The big surgery day!

Friday, March 5, 2010 - Tanner's hypospadias surgery (Here's a link for info about the surgery if you didn't see the blog prior to his surgery: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003000.htm)

Tanner woke up later than usual (he woke up screaming in the middle of the night and needed to lay with us for a while - I wonder if he sensed something was coming?) and ate a breakfast of jello and apple juice. He couldn't eat normal food but it didn't seem to bother the little guy! He even had time to play at home before we left.

We drove a mile up the street through the snow to Primary Children's Hospital. I had taken Tan there the day before to walk around so that he would be comfortable on the day of his surgery. He remembered these giant moving fish and loved watching them. The hospital was so welcoming for kids!

I love how he is looking at me through the glass in this picture!

We checked in at same-day surgery and waited while Tan played with all the toys. This was the last time he could play on a straddle toy for a while!

Getting his ID anklet on - he's a little concerned about what the girl is doing to him!

He walked into the hall and found a "parking lot" for these toy cars so of course he pushed one up and down the hall.

He started to get tired and hungry while we waited and started yelling at the simplest things.

Weight: 23.1 pounds

Height: 29 1.2 inches

Head circumference (I don't remember!)

Getting his blood pressure taken on his ankle

All dressed in his cute little hospital outfit! Doesn't he just look darling?! Checking his vitals

Proud of the munchkie! He didn't cry or fuss at all during his physical exam!

Never seen one of these toys!

The nurse gave him Versed through a nasal spray. This drug is the "date rape" drug (the same one I had when I delivered Tan). It made him relax and forget what was going on so leaving us to go back to surgery wasn't hard. This was the only time he cried because he didn't like the nasal spray!

Within 2 minutes MAX, he lost his scowly face and got a goofy look on his face. The videos below kind of capture it, but it was hilarious to watch! He was giggling at everything and was just so loopy. I'm so glad he got that medicine because it made the transition to surgery SO much easier!!! He would have freaked out when he left us if he hadn't gotten it!

After putting him in the wagon (that's how all the child patients at the hospital are wheeled around - so cute!) and walking down the hall with him for a minute, the anesthesiologist took him through the surgery doors and we were left to wait.

I cried a little right after she took him through the doors but knew that he was in good hands. I really liked the doctor and anesthesiologist! We waited and chatted in the waiting room and ate lunch in the cafeteria. After 2 hours, Dr. Wallis came to talk to us. The surgery went great! He also spent some time talking to Eli about medical school and tried to give some advice about how to choose a school - such a nice guy!

I headed back to the post-op room where Tan was just barely waking up. A nurse was holding him and all he was wearing was a diaper. He definitely looked pale and he had an IV in his foot, but other than that, he looked good! He heard me and groggily reached for me and was asleep within 2 seconds of me holding him. We had a nice little cuddle for a while which is more than I can say for the mom and her screaming child next door (poor mom - I bet she was stressed out about how to calm her son down after surgery).

We moved to the recovery room where Eli joined us. Tan was more awake now and wanting to walk around. It frustrated him that he couldn't move because of his foot IV and because he had to have an oxygen mask in his face. His oxygen levels didn't go up for a while so we had to secretly sneak the mask next to his face while he was looking at books.

When we were finally allowed to go, Tanner tried to walk around and was super tipsy. He was so confused about why he couldn't walk! So the nurse pushed him around on her chair. He kept staring into space like he was stoned and we just kept laughing!

All ready to go home! It's like drive thru surgery!

The surgery hasn't slowed Tan down that much. He still plays and walks around, and keeps his same sleeping and eating schedule. He even sleeps all night! Sometimes we forget that he just had surgery! But we need him to help him recover so we have been reading lots of books and watching lots of movies to make sure that he rests his body.

The worst parts of his recovery have been diaper changes (painful for Tan), random bladder spasms (ouch!), and giving him 3 different medicines multiple times a day. But he is healing and is just as happy as can be besides those 3 things. Overall, the whole surgery experience went really well and Tanner reacted superbly to everything!

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! We are so grateful that everything went smoothly!

Here's a video of Tan in the recovery room:

Here's a video of him looking "stoned" in the chair