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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
Anyone's LO had to go through surgery yet?
Our appointment is coming up the end of this month. DD has craniosynostosis (early closing of the sutures) and has to go in for surgery in 3 weeks.
We were supposed to go in on March 1st but DD decided that would be a good time to get sick, and so it was postponed.
Has anyone else had to have LO go in for surgery, particularly where they're put under a general anesthesia? Any tips on getting through the day and recovery days? I'm assuming DD will want lots of cuddles after, but have no idea what else to expect out of all this.
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Re: Anyone's LO had to go through surgery yet?
Thanks for this! We go in in two two months for hypospadias and I'm so nervous! Sending you a PM!
Thank you both for sharing your stories. I'm mostly concerned about her being put under and coming out of the anesthesia. The info you both gave is reassuring.
DD's surgery will be about 3 hours but she'll have to stay in for about 3 days after for recovery and monitoring. She will be intubated as well (which is why they had to postpone last time).
I'm happy to hear both your LO's are recovering well. Wishing them the best of health!
My ds had bilateral burr holes in his skull to remove fluid/blood on his brain after a tractor trailer accident when he was 7 weeks old I was terrified but it went smoothly. It was hard because he couldnt eat before the surgery (not easy for an infant) but they did give IV fluids. The IV was difficult and they actually sent me in the hall for that. The waiting was horrible. They prepared me for a transfusion and that he might be intubated all night afterwards. I brought stuff do while waiting but couldn't concentrate. He stayed 1 night in picu and 1 night in peds.
The first night was rough but then I was amazed how quickly he bounced back. Much harder for me than him
Good luck....
My DD was born with a cataract in her left eye. They wanted to remove the lens immediately and get her a contact lense so she could begin strengthening the eye muscles so she would not lose sight in that eye permanently. She was 3 weeks old and I was PERTRIFIED of her going under! She did great and had no side effects from the anethesia. She just had to get her tear ducts probbed on March 26th and once again had to be sedated. Normally with blocked ducts they will just wait it out and most will clear up on their own. However, due to her having her contact in the left eye, the goopy discharge was clouding her contact so they said it would be best to do a probe. She went under just fine. When the surgery was finished they called me in to sit with her until she woke up. As the doc was explaining the discharge procedures and after care we heard giggling. We turned around and her eyes were still closed but she was laughing. She woke up a few seconds later. As soon as we left the hospital she was back to her goofy self.
Good luck and keep us posted!
DS had surgery at 5.5 months. He went under general anesthesia for a complicated circumcision (medically necessary). I think the hardest part was handing him over to the surgical team. Obviously he had no idea where he was going, but I'll never forget that confused look on his face when they took him to the OR.
When they let us see him in post-op, he was crying and agitated. The nurse was trying to comfort him, but he kept on crying. I nursed him right away, but he was pretty distraught and kept latching on and off. The nurse gave him a tiny dose of morphine and that relaxed him enough to nurse. He was fine after that...mainly sleepy all day long.
I was actually surprised at his recovery. He never seemed like he was in pain. We only gave him the pain medication the doctor had prescribed the first day and night. I think LOs at this age recover pretty fast and luckily have a very short memory.
Good luck!
Wow, I wasn't expecting to see anymore posts but I am happily surprised.
Thank you all for your stories. No matter what the doctor tells us about what to expect, it's nice to hear how each of you felt during the process. That's something the doctor just couldn't connect with me on.
I'm sure DD's surgery will be just fine and I'm looking forwad to having this behind us.
Thank you again for sharing!
My DD just had surgery today (it was small but she did have to go under general)
The no eating before hand was a little rough (she kept asking for food) but other than that things went well.
She came out of anesthesia fine and was ready to see us, she nursed and we made sure she kept it down and then we were discharged.
She took a nap after we got home and other than that was clingy/lovey. Yours I'm sure is more involved but they will talk to through everything.
GL!
My DS had surgery last week. I had asked this question a couple of weeks ago, and here's the thread with more responses re: surgery:
https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/50836748.aspx
You're going to worry while your LO is under anesthesia, and you're going to worry until you know your LO is fine. Even after the doctor tells you it went well, you'll still be worried until you can hold your LO in your own arms. That was my experience, at least.
My DS's surgery ran longer than expected (scheduled for 1.5-2 hours; took nearly 2.5 hours). That last hour was the most difficult hour I could imagine. At that point, I gave up on reading or any other distractions. DH, my mom and MIL were there with me, and I let them talk to each other, but got agitated whenever anyone talked to me.
I was so relieved when I could hold him. He was crying when they brought him to me, but he quieted and went back to sleep as soon as he was in my arms. They put him in a bear hug (I think that's what they call it) during the surgery to keep him warm and hold his arms still, so he was really warm at the time.
They asked us to feed him pedialyte at first, then formula if he kept that down okay. We didn't do any solids that day, but he drank LOTS of formula by the end of the day. He slept a lot, too, but didn't seem to be in much pain (and we kept him on the pain meds that day & night). The next day, he was himself again, and didn't need any pain meds after that!
My primary advice would be to have someone else there who will be clear-headed and can take notes on the instructions. Thankfully, they gave me written instructions, but there were a few details left out. I had to ask everyone else what the dr. and nurse said, and some people had conflicting memories. Usually I'm good at remembering those details and writing stuff down, but at that time, I just wanted to hold my baby and keep him comfortable.
It will go faster than you think, and it will be harder for you than it is for your LO. Good luck. I'm sure your LO will be just fine.
Just wanted to let you know I will be thinking of you. DS has a metopic ridge and after a couple visits to neurosurgeons everyone is confident there is no trigon but I know how overwhelming it can be when you are exploring cranio options for your LO.
There is tons of Bump lovin' go on here but wondered if you ever go to craniokids.org? Lots of wonderful support there too!