May 4, 2009

8 minutes

It will take you substantially less time to read this post than Jake's procedure took this morning. I was most impressed.

We DID spend quite a bit of time WAITING for things to happen, but once the train started rolling, the entire thing was over in just minutes.

We arrived at the hospital and were checked in, paperwork completed, by 6:13 a.m. Jake was completely calm and at ease in the waiting room. "Have paci, will chill."



We were called back to be triaged (blood pressure, temperature, leg bracelet) around 6:25, then we were led to our room. There was a really comfy rocker and a TV upper right, out of view).



We made ourselves comfortable, and Jake checked out his ID band.



He tried to escape a few times, mainly out of curiosity. There was a lot of activity out in the hallway. We couldn't leave our room until we'd been seen by the anesthesiologist and the RN, so I kept dragging him back in, which apparently took me out of the running for Mommy of the Year.



Once I'd met with the Important People, we were allowed to roam the halls and meander down to the playroom, which was a bright, happy place decorated with Dr. Seuss characters. AND Toy Story was on the TV.



Jake found lots of things to play with, and his favorite thing to do was to load up all the shapes from the shape sorter into the dump truck and them dump them out. Over, and over, and over again.



Eventually he tired of that, so we went back to our room. Even though we'd gotten there so early and were prepped and ready by 6:55, he wasn't scheduled until 8:10. In case you didn't know, THAT'S A LONG TIME WHEN THEY'VE BEEN UP SINCE 5:40 AND CAN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO EAT OR DRINK, SPORTS FANS. Jake toughed out the final few minutes of the wait sitting in the doorway, waiting for someone to come by and offer him some apple juice.



Instead, at 7:28 the surgical nurse came to get him, and we walked down the hall to this door:



She took him from my arms, and without a tear from anyone, she walked him down this hall and took a left down the yellow hallway to the Operating Room That Changes Lives.


When the ENT came into our room eight minutes later, I thought, "OK, good. They're about to start. We should be out of here by 9."

Instead, he said, "Jake did great. He's in recovery, and depending on how he does, you should have him back in your arms within 15 minutes."

And then four minutes later, Nurse Susan brought him back to me, drunk and fussy. He immediately wanted juice, which he was allowed to have, and he took it eagerly ... but he still wasn't awake:



The juice revived him a little bit ... but not much ... and I didn't take pictures of the EPIC FUSSINESS that ensued for about 20 minutes. We couldn't leave until he calmed down a little, because it was just insane. Kicking, flailing, and scratching of the eyes and nose like you would NOT believe. I think the Fentanyl makes them itch a lot as they're coming out of it.

But we're home now, and he's been napping for about 20 minutes. Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts this morning!

7 comments:

Rachel said...

Wow! That was super fast...surgery time. Not the waiting. I hate the waiting too. Thankfully we've never battled ear infections here in our house. With four kids I think that's a miracle. I hope he feels better.

Sarah T. said...

Every time I've had major anesthesia, I've itched like CRAZY for a couple of days. Like, insane, cannot-be-satiated, whole-body itchiness that drives you NUTS. Makes me itchy just thinking about it.

Heather said...

YAY tubes! We had tubes a few months back, and as everyone has said, they are great! Longer naps, less fussiness, better hearing, less pediatrician visits, more talking, and the list goes on and on! They are amazing. I hope Jake is resting nicely and feeling better!

RLR said...

Oooh - post-anesthesia itchiness. I totally understand. Glad it went (mostly) OK today and that it only gets better from here.

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

Thanks, everyone, so much! It was really not bad at all ... now that he's awake, the fussiness is back, but not to the degree that it was at the hospital. I think he'll be 100% by tomorrow!

Unknown said...

Katherine, Seth is on his 2nd set of tubes. When he had the 2nd set inserted, they also took out his adenoids. I wish I had remembered my camera that day because they gave him some medicine that caused him to get very relaxed and I would have liked to have caught that on film. I am glad Jake came through with flying colors and hopefully it will keep him from getting sick.

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

Leigh, I have a feeling that we'll be one of those families with multiple sets of tubes, too. But that will be just fine, as long as the results are good! Thanks for your thoughts!

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