The Before and The After

It has been 1 month and 15 days since Hannah's surgery. WOW - it feels as though it has been months ago. I am so thankful that it is behind us now; the worry/anxiety/anticipation is gone. It is amazing what the doctors did to my little girl. They not only reconstructed her skull but also moved her eye sockets. She took longer to recover in the hospital that I would have liked but the experience was unforgettable. The nurses were wonderful, as if they felt what she was going through. They talked with her, they played with her, and when they had a free moment they came in to hold and bond with her. I felt truly blessed to have such a wonderful team of nurses taking care of her.

On her 6th day in the hospital she finally was able to peek through and see some light! That was where most of her irritability came from; not being able to see. Imagine you are in a life where you have no worry no care and no understanding and then next thing you know you wake up from "sleeping" and your vision is gone. She didn't understand what happened, all she knew was she can hear mommy and daddy but she couldn't see us. It was heartbreaking.

We came home on day 7 and she started improving that much more. She started to play more, smile, laugh and talk more - it was amazing the transformation this surgery did not only physically, but motor-skill wise. My baby was happier! We had a follow up appointment with her surgeon a week after we got home and asked if she could have been feeling any discomfort before surgery due to her condition. His response was that it was very possible that she could have been experiencing headaches. That when they removed the bone to start the reconstruction, her brain shifted forward as if releasing all the pressure. I'm very thankful that we had this surgery, although it was tough, it has been such a blessing!! We are very fortunate to have this type of medical knowledge!

Now the reason I named this blog as The Before and The After is so you can see the transformation of my baby girl:

BEFORE:

4 1/2 months

7 1/2 months (shortly before surgery)

AFTER:

9 months (1 month after surgery)