Paxton's Progress

 We made it back safely today. We are exhausted but good. We are so happy to be home. Thanks again for all the love. ❤️ Janell

 We just got the good news that we can leave tomorrow (depending on weather). The angiogram went well. It looks like they were able to remove all the abnormal vessels. There’s a chance they can grow back, but this is super rare. He will continue to have MRIs and angiograms to catch it early if that were to happen. The swelling is almost resolved and he’s feeling good. We’ve been here for a week and are ready to go home and see Bray, Dad, and Zumi.  It’s been a long journey. We are so thankful for the entire team we’ve had at the hospital. Not only did they save his life, they did everything to make sure his quality of life would be good as well. They are beyond amazing here. Pax will continue with OT, PT, and speech at home. We know he will continue to crush his goals. Thank you so much for all the love.  Janell

 Pax is doing much better today. His silly personality is back. ❤️ He’s still a little swollen but much better. His jaw hurts a little less so he’s eating more. He crushed it at PT yesterday, and can’t wait to go back to the rehab gym later today. His angiogram is first thing tomorrow morning. He hates being sedated and can’t get up and move for 4 hours after the procedure. They will keep us overnight tomorrow for monitoring, and if all goes well he will be discharged Thursday. We had an appointment with the Acquired Brain Injury Clinic on March 24th and they were able to move it to this Thursday. This is a huge relief, the flights are exhausting and expensive. I don’t think we have to come back for 3 months…wahoo! He’s seriously so brave, strong, and had such a positive attitude. His attitude is the only thing that’s kept me so positive. I’m beyond proud of him and am striving to be more like him. Thank you all so much for all the support. We are so grateful for each and every person

 We finally got moved out of the ICU yesterday afternoon. As we were being wheeled into his room we saw one of his favorite nurses from last time. He wasn’t our nurse yesterday, but he came to visit twice. This morning, Peter, our favorite CA, came to say hello as he was getting off shift. Then, his favorite nurse, Gretchen, just came to say hi. Our nurse today is one of our nurses from rehab as well. She is amazing and making sure everything is in line for us and getting us all the services we need. One of his PTs from last time visited this morning and will take him to the rehab gym later. He’s still pretty swollen but better than yesterday. He’s talking and smiling a bit more today. We are working on eating and drinking enough to keep the IV out.  The neurosurgeon stopped by morning. He said things on his end were looking good. He has an angiogram on Wednesday, and we are hoping to be discharged after he recovers from that (hopefully by the afternoon that day). Again, we are so grat

 We ended up having to stay another night in the PICU, but we get to move to the neuro floor today. He is very excited to get out of the ICU. It’s really bright and noisy here. Yesterday his favorite physical therapist came and helped him get out of bed and stand. He smiled so big when he saw her. Today he was able to walk around the hall a little with PT and OT. He’s slow moving but improving. His face and head are super swollen. His right eye is swollen shut, but he’s not complaining. The majority of his pain is still coming from the cut muscle which makes eating not fun. Brandon is flying home today. Pax was pretty sad to see him go but knows Bray needs dad, too. I presume Bray had a good weekend since his responses to us were limited. 😂 Thanks for all the continued love and support. We don’t have a projected discharge date, but will keep you updated. Janell

 Pax had an ok night. He is super swollen and fairly miserable. They had to do neuro checks every hour which includes shining a light in his eyes. His pain increased about midnight so they gave him morphine. He was at least able to get a little sleep then. They had to access the AVM by going through the temporalis muscle which is making it painful for him to eat this morning. He has ice packs and they gave him some more medicine for pain so we hope he can eat.  He will have a quick MRI at some point this morning. We are hoping to get out of the ICU if the scan looks good and his blood pressure stays stable. We haven’t noticed any setbacks with his hand or leg. His face is drooping a tiny bit more, but it’s hard to tell if it’s from the swelling. His speech is slow (hopefully it’s just from everything he’s been through) but he is speaking. We are so relieved he doesn’t have any major, obvious setbacks. All the love, prayers, and support have been so appreciated. We are lucky to have suc

 He’s done. Took about 10.5 hours. It was MUCH more complicated than anticipated. They say he's doing  good. We are headed up to the icu now to see him. Thanks for all the support. I will update more tomorrow. 

 We got all the pre op testing and appointments done. We check in at 5:30 AM and surgery starts at 7:30. They expect the procedure to take 8-9 hours. A nurse from the OR should call us about every hour with updates. He will end up with a titanium plate and screws and a decent incision. He was excited to hear that he will have titanium in his body (he apparently knows a lot about it and educated me). After all his appointments, we went to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day and we wanted the fresh air. Brandon is having plane problems and still isn’t here. Fingers crossed he will get to Denver around 11 tonight. It’s been a long day for him, too. Bray got a surprise care package from Kacie, Daniel, Amanda, Milty, Mike, and Lindsey. He also got to hang out with some of his favorite pups while hanging with Kacie. Tonight he will most likely stay up too late watching movies with Uncle Kevin. Thanks to literally all of you. So many people have reached out and we are so lucky to have all of you i

 I’m waking up this morning feeling very blessed. So many people have reached out to support our family this week. Thank you for being such positive influences in our lives. Levi and Kristen have amazing friends that extended to our family this week. We are staying in a gorgeous, comfortable home of his while we are here. The place came stocked with drinks, food, and snacks. Then, we got 2 surprise deliveries last night at the house. My amazing support team of Amanda, Milton, Kacie, Daniel, Lindsay, and Michael had snacks, games, blankets, and even beer and wine delivered! I cried. We feel so loved and know we can get through all this with our support (and the wine of course). Brandon flies in today. We are so thankful Aunt Erin and Uncle Kevin can distract Bray for a few days. Surgery check in is at 5:30 tomorrow. I’m not sure how long it takes, we have a pre op today to discuss all the details. I will keep you updated. I can’t thank everyone enough!

 Anxiety levels are high at the Brown Household. I ended up with one of my epic migraines and was in bed from Thursday night until yesterday morning. I’m feeling a little better now, the neurologist called me in a different combo of meds. Fingers crossed it doesn’t come back anytime soon. Pax and I head to Denver tomorrow. He has pre op testing and appointments on Thursday and surgery is scheduled for Friday at 5:30. Brandon will fly in Thursday afternoon and stay until Sunday as long as all goes as planned. Braylon is going to his Uncle Kevin and Aunt Erin’s for the weekend. He’s even going to get a courthouse tour and sit in on a quick case of Kevin’s. He’s excited about that. Braylon has been struggling with some pretty intense anxiety about Paxton. If you see him in the next few weeks give him an extra hug, or reach out to him on his phone. It kills me that I have to leave him when he’s so anxious, but I know he’s in good hands. Paxton seems to be the least nervous of all of us. He