Brayden's Journey: 1st laser surgery down & he took it like a super hero :)

Brayden had his 1st laser surgery done today. It was a early morning for us, we had to wake up at 5 am to feed Brayden and give him apple juice since he couldn't eat past 5:30. We were off to the hospital and arrived at 6am. When we arrived, we couldn't believe how nice everyone was to us. Once we got in, they weighed Brayden...17 pounds 3 oz and they let him pick out a stuff animal...he went for the blue elephant!

After we checked in we went to a room, where they talked to us and told us all about the laser surgery and what would be happening. Then they put Brayden in a purple gown, which he is so handsome he can pull off any color ;) The staff couldn't believe how happy he was, I guess Brayden takes after his mom and is a morning person!

After we got him changed and they check his vitals, Dr. Hansen came in to talk to us before he took him back. He knows a lot about nevus and how to remove the satelites. So we knew Brayden would be in good hands.

It was time for Brayden to go back for surgery. We said good-bye to our little man and gave him kisses! As we were walking down the hall way, I heard the nurses say, look at how happy this baby is so early in the morning & all his hair! That made Geoffrey & I feel better, that Brayden was taking this on like a super hero!

The surgery only took 30 minutes and when Dr. Hansen was done he came out to talk to us and he said that everything went great and Brayden did really well. He said he did 100 zaps of the laser and that he did his legs, arms, chest and back. He left the few small light ones on his forehead because he wanted to see how Brayden's skin would do before he does the head. Dr. Hansen was happy with the results and next time he will make the laser stronger, that way it goes deeper.

Dr. Hansen wants Brayden's skin to heal 2-3 months, then he will start this process all over again. We are looking at 4 rounds of laser treatments. 1 down...3 to go!

After Dr. Hansen talked to us, they brought us back to the recovery room, Brayden was still asleep with the sleeping mask on (which they gave us to bring home for the baby book !) after 5 mintues, Brayden slowly woke up and mommy had a bottle of apple juice ready, thanks to the nice nurse. He ate all of it like a pro.

Since Brayden was doing so good, mommy went to work and daddy took Brayden home. He slept for the 1st 5 hours when he got home, which they said he would be tired all day. They just told us to keep an eye on him when he's sleeping and make sure he doesn't spit up.

All day Brayden seemed fine, full of smiles and not in pain. Which that made us feel good! Now all we have to do is make sure none of the laser spots blister and if it does we have to put vasaline on it and starting tomorrow he has to take medicine for 5 days to help with the swelling.

Other then that, not to much for recovery, just avoid the sun for awhile, that way it doesn't cause blistering. If he seems to be in pain tomorrow, I can give him pain meds but Dr. Hansen said he did so good, he doubts Brayden will need that.

Tonight, Kristy came over and brought us dinner and Brayden a big Easter basket...so sweet! So nice to have such amazing supportive friends and family right now.

Thank you everyone for praying for our little super hero and thinking about all of us today. He is such a strong little guy, I knew he would do just fine. Think this is harder on Geoffrey & I, then it is Brayden. Without all the support, we wouldn't be able to be so stong, so thank you!

Below are pictures from today, that way everyone has a better idea what I am talking about. What we call satelite spots are the little spots that are throughout his body. The main, or large nevus is on Brayden's lovwe back and butt. For his large nevus, he will go to Chicago in July for tissue expander surgery.

The 1st picture is the before picture and below that is the after picture. Right now since he just got the laser done today, since they were "zapped" the pigments come to the surface and that is why it looks so much darker. Over the next week or 2, all the areas that were lasered, will get lighter. Then each laser treatment the satelite spot will get lighter.

This is the before picture