! She took great care of him!
By the last day Easton was ready to go home, as you can see in the picture above.


Easton is such a blessing in our lives and we feel so grateful to our Heavenly Father that his surgery was successful and that he is recovering nicely.

20 comments:

Jalei & Lane said...

Easton looks so doped up in that last picture.

The Sabatini Family said...

Oh my Goodness Jaymie, what an ordeal to have to go through. I'm so sorry, but it looks like Easton was a trooper! Poor little guy. I hope he recovers and will be okay. Good luck with everything. Love ya.

Allison said...

Oh my, I had no idea! I'm so sorry you all had to go through that. Bless his heart! I can't even imagine. Those pictures broke my heart. I'm so glad you were at CHOP which I have heard great things about. So glad things are okay and we will continue to keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers.

Mallory said...

Wow you have had a stressful few weeks. I am so glad you had a good pediatrician that could recognize issues and direct you to where you needed to go. I am also glad Easton is recovering well. I hope you never have to take him to the hospital for that long of a stay ever again!

Jami said...

We are so glad that everything went well. We are also ecstatic that you guys are here visiting.

mini-wheats said...

I am SO glad he is feeling better! Poor guy! Hope he is enjoying the time away from Philly as much as you guys!

m+b said...

So glad to hear that he is doing well! Poor little guys is tough! If you need anything let us know!

Williams Family said...

Oh Jaymie. How scary and exhausting. We are so glad everything went well and that Easton is recovering.

Williams Family said...

Oh Jaymie. How scary and exhausting. We are so glad everything went well and that Easton is recovering.

Regina said...

Oh this just breaks my heart! Poor little guy! I am so glad he is doing well and getting back to normal! What an adorable little guy you have!!

Celeste said...

Holy cow...what a week for you all. What a tough little guy Easton is and a very tough Mom to endure all that with him. So glad its over.

Molly Rivera said...

Jaymie, I had no idea!! I'm so glad everything went well, but I'm sure that was very difficult for you guys. What a sweet little boy, give him a squeeze for me!

Alison @ Oopsey Daisy said...

Wow, what a tough little cookie! I can't imagine that kind of ordeal for such a little guy. I'll keep you guys in my prayers... hopefully draining the cyst does the trick!!

The Anglesey Family said...

Oh my gosh....I had no idea!!!! I am sooooo glad you were at CHOP. That is an AMAZING hospital!!!!! I am soooo glad he is OK! I know how being in the hospital is....All the beeping, all the worry, and the hospital food. The hospital food at Rady's Childrens Hospital was amazing, but it got old.
Glad to hear he was OK. I wish I would have known. I would have sent you a hospital care package.

Donnie and Laura said...

That is so scary, but I'm glad that is done with! He is such a handsome little guy.. I feel so bad that he had to go through all that :(

Ciara said...

jaymie! Whoa! I had no idea. I'm so glad everything is all right and easton will be in our prayers. I can't imagine how you must have feel through this whole ordeal, but I do know you always have a positive attitude about everything. You've always been strong like that. keep up the good work! we love you easton!

Unknown said...

How scary. I'm so glad everything went well with the surgery. Poor little guy. Our prayers are with you!

Kelly said...

You poor thing!! He is such a sweet little boy and I hope everything will work out for the best!! I think he looks just like you:)

Er Bear said...

Poor little guy!! I am glad that you all made it through... we will keep you all in our prayers! He is just adorable:)

Jana said...

i swear i left a message! anyway, easton, we're soooo happy you're ok and we think you're the cutest guy around. love you! jaymie, i can't imagine how hard it was on you. you've all been in our prayers and we hope things continue to go well!