Surgery Update

Today is the 3rd day for Ben. I believe that the 3rd day is always the hardest. I don't know why, but I proved my theory today once again. Ben has been happy, then sad, then hungry, then grumpy, then tears, then medicine, then hyper, then tired. So many different things in such a short period.

His surgery went very well. We got in at 10:45 but had to wait until after 12 to have his surgery. I will tell you, that is a REALLY long time for a 4 year old to wait, fasting. He was so hungry and thirsty, and cried every time he asked," Please can I have a drink now?" It was so hard to tell him no. The surgery took about 2 hours and he did very well. It took him a while to come to, and even after he finally was conscience, he still wasn't there. They brought him to us in our room. When I saw him I gasped a little and quickly wanted to hold him. He was bawling and shaking and just scared. And he had the FATTEST lip I've ever seen!! He cried for about 10 mins, settled down, and cried again. Dane traded me so that I could take a quick potty break. Dane reclined the chair and finally got Ben to fall asleep on him shoulder. They both slept for about 30 mins. When the nurse came in to check on him. She was just as startled at his lip as I was and left in a hurry. She came back a few minutes later with the Dr. He examined his lip and began to appologize. He said sometimes when they have all the stuff in their mouth that the lip gets pinched and they didn't know. His lip stuck out so far, really puffy, and hung almost down to his chin. (I tried several times to get a picture of it while they were sleeping. But he was cuddled into Daddy so much that I was never successful.)

When he finally came around he was more worried and bothered by the IV than anything. He suddenly sat up and began to tell Dane about the spider that we need to squish when we get home, that was by the basket. We were very confused. He kept repeating himself. It was then that I remembered that Ben was putting his shoes away after the Drs office on Monday. He had spotted a small spider and web behind the shoe basket. He told me that he wanted his Dad to squish it and would wait to tell him until he got home. Well Ben forgot, until he was coming to and remembered that spider back there.

As soon as he was able to walk to the Nurse's Station, and get a sticker, we could take the IV out and go home. They really wanted him to use the bathroom as well while we were there, but Ben was intimidated by the large toilet, that he asked if he could go home and use the bathroom. They agreed and asked that if he didn't use the bathroom before he went to bed tonight to bring him back in. We were released just after 5 and got home around 5:30.

We got home and immediately he was starving!!! He wanted to eat and drink so much!! I didn't dare tell him no! He ate way too much food. He started to sweat profusely. His hair was soaked. His shirt in front, back, and arm pits were soaked. I asked him if he was ok, and as he was trying to stand his body began to shake uncontrollably. His teeth chattered and he was crying so hard because he was scared. I asked him if he was going to throw up and he said yes. I grabbed the garbage and he threw up. I tried to call Dane and have him come home, because he had left to work again. But was unsuccessful. So I quickly chatted online with him and ran back to Ben just in time for him to throw up again. Followed by hard dry heaves. He finally melted in my arms. Dane arrived shortly after. Poor Ben was whooped. We took him to bed and he slept all night long. I was supposed to wake him and give him medicine. But I decided to just let him sleep.

The next day I let him sleep in. I'm sure it helped his little body. Yesterday was a pretty good day. He felt well, but laid low, because I made him. He really kept wanting to go outside and play. But today he has paced himself much better. He's eating better and more and keeping everything down. I really think it was the anesthesia that made him so sick. Once he threw up he felt much better. Today has had it's ups and downs. We'll be staying home for the next few days and letting him rest. The worst part now is brushing is sore teeth and tongue.