Our Beautiful Beckett

I'll keep it simple this morning...just pictures is what you all want to see!

All that beautiful hair

Those poor heals from all the sticks

Daddy said enough of the flash on the camera.

After surgery

 Socks are the only clothes he can wear right now. I can handle that! Rockin' his cowboy socks from Bruff!

Finally eating at about 5:00 Friday evening. We were beyond thrilled to give this bottle!!!

His puppy from Paisley is watching over him. She was so excited to see this picture!

And now some info...

Dr. Moriarty's (neurosurgeon) report after surgery was that "the surgery went as well as it possibly could have." Those were the words we wanted to hear! 

Surgery began about 2:45 pm. We got updates every hour. Ended about 6:45 pm. He was in recovery for about an hour where he was able to come off the ventilator (I am so thankful we didn't have to see him with that). We were able to see him around 7:30 sleeping peacefully. Dr. Moriarty was very pleased with the way the surgery went. He came Friday evening and talked to us in person. Dr. Nassim (our pediatrician, and friend...I worked for her both in her doctor's office and at home caring for her teenage girls all through college) happened to come to see us when Dr. Moriarty was there as well. I was so much at ease with them being able to talk to one another using all the doctor lingo and still hearing all the positive comments coming from Dr. Moriarty. I have said in the past, after our consult with him at the very beginning of all of this, how he was just so hard to talk to, so intelligent that he found it difficult to speak with us. We were able to see a different side of him, a much more personable "person" trapped inside all that knowledge and skill. I have a complete different and new respect for the man that "fixed" our precious angel.

Dr. Moriarty is happy with how the EVD (External Ventricular Drain, temporary shunt) that was inserted during surgery is working. We had a little scare Friday morning and thought maybe it wasn't working because nothing was draining. Turns out after a rushed CT scan, some scary moments for us, and then a sigh of relief, it's not draining because there is no pressure in his brain/spine causing it to need to drain any of the fluid. We are still in a wait and see game about the permanent shunt. We know it is a necessary/usual evil that most children with Spina Bifida will face at some point in their young lives. We just wait and PRAY.

His back will heal very nicely Dr. Moriarty says (as would be expected when a plastic surgeon does the closure for a surgery). We haven't seen the scar yet, but the bandage is about 2-3 inches long.

The defect, which we were able to see on Thursday morning while the Neuro team was there to see what they would be working with during surgery that afternoon, was actually quite a bit larger than we thought from all the views on the ultrasounds. It was bigger than a golf ball and just a skin bubble full of fluid (in my words). Dr. Moriarty said the actual "defect" was at the lower part of the bubble and was "very small." He was pleased that the nerves were not splayed at the ends and mostly he was able to just put them back inside. Because of this, he anticipates that there was very little nerve damage, if any.

All very good details that I was anxious to share.

I am healing fine and have just hung out this morning in the room, letting our little guy rest. Rodney went down this morning early to feed him and visit for a while. The nurse suggested maybe a little less stimulation today may help him to heal better. We will TRY.

Our prayers continue to be answered. 

Yesterday we had many ups and downs which all ended very positively. 

We hope for that to continue. 

We sure are in LOVE with that sweet baby boy we choose to call Beckett!