24 Jul -- Henry Update

We finally have a surgery date for Henry.  August 16th.  Now that I have a date to focus on I can stop worry about "What are we going to do" and start worrying about "What the heck have we done and how are we going to get through this?!"

Henry will have surgery to correct his saggital craniosynostosis, which is an early fusing of the plate along the top of his head from his forehead to the back of his noggin.  It causes his head to have an elongated appearance.  He hasn't shown any symptoms of issues, but Dan and I decided that we don't want to risk health problems down the road which would require a longer, more extensive surgery or self esteem issues.

We love our little man and he couldn't be more perfect in our eyes.  I get sad when I think about the journey he is about to embark on over the next few months, but I'm glad that we live in a time and in a place where there is the ability to correct this issue.

The surgery,  in our understanding, should last 3-4 hours.  They will make a curvy incision from ear to ear and remove the fused section of the skull, allowing the brain room to expand and shape itself in a normal form.  He will be in the hospital about a week, depending on his condition and progress.  Jane and Charlie know that Henry has to have his head "fixed".  They don't know much else about it, but hopefully over the next 2-3 weeks we'll be able to prepare them for what to expect.  They are so sweet and gentle with them, I'm confident that we'll be able to adjust to this with only minimum problems. 

We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and we ask for continued prayers in the coming weeks and months as we go through the procedure and post-operation recovery.  Henry is such a sweet and happy baby.  We want the best for him and look forward to getting past this time and moving on to the less stressful "other side" of surgery.