Chillaxing

Monday

Tuesday

 Tuesday

Tuesday

Looking better already.  Ivan's vitals and labs are improving so he didn't need another unit of plasma.  He was moved from the PICU into a regular room this afternoon.  He watched Nemo and ate a few bites of mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and ice cream.  Dr. Singhal said there was more pressure than what all the tests and scans had been showing.  His brain was happy to be free!  Amazingly, he is only taking an ibuprofen drug for pain.  His arterial line came out today.  Ivan can't wait to be rid of the itchy tourban, the other IV's and the drain.  Enjoy the pictures!  Our rock star has turned into Rocky!

New and improved!

Beautiful new round head #2! 
We finally got to see Ivan around 3:30.  We met him on Reunion Avenue, then went to the PICU.  He is resting and the anesthesia side effects are finally starting to wear off.  Got a sweet smile from him when we rubbed noses and he asked me to "do it again."  We have pictures to share, but the laptop is having issues, so we are hoping to post them tomorrow with an update. 

12:20 Update

Just heard from the operating room and Dr. Singhal has started closing and said that everything went well.

Surgical update

Just heard from the operating room and they started around 8:40 and said things are going well. We hope to hear more around 10:30.

Balb

Yes, I know bald is spelled wrong, but this is Ivan's version of the word.

He Knows!

We spent yesterday at the hospital completing all of Ivan's pre-surgery appointments.  We saw the surgeon, a nutritionist, the lab, the anesthesiologist, and a child life specialist.  Ivan has been taking anti-anxiety meds for over a month now and yesterday we could see the positive effects.  He was bouncing off the walls and jumping off the exam tables but he wasn't as tense as usual. 
The child life specialist talked to him about his surgery.  He took it pretty well and is most concerned about the mask with the bubblegum flavor (he hasn't stopped talking about the "icky" bubblegum smell since his spinal tap).  He smelled the lemon/orange flavor and decided that would be better.  He asked if Chris and I would stay with him.  Once we answered, he flapped and squeaked, "I'm going to have a sleep over at the hospital!" 
We printed the book about surgery that Children's Mercy has on their website.  It is a picture book that explains what will happen the day of surgery.  He has been carrying it around all day and showing it to all his toys!
The boys are shaving their heads on Friday (I'll post pictures).  On Sunday we go back in for more lab work.

Publicity

An article for the Jorge Posada Foundation was published in today's Parade magazine.

http://www.parade.com/news/what-america-cares-about/featured/100808-his-most-important-save.html