The morning of the surgery was a normal check-in. I wasn't prepared for when the time came to hand over my child to a complete stranger. They don't allow parents in the room as they are putting their child to sleep for surgery. I didn't realize what it would feel like to say "I love you and will see you in a little while", when I actually was feeling as if, "what if he doesn't wake-up?"
Drake had two procedures one of course was the "
feeding tube" (G-Tube) the other was called a
Nissen Fundiplication. With in about 45 minutes of waiting, the anesthesiologist came out to inform us that Drake needed a
fiberoptic intubation. Apparently his passageways are too narrow for a "regular" tube in his throat while being sedated.I'm not sure if this was a foreshadow of what was to come or just Drake being a little more interesting!!!
We were told,"You'll be in the hospital for a couple days for recovery." Drake had other plans! The first day, he couldn't swallow well. We were told, "This was typical", but once again it's hard to watch your child struggle to do a task as simple as breathing and swallowing. The nurses at the hospital were GREAT! We had a suction tube brought in to help keep his extra secretions from cutting off his airways. We held him all night worried he couldn't lie flat or even at an elevated angle. Worried, in case one of us fell asleep and didn't hear him "choke" or "stop breathing".
It doesn't take long to become exhausted in the hospital (not to mention they don't have Starbucks). I was trying to imagine what in the world Drake thought had happened to him. I was wondering if I had made the right decision to have this feeding tube put in. I was wondering if we were ever going to leave this hospital, period! I knew that we were not going to be heading out the following day since he apparently was even tolerating his feeds through his tube. And even if I wanted to give him a bottle, he couldn't swallow.
Several of my friends and family came by to try and give Shane and myself a break. On the second night Drake's teacher Mrs.L came by to check on our little guy. Once again it was another moment of God's intervention; when the 3 of us were looking over the crib, talking about the days events when all of a sudden...
Drake started turning purple, arching his back and seizing!!! Mrs. L, calm as could be, said he's having a seizure, go get a nurse. I remember looking back at her as she was turning Drake over and all I could do was run out the door and yell for help. In all my years of emergency training, it all goes out the window when it was my child lying there. Shane came running shortly after me yelling for the nurse to come too. I'm not quite sure how long of a time period took place. I do remember thinking this was the end for Drake.
They decided some sort of mucus plug got lodged in his throat. The doctor on call came an hour later or something like that. I was not a big fan of that young man for the rest of our stay at the hospital! Even if this was something he had seen everyday, we were in need of a little compassion. I also felt like it was a little early in his career to be so non-chalant about our son's well being. In other words it seemed like "no biggie" to him.
Once again, the nurses are the ones who made the difference. Drake did come out of the seizure, but still was having trouble breathing and swallowing. The nurses came on a regular basis in and out of the room. His oxygen levels were continually in the 80's. After 3 nights of holding Drake and persistence of the nursing staff they decided to put Drake in the P.I.C.U. (pediatric intensive care unit). He was there for only two days then released back to the recovery floor. My mom was nice enough to get us a hotel room at the hotel next door so we could get a few hours sleep. They wouldn't allow us to stay in the PICU with Drake and we were both physically and emotionally tired.
After 7 days at Brenner's we were going home. I think I left there crying after they showed a video on CPR, "just in case". I didn't want to stay in that hospital room anymore, but I also didn't want to face being at home alone. Needless to say, I was never alone! Between Shane, my mom, my mother-in-law and Mrs. L, we all survived the recovery at home. My mom brought in groceries then my friends and friends from
M.O.P.S.(mother of pre-schoolers) brought dinners for a month!!! And yes, food in VERY comforting at a time when you don't want to think about what to fix next. Everyone even brought a little dessert for Grant, the BIG brother :)
