Day one is almost done

Well the day started at 4:30 am this morning when we had to head to the hospital for the Gopher's surgery. They took him back at around 8:30am, but didn't start until 9:30am. The neurosurgeon went first and we spent several agonizing hours waiting for him to finish (we had thought that his would be the shorter portion of the surgery.) After four long hours, he finished and the ENT started (that was at 2:00pm). Finally at 4:45pm, the ENT came out and talked with us. She said that they were able to completely remove the cyst and the tract connecting it to the brain. He had lots of extra skin on his new nose, so she added a few stitches to make it look nicer. She called it the 10 foot rule (they should look good from at least 10 feet away). Right now he wouldn't pass, but hopefully later he will. She said that he will have trouble breathing through his nose for awhile, but after it heals a little he will be better. She said at that time the neurosurgeon was closing up and would be out in an hour or so. At around 5:30 pm the neurosurgeon came out. He described his portion of the surgery. He said that it took longer than he expected because the tract went further in than he had originally thought. It took a long time for him to close up the hole and then put everything back together (like Humpty Dumpty). He said that we should expect him to not look to good for the first few days. (He wasn't kidding.) We had to wait another two hours until we were able to see him in the recovery room. Once we did see him, it was a little hard to take. His nose was much smaller, even with the bandages we could tell that there was a big (now little) difference. His head was completely wrapped in bandages (like a stocking cap) and on the side by his ear you can see part of the sutures. His eyes are swollen shut and he is not a happy camper. He has a hard time breathing through his nose (as to be expected) so they have oxygen blowing by him. He has tubes coming out of everywhere (and I mean everywhere) except his right hand. He was very unhappy when we got there so they gave him some morphine (I'd want drugs too if someone cut my head open). Finally Daddy got to hold him and that really helped calm him down. He was fine until they had to put him back in the bed for the transfer to the pediatric ICU. Once we got to the ICU it was like all hands on deck. He had 6 nurses plugging and unplugging and checking and flushing. Once they got him all connected (I think he is wired for internet now), Daddy was able to hold him again. He was fine for awhile, until the nurse cleaned the drainage from his nose. Then nothing made him comfortable. So we put him back in his bed with some music playing and he finally settled down. We decided that it was a good time for us to leave and try and get some sleep. It was hard leaving him, but he needs his rest and so do we. It has been a very long day and tomorrow will probably be another one. He is supposed to only be in the ICU for 24 hours, but that depends on how his breathing and pain management go. We will keep you posted and thanks to everyone for all the prayers and well wishes. We certainly needed them and felt them today.