Last Friday we packed up the boys super early and headed to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake. (Ok, so we were in Bountiful, so it wasn't THAT early, but it felt super early!) The boys had some urinary problems that needed to be fixed and so we figured we might as well do them all at once. We'd had our pre-op appointment the day before and the kids attended a pre-surgery class, so they weren't too scared for what was coming.
We had to be there by 7:45 am. They had to cut off food at midnight, which wasn't too hard, but then had to cut off clear fluids at 6:15. Which meant when they woke up (at the last possible minute, for their sake) they weren't allowed anything to eat or drink. No gum, candy, mints, water. Nothing. I knew the older boys would be ok, but I was super worried that Taysom would be way fussy. His bottle first thing in the morning is his best friend. Surprisingly, he did awesome! He was happy and cheerful.
They finally took us back and took the boys vitals. They were given the cool hospital pj's and all the boys could talk about was what flavor of gas they were going to choose in their masks to fall asleep. Drew chose Root Beer and Mason chose bubble gum.
Tays and his daddy.
This was right before they took him. We got to walk him up to the OR double doors and he willingly went to the anesthesiologist. Dr. Tanner was his name and he stopped me in the hall and said, "ok mom, here is a good place to say goodbye. If you want to hand me his Rise and Shout blanket and I'll take him." So I handed him over and as he walked away I could hear him singing the BYU fight song. Oh how it just melted my heart and almost made me cry!
While we were waiting for Taysom the boys got to play Xbox. It really helped distract them and before they knew it, it was Mason's turn.
Dr. Tanner coming for Mason.
Mason did so well. Before Dr. Tanner came for him he kept telling me that he changed his mind and that he didn't want to do the surgery anymore. But when it came down to it, Dr. Tanner put him at such ease that he completely forgot his worries.
Mason being such a brave boy!
Oh, I could just hug Dr. Tanner for being so tender with my boys!
Finally, it was time for Drew to go. He was so excited and I could hear them talking about BYU all the way down the hall. Ahhhh!
Vaughn and I pretty much Rock Paper Scissored to see who would get to go see Taysom in the PACU. "The wake up room". He won, but I made him promise he would take pictures. Poor little boy. As he was waking up, he was pretty fussy. Can't say I blame the poor guy. They gave him some apple juice and that seemed to really help him.
Mason came out and was such a champ! I asked if he wanted me to sit by him or Grandma and, of course, he chose grandma. He sure does love his grandma!
Oh, his poor foot!
All of the boys finally out of surgery.
Drew had a really hard time waking up from the surgery. He woke up from the anesthesia just fine, but was just super sleepy. He stayed in the PACU for longer than the other two. His surgery also took longer than they thought it would. They slotted 30 minutes and he was back there for almost an hour and a half. I was starting to get really worried, but he did great and they accomplished what they needed too.
We had to wait a few hours after all the boys were out of the PACU and it was good to just relax and let them rest. The older boys had their own TV's, so they were really enjoying that. Mason asked if they could have a tv in their room when we got home and I had to tell him, no way Jose.
Drew said his stomach was feeling upset, so we grabbed him a lovely pink bucket. Which he used 5 or 6 times on the way home. Poor boy. He definitely was in the most pain. They had to give him a dose of Lortab in the recovery room, which meant we had to stay even longer before they would release us, but I would rather stay and be on top of the pain rather than leave and put Drew through unnecessary pain.
Tays slept almost the whole time we were in recovery.
He would wake up and then go back to sleep. He was exhausted.
Drew looking so pale. You can definitely tell when he doesn't feel well.
Finally being released. He still doesn't look well. He didn't regain his color until a few hours after we got back to Bountiful. I'm sure throwing up as many times as he did on the way home helped a ton.
I'm sure we were quite the sight.
Vaughn and I had to wear stickers with the boys' names for people to see what kids we belonged too and I was asked several times if I truly had three kids there that day. I would just smile and say yes and tell them the recovery was just going to be oh, so fun! I received many sympathetic smiles!
Our entourage out.
Drew was so excited for the wheelchair and Mason loved his wagon. I was so super impressed with PCMC and think that they did an incredible job with taking care of the boys. They did everything they possibly could to make them comfortable and ease their fears.
The recovery has been pretty good. They all go in spurts. I think Monday was the hardest day by far. I'm not sure if it was because it was my first day all by myself with them, plus Sam, or if they were just really starting to feel the effects, but it was pretty bad. There were lots of tears shed and they weren't just by the boys! We will just continue to take it day by day and hope and pray that they are well enough for the first day of school next Tuesday!
