May 20, 2021 "Some Team Rayden Pics"

 

May 19, 2021 "Post op visit"

Two weeks ago Rayden was put to sleep so Dr. Damitz could remove his stitches. They were in pretty deep so she clipped the edges but didn't dig to remove them all. We have been watching for them to work their way out. Over the past two weeks a few of them came to the surface and came out on their own. Today Dr. Damitz could see one stitch under the skin toward the top, one in the middle that had already busted the skin, and two dissolvable stitches toward the bottom. Rayden's skin is still paper thin down there so she did not want to dig. She believes they will continue to come out on their own. He was disappointed when she said he had to wait longer to get into the pool, but she would allow him to play in his sand box if I covered the wound well. Since there is only one week left of school she said it just wasn't worth the risk to send him back. We just need to focus on an enjoyable summer and start fresh next school year. 

Rayden stated over and over the entire way to the hospital that when Dr. Damitz was finished he was going back upstairs to visit his nurses. So, guess where we went next... Meghan and Monica were at the nurses station already. Gina came running from behind and hugged him so big. He wrapped his little arms around her neck and gave her the sweetest love. Mrs. Patricia even came around the corner to see him. He was thrilled to see them all. Of course, they stated how much they missed him working at the front desk and always making their days bright. We just love the 7th floor staff. 

May 3, 2021 "Finally removing stitches"

Our 14 day quarantine ended up being 24 days. The Health Department requires the person that tested positive to quarantine for 10 days. They are considered contagious the entire time. The family begins their 14 day quarantine AFTER the 10 days (if they haven't shown any symptoms) because they could catch the virus on the first day or even the last day. Michael and I both tested negative toward the end of the quarantine, and no one had any symptoms at all. 

We took Rayden to UNC to get his stitches removed. We told him what was going to happen. He was scared just a little bit, but soon accepted it. He's smart enough to know that he can't move on until those stitches were gone! I have lost count on how many times he has been sedated. Let me put it this way...he's been sedated so many times that he can literally tell you the steps! On our way there they actually called to let us know they were ahead of schedule. I was so relieved that we wouldn't have to wait very long. Once we got to the second floor and checked in, we sat down for about 15 minutes when Lamont came out to get us. He transported Rayden 3 times a week when he was in the hospital those 65 days so, Rayden was comfortable with him already. You would think Rayden was a celebrity because by the time Lamont got us settled into the procedure room people kept coming by just to say hello. 

The child life ladies wanted him to make Mrs. Elizabeth a birthday card because they remembered how much he liked her. They even brought spider man stickers. The anesthesiologist remembered how much he hated the mask, but she believed they could get away with sedating him with the gas and not having to start an IV. That sounded good to us. Rayden was doing just fine until the child life ladies brought in the mask for him to put the smelly stuff inside. He knew what that thing was and began telling them he didn't like it. They quickly switched gears and started playing a game on the ipad with him while everyone else got ready. The anesthesiologist came from behind his head and placed her arms around him like a big bear hug. The other person held the mask on his face. He cried, of course, as they kept telling him to just breathe. They asked me if I wanted to come up there to his face, but I did not want him to think that I was doing it to him so I stayed at his feet. It only took a minute or so and he was out. Michael and I left the procedure room to wait in the hallway. 

It only took about ten minutes before Dr. Damitz came out to tell us how it went. She stated that everything still looked nice and healed. Since so much time had passed she was afraid the skin had grown over them so much that it would be a challenging removal, but there was only one spot that gave her any trouble. She said we would probably see one or two sutures but she thinks they will work themselves out. She didn't want to dig any further into his delicate skin. She removed all the sutures and pushed on it but no fluid came out. She believed since we were this far out maybe we were finally in the clear. She did recommend using vaseline if it seemed dry and warned us that there could be some drainage or bleeding for a day or two. Of course, they placed a thick dressing over it for the car seat ride home. She wants to see him back in 2 weeks before she will completely release him to go back to school and all. 

The sedation nurse came shortly to get us. He was pure snoring! The anesthesiologist said he did great and did not wake up during the removal so they never started an IV. I hated that he had to be tortured with the mask again but I believe it was better than being tortured to get an IV! When he finally woke up he only wanted his Daddy! He had a flood of emotions for about 20 minutes and then started eating Ritz crackers. Apparently word got out that Rayden was there, because his 7th floor nurses started coming down to see him. Mrs. Elizabeth, from child life, and Alissa, his favorite nurse, came when he was awake. He was very happy to see them. 

Michael promised Rayden he could have an ice cream cone after the procedure so, even though he hadn't eaten anything all day but those few crackers, he got a giant cone to eat in the van first! He was one happy boy. He began complaining with his back hurting about 30 minutes into the car ride home. We stopped and let him out to take a break. I placed my sweater behind his back for more cushion in his car seat and that settled him the remainder of the ride home.