The plan for the surgery

Surgery for Unilateral Coronal Craniosynostosis of the right side is scheduled for Monday,  May 5th at 9am

The plan of attack for surgery is to cut her from ear to ear; a straight line, not the zig zag cut that you may see elsewhere. Though it is just her right side, they will treat it like it's both sides to get the best results and because her left side is having to compensate as her brain is growing and her skull is not able to expand on the right side.They will open the fused suture, reconstruct her brow bone, shift her forehead over to the right and for about a half hour, Dr. Moss will hold her brain in his hands and slowly move it over to the right. They'll close the incision with staples that will be removed at her post-op appointment on May 20th.

She will most likely need a blood transfusion. We are the same blood type and I could ask to use mine. However, that would've required me to donate, then they test the blood and in the end it might not be a match because there's more to it then just being A Negative. Plus, we have enough going on emotionally and with doctor appointments that Dr. Moss recommended against it. He also said I might be really disappointed to go through all that and then find out my blood can't be used. I made the choice not to because I believe he's correct.

Dr. Moss will be giving Felicity her very first haircut. He will only shave the area he's cutting and he'll be saving the hair for Mommy. 

Her surgery should take about 3 hours and she'll be in the hospital for 5 days minimum. They usually only keep the babies 3 days but because we're from Tucson, they want to keep her longer to make sure she's okay and I'm okay taking care of the incision.

I will need to make sure to keep her incision out of the sun for about a year so headbands and hats it will be. Dr. Moss will follow Felicity every year until she goes to school, just to make sure all is good. There is a possibility of a second surgery; sometimes when the bone grows there is a little gap/hole and they'd do a less invasive surgery to fill it.

She does not require a helmet following surgery.

CT Scan, Pediatric Neurosurgeon and Craniofacial Surgeon

It's April 17th; a year ago today I found out I was pregnant. Just thinking of that day makes me cry happy tears, so overwhelmed with happiness and love.Today we (my Mom, Felicity and I) drove to Mesa for a long day of appointments.

First up was Felicity's CT Scan. She did amazing!!!  They laid her down on her back, wrapped her up snug like a lil pig in a blanket and strapped her head down. They gave me a protective jacket to wear and let me stay with her, holding her chin and talking to her. She cried but once they let her out of the wrap she was all smiles. There's something to be said about a Children's Hospital and the amazing nurses and doctors. I had read others stories about how their children had to be sedated to do the CT Scan and I was worried but reassured by Dr. Moss that they use every method not to while still making sure the child isn't too uncomfortable.

Once the CT Scan CD was ready, we headed over to Dr. Moss' office. He went over the results which confirmed she has Unilateral (one sided) Coronal Craniosynostosis on the right side and her soft spot is completely closed. First and foremost, her brain looks great!  And, her Craniosynostosis is NOT affiliated with a syndrome. Two huge bonuses!!! We discussed the surgery procedure and once again I broke down but still feel confident in the team. I am also very impressed and relieved that Dr. Moss is very particular about who he uses for anesthesia, there's only about 10 Anesthesiologists he uses out of everyone. 

Our final appointment of the day is meeting with Dr. Joganic the Craniofacial Surgeon. He and Dr. Moss have performed many many surgeries together in over 20 years. He and his staff were great and made me feel comfortable and confident in them. They took pictures of Felicity and said they were impressed by how well she did. Haha, I've taken so many pics of her she loves cameras.

It was a long day and my precious did awesome!!! Thankfully she rides great in the car, especially since it's a 2 hour commute each way.