Operation over......

Max's operation on Tuesday went even better than we could have hoped for. He was in surgery for 6 hours and instead of going to ITU where he was to be ventilated he went to HDU and was given only oxygen prongs. Simon and I were amazed to see him looking so well given such major surgery. The surgeon came to see us later on and said that his smaller left lung actually looked quite healthy and that his diaphragm also looked really good, so much so that they contemplated not using a patch to close the hernia (although they did land up using a patch). Max struggled a bit as he came round, he was very aggitated and disorientated and not even Simon or I could calm him down. Following his post-op x-ray the team noticed that part of his left lung was collapsed and decided to put him on CPAP, which blows air in through a tube in the nose and helps to re-inflate the lung/s. The CPAP did its job perfectly and although the lung is not yet fully inflated they removed the CPAP today, along with his epidural and stopped his morphine. He had oxygen prongs for a short while but also had these removed tonight. He has a new wound on the left side of his chest which will need regular dressing changes and checks for infection, luckily he doesn't seem to be having any pain there and is already trying to get moving in his cot.

The plan is to be moved to the ward tomorrow and then within a week we could be home - although it all depends on the surgeon and his team.

I honestly never thought it would go so well, its still been very hard, tiring and emotional (well more for me coz I blurb all the time!) but the outcome could not be better and we are so incredibly proud of Max :)

Looking forward to getting home and getting out and about!

xxx

I have attached a picture of Max going to surgery in the 'theatre car'

Max on CPAP