We found out in January that Kyran would need this and decided to wait until early summer so that he wouldn't miss school and could recover before we had any vacation or camp plans. While he is still healing, he doesn't seem aware of it and I have to keep reminding him to take it easy. He's not supposed to run, jump, climb or swim for 1-2 weeks. Nearly impossible for a healthy 6-year-old boy, even one who loves his Mario Kart as much as he does!
The procedure was scheduled for 12:15, with a 10:15 arrival time. Ben came to watch Karyssa and Gemma (the first time Gemma stayed with anyone except my mom for longer than 30 minutes) and we headed to the hospital.
We waited for a short while in the downstairs waiting room before they brought us to a prep room upstairs where we waited until well past surgery time. During that time, though, he changed into his scrubs, got a cool Lightning McQueen hat and was given a box of blocks and a Nintendo DS that kept him busy and kept his mind off the procedure.We prayed for everything to go perfectly.
During this time, we also talked to the anesthesiologist and surgeon. They reassured us that he would not be "asleep" for long and that the procedure was a very quick one. They would use a mask with strawberry-scented air to get him to sleep before they put the IV in.
When it was time to go, he took the pretty nurse's hand and walked with her to the OR.
At this point, Jason and I were taken to another waiting room and told that they would call when they got started. At 1:19, they called to say they had started at 1:17. at 1:23, a nurse came in to tell us that the doctor found one minor thing and that he was going to take care of it as well. At 1:39, we saw the doctor coming down the hallway. What a relief!
He said everything had gone very well and just talked to us about his care and recovery, and a follow-up appointment. He was prescribing a codeine mix, but advised us only to use it in extreme circumstances. I told him how tough Kyran is and that he probably wouldn't need it much at all.
A few minutes later, the nurse came to get me and bring me to the recovery room while he woke up. I was not prepared for how he was when I got there. He was very confused and crying, saying that he was in a lot of pain. Apparently, they let me come back a little earlier than usual because he was so upset. They allowed me to get onto the bed with him, and that seemed to help. Then, they brought him a popsicle. He was very upset because he couldn't move his hands, so I fed him the popsicle.
His left hand had been wrapped with skin colored tape to keep the IV in, so I think the feeling of that and the confusion from the anesthesia made him think both hands couldn't be used. At one point, he looked at the fingers poking out of the tape and, very concerned, said, "Why is only this much of my hand left?" I rubbed his hand so that he could feel that it was still there, and told him that it was just wrapped with tape. This seemed to make him feel better. They also gave him some of the medicine for the pain. (I think part of his recovery issue is that he's just not used to being confused about anything. He was frustrated that he felt so loopy.)
A few minutes later, he looked at me and said the last thing he remembered was them putting the mask on him. I asked him if he remembered waking up before I was there, and he said no, I was there when he woke up. I'm so thankful for that! He did say he missed his daddy, and I told him that he was still there and would be back to see him as soon as possible.
After about 30 minutes, they were ready to move him to another room, and Jason was allowed to meet us there. They just wheeled both of us on the bed into the new room. Kyran ate some crackers and drank some water and seemed to be much more himself pretty quickly. As he was getting dressed, he asked if he could pray, and then prayed for God to remind him not to run and jump so that he could heal quickly.
Soon, it was time to get dressed and head home. We helped him dress and the nurse asked if he wanted a wagon or a wheel chair and he said wagon. As soon as she brought the wagon in, he changed his mind. I think he realized he was a little to old for the wagon. So, my little buddy had his first wheel chair ride since the day I held him and his sister as they pushed us out the NICU for us to go home as a family for the first time.
That night, he had Motrin once, and hasn't needed anything except pain relief cream since then. He is certainly my tough little guy!
He is so brave, and I'm so proud to be his mommy!
No comments:
Post a Comment