Final Cincinnati Update

Last Thursday we moved into a short stay room at the Ronald McDonald House. We were able to spend four nights there, which was great! The house here is huge, with lots of meals and activities. We spent the day there Thursday playing, and in the evening went to a magic show they had.

Friday morning we were up at 5:30 to head over to the hospital for Raul's procedures! We spent some time waiting and talking to all the doctors, and then it was time to bring him back. At first they told us that I would not be able to be there for him to fall asleep as they didn't have the right surgical suite available, but luckily they were able to find one! They told us it could be up to 6 hours, but thankfully it ended up only being a bit over 3. Before going back, he got to choose his cast color too, and chose red!

He had scopes by pulm/ENT, a dental cleaning, and got cadaver skin grafts (after which both legs had to be casted above the knee). They went in that order, and after each doctor was done they came out to talk to us. His scopes looked great, and his dental cleaning was smooth with no cavities or anything (there was a fair amount of damage to his lips/mouth, but he wasn't too bothered by it). Plastic surgery was able to place the grafts on both ankles and one knee. She confirmed that his knee wound was in fact down to tendon and bone as I had suspected. His knee had a ton of inflammation, and was "boggy", so they actually checked for fluid in the joint as well, but luckily that was not an issue. This will be the first wound we do a surgical graft for if we can improve his labs. They then casted his legs, and were able to stretch his ankles a bit as well to help with the contractures. They also let us know that we would not be required to spend the night since things were quicker than expected and he did so well with the anesthesia, which was great news!

It took Raul a while to wake up, but when he did he wanted to sit right up, and he was happy to get to go back to the Ronald McDonald House. We were worried about how he would react to the casts, but he didn't care at all. In fact, they actually seem to be helping with some of the pain he had as they give his knees stability. He is also able to scoot just fine with them on, which is a relief! We will be doing follow up for his legs in Boston, and he will get bi-valved casts this coming Friday so that we can go back to regular bandage changes.

We are heading home tomorrow, but in the past few days we have been able to go to a train museum, as well as back to the zoo and aquarium. Raul has had a great time in Cincinnati, despite the medical appointments, and has actually been telling us that he wants to move here and live in the downtown area! He is now excited to go home, but also excited that we might have to come back in the future!

                                       Baking a chocolate cake

                            Pretending to be a dog with the therapy dog