Thursday, April 28, 2011

All is well with the boys!

Surgery day was a long, tough day for all involved, but we all made it through. They boy’s surgeries were scheduled for 12:30pm and 1:25pm but they were actually started at 12:35pm (Mac) and 1:10pm (Henry). Since you can’t have anything to eat after midnight and their surgeries were scheduled so late in the we let them stay up as late as they wanted the night before and eat some snacks so they would sleep late and not be as hungry the next morning. That plan backfired! They actually woke up earlier than they normally do on school days. Therefore they were really hungry all morning! They spent most of their morning trying to sneak food but they never got away with it.

Once we got to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and checked in, (side bar: why do they make you wait so long even after you have filled out the paper work and finished the registration? Don’t they know the kids in the waiting room haven’t eaten in many hours and are really hungry, thirsty and very cranky?) The boys were still having fun not being in school and playing with different toys. It wasn’t until it was time to put on the gowns that the reality started to set in, at least for Mac! This was Henry’s first surgery and hospital visit and he thought the gown was cool because of the space men on it. Mac started to remember his visits and started to get a little nervous. Even then, they were having a good time wrestling around on the gurney.



Here they are with their gowns and hairnets on before the goofy juice!

The doctor decided to take Mac back first to show Henry how easy it was going to be. Also, since Mac’s procedure was going to be a lot quicker, Mac could be done and out while Henry was getting prepped. After Mac drank the goofy juice, he made a few funny comments then fell right asleep. One of his comments was, “I feel like smiling but I don’t know why!” He was taken back for his procedure and about 10 minutes later the doctor was back in the room with us telling us all went well. His tubes were removed without incident but there was a small puncture of one of his ear drums. He patched it up and it is good to go. He just can’t swim for 6 weeks. That won’t be a problem until school is out and he goes and stays with family that have a pool or community pools. He really loves to swim and was looking forward to hitting the pools sooner rather than later.


Here is Mac hugging Henry right before he was given the goofy juice and he fell asleep.


Once Mac was being brought back from recovery, Henry was being taken into the OR. He didn’t quite handle the goofy juice like Mac did. Henry truly became goofy and it was pretty funny. He kept asking why there were two SpongeBobs on the screen and the giggling a lot. The last thing we heard him tell the nurse was that he was the real Spiderman. It was very cute!

Henry’s surgery took much longer than Mac’s but it still was done in less than 30 minutes. As soon as Mac was awake in the recovery room, Henry was being checked into his room for the over night portion of his visit. Meg, Mac and I all walked to the other side of the hospital to see the little guy. He was having a tough time waking up from the anesthesia and was clearly uncomfortable. His first words once he woke up were pretty much the same as Mac’s, they each asked where the other one was. Even though neither of them felt good, they both gave each other a big hug. Being the great big brother that Mac is, he told Henry everything was going to be OK and soon he could have pancakes for dinner. That is the one thing Mac remembers from when he had he tonsils taken out, eating pancakes for dinner!

Shortly after arriving in the room, Henry feel back asleep due to the medication and Meg took Mac home to rest. I then prepared for my fun and exciting night of sleeping in a cramped, noisy, cold and uncomfortable room. Henry did great and after sleeping off the anesthesia and the first round of pain medicine. He was understandably hungry and I quickly placed the order for pancakes, orange sherbet, a red Popsicle and a blue Gatorade. All of which he devoured once it arrived! Besides having a very deep and scratchy voice, he was doing great. He did all of the things the nurses were looking for. He drank a lot, ate a big meal and went to the bathroom. I really thought they might send us home around 8pm, but that didn’t happen. They wanted to keep an eye on him overnight due to his snoring issues in the past. He barely snored at all and they say that even a couple of days after this procedure, he might continue to snore just due to the swelling of his throat. I could already tell that he was breathing better. I don’t see how he couldn’t since his tonsils were taking up 80% of the airway in his throat.

The night was tough on me but Henry did great. He slept the entire night except for the two times he was woken up and given medicine. I wish I could say the same. Anyone who has ever slept in a hospital room who wasn’t the patient knows what I am talking about. The nurses come in every hour or so to take vitals or give medication. The hall is noisy and bright and in my case, the person in the room next store talked loudly on their cell phone until 2am or so. My night was not nearly as restful as Henry’s.

Both boys are doing great now. Mac was back in school the next day and Henry was doing wonderfully the next day. He will be back in school next week even though he thinks he feels good enough to go back now. On orders from his doctor, we are going to keep him out for a few days.

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