Surgery Update

At long last Billy finally has is head together….literally! He had his cranioplasty on September 4, 2024

Cranioplasty is a neurosurgical procedure designed to repair or reshape irregularities or imperfections in the skull.
Cranioplasty is often recommended following a traumatic injury or to correct a birth defect.
Billy was due at the hospital about 5:30 am but once again there was a transportation mix-up. Once he arrived we followed him into pre-op where the medical staff hooked him up to monitors for just about everything. The one thing they did not hook him up to was oxygen. He had been breathing on his own for about 3 weeks prior to the scheduled procedure. Hmmm…could the doctors take the treach out while he’s there??

Billy was taken in to surgery at 10:30 am. The procedure took nearly 3 hours, but it was about 4:15 pm before we were allowed to see him in his room in the ICU. The only reason he was returned to the ICU was because the staff still needed to monitor the water on his brain. While the surgery was successful we had been forewarned that there may be a need for another surgery, one to install a shunt to help excess water to drain away from the brain.

We got a call from his surgeon, Dr. Lee letting us know that, yes, he needs the shunt. So, I will be back at University Medical Center with Billy tomorrow. Dave had to go back home to Panama City to work out of his home base for the week. I’ll fill you in during the week.