So, it's been a while since I updated the blog. Where have I been, you ask?
In a word, miserable. This has been the hardest 3 weeks we have had to deal with in a long time. On September 30th Aiden had his surgery to correct his right foot. I am so hopeful that this is the last surgery that he has to go through. He is such a little trooper, but it is so hard watching him go through the x-rays, surgery prep, the surgery itself and the recovery process. This one was rough. And he is not happy being in the cast, he is not himself. At all.
I don't want to write a super long post, so I am going to shorten all the drama. Basically it went down like this:
Pre-op the day before - Bad. Had to convince everyone which foot they would be operating on. Very bad. I'm pretty nervous now. It's his RIGHT foot, not his left. Over and over. Multiple x-rays. Aiden screaming. 3 hours long. Finally see the nurse practitioner. Oh, by the way, the bones ARE in the wrong place. We will be inserting a pin in his foot, casting to the upper thigh, 6 weeks in the cast. All bad. And all not mentioned in any previous appointment. I almost cancel the surgery.
Surgery Prep - Arrive at 6am. Oh, we have it down as the LEFT foot on the chart. I almost cancel the surgery again. After trying to convince everyone, Doctor comes in, confirms RIGHT foot and writes on it. We feel better. Surgery is not actually scheduled until 9am. Hmm, glad we get to wait for 3 hours. Get called back. Aiden screams. They give Aiden medicine to help him relax. Aiden is basically passed out when handed off to the nurse to take to the operating room.
Aiden laying on me waiting to go into surgery, he was not very responsive and not very aware at this point
Surgery - Wait is longer than they said it would be. Doctor comes out to talk to us 3 hours later and is very pleased with the outcome for his foot. By the way, he had some breathing problems after the surgery and needed steroids and is still on oxygen. We can see him after they take a chest x-ray. He needs to stay in ICU tonight. Bad again. Finally get to go back and see him - he has been in recovery for 2 hours without us there, he is upset and scared. Talked to anesthesiologist, they had to give him a medication reversal and the steroid they gave him was a very strong one. Really bad. It is very clear to us that they gave him too much medication but are not admitting it. When I questioned it they accusingly said that they saw an old, healed fractured rib on the x-ray and want to know how he got it. Even more accusing questions after I say I do not know. I am pretty pissed off at this point.
Recovery - After another long wait we finally get into Aiden's room in ICU. There is no bathroom, no children's TV channels and 2 waiting room like chairs. Jeremy has to leave at 9pm because Shriner's only allows one person to stay overnight. The night nurse brings me a roll away bed but demands that I leave the door open all night. Aiden doesn't want to stay in the crib and I put him in the bed with me. He screams every time the nurse comes in and through all checks of his vital signs. He is breathing fine at this point but anytime he moves the sensors go off saying he isn't breathing. The night nurse keeps running in and turning his oxygen up, telling me his blood O2 levels have to be at 100%. Which is totally wrong and even the respiratory therapist keeps laughing at him. The night was bad, we heard kids crying all night and the nurses talking loudly. Not a lot of sleep for either one of us and I basically just sat there, trying to comfort Aiden, trying to relax him and trying not to pee my pants since I couldn't leave him alone in the room so I could go to the bathroom.
All the monitors on, still very sleepy from the anesthesia - the little wraps on his arm were to keep him from pulling out his IV
The next day - Aiden has been trying to pull off his oxygen cannula all night, and I finally just let him. I let him pull off the monitors, too. When the day nurse comes in I convince her he doesn't need it anymore. Daddy shows back up with coffee. They bring food in for Aiden, which is a white bread PB&J sandwich, chocolate pudding with whipped cream and a carton of milk. This annoys me since I had to go over, in detail, with the pre-op nurse that he was on a gluten free-dairy free diet and all they brought him to eat was wheat and milk. Good thing I was there and good thing I brought him food. After 2 doctors clear him to go home, we are finally on our way. Except that the doctor forgot to write orders, then when she did she said that he was not to walk in his cast - which was wrong (by the way, he started walking on it the day we came home), and then no one could find a cast shoe small enough for him. Whatever. The whole experience was horrible.
Finally got the monitors off and a DVD to watch, we were just about to leave and he started feeling better
So, back to now. Can you see why I procrastinated in writing this post? It was no fun. We are still upset about the whole thing and Aiden is so upset in his cast. I don't blame him, but it has been so difficult to have a screaming, crying, easily upset and frustrated toddler EVERYDAY. It seems like the only thing that makes him happy right now is taking walks, being held and sitting on my lap or in bed watching a particular Baby Einstein DVD. He has been waking up every night at least 3 times and he is not eating very much. He is also cutting molars, so some of it could be due to that. This week it will be 4 weeks since the surgery and we go back to Shriner's this Thursday to do an x-ray and check to see if it is ready to come off or if we have to wait another 2 weeks. All I can do is hope that he gets it off, last 3 weeks have been a total nightmare and I just want my sweet, happy little boy back!
