Post-Op Visit

So we had Chase's Post-op visit today. The surgeon said he was healing very nicely and he was glad that he was doing as well as he is. He said that he was really worried about chase because he had to cut through so much muscle and what he had to take out was so tough to get out. So the pathology came back as a Cavernous Hemangioma.
This is what it is - Cavernous malformations are dilated blood vessels that are characterized by multiple distended "caverns" of blood that flow very slowly. The blood filled vascular spaces are surrounded by blood vessel walls that do not have enough smooth muscle and stretchable material (elastin), so they are not strong and get distended. Cavernous malformations can be located anywhere in the body, including the liver, rectum, kidney, eyes, and nerves.
He basically said that it is very rare for a child to have this and the chance of having another one is very small. There is a slight chance that in 30 years he could develop another one in his liver but not to worry about it. So we are finally done visiting doctors at least for now. So that is good so now that everything is getting back to normal at least on this front we are packing up and getting ready to go to Las Vegas. We are going for the World Archery Tournament and Trade Show we are leaving Thursday morning so we have to get packed and Chase is staying with Grandma Stucki while we are gone. Forrest is shooting and I will have to work in the booth a little but this will be my first vacation in two years so needless to stay I'm excited to get out of the frozen wasteland and get warm. Well I have to get moving I have a lot to do.

Photos

This was taken Tuesday morning a lot of the swelling had gone down by this point.

Aunt Marci got a balloon for him on Sat. that finally got him to smile.

Here are a few photos of the last few days. We got the pathology report back but we don't really know what it means so the nurse said that when we come for the post-op appointment next week we will get more information.

Update

So Chase is doing a lot better now. We are now getting more sleep at night and he is not taking pain medicine any more either. He is still having a hard time moving his arm sometimes and he now has a wide variety of flannel button up pj's so he does not have to try and put on a t-shirt. The weekend was really rough but by Sunday evening things were turning around. Monday he spent the day with Grandma Stucki and Aunt Marci just so he had an extra day to recoup. Today he went back to daycare and had a fairly good day I think he is glad to be back in his routine. We did not get Pathology results back today but I'm hoping we will find something out tomorrow. I will try to post pictures soon.

A Couple of Crazy Days

So I mentioned a few posts ago that Chase had to have an ultra sound on his birthday because he had a lump on his shoulder blade that showed up a couple of months ago. Well the results came back as a soft tissue mass that needed further investigation. So on Tuesday we went to see a surgeon Dr. Smith and we thought we were going to do a biopsy/ After looking at it Dr. Smith told us that he was pretty sure that it was a fatty tumor but those are not really normal in kids especially one that was as large as Chase's so he scheduled us for surgery today. Telling us that since it seemed to be attached to the scapula muscle he would need him asleep so he could cauterize the bleeding and get it away from the muscle. So today we went in we were late getting there because of bad roads we had a few inches of snow overnight. Then they were running late as well so chase had to sit in his little gown for quite awhile. But they finally came and got him at 10 they decided that they would take him back and give him a little laughing gas before they put his IV in so luckily I did not have to watch that because I think that would have been hard for me. Finally after about 70 mins the Dr. Smith comes back in and says it is not what I originally thought it was a mass of tissue with a pocket of liquid and old blood in it. He was very confused why he found what he found so he sent everything off to pathology and we will know more on Tuesday as for Chase he had to cut through 3 layers of muscle to get it all out so he said that he would be very sore and in lots of pain until it heals and he stitched everything up on the inside and then he dermabonded (skin glue) the outside so he does not have any stitches to take care of and no bandages to change either. So we waited for him to come out of recovery when they wheeled him back into the room he was already sitting up because he could not stand to lay down. He was still groggy and did not know what was going on but he knew if he laid down it would hurt so he just kept sitting. After apple juice, awhile later they decided to send us home so we got him half dressed, they pulled his IV out and we put his shirt and coat on. As I was throwing everything back into my purse and just as I turned around he threw up. Luckily the nurse said it is usually better if they throw up then they feel better faster. We cleaned up and headed home. He slept most of the way luckily and when we finally got home he perked up a little and even played with some Lego's for a short time before the pain set in. It has been a rough night but he is hungry and eating solid food so I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow. Well that's all for now I will try to post again later on his progress. Thanks Aunt Marci for going with me and Chase today.

Chase's Birthday Pics

Happy Birthday!!

I want to wish Chase Happy Birthday to Chase he turned the big 5 today! Luckily I did not have to work today so we have been hanging out all day but we did have to go the hospital and get an ultra sound done on a lump that he has on his back. We won't know anything until Tuesday so hopefully it is nothing but we had to get it checked out. The people at the hospital in Idaho Falls were really nice and they gave Chase a little blue bear because we had to wait so long and it was his birthday. Aunt Marci went with us and then we went to lunch. Later we took Marci back to work and we came home. Tonight is the party so I post pics later.

Hunting in Texas

Here are a few pics from Forrest and Colby's Hunting trip in Texas. They were enjoying fun in the sun while we where deep in snow. We are glad they are home now.

Colby's Red Stag

Forrest's Aoudad

Forrest's Texas Dahl Sheep