Luke had no idea what was in store for him early Thursday morning. We had tried to explain what was going to happen at the hospital. A member of the hospital staff explained what was going to happen. But when the anesthesia wore off he was an angry kid!
We had to be at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center at 7:15 am on Thursday morning. They do surgery in chronological order starting with the youngest kids. There were 2 kids scheduled a head of Luke. We signed in and they had us wait in a waiting area for a little while as they processed the paper work. They then brought us back into the pre-op area. They had to run a blood test on Luke. The nurse pricked his finger to get a blood sample. Luke did amazingly well he hardly cried. A little while later the nurse put a cuff around Luke's arm to take his blood pressure . Luke did not like this one bit. He threw a bigger fit over this than having his blood drawn!
We then went into a curtained off area where they had some trucks and coloring books for Luke. These toys are for the children to keep. We watched Luke's favorite television show, Super Why, as we waited for his turn. A member of the hospital staff came by with a doll dressed up in the same hospital clothes that all of the children had to wear. She used the doll to explain what was going to happen. She had a sample of the mask that they were going to put on Luke and let him try it on. She had a mask and hat that the doctor was going to wear that she let Luke keep.
After being at the hospital for a couple of hours it was finally Luke's turn. They took us into a small office were they let us ask any questions that we had. They explained what would happen and how long we should expect the surgery to last. After our questions had all been answered a nurse took Luke from us. I was surprised how easily he went with the nurse. He gave Dani and I both a kiss goodbye and then quietly let them carry him to the operating room.
Dani and I went off into the waiting room. We had about 25 minutes or so before we received a call on our cell phone informing us that he would be coming to his recovery room soon. We went to the room assigned to him and waited there. We had been waiting for about 10 to 15 minutes watching other children be wheeled by our door to their rooms. They all looked so miserable laying quietly, tucked into their beds. I figured that Luke would look similar but I had no idea what would be in store. A nurse informed us that he was an angry little boy. Dani and I stepped out into the hall to see what she was talking about. Luke was being wheeled down the hall. He looked miserable all right but there were signs that he had put up a struggle. He was laying on top of his blankets. His head was not were it was supposed to be but instead it was down near the end of the bed where his feet should have been! I think the orderlies were glad to drop him off in his room. Once we got him in the room I was surprised just how calm he was. We turned him around and he laid there telling us that his mouth hurt. It was the saddest thing I have experienced. He just laid there and moaned. We were told to try to get him to drink some juice. He didn't want any part of that. We were given a syringe of medicine to give him also. We tried to get him to take it but he adamantly refused. Finally, the nurse gave him the medicine through his IV. He turned into a completely different kid. He still wouldn't drink anything but he didn't look so miserable. We were told that he needed to be drinking before we could take him home. We couldn't convince him to drink anything. We tried to reason with him. We told him that if he would drink he could go home. He just said that he wanted to stay there and that the room he was in could be his bedroom. We were starting to think we would be there all day! I found a dinosaur book that Luke enjoys. He loves dinosaurs. I started reading the book to him to pass the time. I told him that if he would lick his Popsicle that I would turn the page. This worked! Finally he was drinking. By the time we reached the end of the book he had shown that he would drink. We could finally take him home.
It was a long day for Luke. Sadly the most painful part for him was still in store. Once he got home he was so sad and forlorn looking. He just moped around moving from laying on the couch to laying on his bed to laying somewhere else. He looked so pitiful. Because of the anesthesia we couldn't feed him before the surgery. He must have been pretty hungry. The sad thing is that he would sit at the kitchen table and take a spoonful of food and raise it to his mouth. The though of swallowing would be too much. He would lower the spoon back down. He would repeat this scene over and over. We felt so bad for him.
Over the next couple days he has been more and more willing to eat and drink. He is getting a lot more active. Especially when his pain medication is working. The doctor said that the worst days for him would likely be days 3 and 4. We hope that he is on the downward slope of recovery now.
We had to be at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center at 7:15 am on Thursday morning. They do surgery in chronological order starting with the youngest kids. There were 2 kids scheduled a head of Luke. We signed in and they had us wait in a waiting area for a little while as they processed the paper work. They then brought us back into the pre-op area. They had to run a blood test on Luke. The nurse pricked his finger to get a blood sample. Luke did amazingly well he hardly cried. A little while later the nurse put a cuff around Luke's arm to take his blood pressure . Luke did not like this one bit. He threw a bigger fit over this than having his blood drawn!We then went into a curtained off area where they had some trucks and coloring books for Luke. These toys are for the children to keep. We watched Luke's favorite television show, Super Why, as we waited for his turn. A member of the hospital staff came by with a doll dressed up in the same hospital clothes that all of the children had to wear. She used the doll to explain what was going to happen. She had a sample of the mask that they were going to put on Luke and let him try it on. She had a mask and hat that the doctor was going to wear that she let Luke keep.
After being at the hospital for a couple of hours it was finally Luke's turn. They took us into a small office were they let us ask any questions that we had. They explained what would happen and how long we should expect the surgery to last. After our questions had all been answered a nurse took Luke from us. I was surprised how easily he went with the nurse. He gave Dani and I both a kiss goodbye and then quietly let them carry him to the operating room.
Dani and I went off into the waiting room. We had about 25 minutes or so before we received a call on our cell phone informing us that he would be coming to his recovery room soon. We went to the room assigned to him and waited there. We had been waiting for about 10 to 15 minutes watching other children be wheeled by our door to their rooms. They all looked so miserable laying quietly, tucked into their beds. I figured that Luke would look similar but I had no idea what would be in store. A nurse informed us that he was an angry little boy. Dani and I stepped out into the hall to see what she was talking about. Luke was being wheeled down the hall. He looked miserable all right but there were signs that he had put up a struggle. He was laying on top of his blankets. His head was not were it was supposed to be but instead it was down near the end of the bed where his feet should have been! I think the orderlies were glad to drop him off in his room. Once we got him in the room I was surprised just how calm he was. We turned him around and he laid there telling us that his mouth hurt. It was the saddest thing I have experienced. He just laid there and moaned. We were told to try to get him to drink some juice. He didn't want any part of that. We were given a syringe of medicine to give him also. We tried to get him to take it but he adamantly refused. Finally, the nurse gave him the medicine through his IV. He turned into a completely different kid. He still wouldn't drink anything but he didn't look so miserable. We were told that he needed to be drinking before we could take him home. We couldn't convince him to drink anything. We tried to reason with him. We told him that if he would drink he could go home. He just said that he wanted to stay there and that the room he was in could be his bedroom. We were starting to think we would be there all day! I found a dinosaur book that Luke enjoys. He loves dinosaurs. I started reading the book to him to pass the time. I told him that if he would lick his Popsicle that I would turn the page. This worked! Finally he was drinking. By the time we reached the end of the book he had shown that he would drink. We could finally take him home.
It was a long day for Luke. Sadly the most painful part for him was still in store. Once he got home he was so sad and forlorn looking. He just moped around moving from laying on the couch to laying on his bed to laying somewhere else. He looked so pitiful. Because of the anesthesia we couldn't feed him before the surgery. He must have been pretty hungry. The sad thing is that he would sit at the kitchen table and take a spoonful of food and raise it to his mouth. The though of swallowing would be too much. He would lower the spoon back down. He would repeat this scene over and over. We felt so bad for him.Over the next couple days he has been more and more willing to eat and drink. He is getting a lot more active. Especially when his pain medication is working. The doctor said that the worst days for him would likely be days 3 and 4. We hope that he is on the downward slope of recovery now.
2 comments:
Poor kid. We hope he is doing better. But a diet of popsicles has got to be every little kid's dream! Heal quickly little guy.
My Dear Luke,
You are a champion. Even when you are ill you have that tender spirit. I am so glad to have spend this little bit time with you and your family.
With my love,
Grandma
Post a Comment