Aaron's Surgery

Aaron went in for his surgery yesterday (December 8). I cannot begin to describe how scared I was and yet how at peace I was knowing that he needed this surgery.

The hospital called the day before and asked us to come in at 6am. Eric was kind enough to get up at midnight to wake Aaron and give him a bottle because our instructions were no food after midnight.

We got up and headed to the hospital. Aaron was in a terrific mood! He charmed anyone who looked at him. He will single somebody out and smile at them until he can't see them anymore and then pick someone else. If he chooses you and you see him smiling at you, you can't help but smile back. He has a unique ability to make anybody's day better. His smile is so genuine.


We got checked in and after measurements were taken we changed Aaron into his hospital garb.

It was fun because a nurse came running in saying she heard there was a cute, happy baby and she just had to see him. Who else can make people so happy at 6am, besides Aaron?

We had to wait for a while once we were back there and poor Aaron slowly started to get hungry... but we couldn't feed him. Luckily, he loves technology. He played with my phone for a bit and then we took out Eric's xoom. He colored and watched Toy Story 3 while we waited.

The surgeon came in to visit with us and re-explain the procedure. He also explained what we would need to do when we got Aaron back.

Then, the nurse assigned to Aaron during surgery came in to meet with us and explain that everything was going to be all right.

Then the anesthesiologist came in and talked to us as well. I was so grateful to have them all come visit us. I felt more confident in their abilities having seen them right before the surgery.

Each time someone came in to talk to us, Aaron would give them his undivided attention. He would look at them while they spoke and give them smiles.

After we met everyone, it wasn't long before his nurse came back with a warm blanket to carry him away. I am so glad they didn't just lay him on the bed and wheel him away. An orderly came back for the bed after Aaron was gone.

After Eric reassured me that everything was going to be fine, we settled down to play Plants vs Zombies to pass the time. We knew the surgery was supposed to take at max 40 minutes or so. Soon, 40 minutes came and passed. The people across the hall (an older woman and a 3-4 year old child) who had been taken after Aaron were wheeled back into their rooms and we still hadn't heard anything.

Finally, a nurse came down to let us know he was in a recovery room and that she hadn't heard of any complications... Then a bit later the surgeon also came down to talk to us. He explained that everything had gone well and the reason it took so long was Aaron was a hard stick for an IV. (When we saw him, we found a hole in each hand and a hole in each foot. I am very glad that They used gas to put him out before attempting to insert his IV.)

 I heard Aaron before I saw him. I leaped out of my seat and moved for the door. A gentleman came in carrying Aaron. He was so distraught, but who wouldn't be? No one likes being cut open and coming out of anesthesia is misery! We had to watch to make sure his oxygen levels were high enough. We tried talking to him, bouncing him, etc. but nothing seemed to calm him. He calmed when we placed a bottle in his mouth but his oxygen levels dropped so we had to take it back out.That made it even worse. His monitors stopped working and needed to reboot so we placed the bottle back in his mouth but he didn't want it anymore. At this point, I wanted to sing to him but I couldn't because I too was crying. Finally, I settled back on the bed that was brought in, placed Aaron on my shoulder, and patted his back. Eric came up behind us and started singing 5 Little Ducks. It was a matter of seconds before Aaron calmed down and a matter of minutes before he was asleep. The nurse came back in and hooked him up to his monitors. Luckily, his oxygen levels were high enough and we didn't need to wake him.



After a 20 minute nap, Aaron was his old self. He seemed to have forgotten that he was uncomfortable, forgotten that he had been traumatized before, and started smiling at me. He was still a bit groggy, but soon he was just fine. We fed him a bottle leaving him where he had fallen asleep.

His heart rate jumped when he started eating so the nurse came in to make sure everything was ok. He was simply excited. Then, Eric poked his head over to say hi to Aaron. Aaron gave a huge smile and his heart rate jumped even higher bringing the nurse back in a second time. When we told her what happened, she simply smiled and put the machine on silent -- understanding that Aaron was a happy child, excited to see his dad, and that his heart rate was likely to jump again.

It wasn't long before Aaron wanted to stand up. He was pushing against me and he wanted to look around the room. He was literally, himself. The only thing the nurses wanted to watch was his oxygen levels, and since those were fine, we were able to go home. She asked us to call a doctor if he wasn't giving us wet diapers -- which he totally went to the bathroom while he was eating, so no worries there.

We changed his clothes and got ready to leave. He was looking at everything. It was amazing how much more he could see now that his left eye was no longer covered with his eye lid. He smiled at more people and charmed even more nurses. I felt so terrible because the 3-4 year old across the hall was still crying softly, worn out. As a parent, I know that would be one of the hardest things to witness. If Aaron had kept crying and hadn't been able to simply sleep off the after-effects of the anesthesia, I honestly don't know what I would have done.

Now, a day later, he's still doing great. Even this morning when he hadn't had Tylenol for 12 hours, he woke up happy and talking.  We captured a few videos of him and once they've uploaded, I'll share them with you. But for now, know that he is happy and healthy and he can see.

Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf.