out of surgery & resting well

Wesley is out of surgery and resting here in ICU. He is pretty much out of it, but he calls out for "Mama" here and there. The surgery took a little more than five hours, so it was shorter than we thought it might be (we had been told five to twelve hours). According to the doctors, everything went as planned. They closed up the spit fistula, moved the g-tube to a better location (slightly lower on his abdomen), and took out a 15cm section of colon and placed that where his esophagus should be. Wes bled very little, so a blood transfusion wasn't needed. He started talking as soon as the tube was removed, so his vocal cords are okay.

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The doctors said that the surgery could not have gone any better than it did, so Damon and I are so thankful!! The head doctor said that on a scale of one to ten with ten being the most difficult, Wesley's surgery was easily a one!! Wesley did not have much scaring and his tissues were all healthy with good blood flow, so that had a lot to do with the "ease" of the surgery.

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Here's my first cute story about Wes from today - after he was given the sedative and taken to the intubation room (I think that's what you call is), he asked a nurse to help him sit up from lying down. She did, and Wes thanked her and kissed her hand. I am so glad to hear that he isn't just polite when I am around reminding him to say please and thank you. I will say though Wesley is quite good with his manners - he thanks people for everything and sometimes nothing at all, he just says it for no reason.

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Speaking of Wesley talking...I don't know if I've mentioned this, but since coming home Wesley has become quite the talker. Sometimes when he and I are in the car and it's been a long day for me, I institute a 3 minute quiet time. It doesn't ever last the entire three minutes (unless he would happen to fall asleep which never happens anymore), but it does give me a break. Anyway...as Wes was brought into his room in ICU, he woke up slightly. Apparently he started calling for "Duke" (not Mom and Dad, of course). No one here knew what or who Duke was, so a nurse came out and asked us in the waiting room. Duke is our wild dog at home, but that's not what he was asking for. We wouldn't have known what Wes was asking for except that yesterday one of the nurses asked him what his blanket dog's name was, and Wes told her it was Duke. I have always just called the cute dog head blanket body "your dog" (such as "I'll get your dog"), but Wes has had a name for him all along - I just never asked. I'll have to post a picture of the newest Duke - he was a gift from one of my Mom's friends, and Wes absolutely loves him. He is always there when Wes sleeps, so he must be a comfort to him!

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Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading, posting, and praying for us! Our God is a God of amazing things and answered prayers, which of themselves are amazing things. Thank you also to my parents who came here early to the hospital and also came up yesterday afternoon to visit Wes! They were such a help when Wes started to get whiny from not having food for two days (to clean out the colon for use in surgery).

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I will try to post pictures later - it's amazing how many little tubes and machines Wes is hooked up to! He is resting comfortably now, so Damon and I are going to step out of his room to get something to eat.

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Have a great weekend!!

Love - Staci