Preston's Surgery Day ~ July 2, 2007

Today was the big day for Preston and it was a terrible feeling for us to know what he was about to go through and to know that he had no idea what was happening. We were off to the hospital bright and early and he was as happy as he could be riding in his car seat. We didn't wait very long before they took us in to the holding room (a playroom for the kids and where the Doctors and nurses meet with you before surgery). We rocked Preston in a rocking chair and his Daddy read him a book, but he most enjoyed watching the other children play. Before we knew it, our little boy was being carried away by a nurse down a long hall to his surgical suite. We were able to watch them walk down that long hallway and Preston looked over her shoulder at us and then back at the nurse - knots on his forehead like his Daddy - you could just see his little brain working! He didn't cry and they told us afterwards that he didn't want that nurse to lay him down on the table, so she held him while they gave him some medicine to sedate him. Well, the recovery room was a different story! When they finally got me back there, 6 nurses including 3 men, were trying to hold my baby. He wasn't fully aware of what was going on and he was fighting with all his might. He had tubes everywhere, but I told them to just let me hold him and I promised we wouldn't pull any of the tubes out! They put me in a recliner beside his bed and the nurses handed him to me still fighting. It took a few seconds for him to realize that it was really me and he settled down and went to sleep. I wanted to cry so bad, but I knew I couldn't. We gave him some more pain medicine and I pointed out to the nurse that his dressing on his stomach was draining (more than I thought it should be). Little did we know how significant that drainage would be in the days to come. With the dressing reinforced and a calm baby, we were off to our room. Not long after settling in, a young lady with a guitar and a beautiful voice, entered our room. She does musical therapy at the hospital and came in to check on Preston. He was awake but groggy, but once she began to play the guitar and sing, he never took his eyes off of her! She was excited to hear that his favorite songs are Christmas carols, so we had Christmas in July! Preston played his little instrument while she sang and then did a round of patty cake with her before she left. Grandma & Grandpa came in to see him and then they were off to the beach with Ryan & Presley. These are some of the pictures that we took after his surgery.

We practically lived in this chair for the first two days. Preston had an IV in his hand, an NGT in his nose to his stomach and hooked up to suction on the wall and an aggravating little sensor taped to his toe. Just a hint as to how he did with all of these, before he was discharged, he managed to pull all of them out!