Evan's Surgery

Evan had his surgery at McMaster Children's Hospital to repair his inguinal hernia yesterday. His surgery started at 8am and took an hour and 10 minutes. Poor Evan wasn't allowed to have anything to eat/drink after 2am so we had a pretty hungry boy on our hands by the time we got to the hospital at 6:30am. Luckily we were able to soothe him to sleep and handed off a sleeping baby to the OR nurse (she was pretty excited.... we were simply relieved). Throughout this whole experience we felt that Evan was in excellent hands. All 3 members of the surgical team came to talk with us before they took Evan in. The anesthesiologist explained that he would be put to sleep with a mask, then intebated with a breathing tube, have an IV inserted and then receive a "coch-block", similar to an epidural, where he would get an injection of anesthetic in the base of his spine.

In the waiting room the hospital has a volunteer that works with the families to help us locate the things we need and put us at ease. After the surgeon came out to discuss how the operation had gone I was led to the PACU (Pediatric Anesthetic Care Unit) to help care for Evan as he was awaking from the anesthetic. Evan must have charmed the nurses because when I walked in there were 3 nurses holding him and huddled around him cooing. I guess he IS a pretty cute little guy. After about an hour in the PACU we collected Daddy from the waiting room and Evan was wheeled to Ward 3C in the Children's Hospital to recover and be monitored for apnea. We were very fortunate to get a private room. Mommy stayed overnight to help take care of Evan who was understandably fussy.

Evan continues to have a good recovery. He didn't have any respitory problems so he was discharged this afternoon. His incision (about 1.5 inches in his lower ab) should heal in about 5 days. We hope he's feeling better soon!