Day 0 & 1

Little buddy getting ready for surgery!

Sorry for not getting an update out to everyone last night but to say yesterday was a long, rough day would be an understatement!  We started our day off bright and early so that we could be at the hospital at 6 AM.  We checked in and were taken back to our room pretty quickly to wait and meet with all the doctors that would be working on Logie during the surgery.  We met with Anesthesia, Neurology, Nurses, probably 5 or 6 different people at different times came in to see us.  Finally at about 7:15 they took Logie back for surgery.  Luckily he had the iPad to distract him from leaving us and they said they got back there with no crying or problems at all.  The hospital has a very nice Ronald McDonald House that you can wait in during surgery, has drinks, snacks, comfy lounge chairs and even your own private rooms.  We were sent down there to wait for our updates and to see Dr. Park after the surgery completed.  They told us it would be about a 3 to 4 hour surgery and we would get updates every hour to hour and a half.

I think this is our stressed out smile! EEPP!!

Now, I felt like I was staying pretty strong but I have to say once I finally got to the waiting area and closed myself off in the private room with some music I think the reality of everything hit me.  It's hard to know that we were making the choice to put a permanent scar on our perfect baby boys back (I can't lie I may have taken multiple pictures of that perfect back and kissed it over and over the night before surgery and the day of) but I also had to just remind myself that we were doing the right thing in the long term.  I have to say after about 10 minutes of letting it all pour out I felt like we could do this and we could handle whatever is yet to come.

A nice little reminder from the rooftop garden!

Little more garden "zen", so peaceful and beautifully done!

We received our updates and everything was going great, around 10:30 Dr. Park came to let us know that the surgery went well and that he thought this would make a big difference for Logie in the long term (that was literally all he said, definitely a man of little words but I would take a skilled and quiet doctor of a chatty and not so skilled any day!).  After that it was about 30 minutes before they called us back to the recovery room where Logie was waking up.  This is when our day kinda took a turn that I don't believe we were really expecting (but in a way kinda had a feeling might happen).  When we first got there he was doing pretty good, asked for his iPad and they were prepping to take us up to our room.  Then the "hulk" emerged!!!  I don't think I have ever seen him so angry and so strong.  He was not wanting to lay flat he wanted to get up and move around but unfortunately that was not an option for him.  We had probably 6 people holding him down, multiple medications being administered trying to get him to calm down.  We did this for about an hour until we finally found the right cocktail to get him cooperative.  By the end of it, Daddy was covered in sweat, Mommy was in bed trying to hold his body down and both of us were completely and utterly emotionally and physically drained.

Going into this surgery we kept asking how in the world are they going to keep him laying down for that long as he is quite a squirmy little guy, well, I guess he wasn't going to, especially right as he was coming out of anesthesia.  We had the top Pain Management doctor there with us and she did say that this does happen from time to time and kids that don't want to cooperate would have to go to the PICU (Pediatric ICU) so that they can be given a special sedation medication that can only be administered there.  We were ok with that plan as long is it meant that he would be able to rest and wouldn't be fighting with us anymore.  Finally at about 2 we were admitted up in the PICU and he was started on the medication.  He was pretty out of at that point but did have a couple more episodes of waking up and fighting us to lay down...Valium was our friend yesterday that was for sure, as soon as he got some he would fall asleep and be able to rest for a while.

My cuddle bug!

So peaceful all drugged up!  ;)

As we approached the evening Logie was starting to do a little better and was starting to act a little more like himself.  He was up for some Valium at 8 but we decided to hold off and see how he did.  Really from that point on he only continued to improve!  He would just watch his iPad, ask for the things he wanted and take little cat naps.  The one thing he really wanted was food and unfortunately while he was on this medication he was not allowed to have anything but clear liquids and even that they were not so happy about.  We were able to give him some popsicle and that helped a bit but over and over he just kept telling us how hungry he was and asking for "fingers".  It was so hard not being able to help him but we did our best and kept the distractions going with the iPad.

Daddy and I ended up sleeping over with Logie at the hospital, me in the bed with him and Daddy on the super comfy pull out chair.  The one bad thing about the PICU and that medicine he was on is that they have to get vitals every 2 hours even at night.  So...we were being woken up constantly and somehow it always seemed to be right after we all fell asleep.  I think we could have made it through most of it but the flashlight in Logie's eyes kinda made staying asleep a little more difficult.  All in all we did't get a ton of sleep but it definitely could have been worse.

This morning we woke up around 6 and he was still complaining about being hungry...after a couple of popsicles and a lot of conversation with the Dr.'s and Nurses we were able to convince them to turn off the medicine as he was doing so well and allow him to get some food...the only reason he was so angry or fighting us was because he was so "hangry" and just wanted some food.  Around 8:30 they came in and turned it all off and we were able to order him some food.  Finally we got some fingers, tater tots, cookies and strawberries delivered to the room and boy did we have a happy boy.  From that point on he has spent his day singing and laughing and basically just being his normal self (albeit attached to his iPad, who knows what we would have done without it!)

Finally got some food!!

At that point, they came in for their rounds and discussed how they think we will be able to move to the floor tonight and leave the PICU.  It will be a little sad to leave as we have a huge corner double room to ourselves with a beautiful view out of our floor to ceiling windows, but the floor will allow for us to have a much quieter spot, not as many "check-ins" and perhaps allow us to sleep all night!  WOOHOO!!  After rounds Mommy and Daddy went back to the hotel to get some breakfast and sleep and boy was it needed.  I woke up after a 3 hour nap feeling like I could have slept another 10 but we had a little buddy to get back to.  Thankfully Grandma and Gammy took GREAT care of him while we were gone.

Some inspiration from all of you and GM / GP!  LOVE!!

We got back to the hotel and since then Logan continues to make great progress, not complaining at all, besides the new IV they had to put in, poor buddy said "I'm scared" for the first time ever. talk about a dagger to Mommy's heart but he bounced back like nothing ever happened.  So we have spent the day watching iPad, playing cards and just hanging out together.  We just got moved to our new room (12E9) which somehow we lucked out with a private room which is so much nicer and now we are getting all settled in and getting some food!

Cards with a view!

It takes a village!

More cuddles!

I can't say enough how much we have appreciated all the love and support you all have shown us through this process, not sure how we would get through it without all of your prayers guiding us through.  Thank you and keep them coming, we have more to go as they say day 3 is the worst (which I don't want to even think about at this point) but hopefully we will get through it as smoothly as possible...in the meantime I am going to enjoy day 1 and 2!

Talk to you all soon, lots of love from all of us!!  XOXO