Abby is out of surgery and in the PICU. She is resting comfortably, but is on oxygen because she's sleeping so heavily. She will most likely be weaned off of it as soon as she wakes up. There are wound drains and pain balls (shooting pain meds right to the site) on both sides. She's opened her eyes a few times and even sat up, but more out of confusion than anything. We got her to lay back down and she's back to sleeping hard again.
Unfortunately, Dr. C wasn't able to put the VEPTR in. Abby's ribs are too flimsy and most are more of a ribbon consistency. Because the right side was so flimsy, he went ahead and opened the left side too--same thing. He did bone grafts for both sides to hopefully strengthen the ribs. We will try again in 3 months.
We knew this was a possibility, but didn't realize how big of a concern it was until this morning when he said he'd been studying her CT scans and just wasn't sure that they would hold the VEPTR. When the nurse told us they were closing her up and it was much earlier than we had anticipated, we knew that he couldn't do it. But, we are thankful for a doctor who makes tough calls and does what is best for the long term. Her recovery should be a little shorter, but we really have no idea at this point when she will come home.
THANK YOU for the outpouring of love that was shown to our family today. Abby will love all of the purple pictures that were posted! You all are so wonderful and it definitely helped me a great deal to know so many were thinking of my girl while she was in surgery.
Unfortunately, Dr. C wasn't able to put the VEPTR in. Abby's ribs are too flimsy and most are more of a ribbon consistency. Because the right side was so flimsy, he went ahead and opened the left side too--same thing. He did bone grafts for both sides to hopefully strengthen the ribs. We will try again in 3 months.
We knew this was a possibility, but didn't realize how big of a concern it was until this morning when he said he'd been studying her CT scans and just wasn't sure that they would hold the VEPTR. When the nurse told us they were closing her up and it was much earlier than we had anticipated, we knew that he couldn't do it. But, we are thankful for a doctor who makes tough calls and does what is best for the long term. Her recovery should be a little shorter, but we really have no idea at this point when she will come home.
THANK YOU for the outpouring of love that was shown to our family today. Abby will love all of the purple pictures that were posted! You all are so wonderful and it definitely helped me a great deal to know so many were thinking of my girl while she was in surgery.
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