Surgery

Mr. J and Mr. M have to have surgery.  As Mr. J says........ if you snore like a huge pig you have to get your tonsils out.  Both Mr. J and Mr. M have honkin' snore like a pig and make it hard to breath at night tonsils.

The day before surgery both Native's went to school and told their classmates they were going to be able to have all the ice cream they wanted!  Mr. J is in first grade.  His teacher calls her little class her little ducklings. She sent this little duckling home with a cute stuffed duckling to help comfort him during his surgery.  We like Mr. J's teacher.  A lot!!  

Do these two look like they have any idea what is in for them???

It's time!  Mr. M is checking himself in.   

Into the elevator we go and up to the fourth floor.  Notice Mr. J's back pack?  He has his little stuffed duckling that he named, "Quack" inside.

In jammies, rain coats, and arm banded.

It's 12:00 noon.  Filling out paperwork......... and more paperwork.......... and more paperwork........

Waiting........ hungry........... haven't eaten anything since 11:00 the night before which was actually hilarious.  We'd told both boys they could eat to their hearts content because after 11:00 PM they couldn't eat or drink another thing!  They both got excited and stuffed themselves silly until about 10:30 PM when Mr. M said he was so full his tummy hurt and maybe it wasn't a good idea to eat until he was stuffed.

Our sweet little duckling....

Time to weigh in and see how tall we are.  Mr. M is three inches from being five feet!

Toys to help distract for what is to come.

Both boys picked the good old rubik's cube.

Checking vitals.

More paper work........... and more paper work........... and more paper work...............

I'm bummed these next two photos turned out blurry because this whole get up Mr. M had to wear was too funny.  We called him Barney the purple dinosaur.

And the lovely paper boxer shorts he got to wear underneath.  Perfect!  At least he has something to wear underneath!!  Normally it's a cute little bootie sticking out.

Both in hospital jammies now.  Mr. M getting his vitals checked.  This nurse was so sweet.  So good to our boys.

Both tucked in bed waiting for anesthesia!  These two were so cute.  Several nurses stopped and told us how adorable our boys were.

Okay.  The purple dinosaur suit.  Have you ever seen anything like this??  The thing has vents in it that you hook this thing up that looks like a central vacuum system.  Instead of vacuuming it blows warm air or cold air depending on what you like/want in the gown.  Mr. M wanted the hottest air possible so he could be toasty warm in his big purple suit.

Out comes, "Quack" to keep the boys company now that they are all situated in their bed.  Mr. J is running the tv controls.

Time for surgery.  It's Mr. J's turn!

Here we go!

Can I just say as a parent this is really hard to watch?  Watching someone wheel your child away through doors for surgery!!  By the time the day was done I was in need of some major chocolate!

Sniffle.........

Mr. M in his fancy hat.  It's his turn now.

And off he goes.......

Emotional meltdown at about this point.......

Not enough chocolate in the world.............

And then the hardest part.  The waiting.  I brought knitting....... a book to read.........  I couldn't.  I couldn't focus.  I just sat and waited.  In the recovery room I could hear a child screaming and crying.  It broke my heart.  It made the wait that much more harder.  I worried that when Mr. J or Mr. M would come to, they would be upset and cry and I wouldn't be there to hold and comfort them.  We weren't allowed in the recovery room.  Believe me.  We tried.  The nurse told us no.  We told her yes.  She went and asked the manager.  The manager said no.  The nurse who was pictured earlier who had been with the boys before they went into surgery said she'd go and sit with the boys so that when they woke up they'd see her, a familiar face.  I felt better.  That was nice of her.  Especially since her shift was ended or had ended.

Little one back from surgery.  Drugged and sleeping still.

All went well.  "Quack" is doing a good job taking care of Mr. J.  So is the little green fish the nurse gave Mr. J.

Mr. M gives a thumbs up.  He's doing pretty good.  Until he tries to stand to use the restroom and all of the blood drains from his face and he turns as white as the sheet covering him.  No food or drink in over fifteen hours now.......  He's feeling it!

Two very pale duckies given the okay to go home.

I tell The SM we need to stop on the way home and get these boys some protein drinks ASAP so they could get some color back in their faces and some strength and energy!

Down the elevator we go while The SM goes and gets the truck!

 Home.  Around the clock every three hours meds.  A kitchen table and fridge and freezer full of anything and everything you can think of cold and liquidy that these boys could ever want to slurp.  And The Mum feeling like her eyelids are sandbags and wondering how in the world she used to get up every three hours for feedings when these two were babies!