Gracen's Surgery

Back on November 18th, Gracen had surgery.  It was a minor surgery, but I was more nervous than I think I have ever been in my life.  The days leading up to it, I would look and him and just start to tear up thinking about it.  I wasn't really worried about the surgery itself, more the anesthesia.  It's not likely that something would go wrong, but what if we were that one in however many.  

The day really was uneventful.  We arrived.  I cried.  We checked him in.  I cried some more.  We were taken to a room where he got dressed and watched cartoons until it was time to go.  I had off and on moments of tears.  Somehow, I don't think he noticed.  I was trying not to let him see how nervous I was.  

He wasn't nervous at all.  He just wanted to go home so he could have some popsicles.  When it got closer to the time he was scheduled, his doctor and the anesthesiologist came in and talked with us.  My heart started to race.  Nate got dressed so he could walk back with him, and I said goodbye.  I was able to control my emotions just long enough to let him get out of my site.  

I walked down to the waiting room and felt so sick.  It didn't take long for Nate to get there.  We ordered some lunch and waited.

Once the doctor came in and told us that he did great, I felt so completely relieved of all that stress I had been carrying.  He told us that he was coming out of the anesthesia nicely and that he was pretty entertaining for everyone before the surgery.  He had slippers on that looked like dinosaur feet.  Whenever someone saw them and commented on them he would say something like "They're just dino slippers."  

I got down to the room, and to see him laying there sleeping was such a happy moment for me.  Knowing that he was okay was the best feeling.  I waited with him and it didn't take long for him to wake up.  After 20 mins or so they moved him to another room to monitor him.  We waited for an hour or two and then he was ready to go.  

Once we got him home, Nate laid in bed with him to help him fall asleep.  He napped for about 2 hours.  When he woke up he was pretty much good to go.  He kept telling us it didn't hurt.  We had to keep telling him to take it easy.  He only needed to take his pain meds once or twice.  It still amazes me how quickly kids can bounce back from something like that.

I am so grateful that things went well.  That there were no complications, and that Gracen was back to himself quicker than we could have imagined!  

It was hard coming up with ways to keep him from being too crazy.  Riding bikes was one thing I figured he could do without doing too much damage.  This boy has so much energy that it was incredibly hard to keep him quiet for the recommended 2 weeks.  I decided that as long as he wasn't rough housing and jumping around we were okay.