Paxton's Progress

 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...

 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 y...

 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...

 The surgeon’s office called today and got Paxton scheduled for next Friday, March 4, to remove the AVM. We won’t be able to remove it with radiation since it has already bled and he’s at high-risk of it bleeding again. It can take up to five years for the radiation to be completely successful. They are concerned about going in to remove it as it is so close to the speech center of his brain, but it needs to be removed. They have consulted numerous specialists and we know we are in the best care possible. He will spend a couple days in the PICU and at least a few days on neurology floor. If he has any setbacks with his speech or possibly movement with his hand we will then go back to the rehab floor. Best case scenario is they can remove the AVM with no complications and no setbacks in his rehab. He’s handling it really well. He’s had a few questions and we’ve been very honest with him about the possible complications. He’s being unbelievably brave and helping me to stay positive t...

 Yesterday Pax had his MRI and angiogram. They found a small AVM that caused the bleed. This abnormal vessel will need to be removed. It happens to lie right on the pronunciation speech center of his brain. There is a risk of him have temporary or permanent set backs in his speech with the removal. The neurosurgeon is consulting with other specialists to determine the best way to remove it. The vascular neurosurgeon said it’s close to the surface, which is good. We aren’t sure when the surgery will take place, but it doesn’t sound like this trip. I have a mixture of emotions. On one hand, I’m glad we know the cause and it can be fixed, but the risks are scary. Of course we’ve gotten ice cream since we’ve been here. He was thrilled to see they had Cookie Butter this week. We have an appointment with the rehab doctor today so I’m sure we will be getting more ice cream today. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and for all the love and prayers. I will update the blog when I know mo...