Liam's Cancer Fight Day 4-Surgery

Day 4 (Monday Dec 9):

With the anxiety of wondering what his diagnosis would be now behind us, it was time to move on to the next step; getting Liam better. Monday would be a very busy day. The full team was in the office and it was time to make things happen. To help with lab draws and chemo therapy, the medical team wanted to place a port in Liam's chest above his right pec. For those who don't know, a port is a device that sits between the skin and muscles that has a lead that goes into a vain close to the neck. There are a few advantages. One being that it is closer to the heart so the meds are delivered quicker and another is that we could cover it with clothes so that Liam wouldn't bug it (as much) and it gave him the ability to use both of his hands. The biggest advantage is that Liam wouldn't have to be poked multiple times and worry about an IV going bad. Placing the port would require surgery and for someone his age, general anesthesia. While he was under sedation, the IR (Interventional Radiology) team also wanted to biopsy the tumor to send for testing and future research and do Bone Marrow Aspirations (biopsy) to see if the cancer had spread to his bone marrow (which we didn't want). The whole procedure would take a couple of hours. This also meant another day where Liam would be NPO. We also got a visit from Aunt Brittany and Carson while they were in SLC.

Just after lunch, Natalie and I said a prayer as Nat held Liam. I don't know that I've prayed for something with as much sincerity as I did in that prayer. After finishing the prayer, a calming feeling came over me that everything was going to work out.

At about 1:00, one of the nurses came to get Liam. We all walked him down to the procedure room as he rode in his crib. The special procedure room had a Utah Jazz theme to it with logos, player's pictures and autographs, and many other Jazz items. I may have geeked out a little. Someday Liam will appreciate it!
The team talked us through what they were going to do, instructed us on the anesthesia, and then we gave our kisses and went up to the room. It was the first time that any of our kids had been in surgery. Definitely not something we want to experience to often, if ever again.

Shortly after getting back to the room, sweet Krissy showed up with treats, Christmas decorations, and even some Dr Pepper (the most important part!!). She also brought a neighbor and friend Megan Gibson, mother of JP Gibson. Yes, the JP Gibson who has battled Leukemia multiple times and even signed a one-day contract with the Utah Jazz a few years ago. (#JPStrong). While Krissy decorated the room, Megan gave us a lot of advice about what we would be dealing with from medical terms to support groups, home life and dealing with other people (including insurance companies). It was a great conversation and really helped us navigate the process a little better. She even brought us a memory foam mattress topper and showed us how we can make a bed on the floor as well as the couch so we didn't have to squish on the couch anymore (not that there was anything wrong with sleeping that close to my wife)!

After a few hours of being in surgery, they finally came in and let us know that he was done and we could go see him. When we got to the post-op area, Liam was just starting to come to. Natalie held him as he worked through the medication. Everything went as planned and was a success. We did find out (a few days later) that the IR team isn't usually the team that places the port and that the surgical team usually does it.

That made for an interesting evening.

Shortly after getting back, Aunt Nicole came to visit and check in on us. We took some time to look over everything and the dressing and steri-strip around the incisions appeared to be leaking a little bit and just didn't look right. The Nurses helped us give him a wipe bath to help clean the iodine and dried blood off of his body and they determined that the original tegaderm (dressing that helps seal out any bacteria) wasn't sealed right so they needed to remove the original and replace it with a new one. This meant pulling the tegaderm off the skin (which was super stuck) on an area that was super tender from surgery on a tired, worn out 1 year old, who had a very long day....what could go wrong?

Of everything we had been through up to this point, this was the hardest part. When you have to pin the arms and legs down of a screaming baby who is looking at you with a look of "Dad, why are you letting this happen? Do something!!!", there isn't much more that can break a parent's heart as much as that did. After what felt like an hour of torturing poor Liam, they finally got the new tegaderm placed. Part of the problem was the surgeon placed a tegaderm between the skin and the port (which apparently wasn't normal) and the nurse had to make sure not to pull that tegaderm up when she pulled up the top tegaderm.
I think the nurse was frazzled by the screaming because the new tegaderm didn't look like it was that much better than the original, other than there was less dried blood. I think everyone involved was ready for it to be over, especially poor Liam.

We got him all settled down and he went right to sleep. Between the drugs and the torture, he was ready to call it a day.

Natalie and I made our new beds and weren't too far behind. I slept on the floor with the mattress topper over the couch cushion back, and Natalie slept on the couch. Hopefully tomorrow would be less eventful.