Seths recovery

The morning of Seths surgery was very quiet. He wasn't talking much. We got to the hospital and checked him in and waited in the waiting room for them to call him back to the pre-op area.

Finally loosening up after mommy and daddy made funny faces with him in the waiting room. Sorry for this pic mike, but I think its cute!Showing off his super sweet new outfit!waiting for the juice to kick in and help him relax. They gave him his own mask and let him rub different flavored chap stick inside so that while the gas was going through it, it would smell good. He thought that was really cool.Dr. Fairfax. She was the Dr who we had when he was an infant, and the Dr. that performed the surgery. She is wonderful! And here is the war wound! These fun clowns came in while Seths friend Matt was visiting. They told jokes, gave them treats, and gave them a "bubble bath". Seth spent most of his time in the hospital playing the PS2. While prepping for our visit, that was the only part that kept him ok with the whole thing-knowing the PS2 was waiting for him!Anyone ever seen Madagascar 2? This picture below is Seth trying to imitate Gloria when she was sippin' her drink by the wattering hole when she meets Moto Moto! We love that movie!!!Seth was so hungry but could only have liquids. They threatened to take that away as well because he couldn't keep anything down. Every time they gave him a new dose of morphine or demarol(???) 5 minutes later he would lose it. They gave him anti nausea meds, but that didn't really help. He finally kept things down by the next morning. And on the last day there he was able to eat regular foods. He was so hungry on the liquid diet that he was ready to eat the cup! He lived for 2 days on popcicles, milkshakes, icecream, water and juice. Talk about a kids dream diet!Getting ready for a walk around the floor. I thought the words at the top of the picture below were very appropriate.

We LOVE our nurses. We had Amber (Above) our first day, and Hollie (Below) the other 2 days- we requested that we have her the whole time we were there. We were spoiled. They were wonderful, patient, and so kind.

The trip out to the car. They were so fun for kids at this hospital. But as much fun as it was, I think Seth was excited to get home!

This was such a strange experience to go through. One that you just never really think you will have to go through or wish to go through with your child. When they took him back to the OR he was a little loopy but still very much alert. He got teary eyed and so did I. It was so hard to send my baby back with complete strangers who I was trusting with my childs life.

We took a pager from the waiting room and went outside to enjoy as much as we could of that beautiful weather. The surgery took an hour longer than expected (4 hours total) but the OR was very good about calling out to check in with us so we didn't freak out. The Dr came out after it was finished and gave us a picture of the surgery. She said it went very well. Just as she had planned.

We were able to go to the recovery room to see him as soon as he woke up. About 30 minutes after the surgery was over. It was so strange to walk into a room where my child was completely out of it. His face was pale, he looked swollen, his lips almost looked grey. He was in and out of consciousness for quite a while. At one point I leaned down and wispered in his ear that it was over, and his eyes shot open and said "they already cut me open?" I told him yes and he closed his eyes. A few minutes later he said "mom? I'm really glad I can put this behind me" It was really sweet.

That first afternoon and evening were very interesting. He was very moody and his perception of things was way off. He was yelling at Mike and I for all sorts of things. We just kept looking at each other with wide eyes.

For the first4-5 days he was peeing pretty much straight blood but now its all better. He suffered from bladder spasms which was the most pain I think I have ever seen anyone in. It was after we got home. Saturday night he went to the bathroom and started screaming for me. I went in and his whole body was trembling. He was pale and clammy and said he felt like he was going to throw up because it hurt so bad. It took about 15 minutes for his body to settle down, and it happened a couple more times before we called the Dr. THey called in another prescription. The meds kicked in and he was fine, and today he isn't on them any more. He has been off of all pain meds now since about Sunday and he is doing great! I was looking forward to a couple weeks of down time but I didn't even get one. He is out running around with his brother, and doing everything he was doing the day before his surgery. I am AMAZED at how quickly his body is healing. What a trooper. We are just so glad it went well and that he is home with us now.