Surgery Day - January 27, 2016

THIS ENTRY WILL BE UPDATED 

AS INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Lilit and her team of medical professionals are ready for the big surgery today.  The procedure will last 10-12 hours and we do not expect Lilit to get into recovery until late tonight.

As part of the surgery today, a titanium-cobalt rod of about one foot in length will be inserted in Lilit's spine.  Her posture will be noticeably straighter right after the surgery and she is expected to gain an instant one to two inches of height.  Lilit's chest deformity and difference in legs will correct naturally as a result of this surgery which means Lilit will have to learn to walk again because her feet will be level for the first time in her life.  She could be in rehab for up to two months to accomplish this feat.

Siranoush and Lilit this morning

9:10 am - Lilit is still in pre-op.

9:16 am - Lilit has been taken into the OR.

11:45 am - Surgery is in progress.  Next update expected in about two hours.

2:56 pm - Lilit's temperature dropped unexpectedly, so surgery was stopped to warm her.  The pediatric neurosurgeon has now moved into stage 2 of the procedure which is expected to take about two hours.  Next update hopefully in late afternoon.

4:43 pm - Stage 2 of the surgery is still underway and all is going well.  Lilit is not losing much blood, so there should be no further delays.  The doctors expect to be finished before midnight.  The next update should come around 6:30 pm.

7:56 pm - Stage 2 of the surgery is complete and the doctors have moved on to the spinal fusion portion of the procedure.  They are still on track to be finished by midnight.

8:52 pm - Stage 3 of the surgery continues and all is well.  As of right now, Lilit is expected to be in surgery for another three to five hours.

11:44 pm - Due to concerns over how long Lilit had been under anesthesia, the surgical team could not finish the procedure.  Lilit was taken to PICU after midnight where she will remain sedated until next week when an additional four hour surgery will complete the remaining ten percent of what was started today.  Dr. Caridi said that Lilit's heart, lungs, spinal signals etc. all look good.