Surgery update

Well, surgery got started at 8 am this morning and we have just now settled into our room at 4 pm. Hudson is now doing well but we had a few scary hours after surgery.

When we talked with the surgeon this morning he told us along with his palate repair he planned to "lift" his nose and tuck-in his nostrils. That wasn't expected but he knows best. The surgeon expected to be in the OR about 2 hours. After 2 1/2 hours they called and told us it would be another 45 minutes or so. At about 11:15 he came and met with us and told us once he got in to lift his nose he discovered a muscle had been left unattached which he went ahead and attached. When he did this it made his lip revisions scars "pucker" which was a good thing (his words) because he was unhappy with how tight the revision was and this gave him the opportunity to bring in those scars and loosen up that lip. So...aside from his palate repair, he had a rhinotip-plasty and lip revision. He has no new scars as he opened up the old ones so they are re-stiched. He expected us to join him in recovery in about 10 minutes. Well, over an hour later we were still waiting when they finally called us. They let me go in first and I was NOT prepared for what I saw. When the nurse starts with "I'm not saying this to alarm you but..." you know it's not going to be good. Hudson was having a very difficult time breathing. His whole body was heaving trying to get in oxygen. They were having a difficult time getting him to wake up and were anticipating ICU. Wow! I was dreading that moment of him waking up but this was way worse. A total helpless feeling and I have to admit I was scared. What was worse is only one of us could be in at a time and I didn't want to be alone to watch it all. They kept suctioning him out, had oxygen on him and would have to pull on his "tongue stitch" when his tongue would obstruct his airway, at one point they taped it to his chin. The nurse said "I know this looks barbaric" and she was right!

I finally sneaked away long enough to talk with Mark, send out a couple texts and phone calls to my mom and Pam and I think heaven was flooded with prayers. It was a short time later when he started doing much better. They re-evaluated him and decided he was holding his own enough to avoid ICU!

He still hasn't woken up much and they are still having to suction him but he seems to be resting comfortably for the time being. His stats also go down quite a bit when he drinks which is due to the swelling in his throat and his tongue but he gets them up quick.

I have attached a couple pictures. He is pretty swollen but he has a nose! We had loved his sweet flat nose and were not prepared for such a change in his look but his nose looks beautiful. He has plugs in and stiches all over but we can't wait to see what his face will be like when the swelling goes down.

Thanks again for the many prayers. We still need them. I don't think the pain has set in yet and I am prepared for a long night but the scary time is over. I sure think about his surgery in China and what that was like for him. The nurses were so impressed with how he searched for us when we weren't there and immediately calmed down when I came in. Thank you Jesus!!!