Another successful surgery

Another successful surgery. Wouldn't expect anything less from this strong little guy who God blessed us with.

The morning started out with us getting all the kids up and out of the house (ready to go to school), by 7:15 am. We drove downtown to the Cleveland Clinic, Tony dropped me off, turned around, drove the kids to school then came back to the hospital (yes, it was rather hectic). The kids were a little late, but I called them in before hand. When Kenny and I got there, I signed us in. Now keep in mind, we are always at Metro, so coming over to the clinic was a huge change of scenery, so I was walking around like a lost soul with a little Kenny that was loving the fact that he could run up and down the hall. His favorite part was the pedestrian bridge, which was part of a lounge area. There, we saw Tony (hubby) trying to find a parking space. The Handicap section was all taken, so he couldn't park there...so he went to the parking garage. There...he ended up scratching up the top of the van because the entrance opening was too short for vans. I asked the receptionist where he could park, and then told her what happened, and she was telling me that it happens ALL THE TIME! He ended up parking down the street at the emergency lot and walked with Gina to our building.

Then the waiting began. Nine, ten, and finally...eleven o'clock! They called Kenny's name. We went back and they took all his vitals. He got his hospital bracelet, I got mine so I can go back in the room with him, and Gina even got one because she was such a loving and caring little sister (she held her wrist up when they were putting Kenny's on and was upset that she didn't get one...so they gave her one). From this point, everything went rather quickly. The doctor came in and talked to us, followed by the anesthesiologist and a few nurses. the child life specialist was in the room with bubbles to keep Kenny and Gina happy and content as well. Which was much needed because Kenny decided that he wanted to leave the room. He wasn't crying or anything, he just was bored sitting in a little room. The boy wanted to go, go, go! He was being very silly and flirting with all the nurses.

They gave him something to relax him...well, I gave it to him in his g-tube which is one of the great benefits of having a feeding tube! The nurse told me that it was not the greatest tasting stuff so she was going to hold him down, when I mentioned that I usually give meds through is tube...she was thrilled and said that it would work so much better than fighting him! So that's what we did!

Because of Kenny just getting over a bad cold from this past week, they wanted to make sure that his lungs were nice and clear. They gave him an Albuterol treatment just as a precautionary measure. He was already pretty relaxed during the treatment...drooling everywhere.After his treatment, he was happy as a kid in a candy store...We got one picture of the 4 of us before his surgery...one of the last pictures of Kenny with crossed eyes!Then came the time for one of us to go into the operating room with Kenny. I wasn't sure I wanted too, but Tony thought I'd be better at going in with him....like my outfit? I personally love the hair net on Kenny!

Going into the operating room to hold Kenny while he was getting knocked out was an experience that I had a feeling that I would not be comfortable with...and I wasn't. He was scared because everyone had face masks on covering mouths so he couldn't read lips or anything. I told the surgical team that he was scared because of this, so I was able to take mine off and hold him close and talk to him. He calmed right down. They put the mask over his mouth and he screamed and cried then...nothing. My heart sank and I HAD to get out of there and fast. It brought back a flood of memories of holding Nick and watching him take his last breath...It was not a very good thing for me to see happen. I was however grateful that I was able to calm my little guy down so he wouldn't be scared....boy this mommy job has been a tough job these last few years. tee hee.

The wait was a little over an hour and a half. During that time, Tony, Gina and I went to the cafeteria. Now, picture a 2 year old who woke up at 6:15 in the morning and it now being around noon...the first thought in my mind was CRABBY...and that is what we had at lunch...for all of the cafeteria to witness! Gina decided to scream at the top of her lungs as we were walking through to find a table...horrifying!!!! We got through lunch after that...but quickly found out that all the clothes that Kenny came to the hospital with, including his shoes and jacket were soaking wet from my coffee thermos that leaked. And did you know...they no longer use the hand dryers in certain places...namely this hospital! Thank God for an extra change of clothes I had in the car! So, after a series of high blood pressure episodes, we went back down the waiting room and waited for just a little bit. The doctor came out and said everything went perfect! His lungs were great, his eyes were straight and it all went very well! We went to the recovery room where Kenny was sound asleep, relaxed and not in any pain.

When he woke up, about an hour later, the nurses were surprised that he wasn't screaming and crying. He woke up in a very calm manner. He looked around, saw Gina was there calling for him and he smiled. He wasn't rubbing his eyes like the nurses said he might do because they say that all the kids are double visioned and feel like there is sandpaper in their eyes or that the eyes are itchy...nope...not Kenny. This little boy has been playing, smiling and acting as though he never even had eye surgery! The only way that you'd know he had surgery is that the whites of his eyes are beat red and swollen. Actually very painful looking but on the other hand...check out how straight his eyes are!This morning the whites of his eyes are even more red, but they told us that is what is supposed to happen. We just keep putting in the drops in and giving him Tylenol. He has a follow-up appt. today and is also being seen by the visiting nurse this morning. The doctor told us that now we are working with a clean slate with his eyes. From this point on, we can now work with his vision which was lost in the one eye. His brain has to reprogram to start seeing out of the eye that the brain shut down because it was crossed. They can work on the scar tissue, vision therapy and maybe even glasses. I am just so happy that this is another surgery that we no longer have to worry about. It's over and done with and he came out of this one smiling with no set backs!