Surgery post...

It's a bit late but I didn't have a blog there for a little while.  I want to post about his surgery so Xander can read about it when he's older.  Hopefully my memory is good :)

We had to be to MQT General for surgery at 6:00 am on Jan. 11th for surgery prep.  I'm amazed at the 2 times we've hauled this boy out EARLY in the morning with no milk or food he's done so well.  After all, he likes to eat :)

Grandma came to the house at 4:15 so we could be on our way.  We got to the hospital right on time and they were prompt because he was the first in line.  They prepped him and had us take him down to the OR where we waited for anesthesiology to take him from us.  They came at 7:30 for him, he cried and our hearts broke.  Daddy and I keep wondering WHY we are doing this to our perfect child.  We know that for him it's the best thing to do, but for him, right now, it STINKS!

We went to the waiting room to wait, knowing tubes were going to be first we figured it wouldn't be long until our first update.  A little after 8:00 Dr. Heickel came to let us know everything went good :)  YEAH!

The next wait seemed SOOOO long to us.  We got a update at 10:00 that he was out of surgery and on to the recovery room.  Dr. Geissler came in shortly after 10:00 to tell us the surgery went good and that he would be in the hospital for a few nights.  He said he would be in recovery for a hour and then we could be with him.  A hour passed and no word.  We asked the receptionist to check on him so she called and the nurse said he was sleeping great, they were waiting for him to wake.  We were happy he was comfortable so we waited until we got the call at 12:00 that he was going to his room.  We made it to his room before he got there.  His nurse was waiting and said that he was a busy boy in the recovery room, she said that he pulled his breathing tube out of his nose.  She didn't tell us that the surgeon stitched it in his nose so it would stay!

They rolled him in the room in a crib, propped up on pillows.  He looked upset but when he saw Daddy  standing closest to the door he got really upset and started to cry hard!  Daddy took him and held him in the rocking chair.  He had a stitch through his tongue, taped to his cheek so he couldn't feel around the top of his mouth.  He was bleeding from his nose and mouth.  He looked pretty sad :(

Daddy couldn't stay the night because he had to work in the morning so I stayed with Xander.  Let me tell you it was a long night!  He didn't like the arm restraints so I held him all night so he wouldn't stick his hands in his mouth or pull the stitch from his face.  It was miserable, I felt so bad for putting him through this.

The next morning they took his stitch out of his tongue and things improved.  Daddy came back after work and later that eve I went home to shower.  All I could smell was blood, even though I brought clean clothes.  Yuck!

Daddy said the next night was not fun either, but by the next morning he was doing a little better and Daddy got to give him a little breakfast.

We thought we could go home after 2 nights but the surgeon decided one more.  3 nights in a small hospital room with a active 2 year old is tough!  By night 3 he wanted to get down and play, but kept tangling himself up with the IV that was in his foot.  That night the IV started to go bad and it was like heaven being released from our restraints!  We did a few laps on our floor just to get out of our room.  He wanted to go home, and so did I!

The next morning we got to leave and were home before the kids who had a 1/2 day of school.  They were happy to see him and he was just as thrilled to be home.  His sleep has been screwed up since surgery and he's only slept through the night a few times in the last 3 weeks.  I can't complain because he is truly a dream child!

He has healed well and doesn't appear to have any fistulas (splits in the repair).  I asked the surgeon when we had our 2 week check up when he was due for the next and he told us that it all depends on his speech.  If he can talk without sounding nasaly then he didn't need anymore palate repairs!  If he does there is some kind of flap the do in the back of the throat to correct it.  As for his gumline, when he is a teen they will do a bone graft.  For his nose and lip, we can do some plastic surgery when he is older as well.  I'm perfectly fine with his looks, all I see is the most beautiful little Chinese boy in the entire world (sorry folks with your own little Chinese boys), after all, I am his Mother!