Livin' La Vida Lowmon: Jack's Surgery.....

5:30 am came really early this morning. We had to be at Mary Bridge at 7am and with an hour ride there, we didn't want to be late. Jack wasn't impressed with being woke up that early and was pretty cranky most of the morning. We headed into the hospital shortly before 6am and arrived on time. Jack got dressed into his hospital gown and pants. (He wasn't impressed with the clothing change.)

We took him to the play area but wasn't in the mood. I think that he could tell something was up. We finally got him to settle down watching Finding Nemo in his crib.

Shortly after he calmed down, the nurse came to get us to her pre-op assessment. That brought on more tears and fighting. Thankfully the assessment didn't take too long. We found out that Jack weighs in at about 40lbs and is about 3'5". (I thought that he was getting taller.) To help with the transition of the day, we bought 2 gifts for Jack. One present to open up before surgery, and one for after. No, I am NOT above bribing my child when it comes to things like this... After the pre-op assessment, Jack was pretty upset so we decided to give him his first present. He opened up a set of mini skateboards. Jack has had one of these contraptions floating around the house on and off for some time now, but now he has 4!! Super cool. He was very excited about them.

Shortly after opening his present, the nurse came in with an optional pre-op sedative for Jack to make the transition to going in for surgery a little easier. Do they have one of those for Moms? Mike and I talked it over and decided that the sedative would be a good idea. With as stubborn as Jack can be and as upset as he had been, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for him. They gave him Versed, which is a sedative with an amnesiac (won't remember) property. It takes effect fast and within about 10 minutes, he was definitely feeling the effects of the drug.

Once they called him for surgery, we went into the OR waiting room. We met with all the doctors and the OR nurse. We had a very short conversation about the surgery and were given reassurance that everything would be ok. It doesn't matter how much they say it, it still doesn't stop the worrying. They took him from my arms and carried him to the OR crying for me. That was one of the hardest moments for both Mike and I.

The surgery went well with the exception of placing his IV. At Mary Bridge, it's their policy for day surgery to administer gas to put the kiddos under BEFORE they attempt an IV site. Yes, I said before. Jack was asleep for the whole thing, which in this case was good. I counted after we got home and there were 10 IV attempts. Some with bruises, some without. 10, yes 10 attempts. They finally got one in his upper arm that worked. It was a pain in the behind because every time he bent his arm, it would alarm the IV pump. They finally gave up and just let it run to gravity.

He wasn't interested in drinking ANYTHING after surgery, not even eating a popsicle. After a dose of IV pain medicine, he slowly came around. We bribed him with the 2nd present to get him to take Ibuprofen in the vain attempt to keep the pain at bay. HUH. Little did I know what was to come. After he took the medicine, they observed him for a short while longer and then discharged us home. Mike and I both realized that neither of us had eaten much so we stopped by McD's on the ride home. Jack had fallen asleep the minute the car was in motion but in his Fentanyl induced daze woke up and said 'Burger. I need burger.' We were just happy that he wanted to take in ANYTHING so we stopped got him a burger and chocolate shake. Poor thing couldn't stay awake long enough to eat it, but by God he was going to have that burger. He did end up eating a few bites and drinking a little bit of the shake, which we were happy about.

Once at home we tried to get him settled in for some rest, but it was becoming all too clear that I was coming down with Strep throat. Compliments of being a Momma. Jack had it, and passed it to me.... Lucky! I started running a fever earlier that day and now was having body aches that were unbearable. I didn't want to drag Jack out of the house after he just had surgery but he wouldn't let me go anywhere without him. So, all 3 of us went to the doctor's to find out that yes, I have Strep throat. Duh, I could have told you that one. I got a prescription for antibiotics and we went to fill it at our Pharmacy. Once we got home, everyone (Daddy included) took a nap.

That's when it dawned on me that he hasn't been choking while he was asleep. He hasn't been snoring as loud as usual. By God, I think that they fixed him. Wonderful!! At least all of this work will be worth the fact that Jack can now breath.