Thursday, February 21, 2013

Bump on the Head

So Henry's had a little bump on his head for awhile.  I first noticed it around 9 months, and finally brought it up at his 12-month {more like 14-month...} appointment.  Being mother of the year that I am, I just assumed that it was from one of the 10 million times a day that he crashes into something.  You can see it in these two photos, above his left eyebrow:



















His doctor took one look and proclaimed it a dermoid cyst and sent us to a plastic surgeon.  This surgeon got rave reviews, and their office was seriously fancy.  Like, free Dove chocolate on glass plates.  Yeah.

Anyway, today was surgery day.  Henry needed to use general anesthesia because of his raucous behavior {most kidlets do}, and the doc recommended we do it now, rather than wait until he's old enough for an in-office procedure.

We got there, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 5:45am.  He last ate at 6pm the night before, so I was overall very impressed with how well he did waiting until the surgery at 7:45.  I really can't say enough about everyone who worked with us.  They waited to do anything {even the IV} until he was asleep, and they let him just stay in the clothes he was wearing instead of changing into a gown {so helpful!}.

After the anesthesiologist came to talk to us, she gave him some drugs to settle him down.  I was so, so thankful for that.  This kid won't let anyone other than Nic or I even look at him if he's scared or tired.  After the magic drugs took effect, he was happy to go back with the nurse.  She said she'd hold him while he was being put under, and then after that, they'd put in the IV, attach the monitors, prep the area, etc.  Just so child-friendly, which I'm not sure I expected.

Even though he went back without a peep, I was a hot mess.  There's just something heartbreaking about sending your baby back to the surgeon.  It didn't take long, and he was done.  While I wasn't a huge fan of the doctor's bedside manner at the consultation, he more than made up for it today.  He was so sweet and kind, and kept telling me Henry was a beautiful child.  Honestly, is there anything a mother wants to hear more?

As for post-op, Henry made up for his lackluster performance earlier.  We were there for maybe 30 minutes, and he screamed like a banshee the whole time, stopping long enough to suck down two adult-sized glasses of apple juice.  Those nurses unhooked him faster than fast and we were on our way.

On the way to retrieve our car {from the free valet parking}, we happened to pass the full-service Starbucks in the hospital {we live in the battleground of two major hospital systems, can you tell?}, and our little monster eyed a container of grapes and cheese.  He *had* to have it, and had the whole thing gone on the 5-minute trip home {probably 3-4 adult servings of each}.  So cute.  And so mad about the photo op.

He rested on and off the rest of the day, and ate everything in sight.  The spot looks fantastic today, but we were told it may bruise tomorrow.


Not sad here, just mad that I'm trying to document the day.  So I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight.  So happy this day is over!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

so glad it went well!

Unknown said...

I'm so happy everything went (fairly) smoothly!! :)

emily said...

Big boy! I'm sad I never got to enjoy the new hospital...
I love the pics with the wrappings on his head. Phew. Glad its over!

MarfMom said...

oh yay, glad it went so well! that is a seriously child-friendly place. awesome! :)

Nina said...

Thanks for your blog!It helped me a lot.My baby girl has a cyst in the same place and she will have a surgery in this month.I have read this post many times.You,your son,your family helped me a lot to prepare myself to this surgery!Thank's a lot!I wish for you and your family only happiness,love and health!