Surgery: Part I

Henry indeed needed the PA (Pulmonary Artery) Band surgery, afterall. It was scheduled for 7:30 this morning and so i set the alarm for 5:30, but had been awake since 5. I got my act together and was in the van on the way to the hospital by 6:30. I arrived at 6:45, thinking i had just enough time to snuggle Hank before they wisked him away. Turns out i had TWO HOURS to snuggle him and try to console his Hungry Jack tummy. By 9;30, i was handing him over to the operating room nurse with NO TEARS! I guess that's how confident and trusting i am of this crew at CHOP. After saying a brief "goodbye" to Henry, I was taken to Dr. Gaynor's office for the pre-op consultation. He was very direct with good eye contact, but i could tell he was a man of few words, more action. Fine with me. He told me what he was going to do (which was verbatim what the Physician's Assistant told me he was going to do) and i understood him 100%. I'm proud of myself for keeping up with Med Talk Lingo, using lots of acronyms (PA, VSD, DORV) and getting it! Go me!

An hour later, Henry's nurse for the day (aka, my personal liason between me and the surgery team) found me sitting in the sunlight on the bridge between the CICU and CCU and said, "Well... Henry did great! They are closing him up now, but everything went perfect and he's already exhibiting a slower respiratory rate! He didn't need XYZ (some procedures they said he might or might not need), so that's good news too!" A snuggly soft blanket of CALM fell across me, it was so nice to hear! I wouldn't say i was on the edge of my seat, but there was a general light "unease" of NOT KNOWING in that hour. Every consultation, before any surgery, ends with the line, "... and of course, with any surgery, there is the chance of death." I love how they TOSS that one in there. I get it - i know they have to - and its TRUE - but i found myself fantasizing mini themes around those words. BYGONES... Lil Hank made it through and seemingly with flying colors. That's mah BOY!

So I hung out with him post-op for a couple hours, reading a book and petting him now and then. He was quite out of it, under the heat lamp, spread eagle and very much not caring WHAT state he was in post-op. Lil bugger had a tube or wire coming out of every limb and even more out of his midsection. And of course his smooth, rapid moving breast is now covered with two little white gauze bandages. I asked what everything meant and felt good knowing all its purposes. I want to know EVERYTHING i can know about what Henry goes through.

I was able to go back to the RMH, grab an hour and a half snooze, and headed back to the hospital for an evening visit. He was still warm and hangin' out and still sleepy. He did open his eyes, groggily, a couple times. I suppose the more he comes out of it, the more he will DECLARE HIMSELF (everyone is a big fan of this phrase). They'll be doing a slew of routine xrays, EKGs, and blood tests post-op, making sure everything is on course.

GOOD NEWS! Ron and Sam are going to visit!!!!!! Ron was able to get two and a half days off and he and Sam are heading this way for Monday and Tuesday, heading back Wednesday. It will be SO GOOD to see two out of three of my MEN. I miss Tommy too, but this will be an easy trip for everyone involved. Thanks once more to Shirley for holding down the fort with lil crazyman Thomas. Can't wait to do our GROUP HUG AND KISSES!!!

So "Surgery: Part I" is a success. I have no confirmed date set for The Big Surgery, but Dr. Gaynor, in his consultation, tossed out around the "5, 6, 7, 8 month" mark. That's verbatim. Quite the gap. We shall see.