After Surgery

We had the benefit concert on the 10th and got home from that about 11pm, then we frantically packed, got kids dropped off to family and got about 2 hours of sleep before leaving at 4am for SLC. Brandon had to be and Primary Children's Hospital by 8am to draw labs before surgery. I slept most of the way up, Chad did all the driving, so he was operating on 2 hours of sleep for most of that day! Thanks honey! It was a very long day, we did labs, then went to check into the Ronald McDonald house. I think we were there less than an hour...just long enough to unpack a little, change the baby and change our clothes. Back to the hospital to check Brandon in, which turned out to be very quick for a change. They were ready for him as soon as we got there. Usually he has to sit around in his gown waiting for the Dr. to come get him, which gives him a lot of time to think and get nervous, but this time they were ready right away. We walked him as far as we could, gave him lots of love and headed to the waiting room.
This was supposed to be a 3 hour surgery but it ended up taking more than 5 hours! We were emotionally drained after waiting and praying for that long. I kept trying to convince Chad to take a nap while we waited, but it's just too nerve racking waiting to see if Brandon is going to have full function of his leg.
The Dr. finally came out and said things went well! It was a very big surgery, they removed 20 centimeters of his fibula (almost all of it), most of the muscle on the outside of his left leg, some of the nerve that was growing into it, and had to repair an artery in his leg. The Dr. said he anticipated that Brandon would not have much nerve damage and would eventually just complain about some weakness in that leg. We then had to go to the ICU waiting room for about 2 more hours before we actually got to see him. Chad went back first then came to stay with Carly while I went back. It was such a relief to see his little face, I felt like I had been holding my breath all day and could finally breathe! He was looking really well, talking quietly, but not in much pain at all. We didn't stay long, he was really sleepy as were we! So we said lots of prayers of thanks that night! Thank you to everyone who fasted and prayed for us that day, we know it helped him come through the surgery so well.
We are at home now caring for Brandon. He can't put any weight on his leg for at least 2 weeks. He has a drain going into his leg that we have to empty and record how much blood he looses every day. We also have to give him antibiotics through his port 3 times a day, along with his usual medications. He is doing really well, we can't wait until he is allowed to move his leg so we can see what kind of movement he will have.