The day has finally arrived!

We have jumped through so many hurdles to get to this place. I actually never thought we would get here. It was such a long shot. There were so many ups and downs, twists and turns, but we have made it. Our family made the decision to help control Jayen's seizures by undergoing brain surgery. Over the past year and a half we have tried numerous medications with little effect on his seizure control. When brain surgery was presented to us, we knew it was a long shot. We were so up and down about the procedure. It is such an invasive and permanent decision but gave him such a great chance at a seizure free life. A SEIZURE FREE LIFE! I'm crying just saying those words. That possibility alone is the reason we have put our entire family through everything.
This morning, Jayen crossed his last hurdle in our journey to brain surgery; the surgery itself. An early morning wake-up call for surgery at 7:30AM. Jayen was strolled down to the operating room. Daddy got the priviledge of taking Jayen in and helping him go to sleep. I say priviledge lightly as he is kicking and screaming, using all his might to get away from the mask. When he was under we said our goodbyes and had to put all our trust and faith in these doctors' hands. I asked one of the surgical residents to hold Jayen's hand for me. I hope she did! I'll have to ask her tomorrow.

 

We did all we could to keep busy during surgery. We went to the chapel for ashes, cafeteria for breakfast, the room to put batteries back in all the toys, picked out a new XBox game for Jayen, gift shop to search for a gift, cafeteria for lunch, then waited outside the operating room. Dr. Dunn came out a while later, she said surgery went great and Dr. Kebriaei was closing up. A while later Dr. Kebriaei came out and explained the surgery to us. They removed the entire polymicrogyria in one clump, the tissue on the orbital lobe that was affected, and the two areas on the temporal lobe. Dr. Kabriaei said there was a little scar tissue on the orbital lobe so they were glad they took it out or it could have caused him more problems later. Jayen was taken to the recovery room and we waited to see him. We kept asking for updates and no one was sure where he was. After an hour we asked for another update and they told us there were just taking him to PICU. They said we could meet them at the elevators and go up with them. I wasn't sure why we were going to PICU. The plan was to go back to our room on the epilepsy unit. Well, I guess I will take the extra help watching over him. He started to wake up around 5:30PM. He is a little out of it yet, but perked up when the nurse asked him if he wanted a popsicle.

 

After being awake for only an hour and a half he was a little tired again. I'm sure this will be a sleepless night, but is worth it. I hope this is the start of a new life for my baby.

We are so thankful for all the thoughts, prayers, and gifts. I'm so overwhelmed by the support we have. I love you all so much and hope some day I can repay you for what you have done for my family. God bless you all!!!!