Getting ready for surgery

On Sunday afternoon, we took Nicky into Austin to visit Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, the hospital where he will be having his surgery. The child life specialists at Dell provide pre-operative tours for kids, to familiarize them with the facility and to show them some of the things they can expect on the day of their operation. We are trying to do our best to ease any anxiety or fear that might come up when we take Nicky on Thursday, and we thought that taking him to look around and talk about what's coming would definitely take some of the pressure off. Having a better idea of what will happen that day eased my mind as well. I'm Nervous Mommy right now.

We were the only ones that showed up for the 1:30 tour, so Nicholas was the star of the show! The child life specialist that worked with us was really great, and was impressed with how smart our Nick-Nick is.

She had a box for Nicky that had some medical items inside, and let him take each one out and play while she told him what the doctors and nurses do with it. There was a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, an face mask for the "sleepy air," and several other things.

Finding his heartbeat.

He got to see the machine that will take his vital signs before and after surgery, and learned what each piece was. He seemed like he was really paying attention and was really interested in everything. He got to smell all the different scents that can be added to the "sleepy air" (anesthesia) he'll be given, and decided he liked the strawberry the best.

We all suited up to go back into the surgical area of the hospital after that, which got a huge laugh out of Nicky. Mom and Dad had to wear hats, face masks, and shoe covers, too! I'll bet we looked really cute, although I never saw a mirror (thank goodness).

We saw the room where Nicky will have his vitals taken, and saw all the toys that he'll be able to play with while we're waiting for surgery. Then, we got to go into an operating room! He learned that he would get the sleepy air once he was inside and on a bed, that he would be asleep in just a few seconds, and that he would not wake up during surgery.

The next stop was the recovery room, where he will wake up after surgery. I think he was most excited to hear that he would get a popsicle once he woke up!

So, we'll find out on Wednesday what time we need to report to the hospital. It will most likely be in the morning, we just don't have an exact time yet. Once we're there, and Nicky is taken back for surgery, the procedure should only take 30 minutes to an hour, so we shouldn't have to wait too long. We'll be able to bring him home later that day!

I'll post more after we're all done. Until then, if you could all pray for us (especially on Thursday!), I'd really appreciate it!