Surgery Update

Well that SUCKED.

Ok now that I got that out of the way, Asher is fine, but today certainly didn't go as planned.

We got to the hospital and all the pre-op stuff went fine. I had to leave to do Rio's kindergarten orientation only a few minutes before Jord walked Asher to the OR, so timing wise it all worked out. Asher was an absolute star, only whimpering slightly just as I left, presumably because he was so hungry (no milk since 7pm the night before and the apple juice experiment didn't really work). Jordan said he remained that easy going until he got into the OR, at which point he got a little bit scared and the lip started to quiver, but otherwise he was tough as nails. Of course he was.

Pre-op - hand is bandaged for his IV (which took 3 location when all was said and done and ended up in his foot)

I rushed Rio home from orientation (another post will come on that) and on my way back to the hospital Jordan texted to say he had heard from the surgeon and the surgery went very well. We were relieved to say the least.

So then we waited for him to come back from recovery.

And we waited.

And we waited.

And the little girl who had surgery after Asher came back, with still no sign of him. I started to panic. They talked to recovery and said he had needed oxygen but they expected him back soon. I didn't think that was a good thing, but I tried to remain calm.

We waited a while longer (now we're at about 2.5 hours post surgery, when we had been told he "should" be back within 20 minutes). We finally heard he was coming back but that his sats had been in the 80s and he had needed oxygen to bring him back up to the 90s (sorry if you don't know what an 02 sat is, but enough of you who were on our NICU journey with us do, so I'm not going to explain it - too tired).

So back he came, off oxygen, but mask in hand just in case. He sat at around 90 and they wouldn't send him home unless it went to at least 95. They decided the best case scenario would be to admit him to peds and if he miraculously improved they would send him home. He looked terrible - so lethargic - and he broke my heart that he was so NOT our smiling happy Asher. He didn't even respond to seeing Jordan and I and was in so much pain. They had given him morphine and figured that is what caused the drop in his sats (morphine is known to be a respiratory suppressant) so we had to wait for the morphine to get out of his system.

We packed up and went up to peds where we got admitted. Our nurse was one Jordan had worked with in the past, and several of his former coworkers came in to say hi so that was a nice distraction. Asher was uncomfortable and upset, but finally started perking up so we decided to feed him. Well didn't that do the trick! As soon as he had a bottle, up his sats came and stayed at around 95. No signs of nausea, so we kept on feeding him. And feeding him. And feeding him. And the more he ate, the more he seemed to improve! I even got him laughing, and at that point knew we could safely bring him home. My boy was back! His pain was under control, he had eaten a significant amount, and he was happy again. Phew!

By around 6pm we were fairly confident that the surgeon would discharge him, but then it was more waiting until he arrived at around 7. As expected, there was no longer a reason to keep him overnight. We got more details on the surgery, and essentially it went BETTER than he had hoped. It was easy to bring down and there was no hernia to go along with it. The really good news is that it bodes well for the surgery to fix the other side - the surgeon is confident it will go just as well, if not even easier.

So now we keep on top of pain meds for a few days and then Asher sees him for a follow up in 2-3 weeks. If all goes well from now till then, the second surgery will be booked.

Strangely enough, as horrible as today went, I feel waaaay more at ease about the second surgery. The surgery itself went well. Asher handled the anesthetic ok. Next time there will be no morphine, or at least a much smaller dose. I feel like this was a bad test run, and next time will be much better. It has to be!!

Thanks to everyone who called and sent messages checking in on us today. Asher is now sleeping soundly, and he is sleeping in our room tonight so we can hear him at the slightest stir and keep on top of his pain meds.

Speaking of sleep...an 11 hour hospital stay for a 20 minute surgery....the parents need to go to bed too...