Surgery II

A few weeks ago Zac had surgery to remove the extra finger and toe on his left hand and foot. He had a previous SURGERY for the same thing on his right side when he was 18 months old so we kind knew what to expect this time around. Below are some pictures of the bone structure on his left hand and foot.

I was a little worried about Zac's recovery this time around since he would be a older and therefore more "independently minded." Not to mention that the process would be much more invasive than last time. He was going to have to stay in the hospital overnight for monitoring and/or pain control if needed. Also, he'd have to keep casts on his hand and foot for 6 weeks instead of 1 in order to protect the incision while it healed. Yeah, not fun.

Here are some more pictures pre-surgery. Our camera is MIA so they are taken by my cheap but trusty Nokia.

It's early.

Watching "PB" (Translation: TV)

Happy Boy (With no clue what's coming.)

Thank goodness for Bear!

I really couldn't get enough of his bum hanging out of his gown.

Or this surgery cap. (Here he is showing the surgeon his hand.)

Since he had this procedure done at Children's Hospital [holla!] one of the parents gets to get dressed up to walk back to the operating room. And no, we don't get to stay. But I did get to hold Zac when they put him under so I was the last person he sees. Then when he is in triage after the surgery, I was the first person he saw when he woke up. {Except Zac woke up while getting wheeled to his room.}

The only time Zac seemed nervous at all was after I walked him into the O.R. I tried to show him all the cool monitors and the TV with our faces on it but he was not amused. Instead I lifted that big boy up and sat him on the operating table. As I hugged him, the anesthesiologist put the mask up to his face. Zac whined a little but I rubbed his back and told him he was okay. Alright, I also told him to take a deep breath a few times.

Let me tell you, it is kind of an eerie thing to hold your child as he pretty much goes lifeless. It took maybe a minute for him to relax and then his body went limp. And so soon after my post about death. We laid him down on the table and that was my cue to leave. I can remember several times in my life where I know in my head that I have something to be nervous or anxious about but those emotions never come to fruition. This was one of those times. I only felt at peace and maybe a little fortitude; manifestations to me that a prayer had been answered, that the Big Man upstairs was watching and was aware of my situation.

Zac laid around in his hospital bed the rest of the day but tried getting up to go pee a few times {despite having a pull-up on, yay!} He didn't complain of an pain at all until about 8:30pm that night. He had a little attitude with the nurses because he basically wouldn't acknowledge them whenever they walked in the room. He got yummy food {Mc Donalds as promised pre-surgery}. He was a little grumpy the next day when we brought him home. But after that he was fine as long as he had his meds. Man, I so wish I could give him that stuff all the time. That kid would be high on life.

So grateful to everyone at Children's Hopsital and for all the love, good thoughts and prayers sent our way. A big thank you to my in-laws who do so much for us. And a special thanks to my momma who came down for the weekend to be with us. She's a true angel.