As of 1pm today, Max has successfully come out of his surgery and is now in a more intensive recovery area of the NICU. His surgery to repair the hernia did involve a mesh prosthetic, but that was placed in only after the surgeon realized that simply pulling together and stitching the empty spot of his diaphragm wasn’t going to work (pulled too tight, risk of splitting open again). The mesh that was placed in will (providing a good recovery) be surrounded by tissue over time and become a part of him that he’ll never have to worry about again.
Right now he’s on a paralytic to keep him still and morphine for the pain. He also has no less than 7 tubes or needles stuck into him, including one for the breathing machine. He’ll be gradually weaned from the morphine and the respirator over the next few days, and will (with any luck) be mostly recovered from the surgery by Saturday or Sunday.
Then the 2nd phase of recovery begins: getting his innards to work like they should. When you have surgery, your intestines are one of the organs that your body shuts down to conserve strength for critical functions (brain, lungs, heart). This can take some time to get back to working order, so hopefully starting next Monday he’ll be in a place where he’ll be ready to start putting mom’s food into his poor empty tummy, and then they watch carefully to make sure everything is working as it should. This process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. So, we’re not sure when he’ll be coming home with us yet, at least the worst part of this ordeal is over.
The updates will likely slow down a bit from this point. I’ll let you all know when he’s mostly recovered from his surgery, and again when we know more about his ETA for home.
Thanks everyone for your support. It’s been extremely helpful through the last few days.
2 replies on “Update 3 – Surgery completed”
Dearest Vanderzanden family, we are thrilled to hear that Mighty Max came out of surgery alright! We are all praying for a quick and full recovery! We have dinner ready to bring your family! You just tell us when you are ready for it!! Tons of love and prayers your way!
Mel
So glad to hear that Max’s recovery is heading in a positive direction. We’ve all been following the blog closely over here at the J. Can’t wait to meet the little guy when he’s all better!