My Grandson is Scheduled For Surgery

My Grandson, Jacob, will turn a year old on May 7th. He is scheduled to have surgery on Wednesday and I must admit it has me a bit stressed.

Jacob was born with Craniosynostosis. Normally a baby's skull is made up of several bones and they meet at what are called sutures. Sutures allow a growing baby's brain to expand. The four sutures come together at the fontanel, or "soft spot" in a baby's head. Eventually the sutures stop growing, and the cranial bones fuse.

Sometimes a suture is fused too early, however, preventing a growing child's brain from expanding. This condition can cause the brain to grow more rapidly in another area of the skull. The result is an abnormally shaped skull. The type of Craniosynostosis that Jacob has is called Metopic. This means the sutures from the top of his head down the middle of his forehead to his nose fused before he was born.
As Jacob's head grows the bones in his forehead are unable to move to allow for the growth causing his forehead to become more and more triangular shaped. This has not caused Jacob any problems yet. He is progressing just as he should and is a very happy little boy. He loves to crawl and can pull himself up in his crib or at a table. But if the problem isn't corrected it would not only leave him with a facial deformity but could cause brain damage.

We have known about the problem since he was two weeks old but he had to wait until he was at least 8 months old to have the surgery done. Unfortunately, the surgery has been postponed twice already which is quite stressful on his parents and us. This Wednesday he is once more scheduled to have the surgery and we are really hoping it will be done then.

The surgery requires a neurosurgeon to cut the skin from ear to ear over his head and peal it back. Then he will remove the bone and a plastic surgeon will then reform the bone and it will be put back in using screws to attach it and he will be sewn back up. He will probably require a blood transfusion and will stay at least one night in the ICU. He will then go to the ward and remain in hospital from 3-5 days. His face will bruise and swell a great deal and for a couple of days he won't be able to see out of his eyes due to the swelling. It will take about 3 months for him to reach a full recovery.

I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers for Jacob not only for his surgery to happen as scheduled but also that he will make a full recovery.




Read more: Craniosynostosis - baby, symptoms, average, Definition, Description, Demographics, Causes and symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis, Prevention http://www.healthofchildren.com/C/Craniosynostosis.html#ixzz0kqYfb2HT