Craniosynostosis

About two weeks ago we had Brayden's 2 month well-baby appointment. While we were there our pediatrician noticed that their was something going on with the shape of Brayden's head. What he was noticing was that the front of his head showed a rather large bulge coming out of his forehead. The second thing he noticed was that he could not find his soft spot. He was concerned that Brayden could have craniosynostosis. This is a condition in which one or more of the skull sutures closes prematurely leaving little room for the brain to grow and causes the head to have an abnormal shape. So he sent Brayden to have x-rays and the results showed that the saggital suture had fused together.

The next step was to meet with the neurosurgeon. Today we met with the pediatric neurosurgeon at UNM Hospital. Basically, the way to fix the deformity is with surgery. What the neurosurgeon does is opens the skull and removes part of the bone so that the brain is given room to grow. This surgery takes about 30 minutes (2 hours with prep, ect...) and about 2 days in the PICU. After surgery Brayden will be fitted for a helmet that he will wear for about 6 months-1 year to help re-shape his head.

Brayden's surgery is scheduled for January 4th. We are grateful that I have family that is close by and able to help out. They will watch Keely for us so Brent and I can both stay in the hospital with Brayden and help when we come home. Brent's folks will be back out in February to check on the little guy and spend some more time with the family. We are so grateful for the many family and friends we have around us for support. When we first heard the news that we were looking at surgery on our little baby's head it was a bit of a shock. We've been doing lots of research and reading these past few weeks to have time to process what was about to happen and deal with all the emotions that come with it.

The bad news of course is that he is having surgery and he will be put under. The good news is that this actually isn't that uncommon of a procedure and that the recovery is rather quick. Brayden is a healthy boy (about 15 lbs) which should help him bounce back to his happy little self. We are confident with our doctor that our little Brayden is in good hands. We are thankful that we have a thorough doctor who went ahead and followed through with his concerns instead of waiting several more months to see what would come out of it. We are also thankful that Brayden is not in any pain, this isn't affecting his brain growth and he is continuing to do everything he should be doing.

We will keep everyone posted throughout each step as we go. Next Tuesday we go back for Pre-Op. Brayden will have some blood work done and meet with the anesthesiologist. The following Monday will be the surgery. For now we need your thoughts to be with our family. Although this is a fairly common surgery, it is still surgery and on his head at that. And of course like any other, there are always risks involved. We are confidant with our doctor and hopeful for a great outcome for our little Brayden.