Yesterday was the big day. And boy was I dreading it. I had held it together up until the night before and then all of the sudden, the flood gates opened. Jimmy and I were talking about it and all I kept thinking about was Harper being scared. I kept saying over and over again, "I just don't want him to be scared." I didn't want him to be whisked away to a cold Operating Room and wondering where mommy and daddy were. Jimmy of course gave me a hug and told me it would be okay, so that made me feel better. I went to bed with a sense of peace and slept right through the Golden Girls (this NEVER happens folks) because I knew that 5:00am would come early.
Both of our alarm clocks blared at 5am on the dot and I went to wake up my parents. They had gotten in the night before a little after 10pm. We all hurried to get ready and Jimmy woke Harper up from a pretty deep sleep. He was not at all happy with us and we tried not to make a big deal out of the fact that he couldn't have his daily breakfast of warm milk and Cheerios. We dressed him in some comfy clothes that didn't come close to matching, but none of us really cared about that.
I snapped a picture of my little man..unaware that he would be a patient that day.
We got to the Surgical Pavilion at 6:30am. Luckily, they had a children's area with a TV that was playing Nick Jr., so at least there was some sort of routine for Harper. He watched for a little while, but then became very disinterested. Jimmy and my dad decided to play with him on the floor.
After what seemed like hours, we were finally called back to a pre-op room. A sweet nurse took his blood pressure and temp. I almost lost it again when I saw the pitiful-looking crib he would be in.
I managed to keep it together and then we were sent to a Pediatric play room. Thank goodness for that room!! We showed Harper how to push his monkey in a stroller and I could not stop laughing. It was just too cute to see him pushing a pink stroller.
Nearly all of the staff members that would be working on Harper came by to see us. We saw the nurse, the nurse for the Anesthesiologist, the Anesthesiologist, another nurse, the Dr. and his nurse. Each of of them were very thorough, asked us if we had any questions and made sure we knew exactly what they were going to be doing.
Finally, after 2 hours of waiting, Harper was given his "cocktail" of Versed and Tylenol. The poor baby was so thirsty, he tried to dunk his paci into the cup to make sure he got every.last.drop. They had told us that after his cocktail had taken effect, they would take him back to the O.R. where they would administer his anesthesia. After he was asleep, they would insert the I.V. I was SO relieved to hear this because I was terrified that they'd have to hold him down to get his I.V. in. Once I knew that he'd be completely under, I breathed a little easier.
We made our way back to the room where we got him dressed for the surgery.
He started to act pretty cranky and we knew he must be feeling strange from the medication.
One of the nurses came in, picked him up and began to carry him to the OR. We watched him go down the hall and just before he went through the double doors, he waved. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh...so I laughed. It was funny that the medicine made him completely nonchalant about the fact that some stranger in a funny hat and scrubs was taking him away.
We all left and got something to eat. They actually had Chic-Fil-A chicken biscuits! Jimmy and I were so hungry because we had not eaten all morning. I just couldn't bring myself to eat anything when I knew Harper couldn't. We scarfed down the biscuits and went to check his status. One of the most impressive things about the Surgical Pavilion is that you can check your loved one's progress on a television screen. They tell you whether they are in pre-op, in surgery or in post-op. They give you a code so that everything is confidential and you look for that code under the Dr.'s name. By the time we had made it back to the screen, he was already in surgery.
Literally an hour and a half later, we were paged back to the conference room. The Dr. came in and told us that his surgery went well. It was a short but sweet meeting and I think that was when we first felt relief. We went back to the waiting room and were paged again so go back because our Monkey was awake!!
We went into his post-op room and found a different nurse holding him. He was all wrapped in a white blanket and groggy as could be. He looked so sweet :) She handed him over and once he was offered Sierra Mist, he lunged for it!
Jimmy said his poor hand was wrapped like a prize fighter.
Once he was out of surgery, we were out of there about an hour or a little more later. He came home and started acting normal again! It was so crazy to see him feel so great so soon after surgery. We finally got him to nap and when he woke up, I got some pictures of the incision on his head.
His arm was wrapped up at the time, but I snapped a picture for documentation purposes anyway :)
During the night, Harper's head incision bled all over the place. It wasn't profuse, but it was enough to get all over his pillow and ALL in his hair. The poor baby has a big, dark red, bloody scab in his hair and there is nothing we can do about it. He acts as if he feels fine, but his head looks pretty bad. We are supposed to go to a first birthday party tomorrow, but I'm scared to take him looking like he does right now.
We gave him a sink-bath tonight and used only the sprayer to wash all necessary areas. We finally took his arm bandage off and there has been no bleeding. His incision looks really great! I put a long sleeved shirt on him before bed just to let it breathe a little.
The Dr. said he could go swimming as soon as 3 days after surgery! I'm not sure that will happen, but it was surprising to hear.
We are all so relieved that this is over. It's been a long 2 week wait, but he is all clear and acting as if nothing happened. Thank God for answered prayers!
Both of our alarm clocks blared at 5am on the dot and I went to wake up my parents. They had gotten in the night before a little after 10pm. We all hurried to get ready and Jimmy woke Harper up from a pretty deep sleep. He was not at all happy with us and we tried not to make a big deal out of the fact that he couldn't have his daily breakfast of warm milk and Cheerios. We dressed him in some comfy clothes that didn't come close to matching, but none of us really cared about that.
I snapped a picture of my little man..unaware that he would be a patient that day.
We got to the Surgical Pavilion at 6:30am. Luckily, they had a children's area with a TV that was playing Nick Jr., so at least there was some sort of routine for Harper. He watched for a little while, but then became very disinterested. Jimmy and my dad decided to play with him on the floor.
After what seemed like hours, we were finally called back to a pre-op room. A sweet nurse took his blood pressure and temp. I almost lost it again when I saw the pitiful-looking crib he would be in.
I managed to keep it together and then we were sent to a Pediatric play room. Thank goodness for that room!! We showed Harper how to push his monkey in a stroller and I could not stop laughing. It was just too cute to see him pushing a pink stroller.
Nearly all of the staff members that would be working on Harper came by to see us. We saw the nurse, the nurse for the Anesthesiologist, the Anesthesiologist, another nurse, the Dr. and his nurse. Each of of them were very thorough, asked us if we had any questions and made sure we knew exactly what they were going to be doing.
Finally, after 2 hours of waiting, Harper was given his "cocktail" of Versed and Tylenol. The poor baby was so thirsty, he tried to dunk his paci into the cup to make sure he got every.last.drop. They had told us that after his cocktail had taken effect, they would take him back to the O.R. where they would administer his anesthesia. After he was asleep, they would insert the I.V. I was SO relieved to hear this because I was terrified that they'd have to hold him down to get his I.V. in. Once I knew that he'd be completely under, I breathed a little easier.
We made our way back to the room where we got him dressed for the surgery.
He started to act pretty cranky and we knew he must be feeling strange from the medication.
One of the nurses came in, picked him up and began to carry him to the OR. We watched him go down the hall and just before he went through the double doors, he waved. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh...so I laughed. It was funny that the medicine made him completely nonchalant about the fact that some stranger in a funny hat and scrubs was taking him away.
We all left and got something to eat. They actually had Chic-Fil-A chicken biscuits! Jimmy and I were so hungry because we had not eaten all morning. I just couldn't bring myself to eat anything when I knew Harper couldn't. We scarfed down the biscuits and went to check his status. One of the most impressive things about the Surgical Pavilion is that you can check your loved one's progress on a television screen. They tell you whether they are in pre-op, in surgery or in post-op. They give you a code so that everything is confidential and you look for that code under the Dr.'s name. By the time we had made it back to the screen, he was already in surgery.
Literally an hour and a half later, we were paged back to the conference room. The Dr. came in and told us that his surgery went well. It was a short but sweet meeting and I think that was when we first felt relief. We went back to the waiting room and were paged again so go back because our Monkey was awake!!
We went into his post-op room and found a different nurse holding him. He was all wrapped in a white blanket and groggy as could be. He looked so sweet :) She handed him over and once he was offered Sierra Mist, he lunged for it!
Jimmy said his poor hand was wrapped like a prize fighter.
Once he was out of surgery, we were out of there about an hour or a little more later. He came home and started acting normal again! It was so crazy to see him feel so great so soon after surgery. We finally got him to nap and when he woke up, I got some pictures of the incision on his head.
His arm was wrapped up at the time, but I snapped a picture for documentation purposes anyway :)
During the night, Harper's head incision bled all over the place. It wasn't profuse, but it was enough to get all over his pillow and ALL in his hair. The poor baby has a big, dark red, bloody scab in his hair and there is nothing we can do about it. He acts as if he feels fine, but his head looks pretty bad. We are supposed to go to a first birthday party tomorrow, but I'm scared to take him looking like he does right now.
We gave him a sink-bath tonight and used only the sprayer to wash all necessary areas. We finally took his arm bandage off and there has been no bleeding. His incision looks really great! I put a long sleeved shirt on him before bed just to let it breathe a little.
The Dr. said he could go swimming as soon as 3 days after surgery! I'm not sure that will happen, but it was surprising to hear.
We are all so relieved that this is over. It's been a long 2 week wait, but he is all clear and acting as if nothing happened. Thank God for answered prayers!
So glad everything went well. You're such a great mom :) He's a trooper!
ReplyDelete