Chapter 3: Max Has Surgery! (And shows it who's boss.)

Is this the face of a TIRED little boy or WHAT!? Here is our beautiful Max after a long day of surgery.















Well the short version is that everything turned out okay! Now, for the details!
We arrived at Shands at 7:30am to say "good luck" before Max went into surgery at 9am, but it was then pushed back to 11am...so we waited! And, waited...and waited! About 3pm, Maximus was back in the NICU3, and Dr. Kays met Jordan and I in the conference room to "de-brief" the surgery.

Max got through the surgery really well physically, as far as no scary blood pressure dips or anything life threatening, which is great! The issues in focus for the procedure were his left lung and the organs being moved. SO...his left lung was much smaller than expected. It is about 20-30% of what a normal lung should be in size. (He is missing 70-80% of that left lung) This is not good, but the lung will continue to stretch and grow, and an underdeveloped lung is not detrimental to his quality of life. It's unfortunate, but not the end of the world.

Next, is the hernia in his diaphragm. The hole was also much larger than Dr. Kays expected. His exact words were, "It was a pretty damn big hole"...haha. So, instead of being able to do a muscle-to-muscle repair, he went ahead with a Gortex patch to fill the space. The only negative to the patch vs. muscle to muscle is that there's a small chance (about 5%) that it could re-herniate because it doesn't grow with his body.

Here's some awesome gross pictures for your viewing pleasure!!















What you're looking at on the left is the gortex patch over the hernia (hole) in the diaphragm. I was blown away by the intensity of those stiches-they look like rope! Dr. Kays said that's obviously because they want it staying put! On the right is Max's small left lung. You can see how much open space there is around it in his chest cavity, now that it's not packed with other organs. It has some room to grow!

A few more details (Sorry I have to be thorough!) for you! One thing they will be watching with this open chest cavity is fluid filling it. Fluid is okay, but if too much fills that open space, then it will continue to deter growth of the left lung, as well as keep the heart from migrating to where it belongs. So, they will be draining fluid as necessary, but this is an area of caution.

Lastly, are his intestines and the surprise they gave us. Dr Kays said that the small bowel was very tied up, twisted, and stuck together; all which he hasn't seen before. This posed a problem because he had to battle with it to straighten it all out, so that everything could pass through it healthily and not get blocked up. Cutting into it was not a wise option because in the midst of so much other serious change within Max's body, it would only raise the chances for serious complications or infections. He said it appeared successful, but these next few days will show whether or not any further bowel repair may be necessary. We just have to wait on that.

Here's Mr. Max all fixed up! (His face is covered because they had the bright light on him while re-situating his tubes, etc.) You can see his tough-guy scar, and his big TUMMY now that there's organs where they SHOULD BE!! :)















He had quite an amount of tubes with him/attached to him when he came out, poor guy!















These are the faces of two tired, relieved parents!




























We are just beyond words about everything.

This whole pregnancy has been waiting for today, to repair our son's defect! There has been so very much pain and worry leading up to this, and we are so grateful to God that everything went according to plan. Jordan and I feel grateful to Dr. Kays, and ALL of his staff that made this possible...we aren't sure we would have had a similar result anywhere else.

From here forward, Max will be very sedated for a few days to help him be still and recover. Then, it's anybody's guess about how long it'll take him to fully recover. The ballpark is 4-8 weeks, but Jordan says we are coming home on September 22. :) Just a feeling he says! I don't care, as long as he is well!!

Thank you EVERYONE for the overwhelming support and love. God is so good, and faithful. We absolutely have nothing in this world without His love, and He has carried Max and us through this! Please, for you prayin' types, keep it up! Maxy still has a serious road ahead of him; this isn't close to over yet.

The next few days should be quiet, but I'm sure Jordan will update ya'll anyways!
(BY the way, I'm recovering just fine...I need to slow down a bit actually. I seem to think I can do whatever I want, and am paying for it at the end of every day. Now that I got past this tough bit, I am for sure going to take it slower...focus on getting used to pumping and get some rest.)

I LOVE YOU ALL! :) Here's one more pic of my sweet, tired, puffy little man! :)
I am so in LOVE.
















Love,
Claire