Ladies, please reassure me that surgery on a baby (about 16-18 months old) isn't actually a terrible thing and just boringly goes to plan and everything is roses and unicorns afterward.
I hear you, DD1 will be having a minor operation soonish and the thought of it makes me feel a little sick to the stomach. In saying that, DD1 ENT specialist told me that you have more chance of a car accident then anything going wrong in surgery.
I hope someone who has already been through it comes along soon.
Ds had surgery at 4 months and was all smiles and giggles even after fasting for more than twelve hours! He was not so impressed when he awoke from surgery but was back to his cheery self the next day. I on the other hand was a blubbering mess and still tear up when I think about it to this day!! Big hugs feel fry to pm if you need a shoulder!
DD2 had grommets at 16 months, the hardest part was not letting her eat, she obviously didnt understand, waking up was also bad, she was hysterical, but boob and plenty of cuddles made it all better
Ergh, I didn't think about the fasting thing. He wakes up, he NEEDS food to go back to sleep so he's never gone more than a few hours without food ... its actually the only reason he's still breastfed or I would have stopped by now. I can see a drive to Adelaide with a screaming baby the whole way
Its a minor operation and we've been given the various things that could happen without surgery and the possible things that can happen during it with the flippant "I do this sort of thing all the time, nothing to worry about". Ironically the other half probably should have had this surgery when he was little and he does have some of the possible effects they listed but I guess they didn't offer it back then.
We waited over 6 months for this initial appointment but the surgeon says he can have the operation in a few weeks so I don't have quite as long to think about it this time ...
When DD had her surgery, she was first up, first thing in the morning. She was just under four months old and we were told they do babies early so that the fasting time is mainly during their night sleep.
I was a basket case. I fell apart the day before and it was pretty hard to hand her over the next day. She came out of it fine, was screaming blue murder in recovery until I got there because she wanted to be b/f and they were trying to settle her with a little bit of water. As soon as I had her back in my arms, she settled.
kids are extremely resilient especially when it comes to elective surgery (surgery that is planned). It is often harder on the parents than the children If you have specific questions - ask away and I'll answer if I can.
My daughter a smallish surgery, had to have a tooth removed that she had chipped at 7months old as it was going black
It is very stressful handing ova yr bub to other people and not being able to be in their with them! However, after she was *put under* I gave her a kiss and promptly threatened the Dr, the Nurses and the other people in the room with death by mafia if anything happened to my daughter! (being Italian, yr allowed to threaten that )
After a lot of walking back and forth in the waiting room, snapping at my sister who was waiting with me, and cursing everyone in sight (bare in mind, the procedure was like 18 minutes in total!) the nurse came and got me and I pretty much tripped her up trying to get to my baby girl to make sure she was alright!
I won't lie, seeing yr baby in a huge bed with drips etc attached its SCARY! she woke up crying for mummy and was agitated as all get out, I just snuggled her and said soothing type noises and words and she settled down~!
My daughter was laughing and talking within half an hr of my seeing her in that bed!
And pfft @ the Dr saying she prolly won't eat for a good few hours, this child scoffed EVERYTHING she could!
As the others said, kids are sooooo better at all this than us adults! cause lets face it, how many of us, after having a tooth pulled, spend the rest of the day moping around the house? on painkillers? boo-hooing about it?
Luke had surgery at the end of July so he 21 months he wasn't allowed any solids after 5am and then only water or diluted apple juice till 8am then nothing which freaked me out I woke him at 4.30am forced a bottle into him and got him to eat a small bit of food, he had some water after that his surgery was at 11.30am he was fine he asked for a drink at one stage and I just distracted him he had a bilateral orchiectomy basically both testes stiched into place I went into theatre with him till he was out..then waited in theatre waiting room..saw surgeon then onto another waiting area 25min later got taken to recovery then back to day ward, he was very groggy but he took a bottle and went back to sleep...about 2pm they woke him we got him to eat something and then we were discharged very simple...another little fella same operation did vomited his milk back up but I think his mum and dad tried to force him to eat yoghurt as well...but they were discharged about 10min later as well ..
Both of mine have had surgery. My DD had a dermoid cyst removed from the back of her skull when she was about 24 months. My son had heart surgery when he was 3 days old and again at 3 months.
The fasting can be tricky, but they do try to schedule the youngest kids earliest in the day if possible. DD was a bit confused and shaky when she came out of the anaesthetic, but bounced back really quickly.
Be parepared for the legal forms you need to sign beforehand which outline every worst case scenario possible... just remember that the things they list are, in fact, the worst case scenarios and they're just trying to cover themselves against law suits.
My only other tip would be to have a couple of new toys/books that you know your son will enjoy. Distraction is your friend
I hope it all goes smoothly and that it is boringly underwhelming for all concerned.
its a gut-wrenching feeling putting your baby's life into somebody elses hands no matter how qualified they are but i think as a mum sometimes we have to force ourselves to be strong and make decision without letting our emotions take over (as ridiculously impossible as that is!) if its something that will help your childs quality of life then i think your making the right choice, being so young can also be a good thing for your baby's emotions because they cant grasp the situation. as long as they see that you are ok as they fall asleep then they will feel secure. my son didnt get to have his operation until he was 2 years old and the strange stuff around him freaked him out a little bit but the recovery was amazing! they say the younger they are the quicker and easier the healing is. there were lots of older children in his ward that were up all night crying and not able to sleep and i thanked god my boy was young enough to be ok with it. you are the one that will need the support emotionally so if you do make the decision to go ahead with it take someone like your mum and partner or close friend to keep you company and be strong for you. :hugs: its a very hard part of motherhood x
Well, its all over. The fasting was by far the hardest part, and I have the kind of baby that doesn't sleep either so he was a horrid crotchety little screaming grump by the time he went into the OR. And not much better when he woke up, except he got to have a drink and a nap on me.
They said he'd get stitches but his incision is in a natural crease and they've glued the edges back together perfectly so I don't think he's going to have a visible scar.
The other two kids made more of a deal out of it than he did. Miss Almost-4 kept telling us that "Feo's sore" and I showed the incision to his bigger sister and she's like "OH MY GOD THAT'S HUGE!!!!!111!!!!!eleven!!" (its about an inch long) and generally freaking out. The baby meanwhile went straight back to doing everything he normally does. Talk about drama queen!
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forced a bottle into him and got him to eat a small bit of food, he had some water after that his surgery was at 11.30am he was fine he asked for a drink at one stage and I just distracted him he had a bilateral orchiectomy basically both testes stiched into place I went into theatre with him till he was out..then waited in theatre waiting room..saw surgeon then onto another waiting area 25min later got taken to recovery then back to day ward, he was very groggy but he took a bottle and went back to sleep...about 2pm they woke him we got him to eat something and then we were discharged very simple...another little fella same operation did vomited his milk back up but I think his mum and dad tried to force him to eat yoghurt as well...but they were discharged about 10min later as well ..
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