Under the knife

I took Colin to the urologist this morning (one at Children’s Memorial hospital this time), only to discover that he needed his hernia surgery NOW. 

We knew it would need to happen fairly soon. But to be honest, the last thing I expected was to be on the phone in the office, scheduling surgery for tomorrow morning. Yet that’s what I did. And so, tomorrow morning, Colin and I will find ourselves rising early — okay, we’re both usually up early any way … heading out the door early to make our 6:00 a.m. appointment at the hospital. 

After getting some pre-surgery blood work done, and meeting with the anesthesiologist, my by-then hungry little boy will have surgery to repair his hernias. (They'll do the surgery on both sides because apparently with preemies, this type of hernia usually comes in pairs.)

Normally this surgery is done on an outpatient basis, but because Colin is a preemie he’ll need to stay in the hospital for 23 hours to be sure he comes out of the anesthesia properly. 

Needless to say, this has thrown us off a bit. We were expecting to be able to schedule the surgery for a well-planned, convenient time. Instead, we’re scrambling to wrap up work projects and are facing surgery without time for mental preparation. (Of course, there is some merit to not giving yourself time to brood about the possible things that can go wrong too.)

The surgery itself is relatively “simple” — if you’re a pediatric urologist who specializes in these things. Fortunately, Colin’s surgeon is a pediatric urologist who does specialize in these things — he’s also the head of the urology department at Children’s Memorial. From that perspective, I am not overly worried. 

But Colin does have the chronic lung disease, and he has to be put under for the surgery. And that, I must confess, scares me a little. So please, everyone, keep us in your thoughts and prayers — yet again — as we help Colin through the surgery. And if all goes well, in two days he should be back to normal.