Isaac's Surgery

Isaac finally had his baby hernia (hydrocele) surgery yesterday. It was quite a journey, but we finally have the surgery under our belt. A back story on our day is he was scheduled to have the surgery last Thursday morning. He decided to come down with a 104.2 fever at 7 pm the night before the surgery. Needless to say the surgery got postponed. My mom had traveled to Wichita earlier that evening. She drove through multiple hail storms including baseball size hail. She even had a huge dent on the roof of her car to prove it. My mom was going to watch the other kids so Carson and I could be with Isaac at the hospital. Isaac had another idea, I guess. My father-in-law accused Ike of sitting in front of the furnace. He may have been on to something. Isaac was feeling fine by lunch the next day. What a stinker!

Baseball size hail.

We were able to get the surgery rescheduled for the following Friday. We checked in at the hospital at 8 am. Isaac declared, "I not gonna cry" as we were walking into the hospital. The surgery was scheduled for 10 am. They started it at 10:05 am and were done by 10:35 am. Pretty easy. Isaac was a trooper and such a good little boy.

Isaac's stickers are on.

Isaac didn't seem scared at all. We got to our pre/post-op room the nurses showed Isaac where his bed was. They showed him his tiger gown that he was to wear during surgery, his oxygen mask and gave him three Thomas the Tank stickers. (Stickers make everything tolerable.) We answered questions, Isaac got his vitals checked numerous times and he even got to play in a little play room. About 20 minutes before surgery the nurse gave him a liquid "cocktail" that made him a little goofy and very relaxed. It was funny watching it take effect. We quickly got Isaac in his tiger gown right after he took the "cocktail." Shortly later I found myself carrying Isaac down a long hall with Carson by my side and a nurse telling me "okay, this is it. I'll take him now." Off they went. I knew the medication had fully kicked in. I watched my "oh so sweet baby boy" being carried away from me in someone else's arms. Just as he declared earlier that morning, he didn't cry.

Checking out his oxygen mask.

Playing in the toy room.

Isaac's "cocktail" is kicking in.

The surgical team waited to put his IV in until right before surgery. Smart people. He was very out of it and I'm sure didn't fight it at all. Carson and I went to the waiting room. 45 minutes later the surgeon walks in to tell us Isaac did fine and the surgery was over. What a relief!

Ten minutes later I was told to go back to the recovery room with Isaac. He had been calling for me. They told Carson only one adult was allowed. This made me sad. I would have loved for both of us to comfort Isaac. I found Isaac sitting in a very caring nurse's lap calling for "mommy" in the sweetest voice I've ever heard. I held him tight. The nurses told me they had to wrap up his right hand because he was trying to rip out his IV in his left hand.

Eventually, we met Carson back in the post-op room. We were told once Isaac drank 8 ounces he could go home. He had a hard time waking up. Once he was awake and the nurse informed him she had apple juice for him (a big treat in this house) he chugged it! Isaac drank his 8 ounces in no time. He kept it down and off we went.

Trying to wake up.

Mmm! Apple juice!

Stella went to preschool on Friday. We were home from the hospital in time for me to pick her up. When she got home she ran inside said hi to daddy then ran over to Isaac to give him a big hug. They missed each other. Isaac couldn't wait for Stella to see his Thomas stickers. Stella painted Isaac a picture while at preschool.

Carson and Owen stayed with Kayla (our former nanny.) They were so happy to see her. After dropping Stella off at school they were even able to direct Kayla to Super Target and conned her into buying them Star Wars walkie talkies. (Carson and Owen are weasels.) The boys were very happy to see Isaac when they got home from preschool that afternoon. They were very interested in seeing his incision.

Isaac's incision appears to be about two inches long. It's still covered so we don't know for sure how big it really is. He got along good yesterday, but was sore when he woke this morning. Isaac seems fine once he's got Tylenol in his system. We are expecting him to be back to 100% by tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. It has been comforting having the support of family and friends.

Showing off his band-aid and i.d. band.

The incision.

All the kids reunited and all have "get well" balloons from Boom and Gee.