In my previous posts I have discussed our journey from prenatal care to before the surgeries began. Check out those posts for the background information.
We celebrated our son's first Christmas this year and then immediately following, we prepared for our first surgery. I knew that I would have a week following his surgery to ensure that I would not need to take time off of work.
We were the first surgery of the day because he was so small. They usually do this with the youngest child of the day because the child cannot eat before the surgery and it is easier for older children to wait to eat than younger children. We had everything set and packed before we went to bed the night before. Of course I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep. Surgeries are always dangerous and this was a very large surgery. What could happen during it? What happens if there are complications? Will he heal okay? Will he react to the meds okay? How much pain would he be in? I also was going to miss his huge smile. My child's face was going to change dramatically and that is a hard thing to think about. I think I got a few hours of sleep, but not much.
My husband runs a company and his territory runs way north and way south of us. He cannot just take any day off. This day he had to travel down south, so he met us at the hospital after the surgery to see him when he woke up. My mother was with me the entire time before, during, and after the surgery. In fact, she is with me for every surgery and I do not know what I would do without her.
We checked in, got his paperwork, and went to the pre-op area. He just watched his mickey mouse tv that they had on and played with a few baby toys while we waited and it was not much of a wait. He really did not understand what was going on. I think this makes it easier because he does not understand what is going on, but then at the same time does it make it harder for him, because he doesn't understand?
They allow us to walk up to the operating room entrance door. I gave him a huge hug and they wheeled him away through the doors. I was staying strong for him, because I did not want to scare him with tears. Once he was through the door, I lost it. Thankfully my mom was there for me. You always want your mom during times like this and it was not an exception. We walked to the parent check in desk and they gave us a beeper. This is a beeper like the ones that you get when you are waiting for your table to be called at a restaurant. It was almost comical. Thank you for your child, now here is your beeper.
We grabbed some coffee at the cafe downstairs because I was absolutely emotionally and physically exhausted. After eating, I was able to keep busy grading papers and essays long enough to last his surgery. This was several hours and they came out periodically to update us. If I kept my mind busy with work, I was able to keep my anxiety about the surgery and what was happening down.
Finally the beeper went off and we went to a small room to talk to the doctor. He came in with his ipad and showed me pictures of my son during the surgery. I honestly could have gone without seeing those pictures because seeing your child like that was not easy at all. He stated that the surgery was a success and that he would be moving to the PACU- which is the post operative area. We would be able to go back once he started to wake up from his anesthesia.
We were soon allowed to go back to see him. He had his arms in splints. I found out that they call these "no nos" and they prevent the arms from bending. That way he would not put his hands in his mouths and rip out stiches. They moved him to his room on the surgery floor and we stayed there until January 2nd. He struggled with eating some and we tried two different specialized feeders. Finally he was able to eat. Then he was able to go home once his pain level was manageable and he was drinking and eating okay.
He rarely laid in his crib. There are many times I sat in the recliner in his room with him on my lap for hours at a time. I could not even go to the bathroom without him being upset. Sometimes we had to do the switched to daddy, grandma, or grandpa, so I could shower or go to the bathroom, or even just stretch my legs because they were numb from sitting. There were times he was so incredibly fussy that sitting and rocking did not help. We put him in his stroller and walked him around the surgery floor in circles for hours. My mom and I would take turns. She would sleep and I would walk him. Then I would sleep and she would walk him.
Since we spent New Year's Eve and New Years in the hospital, we went down to the children's recreation center where they had a cute ball drop at noon for the children and families. They had sparkling cider, cookies, and counted down until noon. It was something that was nice to distract us and to pass the time by.
We were able to go home January 2nd and he was able to transition to taking only Tylenol very quickly after we got home. He was not needing the pain medicine. He still liked to be pushed around, so I walked from one end of my house to the other throughout the day and night. By the time we went back to school after Winter Break, he was healing well and could stay with grandma and grandpa during the day.
My next post will be about his tubes surgery in February 2015.
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