For this surgery my mom and I took Brayden to Chicago. Wednesday we got to Chicago and went to Dr. Bauer's office at 2:00 for a pre-surgery appointment with Dr. Bauer. He wanted to look over Brayden and get a game plan for surgery the following day.
Once we left his office, we headed downtown and checked in to our new home for the next few days, the Ronald Mcdonald house. Brayden was super excited to be going back, he loves all the fun things he gets to do while he stays at the RMH.
The first night we got to hang out with our nevus friend, Brooklyn and her mommy Merilee. We all went out for dinner at Eataly and afterwards we came back at the kids decorated huge pumpkins. I love all the fun things they put together for the kids to do at the RMH.
They even gave us these cool hats at the RMH....Brooklyn and I
4 nevus buddies playing together at RMH. Jace on the far left from Florida, Brayden, Brooklyn from Montana and Michael from Russia. Amazing how people from all over the world come to Dr. Bauer.
Out for dinner at Eataly
Thursday morning we left for the hospital bright and early at 6 am. Brayden had 9:30 am surgery time.
Before surgery with my brave boy! Love him!
Talking to the nurse before surgery, everyone always remembers Brayden and loves him
Grandma Rhonda and Brayden before surgery
Playing on I-Pad before surgery
Ready to head into surgery #11
This surgery he had Dr. Bauer and Dr. Dickie work on him. Dr. Bauer said everything went great, he worked on his butt area by cleaning it up. He had a lot of scar tissue in his butt crack and was really hard to wipe him and keep clean. Dr. Dickie took off 7 satellite spots on his legs. This surgery was such a breeze compared to the rest of them. We have to wrap his legs for a few days and after a few weeks we will take out his stitches. Brayden is suppose to take it easy for 3 weeks that way he can heal, easier said then done with a 3, almost 4 year old. Especially when it's his birthday week and he's SUPER excited to be turning 4!
One concern Dr. Bauer had with Brayden was while he was in surgery he was coughing on what you call Coffee grounds. That is old blood inside his stomach. So we will be taking him to a GI specialist soon to get him checked out. I made a appointment with a specialist on November 12th in Des Moines. My mom and I will take him to that. Dr. Bauer said he also noticed it last surgery and he doesn't think it's a big deal but better be safe then sorry. Praying it is nothing.
When Brayden got out of surgery and went into recovery he was sleeping for over an hour before he got up. When he got up, the first thing he asked for was to go to Target ( he wanted a new toy). I told him when we leave the hospital we could go to Target. Bless his little heart and everything he has been though.
Finally in our room and out of recovery and even has a smile on his face
Having his favorite after surgery, PIZZA and chocolate milk!
After Brayden enjoyed his pizza, he watched 3 movies and slept through the night! The next morning we were off to Dr. Bauer's office for a dressing change. This was the happiest Brayden's ever been at a dressing change, so we had to get a picture with our favorite nurse, Mim! She is such an amazing nurse and we just love her!
These are some of the spots Dr. Dickie cut out, we will see how they heal over the next 3 weeks
Dr. Bauer cleaned up some areas on his butt, so far Brayden is doing good with this and doesn't seem to bother him
Brayden was doing great after surgery and he didn't take any pain meds after the 1st day. What a strong brave boy I have!
Back at the RMH house playing with his nevus buddies Brooklyn and Danika from Canada
Sunday we took off and headed back home. Brayden asked me if we could stay longer at the RMH because he was having so much fun! Over all this surgery was much easier on him and he bounced back like a champ. We will take his stitches out in a few weeks once he's healed up. It's so nice to not have expanders or drainage tube this time. Thank you everyone who has been thinking of my brave boy! He truly is amazing and such a strong boy!
And I can't believe this brave boy will be 4 this week! He is getting super excited for his birthday and dressing up as batman for Halloween!
