Wyatt's first surgery couldn't have gone better!
Surgery was the morning of Wednesday, February 6th at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. Check in was at 5:30 a.m. and after getting registered we headed straight to pre-op where we would spend the next two hours until surgery. The nurses collected basic information and we got Wyatt changed into the pj's provided by the hospital.
The time in pre-op was spent trying to keep Wyatt distracted since his last feeding was at 3 a.m. He couldn't have anything 4 hours before surgery. This wasn't as long as I thought it would be and he did much better with this than we thought he would. He did get pretty cranky that last hour but we tried our best to distract him with toys, music, and walking around.
There was a Child Life Specialist who checked in on us regularly and did a lot to help us all get through this time. She brought a pacifier, toys and music. Whatever we thought might help. She even held him for a while and he fell asleep in her arms. She ended up carrying him as far as they would let us go toward the operating room. She said he was such a sweet heart and it made her day.
We had lots of visitors in the pre-op room. The surgeon and anesthesiologist came in to explain everything. Dr. Lacey, the plastic surgeon, initialed Wyatt's cheek - That is the blue marker you see. Different members of the team that would be in the operating room came by to meet us. Everyone told us they were going to take good care of Wyatt.
Soon it was time to go. A little before 7:30 we headed toward the operating room. We walked Wyatt as far as we could and kissed him goodbye in what they call the "kissing corner." We watched them carry him away.
As I watched Wyatt being carried into surgery the The Child Life Specialist suggested we take a moment in a consultation room near the area where we would wait. I could hear Wyatt crying as they carried him down the hall. I was doing okay up to this point and didn't understand why we would need to go to a consultation room until I looked at Michael. He was crying... and then I was crying.
When we were ready we checked in at the waiting area. It was really nice and there were monitors that provided updates on where Wyatt was. Wyatt was Lo..zW.
Surgery took a little over an hour and a half and he was moved to recovery at 9:11 a.m. We anxiously waited for them to bring us back to see him.
The worst part for Michael was seeing Wyatt being taken into surgery. The worst part for me was seeing him in the recovery room.
There were wires and tubes all over him. His eyes were puffy and his lips were swollen. He had iodine and blood around his lips. He was a little out of it from the anesthesia and he was in pain. He cried and it was the saddest cry I have ever heard. His voice was horse from being intibated. They ended up giving him a shot of morphine a little after we arrived and that seemed to help him. We tried giving him Pedialyte but he only took about a half an oz. Then he slept. I held him in recovery for an hour and a half and then we were moved to our room in the hospital.
When we got to our room Wyatt was already doing better. You could see the grogginess fading and hints of his personality returning.
As the day went on he did better and better. He took a lot of naps.
At this point he was just on Tylenol. We tried Pedialyte again and he took about another oz. A little later we tried his milk and he took about 3 oz which was really good. From then on he was back to his old self as far as feeding went. He had kicked out his IV from his ankle but didn't need it anymore because he was doing so well. They monitored him closely to make sure his kidneys started functioning again.
By Thursday morning he was all smiles. He had tape on his mouth after surgery but they removed it before we went home. He has to wear his No No's (arm restraints so he doesn't put his hands near his mouth) for the next couple of weeks but so far he doesn't seem to mind them.
Wyatt did amazing and we are so happy with how everything went.
We are now home and everyone is doing great. Bella was very concerned about her little brother and glad we are all together again.
We would like to thank all of our friends and family for your thoughts and prayers.
