out of ICU

Andy made some big strides today. This is a picture of him playing. His eyes open just the tiniest bit and the doctor says the swelling is going down unusually quickly (thank you again all you who are praying). He has refused any food or drink until I mentioned the words ice cream -so tonight I fed him orange sherbert. Tomorrow morning at 6 AM will be the reveal - his bandages will come off!! Andy knows it will come off on Monday so every so often he will wake up and ask if it is Monday yet. I suspect that he thinks the helmet is what is keeping his eyes closed and he is frustrated with it. The doctor said that Andy's head will still be swollen tomorrow and in fact, we will not know his exact head shape for a few months. Jerry will be the one here in the morning when it happens, but since Andy was moved to a regular room tonight the kids will be able to visit him tomorrow so we will try to have pix of everyone posted before noon.

ORDERS FOR ANDY

The nurse just informed me that Andy has orders to move to the floor!!! That is extremely good news. However, the downside of these orders is that at the present time there are no beds available on the 'floor' (regular hospital). I am hoping that someone out in the regular hospital is receiving their order to go home right now. That would be good news to both them and us!

Andy's vitals have been good all alone; the doctors main concern has been his sodium level. They put extra sodium in his system, then reduced the sodium input, and his body maintained a safe level. Good! Andy still sleeps for long stretches on time and awake to "Go Potty" and to take a few sips of juice.

Catherine will pass on more when we get to the room and will be able to post different pictures. Right now he looks exactly as he did 33 hours ago except for a slight, very slight, reduction in the swelling in his left eye.

day 2

As you can see, Andy got his oxygen mask off today and as you can't see, he also got his catheter out. He will stay another day in ICU because his sodium is low (common in brain surgeries). He has not opened his eyes yet - perhaps they are swollen shut. He talks from time to time - asking me to hold his hand or asking for his bear. Once he said 'my head is broken'. He had been very excited ahead of time to come here for the doctors to fix his head, so I assured him that it was fixed. Jerry spent last night here. he has just taken Ric and Amber back to Ronald McDonald House to sleep while they play. Tonight they will all go watch Carolina play basketball at Katrina's while I stay here. I am expecting Andy to want me here most of the time as he wakes up but, as with everything else, we will play it by ear.

SLEEPING WITH HIS EYES CLOSED

For the first time since he has been a Wright, Andy is sleeping with his eyes closed. He is in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and his recovery from Cranial Vault surgery has begun. He went into the operating room around 2:30 p.m. and came out some time after 8 o'clock. His skull has been completely reshaped today. The plastic surgeon said the surgery went very well. He is expected to be in intevsive care until sometime tomorrow and then will be moved to a regular room. All of his vital signs are very good. The doctors plan to remove the turban on Monday.

As you can see from the pictures, his bear had a similar surgery! :) That is a nice touch and I think Andy will appreciate it once he starts to return to normal.

Remember to click on the pictures to see them full size!

1st update

Andy didn't go into surgery until 3:00 so we won't hear anything before 7/8 tonight.

Mothersheart Site

Cheryl (who is currently visiting us from China) has her website up!!!! when I figure out how to do a link I will ad it but for now you can type in mothersheartchina.org

Cranial Vault Surgery

Andy, Ric and I have just returned from our third trip Chapel Hill as many months. We all love visiting Katrina but the real purpose has been to attend about a zillion doctor's appointments for Andy at UNC's medical center.
Those of you who followed our trip to China to get Andy last August may remember that I worried , at the time, about his unusual head shape. It was beyond the flat back which is typical in some orphanage children. The doctors in China talked to each other about it at his medical exam,but since I don't speak Chinese , didn't have a clue what they were saying.
Andy has craniosynostosis which means that the pieces of his skull fused together prematurely in some places, causing other places to grow out of proportion. The common term for his particular disfigurement is called tower skull. As you can see from the pictures, he now has an abundance of hair which makes it much less noticeable.
This week we will return to Chapel Hill for Andy to have surgery to reshape his skull. This will allow room for his brain to grow as well as take pressure off the optic nerve which could have lead to blindness. A neurosurgeon and a plastic surgeon will work together for 6 hours ,pulling his forehead forward which will lower the top and round out the back. Andy will be in ICU for several days but we hope to be home before Easter.
We are hoping to be able to stay at Ronald McDonald house but will not know until the day before if they have a room available. Jerry, Amber ,Ric and I are definitely going - Ariel has a conference soccer game on Friday so we are not sure what she will be doing.
We would appreciate your prayers. Andy is excited that they are going to fix his head, but of course he doesn't have a clue at what cost. Jerry and I will be alternating staying with Andy and entertaining Ric and Amber. If Katrina's school schedule isn't too busy, she will also help. I am SO glad we chose Chapel Hill, even though it is a long drive. Andy's plastic surgeon goes to Katrina's church and does mission work around the world.