So I woke up with the flu Wednesday morning.
Fever. Aches all over. Sweating, followed by chills. Stomach cramps. It was oh so pleasant.
And I had to take Mr. Noah to an appointment with a pediatric surgeon. I found out about the appointment sort of by accident -- I got a letter in the mail reminding me of an appointment I never made and didn't know my doctor had made -- but after talking it through with Noah's pediatrician, I understood why we needed to go.
Noah has a cyst attached to his intestines. They first saw it during my 20-week ultrasound, and at that point the conjectures about what it was ran wild. Follow-up ultrasounds determined that it wasn't growing and that it wasn't an extra bladder (which was the first guess), so we settled into the let's-wait-and-check-this-thing-out-better-once-he's-born philosophy.
And we did that, when he was about three weeks old. He had an hourlong ultrasound (during which we discovered a second cyst that had been near one of his kidneys had disappeared, thank goodness), and the radiologist got really clear pictures of the cyst and its location.
It's a little less than 1 inch, and it actually grew within the wall of his intestines, the pediatric surgeons said. Their main concern is that it could cause a bowel blockage or, worse, could cause the bowel to twist on itself, thereby cutting off circulation to that section and killing off those portions of the bowel.
OK, despite the throbbing in my head, I was definitely paying attention by then.
They recommended that he have it removed. They think they can do it laparoscopically, which means they'll make an incision in his belly button and slide a camera down through his abdomen to the cyst, which they will remove, then resection the bowel.
He'll be in the hospital two to four days because he'll have to prove he can poopy before they'll let him go home.
I'm terrified. Totally paralyzed with fear sometimes. They're going to slice into my baby and take out parts of him and sew other parts back together? And they think he's going to be just fine before, during and after they do this?
His surgery's scheduled for Monday, March 24, which is the day after Easter. (What is it with this kid and holidays?) And I'm positive I'm going to have a knot in my stomach every moment until then.
Have your kids had surgery? How did you deal with it?
I totally feel for you. My 1 year old had to have ear tube surgery. I was assured it was minor surgery. It took only 1 hr, but it was the longest/worse hour of my life. She was out of it for a while due to the anesthesia and just cried. You just have to take it one second at a time and have faith that things will be okay. Hug them, love them, and give a whole bunch of extra kisses that day. I enjoy reading your blog. You seem very real and down to earth. Good luck with Noah and I hope all goes well with the surgery.
Oh Amy! I'm so sorry he has to go through this. It will be okay though; I am sure of it!
Thank you, ladies, for your sweet comments!