Surgery

Well its done...

It started Monday with us getting there at 6:30am to get checked in... We ended up waiting almost an hour before we started getting vitals and getting changed into our hospital jammies... From there we went to a second waiting room where we met with the AMAZING Dr. Brockmeyer and our anesthesiologist Dr. Tanner (of all names)... We chose to give Hayden a seditive before surgery just to make the seperation process easier on all of us... Once they gave that to him it was pretty much game over for him... He made us laugh so hard with the things he was saying once it took effect... He was trying to shoot spiders in his mouth and said that Tonys hand was candy and just had the giggles, it was so cute... It was then time to take him back and get started... At this point it was around 8:00am like they had promise... We then met some family and waited in the waiting room until a nurse involved with his surgery let us know that he went under alright and that they were officialy starting the surgery... Once we got word we headed downstairs for some food at the great cafeteria here (no sarcasm)... They had told us that they had blocked out 2 hours for surgery not knowing what might have come up when they opened him up though Dr. Brockmeyer had said his procedure would only be about an hour to an hour and a half... Anyways knowing this we didn't rush with breakfast though we should have cause when we checked back in with the waiting room they had said that Dr. Brockmeyer already came in to talk to us 45 minutes later !!! Thats right it only took 45 minutes... Since we missed him they called him up and I got to talk to him about how things went... He said it went really well and that he did have to alter the original scare a bit but the best news was that he said he only expected him to be here the night!!! I couldn't believe it only a night I was so proud of our little man... About 15 minutes later we got word that I was allowed back to see him in the "Wake up / Recovery" room... He was in bed number 4 and his nurse Mindi was trying to calm him down when I finally got there... She had said that Hayden was telling her he was scared but the moment he saw me he relaxed which as a Mommy made me feel great... Looking at his head it reminded me of his original surgery, it looked identical to it.. Dr. Brockmeyer had yet again done amazingly well... And to finally look at it and see a normal little boy head is such a humbling thing... We were only in recovery until 10:30am and off to his room... We stayed in the Neuroscience Trauma Unit (NTU) in room 2019 with the best nurses... We started with Jen (10th A.M) then Ryan (10th P.M) and finished with Kelli (11th A.M)... They were so great with Hayden... Hayden got a little sick to his tummy after the anesthetic wore off but he was a real trooper... He didn't even want any pain medicine except for right after surgery when he told us "My haircut hurts"... Ryan was nice with Hayden and I in letting us just sleep and not come and bug us like hospital stays can be so that was nice... It ended up being an early morning of course but we made it as fun as possible... After finally getting Hayden to eat some breakfast we took a wagon ride around the hospital which he seemed to enjoy... By the time we came back to the room Dr. Brockmeyer was making his rounds... He looked over Hayden and said he wanted to follow up with us in 4-6 weeks and that we were free to go in the afternoon after one more treatment of antibiotics... Since we had about 2 hours till that happened Daddy ended up taking Hayden to the play room on the 3rd floor while I got us all packed up... I then met the boys to play... After we did that we had a little lunch and a nap while we did our medicine... Finally we got discharged and made the trip home... I am so proud of Hayden for everything he has already overcome... I am so blessed and unbelievably grateful that he is my son...


This was taken Sunday after our surgery haircut and blood work at Primarys (his cool tattoo and bacelet)He had to keep them on overnight for the surgery so his ID tags matched the blood work we had done


His Cabbage Patch "Cy" needed bone paste too... Don't they look alike??


After his seditive


Hayden and Cy after surgery


Tuesday's wagon ride around the hospital

Surgery Class

Well Thursday the 7th was our Surgery Prep Class at Primarys... It started with an animated video showing the kids all about surgery... From there they took the kids and had them play with all types of Doctor stuff Stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and also gave them a baby to use them on (that he got to keep)... While the kids were doing that they talked to us parents all about surgery day what to expect on our end and to answer any question we may have... Once we were all back together we toured the surgery area of the hospital... An actual surgery room, the "wake up" room and also the recovery room... Since we were the only family staying over they showed us what kind of room we will have once Hayden's out of recovery... Over all I'm glad we went... I think Hayden got alot out of it he really seems to understand whats going on he's so smart... The cutest part was what Hayden wore... My mom had scrubs made for him as his christmas present... They say Dr. Hayden on them and they matched the actual staff at the hospital perfectly... Everyone at the hospital got a kick out of them... We plan on wearing them again Monday morning... Speaking of Monday... I found out yesterday that registration is at 6:30am which puts us in surgery around 8:00am... Sunday we have to get some blood work done so that they have his match ready in case he may need some (I really hope they don't need to use it)... As this weekend unfolds and surgery comes and goes believe me I'll post about it... I'm so glad I have this blog cause as Hayden gets older it will be here to read and remember his amazing journey...

Swim free little guy...

The last couple days "Fish" just wasn't acting his normal happy self so Tony told me it probably wouldn't be long (just to give me a heads up) and unfortunatly when Hayden and I got home today he had passed on... Hayden and I had a lovely funeral on the side of the potty and as we were leaving the bathroom I had asked Hayden if he was sad... His response "Fish are you sad???" Yelling in the toilet as he went down... I guess he isn't as upset as me... Death is sad no matter who or what it may be...

Thanks for coming up to the tank when I walked in the room and the fun little dance you would do when you saw your food... You were a great first fish for both Hayden and I... We'll miss you...


Fish
Feb 2009 - Jan 05,2010

Goodbye 2009... Hello New Year !!!

We ended up finishing 2009 on a high note... But like so many people I am glad to see the year come to an end and looking forward to a new fresh start with 2010...

After Hayden's birthday we decided to get our little man "a big boy bed"... He had outgrown his toddler bed and with his surgery coming up we wanted him as comfortable as possible... It had started with just finding a twin bed but after coming across the bunk beds we just couldn't pass them up... He's just growning up so fast...


Another fun thing we did to finish off the year was made our first family gingerbread train... Tony and I had never done one before so we didn't know what we were up against... Though it was fun I dont know if it will be a yearly tradition type thing... Ha Ha Ha


This year we did start a new tradition with our closest friends by doing a "Friends Christmas Dinner"... With the current economic times causing our own stuggles we realized the true meaning of christmas and decided that instead of gifts we would just get together for a nice dinner and just spend time with one another... It was so much fun and I'm really looking forward to the memories it will create... We really have some amazing wonderful friends... We love you guys so much and we are so happy you are in our lives...

This Christmas was seriously the funniest Christmas Tony and I have both had... With Hayden finally understanding Santa and the holiday it was so fun seeing the excitement through his eyes... Tony never being the holiday person like myself finally got into the spirit and made it that much more fun for me!!! We of course went and visited Santa and Hayden loved it... All he asked Santa for was a Candy Cane... Thats right a candy cane... Though he would call Santa from time to time with new gift ideas or to tell him if Tony and I were being bad... He makes us laugh...



Sunday after Christmas Grammy and Grampy took Hayden and myself to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks the squeakquel" and the lights at Temple Square... Though it was freezing cold we bundled up like crazy and took the train downtown for our fun night... Thanks guys!!!





We ended the year with a small get together to watch the ball drop and ring in 2010... The kids had so much fun and we (the adults) did too... It was a great way to get rid of 2009 and bring in the new year...



I really have high hopes for this year!!! I can't wait to see what it has to offer!!! I hope to make the best of it!!!

Happy Birthday and Frosty the Snowman

Here we go Honey...

Well its official Tony and I have a 3 year old... And the weekend couldn't have gone any better... It definatly made alot of memories for the years to come...

We started it out with a trip to Build-a-Bear with one of his friends and missed the one who couldn't come... As we were walking down the hall of Fashion Place Mall I notice a Stormtrooper and Darth Vader from Star Wars (being that was his party theme I was in total disbelief) and so were the rest of the crew that were there with us... We couldn't even believe it... Call it fate, call it coincidence call it whatever but we had NO CLUE they were going to be there... And the reason they were there you ask??? To roll out some Star Wars outfits for the bears... Crazy huh...
Anyways... Hayden, who was dressed up in his cute Star Wars tee-shirt bonded immediately with the Star Wars crew... Darth Vader then took Hayden's hand and helped him make his bear... It was the best time... I'll admit that I cried a time or two only because I was so happy for my little man... After Build-a-Bear we headed home for a small group of friends and family too help us celebrate... On such a cold pre-snowy day our soup and sandwich lunch hit the spot... We did presents then cake...

Now the cute story about cake time... As we all gathered around Hayden and his Darth Vader, lightsaber cake I asked him if he was ready for us to sing... He then told all of us "No you and you and you not sing, Hayden sings" I then asked him "You're going to sing to yourself???" He said "yes" so I light the candle and we all stood around and listened to Hayden sing Happy Birthday to himself... We all laughed so hard... It really was an incredible weekend...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN !!!!







Frosty the Snowman:

Hayden's birthday weekend ended with a snow storm... And when we got home from a birthday dinner with some great friends Sunday night Daddy got Hayden and I with a snow ball... Hayden was laughing so hard you couldn't help but laugh yourself... The snowball fight was Hayden and I v.s. Daddy and it was a pretty good fight... After we were done we decided to make our very first family snowman... I love my little family!!!

Primary Childrens (and my miracle) and Halloween...

HALLOWEEN:
Halloween was fun this year... As I posted earlier Hayden loves Star Wars so Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without him being someone from Star Wars
SO...





He had so much fun trick or treating... And it is just so much fun being his mom!!!


PRIMARY CHILDRENS (and my miracle):
We had our yearly check up at Primary's last week... Now for those of you who don't know why we would be going to Primary's for a check up here is my little miracle's story...

Our lives changed forever on July 13,2006... It was our first ultrasound... The tech was showing us our little boy, his hands, feet, his cute little face and we were just in awe of the whole thing... She said she was going to get a doctor to come and look at everything with us, we thought things were fine... Until that doctor came in... The very first thing out of her mouth was "do either of you have birth defects in your family?" still excited about what we had just seen we say "no not at all" with her reply "well we are dealing with one now"... We then find out that Hayden has an encephalocele, (a defect in the closing of the skull (the brain then begins to grow on the outside of the skull)... If you google the images you'll realize just how lucky we are)... Anyways the same doctor then asked us when we wanted to schedule the abortion (NO JOKE) without even thinking Tony and I said "no, no abortion" she then continued in telling us that depending on the severity of the encephalocele our son may not walk, talk, hear, see or even be born alive... He was still our little boy... The next four months leading up to delivery was filled with countless doctors appointments, Neurosurgeon Conferences discussing our monthly ultrasounds, NICU meetings discussing the possible surgery and what would happen... On Nov 20, 2006 I had an amniocentesis to see if he was ready to come into the world... On Nov 22, 2006 we had our little boy with a golfball sized encephalocele (pretty little considering)... Thanksgiving was just that an amazing day of Thanks, Hayden had an MRI to see the encephalocele... Only scar tissue, fluid and minimal amount of actual brain tissue was inside... He had brain surgery the next day (2 days old) and only stayed in the hospital for a week, (when we were told he may be in for months) and he was only in a WEEK!!! As he's about to turn 3 I look at him and just can't believe I have this amazing little boy... He is your typical boy too, playing with cars, Superman, dirt... And to think they wanted us to terminate the whole thing... Now he does still has a soft spot that we deal with and thats why we go every year to Primarys to see how its doing... Our Doctor was hopefull that the hole would close on its own. Unfortunatly with the location of the hole the blood flow makes it pulsate to badly to have the bone regenerate on its own... So last week at our appt our great Doctor has decided that it is time to close the hole before Hayden gets any older... On Januray 11, 2010 Hayden will be going into surgery... We have 2 possibilites of closure for his type of defect... Option 1 (recommended by our Doctor) They will put a piece of plastic under the hole then fill the hole with a bone paste that as he gets older and bigger will turn into actual bone... Option 2 is a prosthetic plastic that will fill the hole as well... We had a CAT Scan to see which option will work best for Hayden though his Doctor is hoping for option 1 and so are we... Doc says surgery will be about an hour and his stay will be 1 to 2 days depending...

I'll keep everyone posted!!!!

What an October....

I can honestly say that I cannot wait to be done with this month... This one takes the cake for being a bad month...

It all started with Spankee (picture to the right) sneaking out of the house on Thursday the 8th for a 3 hour "adventure" around the neighborhood... Tony had me convinced that he was so cute that no one would turn him in... Until a neighbor of ours down a couple houses heard us yelling his name and asked what we were looking for... She then told us she had found him playing in the middle of the street and brought him in her house... He was so happy when he saw me and didn't leave my side all night... I'm so glad that it ended well...

Sunday the 10th our disposal decided to quit working which also meant no dishwasher... I so take the dishwasher for granted... I hated having to wash the dishes by hand... (About a week later I figured out the issue and temporarily fixed it... It still needs replaced but it doesn't have to be right now... Also on this day Spankee started acting weird like he was in pain from the "adventure"...

Tuesday the 12th I ended up having to take Spankee to the vet because he was getting worse than better... After the exam the vet couldn't find a real cause for him to be acting sick so with a little pain medicine and so nutrient suppliment he sent us home... He is doing just fine now which is good...

Wednesday the 13th I woke up to Hayden having a fever and starting a pretty deep sounding cough... My first thought, you guessed it Swine Flu so I called the doctor immediaetly and they got us right in... Well luckily not Swine Flu but he did have Croup... So I called out from work and snuggled my sick little boy all day... Though I hate it when he's sick I do love the sick snuggles...

Thursday the 14th What a week huh???? So today Tony stayed home with Hayden and I went to work... For convenience sake for Tony I left him my car and I took his (mine being the bigger family car) in case they needed to go anywhere... Well lets just say neither one of us knew Tony had a rock chip and by the time I went to leave work there was a huge crack down the middle of the window...

CAN WE NOT CATCH A BREAK!!! Ha ha ha

Now during all of this my neck and head had felt like they were in a vice... Probably due to all the stress from the week... So I was referred to a Chiropractor for the very first time... Well ya that didn't go over very well and it caused me an ER visit on Thursday the 22nd... While at work my entire left side went numb, so Tony came and took me to be ruled a sprained neck causing a sevier muscle spasm...

Now I know all I've written is the bad stuff but we did have a few fun moments this month... Hayden is into Star Wars right now... And they actually have a Star Wars concert touring... Now once we saw they were coming into town we thought we would take him for an early birthday present... The concert had the full orchestra that did all the soundtracks for the movie with movie clips from all the Star Wars playing and also narrated by the real person who played C3-Po... Cool right??? Except tickets were a little on the expensive side for a 3 year old birthday present so we decided against it... Until one of our amazing friends (Rachael) got free tickets through work... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU... We had so much fun and Hayden enjoyed it so much... I love watching things through his eyes...
Here are some pics from Star Wars...

What was also fun was they had actual movie props and costumes that you could view...


This is Palpatine... He's the one that kinda creates Darth Vader... He kills people with lightning from his hand... And thats what he and Hayden are doing is showing me their lightning... Funny thing is that there was an actual Darth Vader walking around taking pictures after the concert and Hayden was not having him but was just fine with Palpatine... Go figure...


Let the show begin...


Another fun thing we did this month was Hayden and I took a leaf walk on the Jordan Trail right by our house... I love the colors this time of year...







Though we had a few set backs this month we did have fun too... Halloween pics will come soon.. HAPPY HALLOWEEN