The Lincoln Log: Day 3 post op

Lincoln finally got a full night of sleep last night! He slept through the nurses checking his vitals 3 times (including shining a flashlight in his eyes) and also slept through the plastic surgery team turning on all the lights and checking out his incision at 6am. He was OUT! I am not surprised. He had to be exhausted! I have accepted the fact that Logan and I won't be sleeping until we get home. It is amazing the difference in Lincoln since we have just been giving Tylenol. He is acting like himself and acting like nothing even happened. Crazy!! See ya later, oxycodone. Never again!

While Lincoln was in surgery we noticed a teenager, who had the same scar as Lincoln, checking in. I assumed that he was also a patient of Dr. Kelly's but didn't want to ask at the time. Kaitlin and I noticed that he had a pretty girl by his side and Kaitlin said, "See, Lincoln won't have any problem getting girls!" Chicks love scars, right?! So fast forward to today and we saw him down on the second floor with his parents. I asked if he was a patient of Dr. Kelly's and he said yes. It turns out he is 17 and this is his third surgery. His name is Noah and he actually goes to high school right by our house. He is so handsome and sweet and it was so nice to get his perspective of the surgeries. He said it's hard to explain the feeling after surgery. He said it's not really painful, more of a heavy sensation. We talked about why he had to have his third surgery and my heart just hurt for them! Definitely not fair anyone would have to go through three of these surgeries, or for the parents to watch their child go through them. But you can tell there is something special about Noah and his parents. It seems they really focus on the positive side of things instead of dwelling on the negative. They definitely get what it's like to be where we are right now and how nerve racking it is. There is no right decision when it comes to deciding between a bone graft or using something artificial. You just have to go with your gut and hope for the best because neither option is a sure thing. His mom told me she thought we did the right thing by using the man made material. I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that. Although I have felt like we did the right thing, you can't help but wonder if you really did. Noah is an honor student and I am pretty sure they said he got a 30 on his ACT. Sooooo, yeah.... take that craniosynostosis!!! Watching him give Lincoln a fist bump about had me in a puddle of tears on the floor. It was a really cool moment and I think we may try to get together for lunch sometime when both of their hair has grown back! I think God wanted us to meet this family. Here are Lincoln and Noah together:

Most days, our kids are learning from us. Whether we like it or not, they are watching our every move and taking mental notes. They're learning how to treat other people, how to interact with other people, how to handle themselves in certain situations, how to rip open that bag of dove chocolates when they've had a bad day ...... Hey, don't laugh, that is a valuable lesson I have taught my kids!! Logan loves me for it. But seriously, the last few days I think we have been learning from Lincoln. He is normally the kid who HATES any sort of scrape, cut, splinter, bug bite.. I mean, he freaks out. If he gets a tiny scrape on his knee, he won't walk for a day. But slice his head open and he doesn't really miss a beat. Send him into a scary operating room and he goes with a smile. Aside from the first night meltdown, he hasn't complained once. He has shown us that just when you think something is going to be really terrible, you can turn it into something good. He has been nothing but a big ball of sunshine today. He brings us so much happiness. We truly are so lucky and thankful that you have all been praying for him. The prayers are definitely being answered!!!! We're going to bed tonight with happy hearts. Here are a few pics from day 3!

Face time with Dyl & Syd!