Surgery Success!

After a month of anxious waiting, Jack had his surgery today. It went very well and we can stop worrying, at least about this. Here is a run-down of our day.

I woke up at 5:00 to get ready for the day. Jason stayed awake all night because of his schedule. Jack couldn't have any food or drink after midnight last night, so he was not a happy camper this morning.

With coffee cups in hand and the boy dressed in his jammies, we were out the door by 6:00. We arrived at the hospital at 6:15 and went through the whole check-in process. By 7:00 we were brought upstairs to Jack's room. The room is shared by four babies so it was a pretty tight fit. Jack was third in line for the same procedure, so we had some waiting to do. The doctor does surgeries based on age, so there were two babies younger than Jack who were first. After dressing in hospital scrubs (too cute!) and going through the weighing process (23.2 pounds) and having his vitals checked, we were off to the playroom!

Jack played for about an hour. It didn't matter that he was hungry or tired. He had a blast playing and running around with the other kiddos. It certainly didn't hurt that they had Disney Junior on the tv either.

Can I just say how awesome Legacy Emanuel is? It's a children's hospital with its own ER and staff of doctors and nurses who are wonderful with children. They treat you like family and every room and waiting area is really catered to children. It made the whole process a lot less scary for both Jack and me (and Jason too, although he won't admit that he was worried).

By 8:00, Jack was very tired so we made our way back to his room for some quiet. At that time, the nurse came in and dosed him with some Tylenol and some Verced (like Valium). It was explained to us that the Verced would make him relax and not be scared as much when it was time to carry him off to surgery. My little Jack didn't even throw up when he got his medicine. He happily opened his mouth (probably because he was starving by that time) and drank it right up! Then we were wheeled downstairs for the procedure. I held Jack since he was starting to get loopy from the medication.

Being the freak that I am, I took some pictures. Below is one of him all doped up and happy. Isn't he funny? Apparently he thought Daddy was pretty entertaining.

Here I am holding him. He looks a little "tired" in this picture. Well wouldn't you if you had a dose of Valium?
I look like Hell, but you can just ignore. I have been stress eating for the past few weeks, but that is for another post.

The anesthesiologist came and introduced himself and asked the regular questions. I explained that I get seriously nauseous with any form of anesthetic, so they wanted to watch Jack carefully. Then the ENT came and answered any questions that we had. After that, Jack was carried off for the procedure. Considering that he was well medicated, he was happy and smiling when they brought him back.

Jason and I sat in the waiting room, which was awful by the way. The waiting itself, not the actual waiting room. 15 minutes was all it took for the procedure. Dr. Hertler came to us and said the surgery went great although he had to suction Jack's ears because there was quite a bit of pus and mucus behind the drums. Isn't it amazing? He is on antibiotics for an ear infection as we speak and he still had the pus. That just goes to show you just how important this surgery was for him to have.

We needed to wait until Jack came out of the anesthesia - which is just a laughing gas mixed with something else - and was lucid enough to recognize us before we could be excused to Recovery. That was about another 15 minutes of waiting. Both Jason and I knew he was coming due to the wailing we could hear down the hall. I guess the anesthesia makes them a little disoriented when they first come to. Plus, it probably didn't help that he was being carried by a stranger.

Holding my little man for the first time after was such a relief! I was so glad that he did well and we could finally go upstairs to Recovery and Snuggle (that is my made up name for the department).

Jack felt a little yucky when he woke up, but mostly from being so hungry. He sucked down a small bottle of glucose water and then some apple juice when we got back upstairs. The nurse okayed him for other foods, so out came the bag of snacks! In between crying jags (this is totally normal for a child coming out of anesthesia) he would eat a few Cheerios and drink some milk.

After two rounds of vital signs and 45 minutes of snuggling and waiting, we were free to go home! Armed with our ear drops, instructions for after surgery and a tired baby, we went to the car.

And of course, because he was exhausted, Jack fell asleep on the way home. Meanwhile, the starving husband and I got breakfast and then came home and crashed on the couch.

Jack feels great! He ate a good lunch and now he's down for a nap. I can already tell he's hearing better because he is "talking" using totally different sounds than I am used to - if that makes any sense.

It really is answered prayers. After all the anxiety and worry, I am hoping that finally Jack will start to feel like a normal kiddo.