The Patient

We found out a couple of weeks ago that Nate had to have a minor procedure to correct a little "issue" he has been having...long story very short (and hopefully I am editing this appropriately), once he started using the potty we realized that his tee tee was a little "misdirected"...his pediatrician referred us to a pediatric urologist and found out he needed to have his urethra widened to correct a little block he had in there. Nothing major but he wouldn't outgrow it, so he advised us to correct it while he was still little. So, today was the day...we spent 5 hours at Children's....and Nate was a MAJOR trooper...

I was really nervous about how he would handle not having anything to eat or drink all morning (Breakfast is his favorite meal)...but he actually did ok. The first part of the day was kinda fun (for him)...they have lots of toys around so he stayed busy. We spent almost 3 hours in a pre-op "holding room", playing and shooting hoops.
About an hour before his procedure, he got dressed in his gown and took a cocktail of Codeine and Lortab, which we thought would make him groggy and loopy...but he just got silly and restless! We asked the nurse and she said it was only for pain management and that he shouldn't really react to it (which I thought was crazy - I would conk out if I took those two meds, but she said kids don't react the same way)...but then she popped her head back in our room and told us that the parents in the room next door said their kid got wild after he took it too!
Before he got taken back, he got to choose a toy from a large toy closet...there were race cars and games and other cool options...and Nate picks a generic thing of Playdoh?? We tried to coax him in to something that was worth more than $.50 but he insisted...

I went back in to the OR with him until he went to sleep (which is why I am wearing the gown in the pic). I knew going in that I didn't like the idea of seeing him go to sleep but I thought I would be fine and strong for him in the moment, but I fought back tears the entire time. It was very emotional. He was totally fine...I thought he would tense up going in the big room with all of the big lights and equipment but he didn't really skip a beat...he wanted to lay on the table and didn't resist when they put the mask on his face. He was so brave...and there I was, holding his hand and holding back tears.
The procedure only lasted about 20 mins but the post-op was the toughest part of the day...as expected he was very out of sorts and control when he was coming out of the anesthesia. It took us a little while to get him settled and calmed down enough to take some more meds to calm him down...he slept in my arms for an hour and then came to again and drank some juice and ate some animal crackers. We were finally released around 1:00...so it was a long morning.

He seems to be doing ok now...he is completely himself, just sore (he has stitches, ouch), but full of energy...we have to give him meds for a few more days (I won't go in to detail about how that has to be administered) but he should be good as new (better!) in a day or so. He really amazed us...he was so calm and brave all day....I am so proud of him!

And I also have to say that we are so incredibly thankful that this is all that is wrong with him...after spending a few hours in a children's surgical center, I don't know how parents spend day in and day out caring for sick babies and going through operations. I can't imagine. We are counting our blessings.