Goodbye Mr. Silo

This picture was taken on Monday, thought it was a cute one. So Bright Eyed!

Right after surgery, so sleepy.

SugarBear and Elli showing off their stomachs.

Just a couple hours after surgery, so tired but need to sneak a peek of mom and dad. (I think I have seen Brian do the "one eye" look before too!)

Elli came through her surgery doing very well. They were able to fit all of her intestines, stomach, and spleen back into her abdomen by the aid of an Alloderm patch. The patch is between the skin and the muscle attached to the fascia. The surgeon said that her tissues will grow into the Alloderm patch and there will be no need to have it removed. They were able to close the skin over top of the patch so it just looks like a long incision below her left rib cage. Basically the only complications of the Alloderm patch is a possible hernia in that area when Elli gets older since the abdominal wall has been compromised.

Dr. K was by Elli's side during the surgery and didn't even have to change any of the vent settings. He said that Elli did great during the surgery and she had very minimal blood loss. The surgeons decided to remove Elli's abdominal drain but left in the chest tube. So far her gases have looked pretty good and they still haven't had to adjust any vent settings...GO Elli!

Elli is still pretty sedated, considering that the doctors gave her enough paralytic drugs to knock down a horse. She did open her eyes just a little bit tonight when the nurse and I were repositioning her. She is finally able to tolerate lying on her side without her saturations plummeting. She looked pretty comfy not lying on her back. Hopefully the nurses will be able to change her positions more often so some of the edema in her head will start to work it's way out. She has a pretty bad flat spot on the back of her head from lying on her back since her surgery on Sunday. Other than that we are pretty much just hanging out, hopefully the next couple days will be pretty slow, letting Elli rest and recover, and then we can work on weaning down the vent settings. The nurses did start some Nystatin powder for Elli's "double chin" since it was getting a little most from her neck and upper chest being swollen.

Well it's almost midnight, hopefully her blood gas will look good, so far she has been pretty quiet but woke up for just a bit, but seemed pretty agitated so now she is getting some happy meds to help her rest.

Thank you to everyone that has been following the blog not only today but Elli's ongoing journey. It seems like yesterday and yet a life time ago that I had Elli. Brian and I are just so in awe of how strong Elli is, this tiny baby enduring her 4th surgery in 2 weeks. She is such a blessing to Brian and I and has been an inspiration to both of us. She continues to amaze us daily with her strong will and fight. Thanks again for all the support...Brian, Cassi and Elli