The Oonk Family: Day 6 & Catch Up

Hooray for being home again and Robbie being on his way to recovery!!

The worst part is finally behind us. Robbie was discharged late Friday afternoon and, now that we are 6 days in, I can honestly say that things are going surprisingly well all things considered.

To catch you up...Robbie's hip surgery was Wednesday morning. Super early. We had to be at Plano Presby at 6 am and the surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am. However things got a little delayed. The pediatric anesthesiologist group didn't show up. The surgeon came in around 8 and presented us with 2 options: 1) go with another group who has experience with kids but not exclusive or 2) reschedule for another day. Robbie's pulmonologist was pretty strong minded that we must have a pediatric anesthesiologist because of Robbie's compromised airway BUT we really dreaded the idea of rescheduling. So we took a leap of faith and went with the backup group. God surrounded his arms around Robbie and surgery went well. There were no complications, which was a fear of ours. We saw Robbie again around 11:30 am and we were settled into our room by late afternoon.

*** For those curious about what/why this surgery - when Robbie was in the NICU, he got a staph infection at 2 weeks old. He was so sick (so so sick!) and it took days for the medical team to figure it out. By the time they realized it and started treating him with antibiotics, the infection had localized in his left hip and damaged the joint. This is called septic arthritis of the hip. It's very rare or so they say. At 2 weeks old, Robbie had 3 surgeries to drain the fluid and remove dead bone and muscle. This bone infection required 6 weeks of IV antibiotics, which is why he was hospitalized for 9 weeks total at birth. Fast forward to present day. Robbie's hip has developed abnormally over the last 2 years. If we didn't do this surgery, eventually he would have a dislocated hip. For this surgery, the surgeon cut his femoral head and rotated it into the socket so that was positioned correctly. He also put in a plate and 3 screws to hold the bone in place. The body cast is to simply immobilize Robbie. Slow his booty down. If he tries to put weight on his hip too soon, the plate and screws could come out, causing even more damage. #notgood ***

Day 1 & Day 2: the hours went slow but the days went fast. Robbie was in a lot of pain. He was also throwing up, had high fevers and muscle spasms. We did everything we could to manage the pain and he slept a lot for the first two days.

Day 3: Robbie was awake longer and talking more. We even got a smile. The fevers were coming down, throwing up had stopped and we were ready to go home. We came home Friday evening and we were on our own to figure this out! Ekk!

Day 4 & Day 5: things are getting a little easier. Robbie is adjusting well but you can tell he's pretty frustrated at times. Even though the cast is only a few pounds, Robbie feels like 50 lbs now. It's very hard to carry him. We are so lucky that he still fits in his stroller (barely) so evening walks are in our future.

Day 6: today! Our plan today is to get Robbie back on a schedule. His sleep routine is way off. Joel is at home with me this week while we continue to figure things out together. The biggest challenge so far is diaper changing. Thank God for the internet through. We found a video on how to change a diaper in a spica cast and it seems to be working. It's not perfect, there are still some leakage, but we'll get better with time.

Here are a few pictures over the last few days. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement! They mean so much to us. xoxo