RECOVERY

JD's new haircut

Playing at Pine View

Grandma Martinez and Jordan

JD and Amya

Alright, we are home now. JD was discharged from the hospital on Saturday. We were there for 6 days. I slept at the hospital with him every night. He was very brave and tough. He was in a lot of pain from his lumbar drain (a drain in his spine that let the spinal fluid come out) and he was tough about it. He got spoiled from everyone. He had to lay flat in bed for 4 days. I thought it would be hard to keep him down, but the poor guy felt so crappy he didn't want to move. By that last night, he was sick of it. He would tense up everytime the nurses came in. They came in every hour to drain his fluid into the bag so they could measure it. He lost over 400 cc of spinal fluid (about two IV bags full). It was crazy and scary to think he was draining that much.

The first surgery the doc removed JD's eardrum and sewed his ear shut. He stuffed what he thought to be his eustachian tube. His ear is so damaged he couldn't be sure that is where it was. Then on Thursday the second surgery they went in through his nose and cauterized his eustachian tube. His IV was changed three times and he just wanted to lay there on his left side. His head bandage made his left ear fold over and so it was hard for him to hear anything. His right eye got swollen and bruised, but the next day the swelling went to the left side since that is where he layed. He looked like a little bulldog. The bandage slipped down his forehead and it was so tight that he looked mad all the time. And his cheeks were swollen and droopy. He didn't look like my happy little boy anymore. It was really sad.

Jordan did not even recognize JD and didn't want to be by him. Jordan hated the hospital. Luckily Josh's family and my family took turns with him. My mom was able to take him to the zoo with his cousins and some aunts. I felt like a bad mom to Jordan because I hardly saw him at all.

JD got a buzz haricut and he hates it. He said "I want to have hair" he likes to style it and have it spiked up like his dad. So that is sad. His next surgery his incision will be closer to the top of his head and we would have to buzz it for that anyway. This last surgery they cut half of his hair, so he needed the other half cut.

His stitches go from the top of his ear to the bottom and just one stitch in his back from the drain. He had two sores on his forehead from his head-wrap bandage. They had two knots tied to keep the bangdage from sliding down into his eyes and they were so tight that he got huge sore that stuck out an inch from his head. He complained that they hurt, but when I saw what it did, I was a little upset! He has been so happy to play with friends again. He talked about his friends in the hospital, that he wanted to play with them.

We go to SLC next Wednesday. I am taking the boys to the zoo before JD has to go in to surgery again on Friday and Thursday he has a lot of appointments for his pre-op. We are scared about this one. We found out that he might have brain tissue that is still functioning. They can't test it and I don't know how this will affect him when they remove it. After this last visit, I am already dreading what JD will have to go through. It will be very extensive and scary. There is a lot of unknown until after the surgery. We just keep praying for the best. Thanks for your prayers. Love, the Cluff family