CHOP was amazing. We stayed in Philly the night before to make the morning easier for us. Nikko made himself at home immediately.
Our arrival time was 6am. When we got there, we were almost immediately moved to a pre-op room. Nikko was taken in for surgery at 7:30am. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Handing him to the nurse was scary. And it hurts me to have to do it a couple more times in the future. He was such a good boy.
When Nikko woke up, he was very out of it from the morphine and the sleepy drugs. It was so sad to see him that way. I'm so used to a happy and chatty little boy. His voice was raspy from the breathing tube and he had scratches and bruises from tape on his face, the IV tube, and the local anesthetics. Poor kid was really beat up and I wish I could have taken his pain from him. They bandaged his hand and foot for the first week until his follow up.
The first day home was horrendous. He was screaming in pain and all we were told to give him was tylenol. I had such bad anxiety trying to calm him. When he slept, it was for extended periods of time. He slept the meds off and started eating normal that evening. The next day and the rest of the week, he was his normal happy self, just slightly confused as to why he had a club hand and foot.
On the 9th, Nikko's bandages were taken off and the first step of his process was revealed! So far he is looking really awesome!
I put this little pic stitch together so you could see the difference as I explain in words what was done.
First, for the middle and ring finger were separated, and a z-plasty was performed on the two protruding skin bumps. The piece of his pinky finger wasn't touched because it will most likely be removed completely since there is no bone present. The surgeon wants to wait to be sure nothing will grow before we make any decision like that.
Second. His big toe was separated from the bunch and also two bones, which would have been the second and third toes, were removed to make that shallow dip between his fourth toe and his big toe. This is to allow them to have a crease between the two as his toes grow. The protruding bump on the top of the foot was removed. No further surgery should be needed on his foot.
Unfortunately, the surgeon believes that the deep creases on his right calf are results of amniotic bands as well, while this whole time I thought they were just really serious fat rolls. Although the mixup makes me giggle, it's another surgery we have to endure. Our next one is going to be mid April before the summer begins. I want him to be able to enjoy the beach and other summer fun.
Nikko is super happy and I am so blessed to have him. He's such a little trooper and I know he will do well in the surgeries to come.
Now me on the other hand...
I'm going to need a couple drinks.
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Thanks for reading ♡
