Healing up!

Nicholas' surgery went really, really well! Thank you all for your prayers, words of encouragement, and happy thoughts. We appreciate it all so very much!

The tour that we took last weekend was a huge help, and I am so glad that we decided to do it. We were all very familiar with the procedures and the schedule for the day before we even arrived, and it really reduced our nervousness a lot. The staff at Dell Children's is incredible, and they really go out of their way to ensure the comfort of the kids (and the parents!).

We only waited for about 10-15 minutes before they called us back, and they took Nicky's vitals and asked us a lot of questions about medical history. Then, we got to meet each of the individuals that would be in the OR with Nicky. The surgeon, the nurses, the anesthesiologist, and the nurse anesthetist, to name a few. A child life specialist also came in to talk with Nicky about what was going on and to help him feel a little more comfortable with everything.

In his hospital pajamas, just waiting to head back to surgery!

The worst part of the whole experience? When they were ready for him, the whole team came to get him and walk him back to the OR. We were only allowed to go so far with him, then he had to walk the rest of the hallway without us. At the moment when we had to say goodbye to him, he latched on to me, would not let go, and became hysterical. I was trying SO hard not to cry, because I didn't want him to see that I was upset. I just told him that they were going to take really great care of him, that he would soon be sleeping, and when he opened his eyes again, it would all be over and we would be there with him again. Then he hugged Daddy, and they basically had to detach him from us and take him down the hall. It was really, really upsetting, and Nathan and I were both very shaken.

We went to the waiting room, where we basically tried to distract ourselves (unsuccessfully) to avoid staring at the progress monitor the entire time without blinking. They have a big screen that lists the names of all the surgeons at Dell each day, and it tells you where they are at all times (or basically, where their patients are). Next to Dr. Garcia's name, it said "In Surgery," when Nicky was back there. We just keep waiting for it to change, and we were both so upset that we couldn't really keep ourselves occupied.

We didn't have to wait long, thankfully. It was about 30 minutes from the time we sat down when they paged us and put us into another room so that Dr. Garcia could come and talk to us. About two minutes later, she came in and told us that everything went really, really well, and that he was already in recovery trying to wake up.

We went back to the waiting room until they paged us to go to recovery, and barely had time to sit down before we had to get up again and go back. Nicky was wide awake when we got there, eating a huge rainbow popsicle.

"Mom, can I just eat this in peace, please?"

Of course, the main topic of conversation in the recovery room was his hair color. We can't go anywhere, I swear. Anyway, he was doing so well, and it made us both so happy to see that he was okay and relieved that it was all over.

We were moved again to another room where they could monitor his vitals for a little while longer before we were discharged, and he spent some time watching Mickey Mouse and eating more popsicles.

He had FOUR popsicles before we left the hospital. The nurses just laughed.

After only about thirty minutes or so, his nurse came in with discharge papers and instructions, and we started getting ready to leave. Nicky literally hopped out of bed and put his clothes on like nothing happened. Then, he got to ride a wheelchair out to the car.

Popsicle mouth.

The child actually jumped out of the wheelchair and climbed up into the car with no help. I can't think of many adults that could bounce back that quickly after having an operation. Unbelievable. He was awake during the entire ride home, watching a movie. He said he wanted to eat, and we told him that he could choose what he wanted and we would treat him. He picked "the place where they have those big sandwiches!" That's my child: he loves Subway.

And he's Nathan's child, because he doesn't like cucumbers.

Then, after a few rambunctious minutes at my parents' house (we had to go by and pick up Miss Anna), we went home.

The aftermath: Heaven help us! This child is crazy! Within hours of the surgery, he had already managed to remove the surgical dressing that was GLUED to his incision, so we had to call the surgeon's office to find out whether we needed to drive back to the hospital or not (it was supposed to stay on for a full week). We re-dressed the wound, and the next day he took that dressing off, too. He is supposed to be resting, with no strenuous activity, for a few days. No running, jumping, roughhousing, etc. Yeah, he's been doing laps around the house and I can't get him to sit still for anything. I'm worn out trying to keep up with him. He's going to bust his internal stitches and we're going to have to start all over. Oh, boy.

He's not on any pain meds now, doesn't seem to be having any discomfort, and he's totally back to normal. He has a follow-up appointment in four weeks with the surgeon, so we can check and make sure he's all healed. (If we can keep him still...)  :)