Emme’s Surgery Tomorrow

Today, my Mom, Emme, and I went to her pre-op appointments at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.  We visited with her plastic surgeon, Dr. Kevin Kelley, had blood drawn, looked at “what to expect” pictures, and learned what we could and couldn’t do post-op. 

Emme’s surgery for Metopic Craniosynostosis will be tomorrow (June 23^rd) at 7:30 a.m.  We have to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. to prepare her for surgery.  She will be in surgery for 6-7 hours.  After surgery, she will be in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for at least 2 days, possibly longer.  They will move her from PICU after her swelling has gone down enough for her to open her eyes.  This may take up to 3-4 days.  After she leaves the PICU, she will be moved to a regular room for several days.  Overall, her stay will be at least one week. 

I would like for everyone to know that visitors are welcome tomorrow at the hospital.  I’m not sure if Emme will be allowed visitors after surgery, but please feel free to come and keep Shannon and I company throughout the surgery.  My Mom (Patti) and Shannon’s Mom (Barbara) are both in town and will be at the hospital with us.  After Emme leaves the PICU, I believe she can have visitors to her room.  This should be around Thursday or Friday.   Please know that if you come to visit, Emme will be quite swollen and may not look like her usual self for the first few days.  I want everyone to be prepared.

For updates on Emme’s surgery tomorrow, please check Shannon’s website: www.shannonbunch.com Shannon and I both have “twitter” accounts that run a live feed on his homepage.  We will be sure to keep everyone posted throughout the day.

Many of you have asked what you could do to help us during this time.  Most importantly, please keep our family in your prayers.  Also, pray for Emme’s team of doctors including the neurologist, anesthesiologist, and plastic surgeon.  Our dog, Walter, is at his “foster” home right now and we plan to get him back to our house on Wednesday.  That goal might be wishful thinking, but I sure hope to see him soon!  We may need someone to let him in and out of our house a few times, but my great neighbors can probably help us with that.  Many have asked if they could prepare a meal for us, and the answer is YES!  I’m expecting life to be a little hectic when we return from the hospital and having pre-made meals would be a great blessing.  If you want to prepare something, it might be best to prepare it to be frozen as I have no idea what to expect when we get home.  Other than those few things, I have no other ideas at this time.  I’m sure plenty will come up, after we get through the surgery.

I just want to say thanks again to all of our family and friends who have supported us, prayed for us, and who will hold us up through this time.  Emme, Shannon, and I truly appreciate everything.