Jason's Surgery

The surgery went off without any problems. Yeah! I was really worried about it.

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Medical procedures are different now. They aren't little babies who can't really understand what is going on around them anymore. Now, they know there is a strong possibility they are going to be hurt by the person wearing white. (Because, let's face it, doctors are always doing something to them at this age!)

Now, they are afraid.

On the 14th, I had to take Jason to the pediatrician to get a medical clearance for the surgery. He completely lost it once we entered one of the exam rooms. He wouldn't let them take his blood pressure and literally ripped the cuff off of his arm. We decided we would have to wait to take his blood pressure on surgery day. He wouldn't even let them take his height (37.5 inches!- 84th percentile people!) and weight (30.2 pounds!) without screaming his head off.

After those checks were done, he just sort of clung to me and said, "Are you okay? Yes, I'm okay." in a sad, hiccupy voice over and over for the rest of the appointment.

It was heartbreaking. :-(

You can see why I was expecting the surgery to be an awful experience.

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On Tuesday, Jason started crying the moment we got up to go back to the pre-op area. He again wouldn't let the nurse weigh him (thankfully she took my word on it), and she had enough sense to wait to do anything to him until after they had put him to sleep in the operating room. That was really helpful.

About 10-15 minutes before our scheduled time, the nurse brought a cocktail of Tylenol and versed and let me give it to him. Then we changed him into his little hospital gown.

Jason pre-op, just after he took his little cocktail. He is quite loopy here. (Notice his right eye is turned. They alternate turning in, which meant his surgery was bilateral, or done on both eyes.)

They had me suit up in an outfit and let me carry him into the operating room, where I held him while they gassed him to sleep. Let me just say here that holding your crying child while doctors and nurses place a gas mask over his nose and mouth isn't the most fun you can have in a morning. Feeling his little body go slack as the gas took affect was no fun either.

I placed him on the gurney and went into the waiting room.**

He was away from us for only about an hour. It only took approximately 15 minutes to do each eye. (If you're curious to see what the surgery is like, you can see an actual procedure here. I warn you, though. It is...kind of creepy. Edited to add: Isaac says I have to give you a stronger warning about the video than the one I gave you. I heard a few "Oh, Lord!" and "Whoa!" from him while he was watching it. He says it's not for the faint hearted. -- What a wimp! It took him a little off guard.) Most of the time Jason was gone was spent prepping him for the surgery.

His recovery cubicle was the exact same one I had for my surgery last month. He had the same nurse, too. (She remembered me...or at least my hives. lol. She said she was worried about me. Aw shucks.)

They let me get into the bed with him to hold him. He slept on me like that while the anesthetic was wearing off. Well, he slept when he wasn't crying or violently thrashing around trying to hurt me. The anesthesia made him pretty volatile.

Such a sweetie pie in this photo. It was sort of like the calm before the storm--and very misleading!

They let us leave after about an hour.

Tuesday afternoon with Jason was beyond horrible. It didn't matter what we did, it wasn't right. He screamed on and on for hours and was generally inconsolable for the entire day. I am not kidding. We couldn't talk--or be quiet. We couldn't move. We couldn't leave his sight.

Awful. I likened it to him being bi-polar, schizophrenic, and possessed by a demon all rolled into one! (Did I say it was awful? Cause, um, it was.)

Thankfully, he has been in a better mood since Wednesday, although he is still really grumpy when he gets up in the morning.

Note to self: Anesthesia and my two year old = a bad combination, that is for sure.

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His eyes look great. The opthamologist warned us that it could take up to 6 weeks before his eyes looked aligned (and for some kids, there is a need for a revision to improve the alignment at that point), but Jason's eyes immediately looked better. They are still pretty red in the corners of his eyes, with the right eye more red than the left at this point, but they still look awesome.

If you look at this picture from Thursday, you can see the redness in the corners of his eyes. (Sorry about the food on his mouth. The only time I could get him to stay still for a shot was when he was eating!)

He's over the picture taking at this point...

He's getting Tylenol three times a day for the next few days whether he seems to be in pain or not. He is also getting an antibiotic/steroid dropped into each eye three times a day for the next week. He does NOT enjoy the drops. I am not sure if it is because the drops hurt his eyes or that he just doesn't like being restrained so we can put them in his eyes. Let me tell you, the boy has freakishly strong eyelids. When those suckers are sealed, it is a challenge to get them open again. That shouldn't surprise me, I suppose. My boys are the ones who could close the eye speculum the opthamologist used in the NICU. (Apparently that isn't very common for a newborn!)

I think he has a bit of double vision happening as well. That is a side effect that was possible with the surgery. His aim isn't as good as it was. He'll just miss grabbing a hold of things on occasion. The good news is that should subside by the 6 week mark, too.

A special thank you to Mario and Stasi. Mario watched Shawn while we were at the hospital with Jason on Tuesday. Stasi watched both the boys the night before. You both were lifesavors during a very hectic time!

**Thanks to Mona who brought us donuts and water and kept us company while we waited at the hospital. :-)