ignorance is bliss - day 1

If you've ever heard the term "ignorance is bliss" Ted would be the poster child for that. Sunday afternoon we told him that we would take him to the hospital on Monday and that Dr. Collins would fix his headaches. He would sleep through the entire thing, when he woke up he would hurt and have a bandage on his head, but they would give him medicine to help. We told him there would be some wires and he'd have to be in bed, but he'd have his own tv. When we asked him if he had any questions, he said, "How big is the tv in my room? Is there a bathroom in my room? Do I get to eat cafeteria food? Because the first day I want pizza and the second day I want chicken fingers and french fries. The third day we'll pick something new." When we put him to bed, he asked some other questions like, "Will it hurt?" I didn't want to deceive him so I told him it would and that they would give him medicine. There was a fine line of scaring him and also giving him enough information that he wouldn't hate us when he woke up.

So Monday morning at 5:30, we checked into Ruby. He was a CHAMP in pre-op. Not that they had to do too much before they took him from us. But he was fun and we laughed and so sweet. Which made it easier for us.

They took him from us at 7:30 am. They didn't start surgery until 9:30 am. The doctor came with a final, great report at 1:30 pm. My parents, Ben's parents and Andy waited the whole time. We had some other visitors in and out which was helping in passing the time. They told us 6 hours and that's exactly what it was.

The surgery went exactly as planned. Dr. Collins told us that when he opened up his head and saw the lining of his brain, it was obvious the size of the cyst and the pressure it was putting on everything. By the time the surgery was over, the cyst had drained considerably and his brain was "happy." Meaning that it had way less pressure and was actually beating with his heartbeat the way that it should. He is pleased with how everything went.

Ted was taken to the PICU and that's where we got to see him. It took him well over 3 hours to wake up from the anesthesia.

Once he was awake and alert, he went between sleeping and being fairly agitated. Mainly, he hates all the cords which prevent him from getting out of bed and for letting anyone snuggle with him. He's been so hungry but we've had to wait for his belly to "wake up" from the anesthesia. The thing that absolutely broke my heart was when he said, "I want Sophie!"

Ben stayed the night. Ted seemed to respond much better to him - which is unusual but I'm glad. So I went home and got some sleep. I brought back some gifts for him this morning to make the time in bed a little more entertaining. I got here around 6:00 am and they are both sleeping after Ted got some pain meds. He's still in quite a bit of pain and has a fit everyone once in awhile where he cries and yells (he can't yell too loud b/c he's hoarse from the tube in his throat during surgery) and just gets his frustrations out.

Today, Ted will get some wires removed, start eating and move to step down unit. All of which will make him much, much happier. Thanks for all the prayers. We feel them. Now it's up to pain management.