Thomas' First Christmas & Second Operation

Blimey what a few weeks we've had! It all started about 2 weeks before Christmas, the little man got a tummy bug which wasn't pleasant and really unsettled him. Then, just as he'd recovered from that I got tonsilitis, just in time for Christmas. So Thomas' first Christmas wasn't quite as we'd planned but Thomas had a lovely time. He was a bit overwhelmed by all of his presents and was more interested in the wrapping paper ;-) but now he loves playing with all of his new toys (which seem to have taken over our house!). Here's a piccie of him of Christmas day....


Thomas' 2nd Operation
The New Year came and Paul and I really started to think about Thomas' second operation. Up until this point we could easily tell ourselves 'it's next year' and try to put it to the back of our mind. The thought of the op sent both of our stomachs into knots, we couldn't bear the thought of our little rascal having to go through such an ordeal. We were trying to gear ourselves up for 7th Jan, when he would be admitted to hospital, but on Wednesday 3rd I received a phone call from Mr Barron's secretary to say there had been a cancellation so Thomas could have his op the next day if we agreed! My immediate reaction in my head was to say 'No way' but sensibly we knew it was the right thing to do so after running around like headless chickens (and a few tears) we got all our stuff together and off we trotted to Birmingham.

Unfortunately there was no beds available in intensive care so Thomas didn't have his op on 4th Jan or 5th Jan, they let us go home on the friday afternoon for the weekend as there was no point staying in, they only perform emergency ops at the weekend. What a palaver! On Sunday 7th Jan we called the ward to see what the situation was and was told to go back in, Thomas was first on the list for his op the next day, so off we trotted down the M6 again.

So Monday 8th January came and we took Thomas down for his op at about 8.40am. He was all smiles and giggly as we walked him to theatre, we felt awful as we knew what was ahead of him but obviously he was oblivious. It was really really hard for us to hand him over, all sorts of things go through your mind, it's just an impossible situation. But by 12 noon we got the news that the op had gone to plan and the little man was ok - hooray!!!! It was such a massive sense of relief - we felt euphoric :-) We went and visited him in Intensive care about an hour later and again it was really hard to see him on the ventilator hooked up to machines and drips. Although it was when they started bringing him round that was the hardest. He was so fractious and so upset, nothing would comfort him. He had some secretions on his chest so they had to suction him a few times which just looked barbaric. Paul and I really struggled at this point. His blood pressure was a bit high but the docs were still quite pleased with his progress but he was so distressed all evening and it was really upsetting to see him like that.

Since then though the little man has done remarkably well, he came out of intensive care the following day, he was monitored as high dependency for another day and then on the normal ward. We were expecting to come home on Saturday but the little man had a temperature in the morning and so we stayed in another night for observation so we got home Sunday afternoon. There really is no place like home :-)

Thomas has done remarkably well and we are so so proud of him. It makes me burst with pride when he crinkles up his nose and gives me a smile. It will take him a little while to recuperate but he is doing great so far and seems really happy to be home. It's just amazing how far he has come in a week after such a major op, to be honest it blows my mind. He is certainly made of strong stuff. Well done little man! xxx

Here's a photo of him in hospital 4 days after the op (I'll spare you the photo's we took in intensive care)

Thanks to everybody for all your support and for all your text messages - it really does make a difference. Good job I get 500 free texts with my tariff ;-) xxx