Jon's Post-Op Update

We arrived at the hospital around 8am Monday morning. The hospital staff was very accommodating and permitted me to stay with Jon until he was taken to the operating room around 9:45. The surgery was supposed to conclude between 2 and 2:30pm, but the surgeon didn't get started until about 11:30 and it also took about an hour longer than expected. No one told me about any of this, so when he didn't come out of surgery until about 5pm, I was a bit nervous!

His surgeon came out and told me that everything had gone really well and that she was pleased with the results so far. She was able to close both CSF leaks, alleviate the sinuses, and remove some polyps that they had not previously discovered. All of this should go a long way toward helping him to feel better, that's for sure!

I got to see him around 6pm, right before they took him up to his recovery room. He was pretty groggy and seemed to have tubes, wires, and monitors everywhere. The doctor and recovery nurse were fantastic and kept me well-informed from then on.

He was pretty miserable the whole first night, but by the time I got back to the hospital yesterday morning, he was starting to feel quite a bit better. He was able to eat all day yesterday, and he tried to sleep as much as hospital interruptions will allow.

He has a Lumbar Drain that is being monitored; people with a CSF leak produce too much spinal fluid and the drain is helping to regulate that before they send him home. Depending on how he's doing today, he may even get discharged this afternoon! This will go a long way toward helping him recover. He can only sleep about an hour at a time before a staff member wakes him up to take his vitals, change his IV, etc. The IV is also really bothering him. He feels much better every time they stop the fluids. Once he's home where he can rest and be rid of the IV, he should really start to relax and heal - provided the kids don't pounce on him too much!

My mom's been great - she's watched the boys this whole time for me and has even managed to keep up with cooking, dishes, and laundry! She'll be tired by the time she goes home. Lauren has been a dream baby. She's not fussed at all while we've been with Jon. The hospital staff have been very willing to let me take her wherever I need to, and I've been really grateful for this.

I'll post another update when he's home. Thanks for praying!