Hayden's Surgery

We arrived at the children's hospital yesterday at 8 a.m. and they took him back for surgery at about 9:30. While we waited, we read books, he rode around in the cozy coupe car and we watched the snow. The chaplain came by and we said a prayer before they took him.

He was such a big boy and didn't even cry when they took him back for surgery. I only cried a little at this point. The time went by quicker than I thought it would. Mom and I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. We hadn't had breakfast because we didn't want to eat in front of him since he couldn't have anything.

Dr. C came and talked to us after the surgery to tell us everything went well. He had a lot of blockage, mostly in his maxillary sinuses beneath his cheeks. He was able to clean out all of the blockage and create a better pathway for drainage. He sent a sample off to be cultured to know what antibiotic will be best if he gets a sinus infection later.

He replaced his ear tubes and said there was some buildup behind the old tubes that might have developed into an infection, but hopefully this new set of tubes will do the trick. We haven't had any trouble with his ears in a long while, so hopefully we caught it in time.

The adenoidectomy went fine and should help with mouth breathing (he always breathes out of his mouth and not his nose) and help lessen the number of infections.

Then came the not so fun part. They would only let one parent at a time go back to the recovery area. Garrett convinced me that he should go first because I wasn't going to want to see him like that. I waited a about ten minutes and then called to let him know I wanted to see him because I couldn't wait any longer. Well, Garrett was right. I didn't want to see him like that. He was having a really hard time waking up from anesthesia and his o2 sats kept dropping. He was inconsolable and there was nothing I could do. :( I tried rocking, singing, patting, everything I could think of. He was very agitated and disoriented and the crying was making the bleeding worse. The nurse was not being overly friendly and kept asking me if she needed to get Garrett since I was pregnant and it was too hard for me to wrestle with him.

I didn't want to get upset and make Hayden more upset so I let them get Garrett. That's when I lost it. It is absolutely miserable to see your child like that. I felt helpless.

A nurse came and got me after they moved him to another observation area and I thought things would be better. He wasn't crying as much and was trying to rest, but every time he would relax, he would stop breathing. Garrett and I said something to the nurse and she told us he was fine, but when he started turning blue I knew he wasn't fine. His o2 sats dropped to the 40s on  more than one occasion. Finally, after she listened to him and realized he was having apnea episodes she called the anesthesiologist. He wasn't much help. He kept saying that it is normal for their sats to drop a little after surgery and to put a new pulse oximeter on him because he thought the readings were inaccurate. The nurses did that and then while he was standing there they started dropping again. By that time about four nurses were in there getting the oxygen ready. They put him on oxygen for a little over an hour and he was finally able to sleep and breathe at the same time.I thought they were going to have to put me on oxygen too during all of this!

He slept for a while and we were able to go home after they weaned him off of the oxygen. He was starving when we got home so we let him eat some crackers and applesauce and he drank some juice. He went back to sleep and finally started to look like he felt a little better when he woke up.

He had a pretty good night, but his sleep pattern is off. He was awake from about 3 - 4:30 a.m.

He is doing well today. He still has some blood draining from his nose which is normal. We have to put drops in his ears and nose twice a day and he does NOT like that, but other than that he's in a pretty good mood.

We are glad the worst part is over and hopefully he will feel much better after all of this.

Thank you for all of the prayers, texts, messages and emails! It truly meant a lot to us and we could not have made it through yesterday without your support!

Yes, we did take a few pictures before the surgery to keep our minds occupied.

 

  

 Prepped and ready. Dad was not a fan of the purple gown they gave him. 

  

 Cruising around the hospital

  

 Practicing with the gas mask

 

Watching the snow

  

 Going back for surgery

 

Looking at the fish with Scott and Daddy