Dallas Trip- Meeting Dr Sacco and Dr Fearon

We are home!!!! I updated our family blog with the fun part of the trip, and tons of pictures!!

On Monday we met with both Dr Sacco and Dr Fearon. Both doctors were amazing!! Our appointment with Dr Sacco was at 10am. We met with him at a Children's Hospital in Dallas. It is never fun to be in the Neurosurgery ward of a children's hospital because you are faced with children who are fighting for their lives, and it is very heartbreaking. It is also a reminder to us that
Landon will live.
Landon will be ok.
Landon will be a normal kid with a really cool scar to tell his friends about.
We know that we have a lot to be thankful for.

We also found out something unbelievable. Meredith said she thought that Dr Sacco was the famous doctor who separated the Egyptian Conjoined twins in 2003. Turns out, he did. This man is so great at what he does that he helped a team of other doctors in the operation that was more successful than anyone could have imagined. Can you believe that??? I can't. It is just another sign that my baby is in the best hands possible!!

This man called Landon from a backdoor in the waiting room:

Dr. Sacco

We were waiting to be called by a nurse from the door that every other child entered. When we were called, I assumed this might have been a PA. Nope, Dr Sacco came to get us from the waiting room himself, and took us straight to his office, instead of an exam room. It was such a personal experience and once again reassured us that he IS the doctor for our little boy.

He went over tons of information, most we already knew. He told us how he would be present for the whole surgery, and how he himself would be removing Landon's skull. He explained that it takes a long time to plan once they are "in" there. Dr Sacco and Fearon will plan together how the cuts will be made, depending on how they plan to put everything back together.

Dr Fearon will then remodel Landon's skull so his brain has room to grow normally. He will overcompensated a little, to lesson the chance for another surgery. He said that Landon's skull will never grow normally, and we want to grow in the way it already has, so that is why they overcompensate.  When he is finished with the remodeling, his skull will be replaced with dissolving stiches and put together like a puzzle. Pretty crazy! The best part, older kids who have had this surgery have not complained of much pain afterwards! There are no pain nerves in the skull, so it is not as painful as one might imagine. He also said to think of it like they are going in to do brain surgery, and remove the skull. Then they say never mind, and put it back on. It is strange to think of it like that, but it does make us feel better.

Landon will be in the OR for around 5 hours, but the surgery itself could take as little as 3 hours. He will not have any IV's or other sticks until he is asleep, so he won't have to feel that pain. He will receive some anxiety medicine the day before to help him stay calm in the unfamiliar place.

We did get some news that we were not hoping for. It looks like Landon has developed a complication called Chiari Malformation. Basically everyone has a hole in the bottom of their skull where the spinal cord exits. Sometimes where there isn't enough room for the brain to grow, the cerebellum will be pushed down that hole and  put pressure on the cord. The doctors are not overly concerned right now. He will now have a MRI on the day of his pre-op in Dallas, and yearly after surgery. Since he is already having surgery they will be able to address it in the same operation. If it had not been found or developed until after his surgery, it would mean another operation. So, at this point it will just make the surgery a little more complex and possibly a little longer.

Our appointment with Dr Fearon was at 3, at Medical City Children's Hospital, where Landon's surgery will take place. We were greeted by Dr Fearon's wonderful office staff and nurses. They knew me as "Landon's mom". (You think I call a lot? Ha, ha!)

We waited in the waiting room...

and the boys played....

and flirted.....

....daddy looks nervous, but we weren't....

...and we took pictures.

Once again....this man called us from the waiting room:

Dr Fearon and Landon

I think it is so neat that these Doc's came to get us themselves instead of having a nurse show us to a room. He took us to his office and right away we felt like we were at home. He took some pictures of Landon's head and went over tons of information. Most of what we talked about, we had already talked about on the phone, but it was nice for James to be able to hear everything I already did.

Landon (as of now) is scheduled for 7:30am on June 29th. If a younger baby is scheduled for surgery that day, he will get bumped, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. He will be given an oral medicine to make him loopy, and that it is before he leaves us. Then they will give him some dream gas, and off he goes. That is when they will do his IV's and whatever else they need to do.

He will be in the PICU for the first night, and the regular floor the second. As long as everything is going ok, he will be release on THURSDAY! I can't believe it is so quick, and I have to admit, it does make me nervous. But, we have planned to stay in Dallas until Sunday, so that way we are close to the hospital.

He will sleep a lot the first 24 hours, and then slowly return to his (new and improved) self. His eyes will probably swell shut, and they say that is very frustrating on the babies because they can hear everyone but they can't see. I am going to put some sensory toys in his crib to get used to now, so after surgery they will bring him comfort.

We still have a lot to work out as far as logistics, but we are one step closer to surgery day.

Only 6 and a half weeks.

Thanks for checking up on Landon!!