Surgery and Recovery

Owen's hiatal hernia surgery day arriving was bittersweet. We had been enjoying our time at home being a faimly and doing fun family things and the realization of going back to the hospital for another operation did not sit well. However, we knew that this was a necessary operation to help Owen start moving towards a more normal feeding regiment and continuing to stay healthy and grow.

The night before surgery, the three of us were laughing and having fun. We took some pictures of Owen in his superhero cape to show he was ready to take this next operation on.

We sent the pictures to our family and discussed how this operation would result in the removal of his NG tube from his nose. We were fortunate that during our time at home, Owen had not pulled his NG tube out of his nose and made us put it back in. It is not a fun process putting the tube back in and Owen especially does not like it. No more than 5 minutes after the discussion, Owen felt the need to show us his rebellious side and pulled the tube out of his nose. He was very happy with what he had done. We were not quite as happy. 12 hours before he had to stop feeding and have the tube removed for good and we had to put the NG tube back in. Owen obviously got his Mother's patience and figured he had had enough of the tube and would help us all out by removing it. He definitely knows how to make us laugh and keep us on our toes. 

We arrived at Children's Hospital around 10 am to check in for the operation scheduled to begin at 11:45. Our mood was considerably more upbeat and positive than before his previous opeations. After going through 2 open heart surgeries, this seemed like a walk in the park. We were taken to a waiting room where information was gathered on Owen and all the logistics were reviewed. We were told that surgery was running about a half hour behind, so 12:15 was our new time. Thye soon after updated us and said that surgery was now running an hour behind, so 12:45 was the new projected time. Owen was in such a great mood throughout it all. He had not eaten since 7 am and yet was still laughing, smiling, and talking to us.  

Around 1, they told us that the surgery team was ready, but they had to wait for a bed to open in the CICU for Owen to recover and it might be another hour. Owen somehow was still in a great mood. Finally, around 2:30, they were ready for Owen.

We walked Owen back to the operating room and we met some of the team who assured us that he was in good hands. We gave Owen some last hugs and kisses and handed him over to the surgical team. Owen remained calm throughout as we walked away and he showed us how brave he is.

We met our parents in the waiting room and prepared to wait for what was scheduled to be about a 3 hour operation. We got an update at 3 that Owen was doing well and the operation had started. About 15 minutes lates, we got another call for an update. We were not expecting to hear from them so soon. They informed us that the surgeon had quickly decided that this would no longer be a laproscopic procedure and they would have to perform an open procedure. We knew that this was a possibility, but it meant that Owen would be in a little more pain in his recovery. Owen's surgery was completed around 6 and he also got an echo while he was under sedation.

We spoke with the surgeon after the procedure, and as we had come to expect, the operation was not as straight forward as they thought it would be. Owen had a laundry list of procedures to be performed including, pulling his stomach down into his abdomen, patching the hole in his diaphragm, performing an anti reflux procedure wrapping the stomach around the esophagus, placing a G tube into his stomach, performing what's called a Ladds procedure to prevent his intestines from twisting due to the malrotation that he was born with, removing his appendix, and while he was under, they performed his circumcision. When the surgeon began the procedure laproscopically, he looked on the left side for Owen's stomach, and couldn't see it. Then he looked on the right side and couldn't see it. At that point, the deciosion was quickly made to perform an open procedure. They found his stomach directly behind his liver. Once this was located, they were able to do everything but the anti reflux procedure. Owen's esophagus wasn't quite long enough for this procedure to be properly executed. This means that Owen could have some bad reflux problems when he begins feeding and potentially would have to be fed into his small intestine to prevent that from happening. This would also mean that he would have to be on pump feeds continuously. These are things that will play out over the next couple of days.

The echo revealed that Owen's heart was still in good shape, but they did see some narrowing in his pulmonary veins that were repaired in his first operation. The doctors said this is something that they will have to follow to determine if it continues to get worse and there is any blockage that may need an intervention. They aren't overly concerned at this point, but it is something that is just part of the game when you are dealing with such a complicated heart.

Owen was taken to the CICU for recovery. We were able to get into our room and see him around 7pm. He was pretty out of it, but luckily, he had his favorite monkey to make him feel safe and comfortable waiting for him as soon as surgery ended.

Owen had some pretty intense pain over night and also had a fever, which we were told was pretty standard post operation. Other than dealing with the pain, he was doing very well. The next morning we found out that they were ready to move him to the step down unit, which was welcomed news by all. In a cruel twist of fate, we ended up back in the same exact room that we had spent 2 months in the fall between his two heart surgeries. We had a couple nurses, doctors, and even cleaning ladies jokingly welcome us home.

The next couple of days will involve Owen coping with the pain and waiting for his bowel functions to return. Once that happens, we can begin feeding and hopefully get back home soon. We will keep everyone updated on the progress of our little warrior in the coming days. Thank you all for the continued prayers and support.