And now he's through the scary part

3rd update: Ty's surgery is done (and it's only 1:30). Everything went well, but there was almost a disaster in the beginning. Right before they were going to transfer Ty, the surgeon leaned on the table and the whole front end collapsed towards the floor. The doctor could've broken his foot and if Ty had been on there, he would've been severely injured. As the good dr. said, "It scared the begeezus out of me." (Also they are doing an inservice for the staff - it was some sort of cleaning oversight).

Ty only lost about 3 Coke cans worth of blood and hasn't needed any transfusions because his hematocrit was so high. They actually took some of his own blood at the beginning of surgery and have given it back to him. That makes me happy - I hope he gets through the whole stay without needing any at all.

The even greater news? They were able to get a correction to 30 degrees, which is better than they thought they'd get. He came in with a 120 degree curve - which is HUGE. But now it's very mild. His pelvis is still twisted and there's nothing that can be done for that, but he will be 100 times more comfortable when he's sitting. He is now 2-3 inches taller - isn't that crazy, he's been growing sideways for the last year. Or possibly melting.

Now we just have to watch him for infection over the next month -lucky for Ty, his surgeon has only had two kids get infections over the course of 17 years. He will most likmely get his breathing tube out before we see him - he passed the operation with flying colors! Thanks for all your prayers.

2nd update: Ty is still doing great and he is past the half-way point.

I finally fell asleep somewhere around 2:30 - 4am has never come so fast. Even with getting up so early we still didn't get here until 6:45.

Ty tried to throw up all the way here. I think he knew what was going on. Also, for future reference, it's probably not a good idea to ruffle the feathers of the anaesthesiologist by asking if he's the anaesthetist.

Apparently he's a doctor, not a nurse. I suppose after spending all that money and a zillion years in school, I'd be particular too. (But you'd would think the doctor would choose the shorter, easier to spell version).

Anyway, The anaesth... doctor said he'd be putting in an arterial IV to measure Ty's blood flow and chemistry, a central line in his neck, and a peripheral IV - all this in addition to the port-a-cath in his chest. There's also the possibility that he'll still be intubated when he comes out of surgery (I kinda doubt it, Ty is usually great after surgery and only needs oxygen on blow-by).

Just about the last thing the anaesth... doctor mentioned was the really, really, really, rare possibility that Ty could go BLIND due to a complication with the anaesthesia and being on his stomach for so long. I begged him not to tell me about the rare part because, as you know, we specialize in the really, really, really rare here.

We just received our first update and Ty is doing well. According to the surgical nurse, and I quote, "No reason to be worried at all."

Because we were here so early, we saw alot of babies and parents saying goodbye at the door. I still felt that same tug of worry and my eyes misted up, but I must be a veteran now - I just wanted to hug all those moms who were crying while handing over their infants.