Isaac's Surgery

Andrew and I drove to Iowa City at 3AM Monday morning with Isaac, who refused to go back to sleep and instead screamed the entire way! While Arianna and Ethan stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa Pratt who were here for a visit. We arrived at the hospital and checked in around 6:30 and they took Isaac back to surgery around 8AM Monday.

While Andrew and I were on our way to get the prescriptions filled and grab some breakfast, we saw Isaac's surgeon on his way to surgery. He sounded very hopeful that he would get the rest of the area removed and be able to close the scalp during this surgery.

We were trying not to get our hopes up knowing that it might not work out that way. This is Isaac's third large surgery to try and remove the Neivis on his head, and each time before they were hopeful they would get it all as well. Around 9:45Am the doctor came up to meet with us and said "We Won!" We were all so excited even if it didn't show due to the extreme fatigue we were feeling at this point :-)

Everything went very well, they removed the rest of the trouble area, and were able to close his scalp with the help of many stitches and about 20 staples. The doctor said other than a surgery later in life to help with the scar this would probably be Isaac's final surgery!


He was awake in recovery pretty quickly so they called us down to see him. By the time we arrived he was already back to sleep with the help of some morphine, because he had been in so much pain when he awoke. After that he was pretty calm most of the day. We went to eat lunch and he threw up just as we sat down, most likely from the anesthesia, but then seemed to be a little more alert, and did well the rest of the day.

He seems to be healing up well, and the pain is under control. We start getting staples and stitches removed in a few more days!

Being so close to the end looking back, I am just so thankful for all the wonderful ways we were blessed throughout this process. We were often able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House before surgery, which we all grew to look forward to and enjoy. Everyone was so nice and friendly, and it was nice to see how generous people can be.

The doctor we had was incredible. Such a talented man, and very easy to talk with and understand. He was very patient with Isaac and the other kids, as well as the questions Andrew and I had surrounding this process. He always made us feel very comfortable about what was going to be happening, and it was such a blessing to be able to trust the doctor cutting into your baby's head! He was a joy to work with.

We also had many great support people helping and praying for us as well as keeping the kids over night and giving them a little extra TLC during the craziness, it all made what could have been a horrible process, seem not so bad, maybe even enjoyable in some ways. It really worked out so well I don't think any of us will have bad memories of this time, although I hope we don't have to repeat it again :-)

Here are some pictures of Isaac before and After surgery. The incision is not usually covered because of its location, if you have a weak stomache you might not want to look very closely :-)