Christopher's surgery went as expected last night. They drilled a hole in his skull and inserted the pressure monitor and the tube for drainage. The cranial pressure was 46 during surgery, which is high compared to the 10-15 that is considered normal. His neurosurgeon, Dr. Sun told us that there is no spinal cord damage as far as they can tell and that the only real concern they have at this point is the swelling in his brain. He will remain in a medically-induced coma until the swelling in his brain goes down and stays at a normal level consistently. This will likely be 3-7 days.
I have been in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) with Christopher since early this morning around 12:30, when I was finally allowed to be with him. I am not able to be right next to him because of his serious condition, which has been very difficult. There are simply too many machines and monitors surrounding him and there is no room for a chair, so I am sitting about 15 feet away from him with a birds-eye view of both Christopher and the ever-changing numbers on the monitors. I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing! He has been attended to constantly throughout the night, as they are trying to stay on top of the swelling in his brain by adjusting everything from his medication, his temperature, his blood pressure and ventilator. I feel confident that Christopher is in the right place. The doctors and nurses are first-class.
I took these photos of Christopher around 3:00 this morning. It's not pretty, but I assume that at some point, he will want to know what his time in the PICU looked like! My next post is going to be the link to a video I posted on youtube from last Sunday when he was Christopher being, well, Christopher. He was doing what boys love to do...blowing things up! I look forward to watching him make vinegar bombs again in the near future!
Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes for Christopher. I will keep you all updated on his progress.
With love, Laura
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