Rees Surgery - Day One (Surgery 12)

Hello Everyone!

We made it through the day and for the most part Rees has done fairly well.  So ... of course, it does not seem that we can get through a surgery with this little treasure without at least one complication.  Shortly after we saw the surgeon this morning (after he had already left the OR), Rees was started on blood transfusions and he had a pretty bad reaction.  The surgeon was not aware of it at the time that he first spoke to us.  It took a long time for us to be able to see him up in the ICU and that was mostly because of them trying to get the reaction under control.  Rees' body became covered in hives and he swelled up A LOT ... kind of like a balloon!!  By the time we were brought in, his swelling had reduced significantly but we could see that he was very puffy.  

Usually the normal/expected swelling does not take full effect until the day after surgery.  Once we were in his room, they did tell us about the reaction.  Apparently, the swelling was SO pronounced that his scar line in his nasal area ACTUALLY started to separate.  There are some spots where the skin opened up slightly.  Eeek!!

His blood is being checked every few hours and while his levels are currently low, they are watching and waiting for the time-being because they do not want him to have another reaction like he did too quickly.  This is the third time that he has been noted to have these reactions in the last 18 months that he's been here so there is a possibility that he will be referred to hematology.  Whatever the issue is, IT DEFINITELY FOLLOWS THE PATTERN REES HAS EXHIBITED THAT OUTLINES THAT HE HAS A HIGHLY DELICATE AND SENSITIVE BIOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT.  

This afternoon, he woke up for a bit but shortly after we had tried him on a few ice chips, he vomited up some unpleasant and indigestible blood.  Afterward, he was very nauseous and was doing the dry-heaving thing so finally they brought in our favorite IV cocktail, Zofran and Benadryl.  That gave way to some good and quiet rest for several hours.  As I type this, he is slightly awake, trying to watch PJ Masks through the stubbornly swollen slits of his eyes.  He is dealing with a fever (102.38F) which is sort of standard after surgery but it also aggravates his blood pressure and pain management.  He is hanging in there though and tomorrow should show improvement. 

His surgery was without too many issues, ... only hiccup was that he proves to be a consistent bleeder and ends up losing more than is standard, thus requiring blood donations that cause his body to negatively react.  So, one way or another, blood is an issue for Rees.  But the goal of this surgery was met.  The distractors that were placed in February were removed and larger, stronger hardware was placed.  This is called "permanent" hardware, however, it doesn't mean "for life" ... it is hardware that should be removed in one year.  

The surgeon said that once he was "in there", he could see that Rees finally has a lot of exceptionally healthy bone and tissue(that's NEW and POSITIVE!).  While he has new growth and the bone looks healthy, he has not generated nearly enough bone to eliminate the need for hardware as you can clearly see the dark strip of "open space" beneath the hardware.  

BUT IT IS TRULY A BLESSING TO KNOW THAT HE IS FINALLY GENERATING HEALTHY TISSUE!!!  THANK-YOU, JESUS!!

The surgeon also mentioned that he checked behind the eye sockets and forehead and the tumor is not growing backwards (towards his brain, which until today, I never even knew that was an option and an obvious problem if it should occur), which is also positive.  Our Dr. ground down (a very technical term, I know) all the layers of the abnormal tissue and then even went another quarter inch down into normal tissue ... a little proactive methodology ... of course, that's what I would have done too!  

We are truly hoping that the tumor will not continue to generate ... but if it does, there is a plan and we will address it at the appropriate time.  Tune in tomorrow for whatever comes next with our little champion.  He really is quite the Trooper and we're so proud of his bravery!!