The road to recovery

Happy to say Maddox is doing well.
Mike & Nicole have been asked by Dr. Waner to remain in New York so they can keep an eye on Maddox.
I admire his strength. His stitches were removed on Monday, perhaps a bit too soon.
His incision opened yesterday afternoon so Dr. Waner had to put a few more stitches in to close it up. The little trooper did not flinch even though he had no freezing!!
Unfortunately another spot opened up today.
He is doing great and is still in good spirits.
Will post again soon.
Thank you for all of your love & support.

At Long Last

Finally the big day has come. The second surgery is complete.

Happy to report that everything went very well. Maddox was in surgery for 5.5 hours today.

Everyone waited with baited breath to see how Maddox would look.

How do you top perfection?

It was amazing to see his cheek without a swollen mass. (Dr. Waner did leave a small amount of mass in the cheek that can be treated with injections at a later date)

He also took some time to "tweak" his eye to make it look a little better.

Maddox will stay in the hospital for a few days so Dr. Waner can keep an eye on him.

He is resting well and watching his favorite movie, Cars.

There have been lots of requests for media interviews and Mike & Nicole are doing their best to accommodate.

We are hoping to have Maddox home on the 27th.

It will be nice to see Maddox adjust to life without the masses taking over much of his face.

Here's hoping that it will be easier for him to talk as well.

I am sure Mike & Nicole are dying to hear him say Mom & Dad.

Mike & Nicole wish to thank everyone for their love, support, compassion & prayers.

Praying for a speedy recovery. Will update again soon.

Kelli

Bump in the road...

Happy to report Maddox is still doing great!

Maddox had to make a trip back to New York yesterday after his drainage tube came out & his eye quickly swelled shut.

Maddox had surgery this morning to replace the tube. While Dr. Waner was replacing the tube he decided to remove some of the extra skin around Maddox's eye.

Everything went great and Maddox is doing well.

We are hoping to have him back home by Friday.

Thank you for keeping our little man in your thoughts and prayers.

Kelli

Home Sweet Home

I can not express how grateful I am to have been able to be a part of the first of Maddox's surgeries.

He has taught me how to overcome obstacles, to be hopeful & optimistic and above all persistant.

I can not imagine how it would feel to be told "there is nothing that can be done for your child".

We thank god for Dr. Waner....

We can now see both of Maddox's gorgeous brown eyes for the first time.

We had hoped for the draining tube in Maddox's eye to be removed prior to the trip home but the Doctor advised it would have to stay in, we were happy to see the stitches come out on Friday :)

Another testament to his strength.....anesthetic Friday morning & back at it Friday afternoon.

We arrived home early Saturday Morning looking forward to getting back to the routine.

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100529/EDM_Maddoxhome_052910/20100530/?hub=EdmontonHome

The drainage tube is still in, we are hopeful that it will be removed later this week.

The second surgery was originally to be scheduled for September. Maddox did so well that it has been moved up to July.

An eye specialist will also be seeing Maddox at that time, we are praying for them to tell us he has vision in the eye.

Thank you to everyone at the Park Central Hotel who took such great care of Maddox.

Thank you to everyone who showed so much love and support for Maddox.

Will post again soon.

Kelli

At long last..

Happy to report that Maddox has been released from the hospital.

Dr. Waner recommended a walk so we walked through Central Park and even squeezed in a few bites of a famous New York hot dog.

Maddox has to be back at the clinic tomorrow at 10:00 to have his eye & the drainage tubes checked.

Will update again soon.

Kelli

The strength of a boy....

It is with a much lighter heart that I write this post today.

I have been fortunate to make the journey to New York to join my family.

I expected to see Maddox resting & uncomfortable but rather he gave me a lesson on how to be strong.

He was teaching us how to laugh, smile and the best park of all.....WINK!

It was nice to be able to sit and cuddle him on my lap even if it was for a brief moment.

He is doing remarkably well.

Dr. Waner & Dr. Fay are optimistically hopeful that Maddox still has vision in his eye and no cataract.

If Maddox continues to recover quickly and all goes well Dr. Waner would like to start the second surgery in 4-6 weeks rather than waiting until September.

Maddox was awake at 6:00am tearing around the hospital...if we could only bottle that resiliency....

We are awaiting word as to whether or not Maddox gets to leave the hospital.

Thank you to Disney for sending over a care package for Maddox, I am told he watched "Cars" at least 6 times yesterday.

Thank you to everyone who continues to rally around Maddox & keep him in their prayers. You have all helped to make this possible for him. For that we are eternally grateful.

Will post soon....

Kelli

Surgery...a HUGE success

Surgery began at 11:15 (EST). It took a approximately 4 hours for Dr. Waner & Dr. Fay to work their magic. The surgery went incredibly well. The mass above Maddox's eye has been removed allowing our family to see both of Maddox's eyes for the first time since he was born.

Dr. Waner was happy to see that Maddox's muscles under the mass looked viable & healthy.

See link for latest interview with Dr. Waner:

http://news.globaltv.com/health/Facial+surgery+successful+Edmonton+toddler/3057046/story.html

Maddox is currently being watched very closely by all of the Doctors & his family in the ICU.

Maddox your strength is inspiring....we love you....