Post-OP update



Resting back in the RCNIC after surgery



Owen did great from his operation, although it was quite a long surgery.   They didn't take him back to the OR until about 5:00 PM ET, and I believe it was after 8:00 before they were finished.   The urologist had good things to say about his surgery, but he did voice concern about an additional valve constriction more distal in the urethra (closer to the opening of the penis.) While this isn't too concerning right now, it may have ramifications to how well Owen can urinate without the aid of a catheter in the future.   He came back to us on the ventilator, which wasn't an easy sight to see.  We had gone 6 weeks since the last surgery, so it had been awhile since Owen had to be put under general anesthesia.   He was ultimately left on the ventilator to help sleep through the initial shock of post-op pain, and to help give us time to restart dialysis again.  He is scheduled to be extubated (ventilator tube removed) sometime this weekend.



An IV was actually started on top of Owen's head! (don't worry its pretty common)



Recap on the procedures:

1) Valve ablation: The PUV (the thing that caused all of this mess to begin with) was finally cut.  While this won't reverse any of the urological tract damage that is already present, it will help lower infection risk and further blockage. I can assure you Owen is happy to finally say goodbye to this particular part of his anatomy.

2)Bilateral Orchiopexy:  Testicles originate in the abdomen and usually spontaneously descend through the inguinal canal into the scotum.  Owen's, as with many premature babies, didn't get a chance to do this in the womb, so this procedure is done to manually move them down. 

3) Bilateral Inguinal Canal closure: The main reason for surgery. The canal had to be closed to prevent any more dialysis fluid from filling up the scrotum (creating whats called a hydrocele). Also if the canal isn't closed, there is a chance that a portion of the small intestine may herniate through the canal, possibly causing an emeregent situation if blood supply is blocked.

Since Owen was such a good patient during the surgery, Tyler and I made Owen's first "Build A Bear" yesterday.  Meet "Brother," the newest addition to our family and medical team:


 

He specializes in interventional radiology, pediatric urology and hugs.

 While this hasn't been an easy few days, we really believe that this is the turning point for Owen's homecoming!  All we have left is to get Owen caught up on his feeds and dialysis before being sent home.  While that will still take about a month or so, we are thankful that the major interventions are behind us leading up to discharge. 

Thanks again for the prayers, and look soon for an update about the Cincy Walk for Kids coming up on Oct. 16.