Today, Joseph had some minor surgery done at Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem. We'd known that this surgery was going to need to be done since birth, and we are very glad it's over. It was relatively simple, and outpatient, but it had to be done under general anesthesia, and I don't think any parent wants to see their child "put under" at any age, but much less at only 9 months old. I was nervous about things because Joseph wasn't supposed to breastfeed past 4:45am this morning. He wasn't supposed to have solid foods past midnight, but Joseph likes breastfeeding better than solids anyway, so I wasn't super worried about him going so long without that. But I was worried about him going to long without nursing. I woke him up at 4:20am this morning to nurse him and then put him back to bed. David took the day off of course for the surgery. So we woke up at 6am this morning to give Joseph an early morning bath before his operation. Poor little buddy - he just looked excited to be a) in the bathtub so early (this child loves a bath) and b) the fact that daddy was going to be off with us on a weekday. He had no idea that the rest of his day wouldn't be quite as fun! So off we headed to Winston-Salem!
His surgery was scheduled for 9:45am, and we were told to get to Brenner's by 8:45. Always ones to get places early, we got there around 8:25am.
The pediatric surgical waiting area at Brenner's has a very cool fake boat built in the middle of it for the kids to play on. It is called the "U.S.S. Tiny." Joseph had fun walking around on it with mommy and daddy and looking out the portholes as we waited to be taken to pre-op...
He also happily played on my lap for a little bit...
When we got back to the pre-op room, a number of people came to help get him ready for surgery. They asked how Joseph's separation anxiety from his mommy and daddy was. I told them it was pretty bad, and sure enough, as soon as the lady picked him up, he totally flipped out. She immediately handed him back to me, and said they'd give him something to help him relax. They gave him some medicine to suck down, and within about 12 minutes my fussy little man was totally relaxed and babbling away happily. It was like a baby version of being drunk! Lol. He enjoyed playing with a sweet little stuffed penguin they handed to him, and I couldn't get over the preciousness of him in his little hospital gown...
God works in such amazing ways, and, after all of our nervousness about the anesthesia, the anesthesiologist that would be taking care of Joseph shows up and it happens to be a guy I knew from the singles group at Calvary Baptist Church when I lived in Winston-Salem! He is a very very nice person and I knew he was a strong believer, so David and I both felt SO much better after seeing a familiar face and knowing Jojo was in good hands. We then kissed him goodbye and went back to the waiting room. The surgery took a little longer than we had expected, but other than that, things went great. They would only let one parent go be with him in recovery, so I went back. I was able to nurse Joseph and that helped calm him down (he was VERY hungry) and hold him while they took his IV out. Pretty soon, we were getting our sleepy boy dressed to go home.
He was tired, but after being loaded in the car he already had enough energy to play with his Oball football...
And now, after being back home for several hours, Joseph and David are resting comfortably...I'm not sure who was more exhausted from the ordeal! ;-)
Thanks for all who prayed for us! Joseph has had so many little medical issues since birth, but this is just one more thing that is behind us!!! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment