Xander was finally able to relieve his constipation, 10 days after his surgery.

The change in demeanour was dramatic. 

He is also getting around much better and his sense of humour has returned some.

We are enjoying getting our Xander back, bit by bit.

Mom was getting increasing concerned about Xander's constipation and his complaints of headaches.  A call to the Neurosurgeon on call resulted in having to admit Xander through Emergency to get him checked out.

Xander was generally alright.  But we wanted to get an X-ray of his bowels and a CT.  The nurse and Neurosurgeon on call also agreed so Xander went through each procedure awake and with no problems.  The CT is a little scary since you have to go in the overly large noisy doughnut.

The results of the X-ray showed no blockage.  The Emergecy Doctor was great and she recommended upping the Mirilax dosage by 1/3.

The we received the results of the CT back and there was no obvious issue.  But the Neurosurgeon on call came in to check out some swelling on the side of the head that was lifting the skin away from the skull.  This is not as bad as Xander had before, but we need to keep an eye on it and make sure it does not get more firm, or causes any leaking.  The Neurosurgeon also recommended Ibuprofen to help assist the Tylenol for pain management since we all did not want to continue with the Oxycodone.

After that Xander was released and we headed home.  He is obviously getting too compfortable with these Hospital visits since on the way back to the parking lot (which he walked all the way), he said, "Well, that was fun..." 

Xander is now recovering back at home.

As usual it was a struggle meeting all the requirements to go home and getting the paperwork out of the way.

The main issues are going potty, eating and drinking enough.  Xander was seemingly pretty despondent in the hospital and did not want to do much of anything. 

We actually did not meet the potty requirement, but the doctors thought there was a better chance of him working that out at home, where he is more comfortable, than at the hospital.  However, if he goes 24 hours at home without any change we will be back in.  There are also a few other criteria we need to maintain for him to stay home as well.

But he seems to be coming around a little and is getting his sense of humour back and seems to much more comfortable in his bed at home.  Having his first real bath, after a few days, seemed to make him feel much better.

Xander was out of ICU pretty quickly and after a verification M.R.I. made it down to the Surgical Recovery Floor.

Here was where we dreaded going the last two times Xander had surgery.  We h ad 6 people to a room and no rest for the people who needed rest the most.

This time we are in the new area where you have a maximum of two patients per spacious room.  With many rooms empty we find Xander is the only occupant in his.

His Neurological performance is still very good, even with the swelling that was to occur.  Now we are dealing mostly with Surgical Recovery issues like pain medication, eating, reducing tubes and wires and getting mobile. 

Today we will have Physical Therapy come by and get Xander moving a bit more.  He was out of bed three times yesterday and even made it down to the Teen Room to play some video games for a little while.  It is there we discovered Xander prefers the older Nintendo games to the newer X-box games.

We should also be getting the catheter out to help both his mobility and need to get out of bed.

If he keeps this pace up he should be out of the hospital in no time.

Xander succesfully completed his Neurosurgery today and is currently recovering in the ICU.

It was an early morning.  Xander had to be in to get his initial M.R.I.  We went through the surgical check in, then through the anesthesia at Radiology, which Xander went through with ease.

After the M.R.I., he was taken to surgery and prepared.  Head shaved, M.R.I. scans loaded into the computers in surgery.  Surgical E.E.G. ready.  The Neurosurgeons then mapped his frontal lobe, by the previous surgical site, to look for areas to keep away from (left hand and leg, etc) and areas to be removed.  The surgery, from start to finish took about 4 hours, which was better than the 5-6 hours that was proposed. 

After surgery Xander was taken for a CT scan to make sure there was no undue bleeding, then wheeled to ICU.  The parents were notified every hour on the progress via pager and phone.  We then had a meeting with the Neurosurgeon to go over the surgery and the possible results.  In general concensus is wait and see.

Xander was seemingly still sleeping when we were finally allowed to visit.  Although one of the assisting Neurosugeons came in and, and in a loud voice, asked Xander to squeeze his finger with the left and right hands, and then wiggle his left and right feet, and finally give a double thumbs up with both hands which he did as asked, with his eyes opening wide.  He also was able to hear and speak as before.

He will be in and out for the next 24 hours.  However, when awake, he insists that we should be going home and that he will sleep in the van.  We prepared him for the surgery, but glossed over the stay in the hospital, it seems.

All in all Xander is doing as well as can be expected.  He complains of a wobbly head and stomach when moving from his back to his sides and the side of his head and his lips are starting to swell a bit.  But the surgery seems to be performing as advertised.  However, it will be a few days in the Hospital to recover, before going home.  Probably one more day in ICU, then an MRI and then down to Surgical Recovery.

Then a few months before declaring any success, and before we can even consider bringing his medication down.   In the meanwhile we will see what this effort has brought Xander.

Xander has been cleared for Surgery.

Baba & Mom tackled the kids' colds over the weekend with Chicken Noodle Soup, Garlic, Herbs & Tea.  Xander only had his 'regular' cough.  His chest, ear and nose were clear.

Now for the hard part.

So Xander is all scheduled for his surgery.  We are just awaiting the Pre Op meeting to let us know the schedule for the day of the surgery.

However, to add to the anxiety, little brother came home from his last day of school with a cold.  Which wasn't surprising as Mom saw a child sitting next to him do a full on sneeze without covering his mouth that morning, heavy sigh.  This is a prime example of why schools ask that children who are sick to please stay at home.  You do not know whom, or what, you may be affecting.

Anyway, little brother loves to share, and even with a strict hand washing regiment it is probably inevitable that Xander will catch it too.  Great timing as he would them be unable to undergo anesthesia and thus unable to have the surgery for some period of time.

I guess we will see what falls out at the Pre Op meeting...

Xander went in to get his yearly Occupational and Physical Therapy test done and baseline his abilities before his surgery.

It capped off an extremely busy day for Mom & the boys.

We will get the reports at a later time.