As most of you know, Prestton just came home from his second major surgery. This time Dr. Ritchey went in and implanted the right AND left ureter tubes correctly into his bladder. For those less savvy in the kidney/ bladder department, the ureters are the tubes that connect each kidney to the bladder. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the bladder. In Prestton's case, he has (had?!!) reflux of the kidney- meaning when he goes to the bathroom part of his urine backs back into the kidney.
Hopefully this is corrected! Our Lil Man was admitted on December 30th at Phoenix Children's Hospital (I LOVE them!) at 5 in the morning. A huge THANK YOU to our good friend Kristen for letting us stay at her house the evening before so we did not have the long drive from Tucson on top of the stress of going in for another surgery.
Prestton in the Admission Waiting Room- 5:10 A.M.
After going through admissions, we went into the pre op waiting. They give you a very small room to hang out in, dress the kids in their very best gowns (LOL!), take all their vitals and wait for the team to take the lil ones back for surgery. Everything from open heart, to correcting club feet were on the waiting list that morning.
And more waiting in the pre op room
How Prestton spent the last twenty minutes waiting... really, what do they expect? Waking up so early and you can not even eat!
They took Prestton back around 6:45 and the agonizing waiting game began. Typically the surgery should take 2 hours and I started to feel icky when 8:45 came and went. His surgical nurse Sam came out to let us know he was doing well and that both sides needed to be corrected and that he had an extra ureter tube on his right side.
FINALLY at 10:00 we were allowed to see him in the recovery room! He had been under for a little while, but began to stir the moment we came in. I tell you there is nothing like scooping your child up and holding them as close as you can after something like that. I could not give him enough kisses or breathe him in fast enough. Puffy lil face and all!
Recovery
It took another 3 hours before they had a hospital crib and room ready for him. By that time Prestton must not have gotten the memo that he was just cut open, because the moment we stepped foot into his room he stood up ready to take off! (His incision is very much like the one you would have if you had a c-section) Our "Flash" was ready to get down and get moving... mentally. Within a few minutes the pain kicked in and they had to give him more morphine. For the remainder of the day/ night he was given pain medication, antibiotics and bladder spam control meds.
Prestton's new bikini line
I was very grateful for another good friend, Gail Flood, to come and visit us that afternoon. It kept my mind off things and allowed for some time to pass. Thanks Gail!!!! Of course I also had FB and the many texts from all of you to keep our spirits up. The night was not so friendly. By the next morning we were ALL ready to be home. Prestton did very well despite his pain and was managing a little bit of Cheerios and a bottle of milk.
A few hours after surgery. I think he was just stoked to have a popsicle IN bed!
What a WONDERFUL way to begin the New Year! We arrived back home in Tucson late in the afternoon of the 31st. Just in time to make some frozen pizzas and see our girls. And anotherHUGE thank you to my mom for taking such wonderful care of them. It is times like these when you see what really matters and what you should be thankful for. As you can imagine after 19 months I am relieved that there is some light at the end of the "tube". We will have another follow up next month to see how all the plumping is working. If all looks good... no more urologist visits for 1 whole year!!!! So keep your positive thoughts and prayers coming and we will keep you updated.
Here is to a wonderful start of 2010!
Home. How we brought in the New Year!
1 comment:
I'm so glad it went well! You had me in tears at the part where you could scoop him up and hold him close after his surgery! Thanks a lot! Here's to happy ureter tubes! :) Happy new Year!
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