I am physically and emotionally exhausted as I write this, so I'm going to try to keep this brief. Today we met Dr. LeFaivre in Charlotte for the consultation concerning Jackson's need for craniofacial and eyelid surgery. I thought that we would leave today with an appointment for surgery scheduled, but we have to meet with a neurosurgeon before we can schedule it. I hope to find out tomorrow when the neuro consult will be and then when we can schedule for the surgery so that we can have some idea when to schedule Rivers' surgery in Boston. As of now, it looks like Rivers may be having her surgery before Jackson's.
Anyway, Dr. LeFaivre agreed that Jackson needs craniofacial surgery and explained the procedure to us. It is my understanding that the plates in Jackson's skull fused together too quickly, and this has created the problem with his head beginning to take a triangular shape. During the surgery, Dr. LeFaivre would open Jackson's head, then the neurosurgeon would remove the plates. Dr. LeFaivre would put the plates together outside of Jackson's head fusing them with some sort of synthetic material that, along with the screws and sutures, would dissolve over time. Then, I believe, the neurosurgeon would put it all back together, and Dr. LeFaivre would close. The surgery is expected to take about 5-6 hours, and Jackson will more than likely require a blood transfusion. It is expected that he will be in the hospital for five days recovering. The eyelid surgery will be referred to a doctor here in Columbia, but Dr. LeFaivre wants to wait until all of the craniofacial surgery is finished.
It all sounds pretty awful to say the least, and I just hate that he's going to have to go through this. Please pray for my sweet boy! I hate to wish time by because I love this time in life with my kids, but I just want this all to be over with! I know in my heart that this is all a part of God's plan, but this certainly isn't the part that I enjoy. Thank you for caring about our family and for your prayers! God has been so incredibly faithful, I have no doubt that His faithfulness will continue and that He will be our joy through all of this.
