This post details about our son's fourth surgery. Please check out past blog posts to read about his previous surgeries and everything leading up to them.
We had our son's first birthday a week early since his surgery was only a few days after his birthday. We wanted to make sure he enjoyed his day before needing to spend time in the hospital. This surgery was a serious one and would really affect his eating, talking, and drinking. It was very likely to cause quite a bit of pain. Getting used to the fact that you are dropping your child off to a surgeon knowing that they will come out in pain never gets easy. Even though it is the best for him, it still never gets easy. This surgery was not an exception.
I learned not to look up procedures and surgeries on Google because I could not handle the visuals. I did not want to know what they were going to be doing in graphic detail. I just could not think of my son on the operating table like the kids on the websites I found through my research! Of course I would want to know the basics of what they were going to do and I did know them, but visuals were too much.
He was going to have his palate cut and then sewn together through a Z design. This should close the entire palate and he should be able to drink from a straw and to drink from a cup soon. His speech should also start to develop. At this time he just made noises and pointed on some occasions. He did not have his first words until about 16 months. This surgery would help him when he was ready to form those words and sounds.
By this time, my mom had a process all set up. My husband became part owner of the company and was busier than normal. It was also the middle of baseball stadium and his company was responsible for cleaning the fryers in four of the areas major baseball stadiums and spring training facilities. Sometimes he would have to do them on his own. He worked super early and would come and visit after work every day. Since he had to go to work in the middle of the night, he was not able to stay overnight. So because of that, my mom stayed with us every single day throughout the surgeries. I think it was a good thing she was there because during his surgeries, I would forget to take care of myself. She would give me a break to take a shower or tell me that I needed a break (even though I did not want to leave him), or make me a coffee, etc. We would switch off in the night so one person would sleep and one person would stay up with him. By the third major surgery we were pros in our process. This time we brought sandwich makings, our Keurig, and coffee. We filled up the refrigerator in the room with snacks, food, and drinks so we would not need to spend so much money down at the cafeteria. Having our coffee close by was also helpful!
At this point, we had noticed that he wore a Superman hero shirt the first two major surgeries. We decided to make it a tradition and from that point on, he wore Superman attire to each surgery. This time he wore a shirt and socks.
We were the first surgery on the schedule again and we followed the same procedures to check in as all of the other surgeries. We met with our doctor and the anesthesiologist before they brought him to the operating room. We said our good byes, which were not easier than before. I think they were harder because he cried for me this time, which in turn made me cry. Once we settled into the family waiting room, I began to work on a course that I was doing in the summer. I was working to finish an endorsement for my teaching certificate and I focused on the work from that. I was able to keep my anxiety down until he was out nearly 3 or 4 hours later. I cannot remember the exact amount of time, but I know it was pretty long.
When we were brought back to the PACU, he was struggling quite a bit. He was coughing up blood and they could not get it to stop. At this point, I felt my head get hot. The room was spinning and I felt like I was going to pass out. I had to get a chair to sit while I held his hand. I think seeing him like that was just too much for me to handle and it put me in a major panic attack. The surgeon came back to the PACU and decided he needed to take him back to the operating room as he may have clipped a vein in his mouth. He had to close it off to ensure the bleeding stopped. So off we went for 45 minutes or so to wait again. We went back to the PACU and he looked so much better. Once he was ready he was transferred to the surgery floor.
This surgery definitely affected how much he wanted to eat and he refused to eat for a day or so. He could not smile- which is something he loved to do and something I loved about him. This was due to the swelling in his face. He was super sedated with his pain medicine and just wanted to snuggle.
During his time in the hospital, he was able to visit with one of the pet therapists. They bring in animals into the rooms of eligible patients and the child can interact with the animal. He absolutely loved meeting this beautiful Golden Retriever and it brightened all of our day.
We stayed in the hospital for almost a week. Once he was able to keep down a specific amount of liquids then he was discharged. This was about a month recovery at home.
Viewer discretion is advised as the pictures below show blood in his mouth. This is the good. the bad, and the ugly of surgeries.
Our next blog will be about his surgery the following summer on his nose and a hole that opened up in his palate.
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