So the day my parents have been fighting to avoid finally came September 8, 2008. It was a Monday morning. We left home just after 0800 hours and drove to Kaiser Oakland Main Hospital. Dr. Kim and his surgery team met us in our little waiting room where Mama, Dada, and I waited for the frightening reality of today to sink in. It would, eventually, as my Mama dressed me in my little blue gown and yellow sticky-feet socks.
The hour finally came, 1230 hours, and I was wheeled off to the OR in a wagon full of pillows and carrying two of my rubber ducks. For my Mama, it must have been the longest hour of her life. I know I couldn't wait to be back in her arms.
The OR was all flashing lights and beeps and dull stainless steel and blue. And then suddenly I was drifting deep in a beautiful dream. I couldn't tell you much more about anything that happened after that, not until I woke up to a large white man in a light blue shirt covered in Winnie the Poo images. No, not my father you silly people, my Recovery Room RN. Nice fella, in his own way. Dry sense of humor, though.
It took a bit for me to wake after the surgery, but I did eventually, although I had some trouble getting oxygen into my blood just after waking and then again later that night. Mama called Dada (who'd had to go home to sleep) at about 0400 hours when they had to start me on some oxygen. I have the best parents in the world in case you were wondering.
Pain killer at first was 1mg of morphine. That kept me pretty doped up all day long. I didn't eat, didn't sleep, and pretty much just laid around all day in a tiny room with two other kids and their families. At least I had the middle space which turned out to be the biggest space of the three. The kid in the space to my right was Robert and his appendix had burst. He'd been in the hospital since Friday. The other Kid, the one in the window space, didn't get to know his name but apparently he was there after having a seizure. He'd been there since Saturday. There were a lot of kids in my hospital, but, like I said, I didn't do a whole lot that first day.
Day two went a lot better. They got me off the morphine and started me on Tylenol with codeine. It made a huge difference. I was alert, babbling again, and taking an interest in all the things around me. Dada ran errands, got Mama food, changed my videos, and did all the things Dadas are good for when Mamas need them. I started eating again through the new tube in my belly (my throat was still pretty sore from the breathing tube put in during the surgery). Did I mention the surgery was laproscopic? It was. They made a small incision in my belly where they placed the Mic-Key button and pushed the camera through my belly button so they could see what they were doing. Anyway, Day Two gave my Mama and Dada hope, hope that I was still gonna be the same little boy I'd been before going into the OR, only now with an easier way to get me nourished and healthy.
We met lots of nice people at the hospital and Kaiser hooked us up (the $200.00 a month Mama and Dada were spending on my food will now be bought and shipped to us by Kaiser. YA, baby, YA!). We checked out Wednesday afternoon and headed home. I took a five hour nap when I got home and still slept through the night.
Now that you've got the scoop, here's a few pictures documenting the day.
I swiped this Little Einsteins book from the Ambulatory Surgery Unit and kept it with me the whole time I was in the Hospital. When my nurse found it as we were walking out the door, she asked, "Where did this come from?" Ooops. He he.
My ride to the OR, pulled along by my anast, anestizi, the dude who gave me my drugs, and my OR Nurse. As you can see, my Mama wasn't far behind. In fact, the only time my Mama wasn't by my side was during the surgery.
Our room eventually had a view, when the family by the window moved to a different room. The view, you ask? Well, in the near distance we could see downtown Oakland. In the far distance is my favorite big city, San Francisco.
And finally, me at home, shirt off and feeling a little better about the whole experience (but very aware of the new addition to my little body). The "button" is kind of like one of those valves you use to blow up a floaty toy for the pool, only this one can spin around. It's kind of stomach churning at first, but we're all getting used to it and it has made feeding time a whole lot less stressful for everyone.
There's more coming. We've had some pretty crazy experiences already with the tube and getting food through it, but I'll save it for another day. Ta ta for now, my Peeps.
Hunter. 2 years 9 months.
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