Surgery!

So last Friday bruiser had surgery to repair a minor hernia. I had to get up at 5am to make sure he was ready for an 8:40am surgery. Does that seem a little extreme? We had to be there at least two hours earlier.


We got to the hospital at o'dark thirty. I was told by all the nurses at his surgeon's office that there are absolutely NO toys or magazines or the like in the waiting room, so be sure to bring some stuff!

Ummmm, they were a little wrong. A whole kitchen set with puzzles, etc., existed in the corner. A T.V. hung on the wall. There was a coffee station with little snacks. No matter, I'd taken about 12 different toys, because I was afraid bruiser would be freaking out in a blank waiting room. As it turned out, a little boy his age had James and Thomas with him. Bruiser was in heaven, and ignored my proffered toys.

Once we got called to the back, bruiser was invited to sit in a toy Hummer and drink "giggle juice". This juice is a drug cocktail which makes 'em giggly and sleepy. As soon as bruiser drank it, he started to get loopy. Apparently my son has a thing for narcotics. After five minutes, I swear, he was really really enjoying himself.

Hubby showed up a few minutes before bruiser was taken to surgery. We had to wait for our bbsiter to show up for genius, so he could come. By THAT time, bruiser was throwing his stuffed elephant (they were nice enough to let me bring his favorite bedtime animals and his blankey for recovery) at my head.

I hated to see him being taken away, but luckily the OR nurses were grandmas, and bruiser was giving them wide open grins and giggling all the way down the hall.

Recovery: I was warned ahead of time, BUT it's hard to see them wake up. Some kids cry a LOT. Bruiser was screaming his head off and trying to pull out all the tubes and monitors. The recovery nurse (who tried to get us out asap, btw) said they get freaked out when they wake up and want to be exactly as they were before they got giggle juice, which also gives them amnesia. So, I had to change him back into his pajamas, take out all the monitors, etc. He also drank a whole cup of ice water and two popsicles. Then the nurse said (basically), he's had enough, take him home!

This whole week he's been pretty good, even when genius stepped on purpose, of course, on his incision on his belly. For a while genius was being very sweet to bruiser. However, the shock and worry over his surgery must have subsided, because hubby and I witnessed this little exchange last night. Bruiser had a brand new truck and was playing happily. Genius had a "magic pebble" a rock he got at the school playground.

G: Can I have the truck?
B: NO!
G: I'll give you this magic pebble, and you can make lots of wishes!
B: OK!
G: - takes truck and exits stage left.
B: OK! Daddy, you wanna make a wish? I got a magic pebble! I can make lots of wishes!

Oh dear. Well, at least everything is back to normal.