Isaac's surgery went well today. He has had an umbilical hernia since birth, but his doctor said that as long as kids aren't in pain or having problems they usually wait until they are at least five to fix them because they will often correct themselves before that age. After five it is rare that they will heal on their own. A couple of months ago I took him in for a regular checkup, and it was decided to that he needed to see a specialist to have it fixed. After meeting the specialist I decided to wait until summer break so that he wouldn't have to miss any school. Which leads us to today.
Isaac was a little nervous when he realized the surgery was coming up. He even said he didn't want to do it, very adamantly. After I sat down with him and explained exactly what was going to happen and why we were doing it, he had a much better attitude about it. Last night he even wanted to set his alarm to make sure he got up in time this morning.
While Isaac was waiting to be taken back, they let me stay with him. He got to pick what scent to put in his gas mask (a combo of cherry coke, cotton candy, and sprite) and play on an ipad. He was so mesmerized by the ipad he wasn't even concerned when he had to say bye to me. The child specialist said that the special grip on it allowed her to hold it up so they could continue playing it until they are fully under. She said it was kind of funny sometimes, because they are so groggy they are just waving their hands in the air.
The procedure itself went very quickly. Less than a half hour. It took him longer to wake up afterwards than the actual surgery. He was not very happy when he woke up either, because he was in quite a bit of pain. The recovery nurse gave him an extra dose of pain medication and that helped to get him a little more comfortable so I could get him home. For the rest of the day I've been alternating pain meds so that he can tolerate the pain, and he even took a little nap this afternoon.
Here are the before and after pics. Don't worry the after isn't that yucky. It was a very small incision which they stitched with dissolvable stitches on the inside and then glued together on the outside to protect it. Pretty neat, since there is no bandage to change or stitches to remove.
BEFORE
AFTER
I think the hardest part for him will be no swimming for a week and no strenuous activities such as wrestling with brothers for two.
