My dd had hernia surgery when she was 4.
Really not scary for her at all. Other than being a little hungry before her surgery she was fine and handled it with grace and calmness.
Her surgery was done at the Royal Childrens in Melbourne and they really do make a huge effort for the surgery to not be scary for the little people. And come to think of it for the big ones as well. Were happy to answer as many questions as we had.
We had to administer her with pain relief once she was home it was called "Painstop" available at chemist but had to ask for it we couldn't see it on the shelf.
I see you are now home so it may be a little late but a nighty is the best bet for the first few days after surgery. or even her Jamie top only providing she's not too hot or cold. If you normally cloth nappy her continue to do that it will mean that everything is still normal for her and not scary even though she is going to be a bit sore for a few days normal is good and conforting for her.
Yes mine does remember the run up to the surgery but not in a scarey way....she remembers all the colouring pages they had at the hospital for her to do while she was waiting, and the cool tv show, and even how the (person who put her to sleep) tricked her into smelling the chocolate smell inside the mask (it didn't smell like chocolate) but she laughs about it. We were able to go with her right up to the operating room doors where they gave her the mask (sleeping gas) which put her to sleep. I'm sure it didn't put her into a deep surgery type sleep but she did fall asleep. and only remembers being awoken in recovery which she is dark about cause she was tired aparantly! And then all the treats in the ward where she was for a good couple of hours. She liked all the ice cream and icypoles and stuff she's not normally allowed to eat. and The best bit she was able to take the photos I took of all the things that happened to her to kinder and show the other kids. She was really chuffed about that! Nothing scary, photo of the deadening cream on her hand, and she took in the pictures she couloured in and a photo of her in the ward after the surgery and one of her new belly button. She was so funny.
Now it's all over I hope you coped well with it all in the end....There will be a few sore days for your dd ,but we did a lot of activities that involved sitting quietly like craft kits available at K-mart and the like most are not age appropreate but as long as your sitting with her they'll be ok for you to do together.
I'm sure your dd will be fine! Love to you both.
Last edited by fromscratch; March 30th, 2012 at 01:33 PM.
thanks for the posts ladies
anyone that has me on FB will have likely seen pics of DD - she is doing pretty well
there is lots i will write up here later (mostly so that i have it - given i have taken photos to do a scrapbook page for her) - she seems to be doing pretty well - she had a cordal (sp) local anesthetic which has left her with minimal pain so far
me - not so great. lack of sleep over the past few weeks, and some anxiety - and pushing to get through miscarriage the other day and now this - i have crashed. hard. started to get some tummy cramps while feeding DD earlier in bed, then very upset tum, and all of a sudden very tired and dizzy. tried to have a nap, but the dizzy feeling made it difficult, so i'm just doing whatever i can to keep putting one foot in front of another until we've had dinner and can go to bed tonight
i wonder if the pain is starting for DD - she's got early signs of the miseries/whinges - "i don't want dinner - i can't like it!" just asked and she said nothing hurts though...
BG, the anaesthetic could me making her feel crappy and not feel like eating. DD2 had her tonsils out last week and she had no appetite at all afterwards even though she was dosed to the eyeballs on painkillers. Just follow her cues on this one
And I'm so sorry to hear about your loss - I had no idea
We ended up making an offer of three things for dinner. She had a bit if all three. Definitely normal appetite! I knew we could get soup into her, then offered leftovers plus what DH was having for dinner (I was just having leftovers). She had a decent amount of each
We went to bed around half seven for cuddles and boob/sleep. Apart from some whimpering in her sleep we didn't hear a peep til 645 this morning. She just sung out "daaaaad I'm awake" then snuggled and had boib again. Said her tummy hurt a bit and could she gave panadol but it hasn't impacted her at all. Still her usual cheeky IMO self. We are planning a few quiet data at home now
Me. Meh I couldn't sleep last night. Listening for her I guess. Woke at 520 (for about the hundredth time) and coukdnt hear her breathing over hubby snoring so got up to checking her then couldn't sleep again til about 6. DH has taken E to the lounge now so I'm going to try for more sleep. Try being the operative word!
Huge hun, i hope you get some rest today.
Miss E seems to be taking it all in her stride, as i thought she would, she's such a curious, clever litlte girl.
Hi BG, have seen on FB your updates re E but just haven't had a chance to post. Glad to hear that it all went so well. I do think that we mothers do tend to over think things, and plan for every possible worst case scenario (just cos we can) I know when Lewis had his day surgery to have the wires removed from his leg I was all worked up in a knot he came home and only needed panadol for a day and then he was back to normal. Kids are so resiliant and thankfully don't carry the anxieties and fears that creep up on you in adult life.
Sorry to hear about what you personally have been dealing with at the moment, when I hear you had lost another precious angel I just wished I could be there for you in person. Take care of yourself BG and I hope you can have a restful and quiet weekend.
ok – writing this mostly for E – for her photo book – so it has background in it – figure i may as well post the full thing as a debrief - feel free to comment on any spelling/grammar errors. I will do a proper edit later - have a poppet trying to help me type at the moment so can't do it now!
In November of 2011, when you were just shy of 2.5years old, you fell over one afternoon and came to us, screaming about the pain in your groin. we looked, but couldn’t see any scratches or bruises, and thought it was maybe a strained muscle or something. A couple of weeks later, Mummy was changing your clothes, and found a golf-ball sized lump in your groin. I showed Daddy, and we both knew something wasn’t right. Mummy assumed it was a hernia, and Mrs Smith had a quick look at the photo we’d taken, and agreed. She said to get it checked as soon as we could, and to keep an eye on you for signs of strangulation.
A few days later, we got you in to see the GP, who said he couldn’t see anything, but the photo we’d taken showed him something was not right. He sent you for an x-ray to make sure there was nothing else wrong, and then back for results. You were an absolute gem at the radiology place. they were very worried you’d get the wriggles given your age, or that we’d have to pin you down – but Mummy asked you to lay still, and you did. Perfect film first go! Back to the GP, who said you seemed like a happy, healthy two year old, but he’d refer us to a paediatrician just to be sure.
Dropped the referral in for the paediatrician to check, and she said straight away that she didn’t want to see you, so referred us to the surgeon. We had a three month wait to see him and were pretty certain that it would end in surgery, given the referral. We assumed it would be a fair wait on the public list, given your situation didn’t seem to be all that urgent – but the surgeon didn’t agree. He labelled your surgery semi-urgent, and you were going in to have your operation less than four weeks later!
On the big day, you weren’t really impressed with being woken up – but hey, none of us were! We’d spent some time explaining about the hospital and some of the things they’d do, to try and prepare you as best we could. We didn’t go into detail that would scare you, just told you about the doctors and nurses, that you’d go off to sleep and they’d fix your tummy, and then you’d have to have some quiet time to recover. You’d been to Emergency with Mummy a few months before, so I think you had a vague idea of it all.
We arrived at the hospital 7.30am, and were sent around to the children’s ward (Tarra) to be checked in. After waiting a little while, the nurse started to admit you, then went to check your bed – only to come back and say they had no beds available, so you’d have to be processed through the Day Surgery Unit – alongside all the adults. Hmmm, not what we’d prepared you for, but Mummy had been through there not so long ago, so we knew what to expect.
The staff were pretty good, given they’d had a bunch of paediatric cases dumped on them unexpectedly. You were the youngest, and were to be first up for surgery. The anaethetist came in to speak with us first. He was lovely – talked to you as well as us, explained everything that would happen, and put us at ease (as much as he could anyway!). He recognised that you weren’t particularly keen on him being near you, so arranged a pre-operative sedative. He told Daddy what to expect when he took you in for surgery, what you’d likely do as you were given the gas etc, so that he was prepared and didn’t freak out at all. He’d also explained they’d put a local anaesthetic in the very lowest part of your spine to stop you from waking in pain – the caudal block was to be used instead of loading you up with morphine, as so many little tackers react badly to morphine. After that, the nurse came in to put your hospital tags on and to explain what we could expect after the surgery as well.
We were taken through to get you ready after that. Off with your clothes, and on with the hospital gown. Then in to the waiting area for your sedative drink and to get you all organised. You drank the drink down, we met with the surgeon to confirm the details of your hernia, met with nurses who would be in theatre etc. You were starting to be impacted by the sedative, although the anaesthetist didn’t think you were. He was expecting a drowsy little poppet, not a bright eyed little girl asking to go home! We had to explain to him that you are one of those kids that goes hyper when you’re tired! You were definitely being affected by it! You were then wheeled down for your surgery, with Daddy holding your hand, while Mummy went back to the waiting room, fighting back tears.
Daddy says you got a bit upset after Mummy left. Asking to go home, and generally just not wanting to be there. You were sleepy, and crying a little when they put the gas mask on you, but went off to sleep and Daddy was sent out to join Mummy to wait
And wait
And wait some more
After you, there were several more children go in for surgery. Three more had gone in for their operations, and two of them had come out to the point their parents could join them, but there had been no word on you. Needless to say, Mummy and Daddy were getting a little bit worried. We’d been told you’d be gone about 40minutes, and when it hit 100minutes, Mummy in particular was getting very stressed! We were contemplating asking where our baby had disappeared to when Mummy was called in to the recovery room to be there – you’d JUST woken up. The nurse that was with you said you’d just kept sleeping a lot longer than they thought – the sedative had worked really well – but you had just opened your eyes and they thought you’d want a familiar face there as you came too.
You didn’t seem to care that Mummy was there though – you were curious about the pulse monitor on your finger, why the oxygen mask was beside you, what the nurse was doing when she walked away. You didn’t cry even a peep. You talked to Mummy and asked what was going on, coughed a few times, and just looked around. Mummy had a major flash back to the morning you were born – you did the same thing then too – just looked around trying to work out what was going on! You were doing so well, they moved you back to the Day Procedure Unit straight away.
You got a bit upset when you got moved – you were thirsty and wanted snuggles with mum, but couldn’t move. The bung in your arm was hurting too. You were getting quite distressed, and when Mummy asked what was wrong, you kept saying it was your arm. Both Mummy and the nurse checked, and you said your tummy was fine, but your arm was getting to you. The nurse got Daddy to come in to recovery too, and between us, we got you all snuggled up to Mum so you could have a feed. And that’s when we realised a lot of your problem was a dry yucky throat. You’d fill your mouth with milk, but couldn’t seem to swallow! The nurse came to the rescue with an icy pole, that you scoffed down, and from then on, you were awake and mostly content!
And really inquisitive!
You had a proper feed from Mummy, then wanted to get back on the bed. As we got the bed tilted up for you, the nurse asked if you’d like a sandwich. Obviously fasting for 14 hours (it was now about 11.30) was way too long for you, and you asked for a ham sandwich. And then you asked every couple of minutes. And when you weren’t asking for your sandwich you were asking what was happening around you. Nothing could happen without you asking – and expecting a proper reply. We couldn’t just say “because” – if we did, you asked why – again and again and again. So we had to keep up a running commentary. Mummy wondered a few times what people thought, but figured an ongoing conversation was better than a toddler in meltdown, so who cares!
When you’d been waiting about 20 minutes for your sandwich, it got to be too much. You’d found a bandaid on your hand that you wanted to take off, and when Mummy asked you not to, you asked again for your sandwich. When it wasn’t ready, you melted down. In a big way. Thankfully the sandwich was delivered within about 30 seconds, and you calmed down. You even asked the nurse nice for juice when she asked if you’d like juice or water with your sandwich.
After juice and sandwich, you were in a chipper mood – ready to go home. And you made us well aware of that fact! We got you dressed and took you out to the lounge area for last observations and things by the nurses. We’d put you in a nappy, just in case, and you refused to use it, demanding to go to the toilet while we waited to go home. You had a big cuddle with Mummy, and a feed, while waiting. You got bored and impatient, so we entertained you with games on Daddy’s phone until it was time for the bung to come out of your arm.
And then all hell broke loose! The tape had stuck to your little arm in a big way, and you were so distressed having it taken off. You screamed like your heart was broken. The poor nurse looked devastated having to hurt you, so offered you another icy pole when it was all done! You scoffed that, giving the nurse the evil eye the whole time, and then we got to come home. It was about 12.30 – so only five hours all up – but it felt like a lot longer for Mummy and Daddy! We’d not had anything to eat or drink for the morning cos we didn’t want to eat in front of you!
Back at home, we expected the pain to kick in or the after affects of the general to at least slow you down a little bit, but apparently not. We had to spend a lot of time encouraging you to calm down and stop running around. It didn’t work though! You just took the day as if it was any other day! First night home, you slept for nearly 11 hours without waking. You stirred a few times and made whimpering noises over night, so Mummy didn’t sleep well, but you were fine. You woke and called for Daddy, asking him to put you in bed with Mummy for a snuggle and feed. You finally said you had a bit of a sore tummy, and could you have Panadol – and from there on, you were back to normal. No change in appetite, no change in activity level. Just you being you – a perfect little princess!
sounds like all went well with the surgery.
Sorry to hear about your loss (((Hugs))) must be a very difficult time for you trying to take care of youreslf and your dd.
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