lawnrrd | A Setback for Leo

By Friday, Leo had started to improve. He seemed more comfortable, and he was eating, sleeping, and smiling about the way he normally does. Over the next two days, though, he got fussier and started to resist bending along his midsection. Both last night and the night before, he woke up repeatedly at night crying, and we had to give him Tylenol with codeine instead of the plain Tylenol.

This morning we found out why.

We went to our scheduled follow-up appointment with the plastic surgeon. He took off Leo's dressing, which procedure Leo did not enjoy in the least. One of Leo's surgical wounds had opened up, leaving an opening running across his lower back that looked (based on my traumatized recollection) about two inches long and a half-inch across. It looked gross, and it smelled horrible. The surgeon said that the smell probably had to do with bacteria starting to colonize the wound. (This differs in some technical way from an infection, but he's going to have to explain that to me yet again once things settle back down.)

He said that this happens sometimes and that it won't affect the final result. In the meantime, though, it means more pain for Leo and more trauma and hassle for us. For the pain, we're keeping him on the narcotics for now. We have to clean the wound three times a day, which will hurt for a couple of days. We expect that the wound will close fully in about three weeks.

We weren't together enough to remember to ask the surgeon, but I suspect that there won't be long-term cosmetic problems. The incision—and thus the opening—is completely within the borders of the big mole. Any scarring will happen in that area, which is all going to be removed eventually in any case.

It occurs to me that we're fortunate that we can afford for Lauren to stay on maternity leave and for our sitter to come five days this week instead of two. Lauren needs the help and support. She's really upset.

Not that I'm not, but she's his mommy. You know how it is.

We're both tired and frayed by now. We'll improve as he improves, but maybe a little more slowly. Further updates as events warrant.