148.....out with you

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 

Everything went smoothly.  Dillon got one of his requests met, which was to take home the stuff that was implanted.....see picture below.  It is actually against hospital policy...but we had a great team of nurses in the OR who helped us out :))  His unmet request was that he be given a video of the surgery...they said it would be fine if they had the equipment and the personnel, neither of which were available today.  The doctors and nursers were all impressed....they have never had a child ask for a "movie" of their surgery before.  Leave it to Dillon to ask the questions and want the information that impresses the heck out of the medical staff. 

in the preop area waiting for surgery

Paging Dr. Buckley------Dr. Buckley

My super stylish outfit that I get to wear into the OR.  I stay with Dillon until he is asleep, then I go to the waiting room.  I saved this for Halloween next year :))

Chest shot of Broviac this morning before surgery

chest shot of 2 bandages after surgery.  There are a couple of stitches under those gauze bandages.  He can take a shower tonight and in 3 days the bandages can come off.  The surgeon laughed when Dillon asked...."How long until I can swim?"  The answer was 2 weeks.

Here is the internal part of the Broviac (they did not give us the external part that you see hanging on his chest above).  This piece went from the opening in his chest straight into his heart.  It is about 8 inches long

This is the port that he got installed in Albuquerque 2 days after diagnosis.  The whole purple part was under his skin on his upper chest and the white tubing ran under the skin into his heart. The tubing is about 6 inches long.

just so you can see the size....port vs quarter

Line comparison.  The one on the top is the port line and the one on the bottom is the broviac line.  See how the broviac is about twice as big.  The larger line was required for the transplant, which is why he ended up with both.

Now a quick little comparison photo.....what a difference 6 months makes....

This is Dillon last week getting his PET scan.  He was talking, laughing, feeling just fine.

This was Dillon getting ready for radiation in September.  He was cold, he was sick, and he was terrified.

A few days ago he was out on a field kicking a football with some kids he met at Brent's.

Modeling his new jacket.

So as you can see, and as you already know.....Dillon is doing great.  He has made amazing, fantastic, huge progress and we are counting down the days until we get to go home.