His procedure was scheduled for 9am in the OR. Generally, a halo can be removed in an doctor's office but Kyle's neurosurgeon team wanted to removed it in the OR. I'm guessing the issues that occurred in May caused quite the stir so they wanted to be 'a little extra cautious with Kyle'. The day before this procedure we received a phone call from the Pediatric Anesthesiologist who was with Kyle in May when that procedure went terribly wrong. He spoke with my husband and wanted to make sure we were okay with him being on the team for this procedure. My husband told him yes because he knows Kyle's history. A few hours after the phone call I received an email from the Pediatric Anesthesiologist explaining he will make sure Kyle is safe and comfortable for the halo removal. All of the fuss over Kyle's halo removal procedure does seem a bit out of the ordinary but we are happy that the neurosurgeon team is being cautious.
Kyle only took valium for the procedure. The doctors were planning on numbing each pin site with local anesthetic but Kyle refused. Kyle's dad and I was not allowed in the OR so Kyle took his video camera with him and asked one the nurses in the OR to video some of the procedure, and they did!
About an hour later we were called to meet Kyle in the recovery ward. I was excited to see him so I rushed to the ward and I forgot Kyle's bag of clothes and shoes in the lobby. ;)
He looked good! He had a collar on, hooked up to an IV and monitor leads. His long hair covered his right eye. He looked at me and said, "I feel good". He was rubbing his chest that we haven't seen in 11 months. He looks a bit soft which means he needs to tone up now that he is free from his halo.
The 10 pound halo and vest was now in pieces laying in a bag at the foot of his hospital bed.
The pin sites healed quickly. The doctor put a little circle band aid on the front two pin sites but a few hours later the sites were nearly closed. The back two sites are hidden by Kyle's hair but they look fine too.
The neck collar they put on Kyle didn't fit. Kyle's neck is short thanks to Klippel Feil. So his doctor told us to go to the orthotist office after he got released from the hospital to have a collar and brace made to fit him.
The orthotics visit took forever! Kyle was hungry and tired but we couldn't leave until he got a collar and brace that fit him. The orthotist worked a long time on customizing a brace to fit Kyle but gave up and started working on a different type brace. It was frustrating but they finally came up with something that worked. However, when we left the orthotist office we walked to a nearby restaurant and Kyle was beyond frustrated with eating with his new brace because the brace pushes under his jaw preventing him from opening his mouth to eat. On the ride home he ripped the brace off.
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