Operation: VNS

Otis made it through surgery without a hitch. He is pretty sleepy and grumpy (and other dwarves as well), hoarse from some tubes that had to go down his throat during the procedure, and sore at his 2 incision sites and IV site on his ankle (not the best spot for a toddler to have an IV, but we know from experience that Otis is a very hard stick--his little veins just don't take we'll to needles, and I can't say that I blame them!). Other than that, he's having a pretty dern good recovery here on the Euro-style short-term stay unit. We're here overnight so they can keep Otis under observation, but we're not in a private hospital room this time. We're on a floor made up of  bays of 10x10 rooms that are partitioned off from each other by regular walls, with one side partitioned from the rest of the bay by a curtain. Our little room is furnished with a crib for Otis and some vinyl recliners which will be our beds for the night. Luckily, besides the nurses (who are awesome, as usual), we seem to have the place to ourselves tonight.

Thanks to all of you for lifting us all up with your love and prayers today. The VNS won't be activated for another couple weeks (when his two incisions--one on his neck and one on his chest, both on his left side--are all healed), but we feel so relieved that the scary part is over and Otis is awake and okay. Yay for the amazing surgical, anesthesia, and nursing staff here at Children's Mercy! I don't know what we would do without them.

Otis was happy to be able to spend the day hanging out in his observation room with all four of his wonderful grandparents. What a lucky little boy to be showered with so much love!

We'll be back here with more details soon, but in the meantime, just wanted to let everyone know how great Otis is doing. He's so tough! One of the nurses agreed to disconnect him from his monitors for a bit this evening so we could give him a wagon ride around the unit. One of the nurses even made an elaborate nest of blankets for him in it since he's not able to sit up by himself just yet. He seems to be loving the ride, AND the change of scenery!