Lovebugs surgery

Well, today was the big day, that day that Lovebug got surgery. We went this past Saturday for a tour at the hospital (Connecticut Childrens Medical Center, CCMC). Can I just say that this was the BEST.THING.EVER that we could've done. It really gave Lovebug a good idea of what to expect today. I really didn't realize how great it was until we got there today and he was totally at ease with everything that was going on. When the nurse was explaining to him again what was going to happen and asking him questions, he was able to answer them and tell her things that he had learned on Saturday. I should also note that we went to see Toy Story 3 after the hospital tour on Saturday so maybe he thought we were going to do that again.

We got the call the other day with the time of the surgery. I was a bit disappointed that we weren't scheduled until 12:00 pm. I thought "how on earth am I going to keep him from eating or drinking all morning and it's going to be ABSOLUTE torture".

We kept Lovebug up later last night and gave him a snack around 9 and then sent him to bed. This morning I got up, got Princess up and to my parents before Lovebug got out of bed. That way he wouldn't see her with her milk and yogurt heading off. He didn't really ask for anything until I was drinking my coffee, but I reminded him how we talked last night that he can't have anything or he'd get sick and that helped. While we were waiting to leave the house, he watched some Handy Manny and played with his iPhone (yes, he has his own iPhone, it's one of our old ones, that he uses to play games).

We left the house around 9:30, making sure not to forget Froggy, his blue blanket and his iPhone. We made sure that Froggy and the blanket stayed safe on the way to the hospital by strapping them in to Princess' car seat. 

 

 We got to the hospital at 10:30 like we were supposed to (had to park on the TOP floor of the parking garage, UGH). When we walked in and registered, a volunteer gave Lovebug a beanie baby. That must be something that they do for patients having surgery because we'd never gotten one before when we'd been there for minor things. *read more on the irony of the beanie baby below* We went up to the registration area and got him all checked in. It was great, they had bubbles for him to play with which amused him while I was confirming our information. They put an ID bracelet on Froggy and his new beanie baby too. We were informed that we were fast tracked because they had a cancellation. We sat down for a few minutes then they called us in to Pre-op.

In pre-op we were met by a TON of nurses. They were great with Lovebug and gave him dinosaurs to play with and a coloring book. We were also told that he wouldn't have to change (huh?!?) but I still had to wear the gown, cap and mask when I went in with him. He was fine the whole time we were in pre-op waiting to go in. He just played with the dinosaurs, talked to the nurses when they came over. Here's a picture of him in pre-op, perfectly happy!

When it was time to go back to the OR, I had to put on all of the safety gear, it's such a great look. I did comment to Hubby later on that I think they just make the parents wear the outfit to amuse the kids. Lovebug was wearing his clothes & sneakers into the OR and that wasn't an issue so why would my clothes be an issue?

 We left hubby in pre-op and I went with Lovebug to the OR. At CCMC the kids get to drive a car from pre-op to the OR. Lovebug saw the cars when we came for the tour and this was what he was looking forward to the MOST. We got to the cars and he had a hard time deciding. He finally settled on the green one like "Daddy's tractor", he put Froggy and blanket in the trailer in the back (again just like daddy's) and drove to the OR. He did a great job and didn't hit anything.

We got into the OR and he sat up on the table with Froggy next to him. They put the mask on him that smelled like strawberries (the scent he had picked out) and he blew up the balloon. He did such a great job. It was a matter of seconds and he was asleep. The nurse brought me back to Hubby and we went to wait in the waiting room. In the waiting room they have a screen that you can check to see where the patient is (pre-op, OR, post-op). It really is great so you know what's going on. We were in there for probably 5 minutes when I noticed that he was in post-op already, then the doctor came in. He said that Lovebug was all done. We waited a couple more minutes for the nurse to come get us to bring us to the recovery room. Lovebug was doing fine until he saw us, he started to whine a bit but it was more because he wanted milk and he wanted to go home. He got to eat a grape popsicle. We were in there for maybe another 15 minutes then got to go home.

Lovebug was fine after we left. He acted like nothing had happened. A couple of times he said that he had balls in his ears, I wonder if maybe he can feel the tubes?, but that was about it. We came home and watched a movie (he didn't NAP!).

I did ask if he could hear me any better and he said no so we will see if that answer changes in a couple of days, I really hope so.

I just want to end this by saying that CCMC is an absolutely WONDERFUL hospital. They certainly know their stuff when it comes to kids. From the toy that he got coming in, to the stellar treatment throughout, we couldn't have asked for any more. They make the whole experience so pleasant for everyone involved, the child & the parents.

*The beanie baby story*
On the way to the hospital, I was commenting to Hubby about how many dead skunks I've seen this week and how horribly smelly they've been. There were 2 on my way to work on Monday, 3 on my way to work on Tuesday, I saw 1 this morning on my way to bringing Princess to my parents and we saw 1 or 2 on the way to the hospital. So, when Lovebug was handed the beanie baby as we walked into the hospital, by the sweet old man volunteer, what do you think it was? A dog? A bear? NO, it was a SKUNK!!! Are you serious!?!?! Hubby and I just looked at each other and started laughing. What are the chances!