Today Brian had his hernia surgery. Last night Alex was over talking to Brian about his procedure and Brian was getting all worked up about what they were going to do. He could have cared less that they were going to cut his belly open, but he was all upset that he was going to be intubated (have a tube down his throat), and have a catheter (a tube up his pee pee). So really the surgery wasn’t a worry, but the pre-op stuff was stressing him out. We had to be at the hospital at 5:45 in the morning. After a slow check in, they took him to the back to get him prepped and ready and then they let me come back and stay with him until he was taken in to surgery. When I came around the corner and saw him in his gown and cap with a big smile on his face. At first I thought it was because he was happy to see me, even though it had only been about 20 minutes since I was last with him, but then I met his nurse! Yep, he got a cute nurse! “Jaime” had been very kind to Brian and was making him feel pretty at ease. After she left the room, he informed me that if for some reason he did end up having to have a catheter, he wanted her to be the one to do the procedure. Well at least I knew he was still feeling like himself! After we had been waiting awhile Jamie informed us that Brian’s doctor had to do an emergency surgery this morning and so he was running behind. We ended up having to wait an extra hour and a half longer before they took Brian back into surgery. Boy was he the wrong patient to have waiting. About an hour into the wait he was starting to work himself into a mild panic. The doctor had come by to check in with him and he looked at his stomach pushed on it a little and was done. Brian asked if taking the hernia out would get rid of the bleeding bumps in his belly button. The doc responded that the bumps and bleeding weren’t the hernia. Now Brian was starting to get upset.
“What if I don’t really have a hernia and they cut me open for nothing.”
I kept asking Jaime if they could give him his happy juice while we were waiting so I didn’t have to deal with him. (just kidding babe! – well sort of)
Finally they were ready to take him in. So one last visit from Jaime with the happy juice! Brian wondered when and if it would make a difference, or when he would feel it. Before they even had him to the first set of doors, he yelled back to me “oh yea, it’s working, I feel pretty good!” And then he was off.
Thanks to my Mom, I was able to stay at the hospital and wait for Brian and to hear what the doctor had to say. Just over an hour later, the doctor came out to talk to me. Sure enough there was a hernia, but it was a small one. The reason his belly button had been bleeding was because it was such a deep belly button that it was almost touching the hernia and new blood tracks had been formed up along and through the belly button. His belly button was about 2 inches deep, which is pretty deep according to the doctor, and probably part of the problem. They removed the hernia and decided to remove about ¾ of his belly button to get rid of the bleeding tracks and so that this shouldn’t happen again. Then they cauterized the rest of the tracks. Now his belly button is only about ¼ - ½ inch deep. The doctors final words of encouragement were: “ Well, at least it should be easier to keep clean now.” (meaning the belly button) – Great!?!?
The nurses came and got me from the waiting room as soon as Brian woke up from the anesthesia. – Talk about chatty cathy! I was impressed how wide awake he was, and just chattin’ up the nurse. He had kindly asked for a little water and they brought him a cup with a straw. He then barely lifted his arm, like he was trying to reach for the cup but was too weak. He then looked at me with his little pouty face and a help me expression. It was then that I knew I was in trouble. There was going to be some serious milking going on. It was ok though, at least temporarily. I was just glad to see he was awake and alive. (you never know) It wasn’t very long after he woke up that they were discharging him. I brought him home and we got him drugged and tucked into bed. That was interesting! Trying to help him lay down took a few tries and some manipulative moving, but we did make it. So far he has been really good about doing his walking and keeping up with his meds. He says the strangest part is that he feels like there is a lot of pressure on his belly and his guts are going to pop out. Since the incision is only about an inch long I guessing that won’t happen, but I’m sure it feels weird. Your body probably just doesn’t like being cut into. Hopefully he will have a speedy recovery and all will be well… for both our sakes!
“What if I don’t really have a hernia and they cut me open for nothing.”
I kept asking Jaime if they could give him his happy juice while we were waiting so I didn’t have to deal with him. (just kidding babe! – well sort of)
Finally they were ready to take him in. So one last visit from Jaime with the happy juice! Brian wondered when and if it would make a difference, or when he would feel it. Before they even had him to the first set of doors, he yelled back to me “oh yea, it’s working, I feel pretty good!” And then he was off.
Thanks to my Mom, I was able to stay at the hospital and wait for Brian and to hear what the doctor had to say. Just over an hour later, the doctor came out to talk to me. Sure enough there was a hernia, but it was a small one. The reason his belly button had been bleeding was because it was such a deep belly button that it was almost touching the hernia and new blood tracks had been formed up along and through the belly button. His belly button was about 2 inches deep, which is pretty deep according to the doctor, and probably part of the problem. They removed the hernia and decided to remove about ¾ of his belly button to get rid of the bleeding tracks and so that this shouldn’t happen again. Then they cauterized the rest of the tracks. Now his belly button is only about ¼ - ½ inch deep. The doctors final words of encouragement were: “ Well, at least it should be easier to keep clean now.” (meaning the belly button) – Great!?!?
The nurses came and got me from the waiting room as soon as Brian woke up from the anesthesia. – Talk about chatty cathy! I was impressed how wide awake he was, and just chattin’ up the nurse. He had kindly asked for a little water and they brought him a cup with a straw. He then barely lifted his arm, like he was trying to reach for the cup but was too weak. He then looked at me with his little pouty face and a help me expression. It was then that I knew I was in trouble. There was going to be some serious milking going on. It was ok though, at least temporarily. I was just glad to see he was awake and alive. (you never know) It wasn’t very long after he woke up that they were discharging him. I brought him home and we got him drugged and tucked into bed. That was interesting! Trying to help him lay down took a few tries and some manipulative moving, but we did make it. So far he has been really good about doing his walking and keeping up with his meds. He says the strangest part is that he feels like there is a lot of pressure on his belly and his guts are going to pop out. Since the incision is only about an inch long I guessing that won’t happen, but I’m sure it feels weird. Your body probably just doesn’t like being cut into. Hopefully he will have a speedy recovery and all will be well… for both our sakes!
