Preparing for the surgery was the hardest. The wait, the wonder. As the time came closer, I began to freak out. I don't mean just get scared, I mean.. FREAK out. It is probably one of the hardest things I will have to go through with him. I just wanted to run away with him, and not come back.
The night before his surgery, January 9th, 2005 was the hardest. I didn't want to lay him down because he had no clue what was about to happen. We were scheduled to be at the hospital by 5:30 am. His life was about to take a change and there was no way to explain to him, an 18 month old, what was happening.
We arrived at the hospital at about 5:25, a cold morning here in MN. I got him registered while his Dad held him, walking in the hospital halls. We headed on up to the pediatric floor, where we were put into the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). The time from there passed so fast. His surgery was scheduled for 8:00 am, and by 7 am we were already in the pre-op holding room with him. I was a mess by then... crying, trying not to let Jax see me. His dad was there with me, being the stronger of us. The team that was going to work on Jax came to talk to us, letting us know how it would go. They didn't put an IV in at all prior to them taking him, thankfully. At 7:45 am they came and took him, he was oblivious as to what was going on. I put him in the crib after several kisses and tears, and they wheeled him away. He didn't even cry, obviously not knowing we weren't coming with.
From there we headed to the waiting room. We called everyone to let them know you were taken, and then we waited. Two of my sisters came to the hospital to wait with us. They made it much easier, as they would talk... I was stressed out, and Jason, Jaxson's dad, took a nap. Or tried to. At 10:15 am I was called to the desk. It was a nurse in the OR and she told me that they had only just begun!! I was devasted. I was sure this was going to be a call telling me it was almost over. I'd have to wait longer.
Finally, at 1:15 pm, Jaxson's surgeon came out. He told us that the surgery went well, that Jax was now in recovery. I breathed a sigh of relief and listened. He did need a unit of blood, which is normal for this kind of surgery. I had donated my own blood for this purpose. He felt that Jax did great and should recovery well. We could see him as soon as he was in his room in the PICU.
At 2:03 pm we were allowed in. I was prepared for an awful site. Jason and I went into the room and seen our sweet little guy with a turbon on his head, one iv in his arm, the other in his groin area. He also had a catheter in. He was screaming. He also started to throw up. I felt so bad for him, not knowing what he was going through. Both of my sisters came in to see him for a few minutes, too.
This was going to be the hard part, watching him suffer. He looked himself, but obviously in pain. I couldn't see his head, which was fine by me. Later in the day, after he threw up again, they were moving him and his turbon slipped off. I was not at all prepared to see this yet. The cut was from ear to ear - it looked horrible to me at that time. I ended up getting sick, had to leave for a few minutes. It was heartbreaking to see this, to feel so responsible for it.
Over the next couple days he started to swell - his left eye almost swelled shut, his head around his ears puffed out so much that there was no room between his ears and his head. After the 3rd full day, the swelling started to go down. He was still throwing up, so they didnt let us out until Friday, January 14th. I was so excited to get out of there, despite the 20 below zero temps. I had stayed at the hospital the entire time with him, so it was great to get out.
We are only a little over a week post op, but I truly do see a HUGE difference in his shape. I will continue to add pictures as I have them available. Check out Jax's surgery picture page to see him.
HOME
SURGERY PICTURES
PLAGIO INFORMATION
BRACHIAL PLEXUS INFORMATION
JAX'S PICTURE PAGE
