Pre-op

We began our surgery week with a celebration for Ben- his baptism. Although it was planned before we had our surgery date, it could not have taken place at a better time. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by family. We enjoyed sharing our happy baby with everyone. Ben smiled throughout the whole service, and took a good, long nap once we were home. All of the prayers and words of encouragement were very helpful. It also helped us to keep our mind off of the week ahead.

This morning we met with Dr. Genecov, and Ben managed to sleep through the whole appointment. I was planning on getting a picture of the two of them together, butBen did not cooperate. So, here is a picture of Ben during our appointment.

Dr. Genecov met with us and told us a little bit about what he will do tomorrow. He said they will remove a 4cm piece of bone the length of his sagittal suture as well as 2 pie-shape pieces closer to his temples. This will allow the skull to grow out. He said it will be like a giant soft spot. He said we will see immediate results, but the helmet will help to encourage proper growth. He said that from the time we hand Ben off to the time we get to see him again will be about 2 hours- one of those hours will be spent mostly on anesthesia and IVs. He also said that when it comes to red-heads "all bets are off." He has toldus previously that red-heads tend to bleed more and can have harder time in recovery than other children. Who knew!? Overall, we feel that we are putting Ben in good hands with Dr. Genecov.

After our meeting with Dr. Genecov we went over to the children's hospital. Ben had more photos taken and some blood work done and we filled out tons of paper work. Luckily the nurse found a good vein and it was not a problem! We also spoke with a nurse practitioner about what to expect after the procedure. Everyone here is so nice and helpful! Having caring nurses and doctors have made a world of difference in this process.

After finishing up at Medical City, we drive to Children's Medical Center to meet Ben's neurosurgeon, Dr. Weprin. He explained the evolution of surgery for Craniosynostosis, which we had not heard before. He said they originally performed an operation similar to the one Ben will have, but without helmet therapy. The results achieved by this were not very good. About 35 years ago, doctors began doing the CVR ("the big surgery"). Dr. Weprin described this as, "taking everything apart and putting it all back together. He said the results from this are very good, but the recovery is hard, and it is not always the best way to treat it. He said a few years ago they began to revisit the idea of the original surgery, but added in helmet therapy and the results have been very good.

Dr. Weprin told us all about craniosynostosis as if we didn't know anything about it (which is funny when we know so much!). He said that Ben appears to be a textbook case of Sagittal synostosis, and he does not believe Ben will have any further problems. He also emphasized that a blood transfusion is very, very low-risk and that we should not worry if Ben has to have one.He also had many praises for Dr. Genecov. He said he has never met a more hard-working doctor, which is always good to hear! We left his office with smiles on our faces, knowing that we have wonderful doctors who will take great care of our sweet Benjamin tomorrow.

We will be at the hospital at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning, for surgery at 7:30. Please say an extra prayer for Ben tonight! I will update throughout the day tomorrow. Thank you again for all of your love and support!