Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Surgical Story in Pictures

Greetings Dear Readers,

I am pleased to report that Landon is home and doing well. I am drinking an enormous diet coke which I am counting on fueling me through the next hundred hours of catch-up reading and exam studying. But before I open my con law book for the first time in weeks, I thought I'd share our surgical adventure today.

It all began when Landon had to stop eating at midnight, stop drinking formula at 6 AM, and stop drinking clear liquids at 10 AM. As you can see from the following picture, he is PISSED about this.



By the time we were in pre-op at 12:15, he was in the midst of a total meltdown. After his pleas for food were cruelly rebuffed by JP and I, he regarded us with hurt betrayal and turned to others for help. He would quiet down whenever someone new walked in the room, look up hopefully with wide eyes, and when a bottle was not immediately produced, begin to wail again. It was so sad. He was certain his big belly was wasting away and couldn't understand why everyone was ignoring his cries of hunger. Until...



He was momentarily distracted by a mirror and surgical hat produced by our angel of a surgical nurse. Sadly, this did not last long. Immediately after this picture was taken he tried to eat the surgical hat, but quickly rejected it as unpalatable and began to wail again.

While all the wailing was going on, almost certainly scaring all the other kids waiting to go in for their surgeries, doctors came in and out of the room to yell details about the upcoming procedure. The chief attending anesthesiologist was on Landon's case and he quickly decided that there was only one thing that was going to make Landon happy and that was, "General Anesthesia". He scooped Landon up, cuddled him against his chest, and carried him off to the OR. Landon looked hopeful again as they walked out of the room together. A nurse followed behind with his bed.

JP and I went down to the cafeteria, ate the worst piece of pizza I've ever had, and quickly returned to the OR waiting room. After about an hour and fifteen minutes, the surgeon came in to talk to us, saying that everything went well. He showed us a picture of the cyst, which was removed in entirety and bigger than anyone had expected. It was shaped like an open clam shell which big and small halves. The smaller half was actually lodged into the muscle above his eye, so the surgeon rebuilt the muscle and said it should heal up just fine. Landon's left eye may open and close a little slower than the right for a couple weeks while the muscles build up to fill in the area previously taken up by the cyst, but he wasn't even sure we'd notice the difference. The anesthesiologist was a little concerned about Landon's coughing, but thought we could just run a vaporizer tonight by his bed. We will follow up with the surgeon on Monday.

After another thirty minutes we were able to join our trooper back in recovery. He tried to look pathetic:



but gave his daddy smiles whenever the nurse wasn't looking. He didn't cry and was very happy to have a bottle back in his life, even if it was just filled with pedialyte.



As the anesthesiologist foretold, Landon fell asleep in the middle of kicking off his blanket and telling us all about his adventures. He woke back up 5 minutes later and looked confused. He enjoyed petting the cast covering his IV because it made a funny noise and was absolutely determined to pull off the pulse-ox wrapped around his toe. He succeeded after about ten minutes causing multiple alarms to go off. He looked very pleased with all the attention.

We headed home a little after 4 PM. Right now he's sleeping in his swing, sporting his very macho band-aid, and moving his lips like he's drinking a bottle. I almost hate to type it this early, but it looks like this was one medical procedure he didn't make more complicated than necessary. My first final is on Monday and JP has several big work assignments due, so we'll be nursing in shifts while the other works. I'd like to write "hopefully Landon will cooperate", but I think he's holding a grudge about the bottle fast we put him on this morning.



He sure looks peaceful right now though, doesn't he?

19 comments:

  1. Wow.

    Sending you big hugs.

    The pictures are adorable despite the awful circumstances.

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  2. I'm so glad everything went well for you all. I have no idea how you handled not be able to give him everything he wanted! I am so proud of you both for being strong!

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  3. I love the story in pictures - they really are worth a thousand words! Although your words in addition to the pics definitely made me laugh out loud. Glad to hear he is doing well and cross our fingers that he doesn't have to go back to the hospital any time soon!

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  4. What a brave little guy. I'm glad that is finally over with and that it went well. Hopefully the rest of the next couple of weeks will go as well.

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  5. Seems terrible to schedule surgery for a little one so late in the day (to go so long without something in belly)...poor little man. He is one adorable baby, not to mention brave, strong, trusting...take care all of you.

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  6. Poor little guy... wasting away to nothing!

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  7. Aw - poor little one! Can't imagine being foodless that long... I hope this is his last visit to the hospital for a very long time!

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  8. ...you guys have been SO strong through all of this...and juggling SO many balls - work, studies etc...puts me to shame when i want to whine about my workload...all the best to the three of you and may it be as smooth sailing for all of you as possible moving forward...

    -ash

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  9. He certainly IS a trooper! He's much braver than me, under similar circumstances I would have fainted or something.

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  10. I'm so glad everything went okay. Feel better, Landon!

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  11. He really is so handsome. I can't believe he went through all of that and came through it so well. What a trooper! I bet it was much more difficult for you guys than you describe, but thank goodness the process was relatively quick and he's home now instead of stuck in the hospital. Hope he recovers very quickly!

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  12. poooor landon!im glad it went well without complications and he is recovering nicely!!!

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  13. ps i hope you and JP are feeling less stressed after the surgery too!..only a week left until SPRING BREAK and AUSTINNN!!!!

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  14. Glad he made it through ok! I wonder how long that do that bottle face when sleeping . . . until they're weaned?

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  15. I wasn't sure if you meant to do this or not, but your last photo links to your personal photo album. Just thought I'd tell you, if you didn't meant to do that.

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  16. What a brave boy! So proud of him, and you guys, too! And so incredibly glad to hear it was removed with no issues and only a band-aid to show for it! :)

    I'm kind of surprised that they waited so long for his surgery. My girlfriend's son has had to have several surgeries and when he was really little like Landon, his surgeries were scheduled at like 7 and 8am so that he wasn't so sad and hungry. Once he was older (like 5 years old), he got scheduled later in the day since he could handle being hungry a little longer. Oh well, I suppose each hospital do it different. Just really glad to hear it went so smoothly.

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  17. He is really adorable, and I'm glad he's okay. His toes in the first pic are way too cute.

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  18. Most heart breaking are the little toes sticking out of the gown. poor guy.

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  19. Gawd... even after surgery he's so freakin' cute!!!!!

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