Bringing Luka Home: On the Other Side of Surgery

Matching hairdos post surgery. Still super cute (both of them!).

Lukasz did GREAT! Well, I guess I should give the credit to his surgeon, Dr. Alex Kane, and his team. They did a wonderful job and we could not have felt more comfortable during the entire experience. The actual work time during the surgery was about 6.5 hours. Someone called us with an update every hour and we met up with Lukasz in the ICU as soon as he came out.

Immediately after surgery in the ICU.
Masks/gowns/gloves until cultures came back.

Incision. Zigzag so when hair gets wet it doesn't
have an obvious horizontal part.

We were told repeatedly that he would have the wind knocked out of his sails for a week or two but Lukasz surprised everyone by waking up at 4:00 a.m. the evening after his surgery and acting his usual feisty self. We had the hardest time keeping him in bed and from trying to pull his IVs out. He ate and drank very well right away. Dr. Kane told us to expect his head to swell to the size of a pumpkin and his good eye to swell shut, but, again, Lukasz defied all. He did develop quite a bit of swelling (who wouldn't expect that?) but his eye never swelled shut. And the swelling certainly didn't bother him. He did so well, in fact, that we were allowed to come home on Sunday. A full 3 days earlier than we expected. I don't know how he could be so energetic and running around after such a major surgery--on his head!

By the next morning, you can see the swelling.
Here he is signing "Get in car, go home, see
grandma." We had just talked to her
on the phone.

Sleeping. You can see that this is the next day;
no swelling yet. Grandma made the Superman
blanket special for his hospital stay. We also had
a beautiful quilt made by a friend just for him.

Now, it is just a matter of medications and monitoring the incision. He has had a little bit of a fever but we were told that with cranial surgeries, children usually develop a little fever a few days afterwards. It has not kept him down and the ibuprofen usually takes the fever down. We have been in contact with the doctors and it has not been of any real concern. We will see Dr. Kane in three weeks for a follow up. In the meantime, we send photos of Lukasz' head to Dr. Kane every three days.

Watching "Pooh Bear" on the Nook.
And see the beautiful quilt?

Finally, free! Sort of. Mini-adventure to the AMAZING train
display in Children's Medical Center. We went twice.
The 1st time, Daddy let him pull the wagon but Mommy
was more rigid about the rules and made him ride.

We were also very lucky to have the Ronald McDonald House Dallas as a home base. We weren't there much but it was wonderful to have a place for one of us to sleep while the other was with Lukasz. And they had 3 home cooked meals a day provided by volunteer groups, as well as special events and plenty of things for children and there siblings to do. If we had brought any of the other kids, they would have loved the RMHD. All for $15/day. If you are going to be overnight for your child's care, find out if there is a RMH and ask your doctor's office to send a referral (our office has a social worker that does this). We hated to pay for 6 nights (what we were initially expecting) in a regular hotel when we would just be there minimally and the RMH gave us much more than a bed--support in a happy atmosphere. Nothing can substitute for a place familiar with and specializing in families caring for children undergoing stressful medical care.