Surgery Update: How's Christian?

******SURGERY UPDATE*******

I've had a lot of people ask me about how Christian is doing and I'm so appreciative but I thought I'd give a summary about what went down yesterday. Nothing too dramatic, but I did learn some things that I can apply to future surgeries.

Of course, it takes longer to get into surgery and out of surgery to go home than the actual surgery. The actual surgery was only about forty-five minutes. It was very quick.

We brought Christian to the hospital in warm pajamas that he got for Christmas from his cousins. The pajamas are about four sizes too big but it worked great because it was easy to get them on and off.

We were taken to the pre-op room where we briefly spoke with the ortho doc and the anesthesiologist who was wearing a leather fanny pack.

Dude, you may know how to knock my kid out, but fanny pack? Really?

Anyway, we discussed pain meds and reactions. The fanny pack wearer said he would be giving Christian morphine. I wasn't entirely excited about that idea but I thought since they would actually be attaching something to his bone, it would probably be excessively painful. So I agreed to the morphine.

We all kissed him and I told him what was going to happen and that I would see him after he woke up. Before they wheeled him away Fanny Pack Wearer said, "I can tell you guys really care for him. That's great to see."

What the f?! Of course we care about him! We adore him and love him! He's our son! What an odd thing to say.

So they finished quickly and we spoke to the ortho doc who said everything went well but Christian's bones were really soft. No surprise there.

We were notified that he was already awake right away. But it took them a while to come get us. When we were finally taken to see him he was groggy but when he heard me talk to him he started to do his Christian "talk." So I thought he was doing great! But by the time we got back to the discharge/recovery room he was almost hysterical. The nurse told me he was crying when he woke up so he decided to top him off with some Demerol.

Christian was crying and crying and he would start to choke. He couldn't swallow or cough and his lungs seemed to literally fill with fluid. Every inhale and every exhale crackled. He cried and cried, and when it was time to swallow, there was this look of panic on his face like he didn't know what to do.

The discharge nurses were worried and asked about suction and if we regularly have to do that, which we don't. They didn't have anything ready for that so they were stumbling around trying to find suction equipment. The suctioning still didn't help. I asked if I could hold him. Yes, I asked because I didn't want to hurt him with his knees all wrapped up like a mummy. So I crawled into bed with him and held him. That helped him and he calmed a little bit.

We let some time go by. I know the nurse usually gets people discharged quickly but I wanted to give him time to settle down. I knew he would be fine. He just needed time. He was overmedicated and it completely shut down his swallowing and coughing. But he was aware of it! I'll never forget what his face looked like when he was trying to figure out what to do. He couldn't breath. He couldn't cough. So he just cried.

So some time passed and he was calming down in my arms. He finally gave us two big coughs, swallowed and completely cleared his lungs. I was so relieved! I knew he could do it. He just had to let that medicine settle out of his system a little. As soon as he cleared his lungs, he calmed and we could finally, safely take him home.

Last night and today he has gone in cycles. He'll be fine and then start crying and then go back to fine again. I have to be diligent with his pain meds so he stays comfortable. Last night he slept surprisingly well. I put the pulse ox on him just in case, due to the morphine, too much pain medication, and just everything. He did fine all night! In fact, he was setting off the alarm because he was satting at 100 for too long and the pulse ox is set to alarm because when people are on vents and oxygen, 100% could be toxic. That's what a nurse told me one time anyway.

Things I learned about future surgeries:

1. Research and discuss all pain and sedative meds AHEAD OF TIME. That way nobody can take it upon themselves to "top him off" with something we didn't discuss. If they would have come to get me first so I could be with him and see if he was crying out of pain or crying because he wants to be held (there is a difference and I KNOW the difference) we may have avoided all the dramatics that took place.

2. Prepare everyone with what Christian might need. Like suction!

3. Don't go to TMC. I was totally unimpressed by this hospital. We usually go to UMC and/or the Children's Hospital. It's like night and day. And UMC has a much better food court on top of having suction available.

Christian seems to be getting slowly better and he prefers to be on his tummy. It seems to be the most comfortable position. He also wasn't holding any food down initially so I had him on an apple juice and water combo drip over night and through the day just so he would stay hydrated with some calories. Today I made him a mild blend of apple juice, almond milk, avacado, banana, greek yogurt, and blueberries to get him started back on blends again and he has done great! Everything stayed down.

Here's to hoping we get another stellar night of rest for my little dude.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and face book messages!