Update on Christian's surgery!

When doctors say that kids bounce back fast, they sure do mean it!

Christian had his surgery done on Thursday and by noon yesterday, he was pretty much back to his usual self!

There were a few things we learned about Christian during surgery.

1.  He needs anti-nausea medicine during surgery. The anesthesiologist (who was from Australia and super smart!!) told us beforehand that she was planning to give him some, but apparently somewhere along the way, she decided not to. This led to an upset stomach afterwards. :( It's amazing that I could tell he was going to throw up just by seeing it in his eyes.  And he not only threw up once, but many times over about 2 1/2 hours.  The first time he got it all over his cool hospital pajamas, so those needed to be changed, but every time after that, he got it in some sort of container. Great job Christian!!

They actually kept us at the hospital a little bit longer because he was unable to keep anything down. Eventually they just kicked us out! His color looked good plus he was sitting up and talking, so they figured we could start liquids very slowly at home.  Honestly, I think he was enjoying sitting there watching "Back to the Future III" while his stomach calmed down! They said getting out in the fresh air and getting home would probably help him feel better, and I think it did.

They also warned us that he might throw up again on the car ride home, which he did.  Luckily, he could feel it coming and we didn't have a big mess. The hospital sent us home with some throw up containers and those came in handy! They know what they are doing!! He did gag a little bit once we got home, but that was the end of it. Yay!!

2.  During surgery, the doctor had covered his abdomen with a blue disinfectant and then left it on him afterwards. I think it was just to make sure everything stayed clean for the next couple of days.  I learned yesterday that Christian will break out to this disinfectant!! I am not sure if it was the blue food dye or anything else in it, but he had a nice rash going on underneath it yesterday. I called his doctor and they told me to just wash it off, so I did.  This morning, there is still a little rash left.

I don't let any of my kids eat anything with food dyes anymore, but it is more for preventative reasons. They have never broken out in a rash before, so does this mean he is truly sensitive to food dyes?? I am going to ask his doctor about it in two weeks when we take him in for his two week post-operative checkup.

3.  When  child does not eat for over 24 hours, they are starving and want to eat anything in sight!! We didn't give him any food the night he came home because he couldn't even keep liquids down! We gave him a little bit of water and Advil before he went to bed, but that was it. When he woke up Friday morning, he pretty much stood up and said, "I am going downstairs and I am going to find something to eat!" He didn't even wait for me!! I wanted to make sure he was ok, but apparently he was fine and he was on a mission to find food! (He slept on the baby mattress beside our bed the night of surgery.)

I couldn't just let him eat whatever he wanted though, so I let him have some cheerios and drink a can of pop little bit little in the morning.. These all stayed down, so by lunch time, I let him have some real food. He didn't have any trouble all day!

4. He is a tough kid! There were a few points during the morning yesterday when you could tell his abdomen hurt because he would hunch over a little bit as he walked.  I gave him some Advil at 9 am and that seemed to help.  He did great with pain all day until about 7 last night. He started to hunch over again and was getting a little crabby, so I gave him some more Advil. He went almost 10 hours without any medicine- tough kid!!

He went to bed last night without an issue and has not asked for any or showed signs that he would need any yet today. He is back to acting like his normal self. They told me surgery would not keep him down for long and they were right!

He gets his cast off next Friday(the 6th) and then goes back in for his two week post-op checkup on the 13th.  We will see where baby boy decides to make his appearance in the middle of this all!!!