The bitter and the sweet

Just a quick post. I'm beyond exhausted and want to spend the day with Pierce tomorrow before he goes to stay at my sister's while Mason is in the hospital.

Our pre-op day started at 9:15 and didn't end till around 3:30.

First a stop at financial, then a long wait, then a visit with the nurse, another long wait, the nurse practitioner, then wait, a meeting with the surgery nurse coordinator, the a tour of the ICU, an X-ray, and finally we got to go home.

They thought the might have seen a little atelectasis (collapsed air pockets in the lung) but your X-ray ended up being normal.

The sweet.

Your the first case of the day so we will get there at 6:00 am and then your surgery very soon after.

Other children, who don't have problems other than the heart defect, have gone home as soon as 24 hrs after surgery! With your respiratory issues, if everything goes really well and they are able to extubate you right away they are thinking letting you go home as soon as Monday.

Don't you look excited

Stop taking pictures mom!

Of course if you don't do well and can't get extubated... well then we are in for a much longer stay.

Your bigger, and stronger, and have had months to recover from your throat surgery and so we are hoping for the best.
The bitter...

As I was going over the hospitals routine and policies with the surgery nurse coordinator she informed me that our visitation time with you, at least for the first day or so, would be very limited. That they would let us see you for only a few minuets at a time and then we would have to leave and come back after a time period.

Yeah, um I don't think so. Not gonna happen. Not in this life time. Not ever.






I told her to go ahead and open your chart and write down that I was going to have a problem with that, and that while I understand having to step out for procedures, shift change, reports, and for other families privacy, but otherwise I would not be separated from my son.


Period.


She went on to explain that since you are having open heart surgery that your treatment would be very complicated. I reminded her that you have already had open heart surgery, and a much more complicated surgery than this one, and not only did CHLA welcome us at your bedside, but encouraged us to be there.




She then went on to say that they would be doing your recovery at the bedside and that would take hours. I told her they did your recovery at the bedside in CHLA and we were able to be at your bedside about an hour and a half after your surgery. And again, that surgery was much more complicated than this one.



She then went on to say well maybe they would only limit our visit while you were on the breathing machine. I explained to her that I have worked with vent's for over 10 years and a families presence at the beside has never prevented the machine from properly ventilating a patient and that wasn't a valid reason to keep us from being with you.






She then asked me what kinda of a nurse I was. I told her critical care, and as a matter of fact, I often recover open heart surgery patients (though adults not children). I also told her in my 10 years I have never kept my families away from there loved ones.


EVER!


She then told me that she was sure the nurses would work with me to come up with a situation that we were both happy with.



I told her I would be at your bedside at all times except for shift change, shift report, procedures, and for other familes privacy.




I think she may have sighed very deeply. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.




I did get to meet some of the nurses that would be taking care of you. They all seemed nice and mellow. I also saw several parents at the bedside so I'm not going to let myself get worked up over something that will probably not even be a problem.


But just let them try and and keep me from you


this momma is gonna roar!

Yeah, you think it's a bunch of B.S. too.