“We’re not distracted by politics. We’re not held by the constraints of any major religion. The Lord looks out for us all by giving us the compassion to look out for each other.” – Brandi Carlile
We’re Looking at Surgery for Natalie
We met with our neurologist and the neurosurgeon at Primary Children’s on Thursday. We’re proceeding towards surgery but have to get a neuro-psychological evaluation and a pediatric ophthalmologist to measure her vision field cut before we go back. Neurosurgery will meet with us again on March 3, and I expect that’s when they set the date… Continue reading We’re Looking at Surgery for Natalie
Chalk Art Festival
Natalie’s Surgery – Pediatric Peri-Insular Hemispherotomy
On July 26, 2011 Natalie went to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City to have a Pediatric Peri-Insular Hemispherotomy performed to control her seizures. We started the conversation in 2010, and began tests in September 2010 to determine whether Natalie would benefit from this procedure. After completing interviews with her pediatric neurologist,… Continue reading Natalie’s Surgery – Pediatric Peri-Insular Hemispherotomy
Pre-Op Questions with Des
Des is the surgical nurse. She came out to the pre-op waiting room to answer more questions, and to make sure Natalie was ready. It’s about 10 minutes before the doctors were ready.
Natalie is taken back to OP5
Angela, Marisa, Gabriel and I have checked into the surgery waiting room just before 10AM. We have six hours to wait here before Natalie is out of surgery and moved into ICU. Des has promised to call us every 1.5 hours to provide status as the surgery is conducted.
1st Surgery Update
Natalie’s update: 3 hours in and surgery is proceeding well. Heart rate, temperature and breathing are all normal. The nurse was late calling because she grabbed some lunch, which is a good sign. Next call is planned around 2:30 Mountain time, surgery is expected to run long.
2nd Surgery Update & Surprise Finish
Natalie’s post surgery update – we got a surprise, Natalie is out of surgery and headed over to the ICU. The doctor said she did really well in the operating room, no complications. She isn’t going to require a drainage tube (another surprise), so it’s just stitches to deal with. We should be able to… Continue reading 2nd Surgery Update & Surprise Finish
PICU Room 6 – Post Op
Natalie is recovering in the Pediatric ICU (PICU) and off ventilation. She’ll be sleeping for a while now. The anesthesiologist has come out and spoken with Angela and I to let us know (again) that the surgery went smoothly. We met Dr Kestle in the PICU and discussed Natalie’s surgery further. Natalie was extremely pale but… Continue reading PICU Room 6 – Post Op
The Surgical Incision
A better view of the surgical incision. The good news is that she’s got lots of lovely curly hair to cover that up!